Our second annual “Commission! Commission!” event happened on Friday the 13th with about 70 people in attendance. The spontaneous eruption of creativity is a fundraiser for JAW and kicked off the ten day festival with appropriate vigor and irreverence.

13 playwrights from around the country put themselves on the auction block (including Bridget Carpenter, staff writer for Friday Night Lights), patrons bid on their favorite – and during dinner – the scribes wrote 15 minutes works of art! After dinner we all gathered in the mainstage to see the performances.

I believe my favorite topic was “the gardening habits of my partner” – which brought forth a delectable song from Rick Lewis and Sam Gregory called, “I like to Garden in the Nude.”

But perhaps the highlight of the night was City Councilman Sam Adam’s gamely making a surprise guest appearance as a German scientist in a Nancy Keystone’s piece about a couple’s fight.