IN THEATER:

Sean Engard may have moved on, but Orange Coast College still has a playwright in residence.

He’s Zaid Tabini, who has written four of the seven plays being presented this weekend at the OCC Repertory Theater Company’s annual Spring One-Act Play Festival.

The festival opened last night and continues through Sunday, with curtain at 8 tonight through Saturday and two performances at 2:30 and 7 p.m. Sunday.

Tabini’s contributions are titled “Chloe at Midnight,” “Renewing Our Vows,” “Confessions” and “J-Z.” The latter play was co-written with Jesse Morairty, who directs the piece.

For Tabini, seeing his work produced on stage is an exciting prospect.

“Actors always take the character in a new direction,” he commented. “It’s cool to see it onstage. That’s the reward for me.”

Rick Golson, a theater arts instructor at OCC and one of the supervisors of the Repertory Theater, appreciates Tabini’s talent.

“He’s pretty witty,” Golson noted. “He’s a valuable student in our department.”

Tabini’s writing talents aren’t confined to the stage. He’s written short stories, a video game newsletter and music.

He also belongs to a rap group called “JZ, Not the Rapper, But Close” with his friend Morairty, who met as students at Irvine High School and frequently collaborate on projects.

“I’ve always had the idea to write plays that would appeal to people,” he said, noting that he started writing plays during his junior year in high school.

Before arriving at OCC, he’d already penned two full-length plays — which still haven’t seen the light of day on stage.

At the Costa Mesa college, Tabini is studying script writing and is in the process of writing a full-length movie script.

Tabini’s four originals, along with the three other entries in the one-act play festival, may be viewed this weekend in the college’s Drama Lab Studio Theater. Tickets may be reserved by calling (714) 432-5880.

TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Daily Pilot. His reviews appear Thursdays.