Marathons usually are reserved for runners. But hardcore theatergoers love a good theatrical marathon, too. Drama junkies won’t have to leave the state – or even leave Bangor – to satisfy an appetite for live onstage performances when Penobscot Theatre Company presents 22 plays in 15 days as part of its Northern Writes New Play Festival May 10-25 at the Bangor Opera House.

More than 30 local actors will present the plays as dramatic readings, which means readers will have scripts in hand. The productions are minimal: No props, sets, special lighting or music will be used. Many of the playwrights will be on hand observing their work in action, in some cases for the first time, and often hanging back afterward to discuss the themes.

“This is about process, not product,” said Scott R.C. Levy, producing artistic director at PTC. “That’s part of the beauty of it. It’s integrally important for regional theaters to develop American theater, and this is one of the ways playwrights get their work out there. Who knows where they’ll go from here? If a play goes anywhere, it will always carry our name with it, and Bangor will have been in on the ground floor.”

Levy chose the program of plays from 200 submissions, about a third of which came from Maine. Overall, 28 states and four countries were represented in the initial pool. In addition to the new plays, the theater also will host “365 Days/365 Plays,” an ongoing international play cycle launched in 2002 by Suzan-Lori Parks. Staged on May 20 and 21, “365 Days” features short and long works — from one page to several hours — that Parks wrote over a yearlong period. With participants worldwide, “365 Days” is one of the largest grass-roots collaborations in theater history.

The festival kicks off Thursday with “Things That Are Not Food” by Laura Jones-Katz, a Bangor playwright who teaches English as a second language at the University of Maine. Jones-Katz, 25, grew up in Freedom, attended Mount View High School in Thorndike and studied playwriting at Brooklyn College in New York City. Last year, one of her plays was produced in Manhattan. This week’s performance will be the first time she has heard the new script read in a theatrical setting.

“I’ve heard it in my mind, and I’ve had it read to me by friends but never by skilled actors,” Jones-Katz said. “Reading a play and seeing a play onstage are two completely different experiences. As a playwright, you have to negotiate between those two realms.”

The festival, she said, is a “sign of cultural growth in the area,” and as a playwright, she appreciates the opportunity to have life breathed into her words without having to go out of state. “When I moved back to Maine, I worried I’d lose touch with the theater scene,” she added. “But in fact, each year I’ve had a production.”

For a playwright, seeing early versions of a script can significantly shape its development. Or, as South Portland writer Brent Askari said, it can cause “stomach-churning terror.” His play “Cocktails & Travails” takes place Saturday night.

“It’s very nerve-wracking because you’re putting up something that isn’t finished,” said Askari, who performed in the PTC production of “Noises Off” in 1995. “It’s like letting your baby out before it’s finished and hoping it walks. If it doesn’t, everybody gets to see it fall. It’s very exciting, a fantastic opportunity.”

Northern Writes is not the only playwriting festival in a remote area of the country. Alaska and Idaho, for instance, have playwriting conferences that have been attended by major American writers and actors. Levy hopes the Bangor event will become part of both the state’s and the country’s annual lineup of large-scale arts activities.

It is, after all, as close as Bangor gets to a fringe theater festival or a contemporary film festival – but live. And the costs to attend beat nearly all competition for arts dollars in coming weeks. Attendees can buy the $30 festival pass and see all the shows, or cherry pick and pay $5 per event. Most nights feature more than one performance. Most performances last less than an hour. Post-show conversations give audience members a chance to be part of the creative process by offering responses.

The festival is a marathon, but it doesn’t take any training to run the race. In fact, here’s a cheat sheet – a playgoers guide based on descriptions provided by Levy.

Northern Lights New Play Festival

May 10-25

Bangor Opera House

7 p.m. Thursday, May 10

“Things That Are Not Food” by Laura Jones-Katz (Bangor)

A love story inspired by environmental concerns. A botanical version of “The Little Prince.” Critic’s choice.

“Lab Litter Tango” by Richard Sewell (Waterville)

Genetically engineered chimpanzees and the scientists who love them. An Orwellian look at society. Sewell is the founder of the Theater at Monmouth.

8 p.m. Friday, May 11

“The Lobster’s Revenge” by Danie Connolly (Kennebunk)

Herb Stump meets a dozen lobsters in this coastal romp. Listen for Maine accents.

“Cocktails & Travails” by Brent Askari (South Portland)

Too many drinks in a college professor’s living room lead to hilarity. Could be Bates or Bowdoin, but the atmosphere comes right out of “The Philadelphia Story.” Critic’s choice.

2 p.m. Saturday, May 12

“Venus And Mona” by Leslie Bramm (New York City)

Identical twin sisters, one of whom is a movie star, return home to a trailer park to bury their mother. Adults only. Thornton Wilder with naughty bits by way of Bramm, who wrote PTC’s oddball version of “A Christmas Carol” two seasons ago.

8 p.m. Saturday, May 12

“Boys Counting Down” by Joye Cook-Levy (Bangor)

Pregnant men? A surreal but somehow believable look at what happens when the other half carries the babies. Cook-Levy is PTC director of outreach and education. Critic’s choice.

“Men With Clubs” by Gregory Jones (New York City)

Conversations on the golf course help childhood friends deal with the passage of time. Will their handicaps get in the way?

2 p.m. Sunday, May 13

“Brothers” by Toni Seger (Lovell)

A family gathering in two acts. Seger is the founder and executive director of Western Maine Cultural Alliance.

7 p.m. Wednesday, May 16

“Roma” by Joe Musso (Birmingham, Ala.)

An obsessed literary scholar travels to Florence, Italy, where she kidnaps a renowned fiction writer. “Misery” redux?

7 p.m. Thursday, May 17

“The Wake on Chappaquiddick” by Jessica Provenz (New York City)

“On Golden Pond” meets a famous island in Massachusetts.

8 p.m. Friday, May 18

“Suicide Gal, Won’t You Come Out Tonight, Come Out Tonight” by J. Boyer (Tempe, Ariz.)

A grown daughter confronts the ghost of her recently deceased mother. Laugh-out-loud funny with a dark underside.

“Saturday Pleasures” by Michael Burgan (Chicago)

A wedding reception and an old fiancee. Uh oh. Burgan has written many books for kids. But this one sounds like it’s for adults.

2 and 5 p.m. Saturday, May 19

“Oh, Grow Up!” scribes led by Catherine Russell (Bucksport)

What it’s like being a teenager in the 21st century. Written and performed by students at Bucksport High School in 2001.

8 p.m. Saturday, May 19

“Feed Me What I Drink” by Ian Grody (New York City)

An insurance salesman can’t stop cracking bad jokes to his daughter’s new boyfriend. Dad! Stop selling!

“Holy Matrimony!” By Stacey Engels (New York City)

Thirty-nine hours before their wedding, the bride and groom switch souls. A twist on the for-better-or-worse agreement.

2 p.m. Sunday, May 20

“The Deconstruction of George Quimby” by Laura Emack (Prospect)

The history of a family in Belfast, Maine, told backward through time. Emack published “At Play: An Anthology of Maine Drama.”

7 p.m. Monday, May 21, and Tuesday, May 22

“365 Plays/365 Days” Suzan-Lori Parks

Parks was voted one of Time magazine’s “100 Innovators for the Next New Wave.” She has a Pulitzer Prize and a MacArthur “Genius” Award. “365 Days/365 Plays” is being produced in 700 theaters worldwide. Critic’s choice.

7 p.m. Wednesday, May 23

“Foibles” by Jay Hanagan (Geneva, NY)

What’s to become of the family robot once the matriarch dies? And who else in the household is wired?

“Of Winter and Water Birds” by Jason Lew (New York City and Orono)

A teen story of cancer, dedicated to the children of the Webber Building at Eastern Maine Medical Center, where Lew’s father worked as a pediatric oncologist. Poetic and sad.

7 p.m. Thursday, May 24

“A Turn For The Worse” by Clare Melley Smith (Columbia Falls)

A short work about a long-married couple and exemplary ordinariness.

“Solitary Dancers” by Jan Paetow (Cape Newagan)

A memory play of great consequence.

8 p.m. Friday, May 25

“Street Hamlet” by Shirley King (Benicia, Calif.)

Hamlet seeks to dethrone Claudius, while Phil tries to flip the script. More or less the classic play in 10 minutes.

“Moral & Political Lessons on ‘Wyoming'” by Vincent Sessa (New York City)

A comedy about turning the tables on government and Catholic school students. Amen!

For information about Northern Lights New Play Festival at Penobscot Theatre Company in Bangor, call 942-3333, or visit www.penobscottheater.org.