Ten Bucks Theatre is attempting to stave off winter with a trio of one-acts directed by two of its younger members.

Simon Ferland, a senior at the University of Maine, directed David Mamet’s “Duck Variations” and “The Attempted Murder of Ms. Peggy Sweetwater,” a spoof of Agatha Christie’s drawing-room murder mysteries by John Rusten and Frank Semerano.

Ellsworth High School English teacher Katie Toole directed “Here We Are,” a two-character play by Dorothy Parker. Based on one of her short stories, it was first performed in 1931.

All three plays are well-acted and work well in the space at the back of the Between Friends antique and collectibles store on Center Street in Brewer. The work of Parker and Mamet, however, is simply much better written than the mystery. These pieces are the reason theatergoers should get to performances this weekend.

Mamet wrote “Duck Variations” in 1971, more than a decade before he won a Pulitzer Prize for “Glengarry Glen Ross.” People familiar with the harsh language of that play should not worry about being offended by Mamet’s earlier work.

“Duck Variations” is a portrayal of a friendship played out on a park bench.

A man and woman meet there, feed the ducks and kvetch about life. Watching Bernard Hope and Irene Dennis perform their nameless roles was like eavesdropping on a conversation from behind a nearby tree.

Although her program bio said that she has acted, taught and directed in Boston and central Maine for more than 30 years, she is new to Ten Bucks. She is a delightful find and great addition to the stable of actors that regularly perform with the company.

Dennis, who also appears as the Duchess in “Peggy Sweetwater,” inhabited the role of the woman on the park bench. She was funny, poignant and real. Her portrayal was so complete that theatergoers could imagine the apartment the woman lived in down to the wallpaper and bric-a-brac.

Hope is one of those actors who can adjust his performance to the caliber of his fellow actors, whoever they are. Dennis raised the bar for him and he gave his portrayal to date with her in “Duck Variations.” The two were absolutely believable and they portrayed how unbreakable a bond can be between strangers.

Ferland mined the comic nuances of character in Mamet’s dialogue. The young director apparently also knew when to let the actors loose on the play and each other.

In some ways, “Here We Are” seems a dated comedy with little to tell a modern audience about love and marriage. It shows a newly married couple, played by Ed Benson and Marty Kelley, on a train to New York City for their honeymoon. Both virgins suffer from pre-wedding night jitters, a scenario that seems odd after the sexual revolution of the 1960s and ’70s.

With a sweet sincerity, however, Benson and Kelley drove home Parker’s point that people should know each other as friends and lovers before they tie the knot or the relationship most likely is doomed. Parker was married three times to two different men, one a young soldier she barely knew when they wed.

Director Toole easily could have turned the play toward satire and cynicism. Instead, she and the actors gave the audience a peek at a bygone era that left older audience members giggling. Benson and Kelley’s self-consciousness was palpable and they captured the incredible hope that inevitably is intertwined in new beginnings even thought they are doomed from the start.

Ten Bucks deserves to be supported for supporting the next generation of directors and actors and allowing them to spread their wings. “Duck Variations” and “Here We Are” were wonderfully staged and acted on last Friday’s opening night. Everyone eavesdrops every now and then, but it’s even more fun when a person can do it as a member of a theater audience without fear of getting caught.

Judy Harrison’s son, Padraic A. Harrison, is in the cast of “The Attempted Murder of Ms. Peggy Sweetwater.”

jharrison@bangordailynews.net

990-8207

IF YOU GO

What: “An Evening of One Acts”

Presented by Ten Bucks Theatre

Where: Next Generation Theatre, Between Friends Arts Center, Center Street, Brewer

When: 7 p.m. through Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday

Cost: $10

Phone: 884-1030

Web site: www.tenbuckstheatre.com