Replace the props, sets and costumes of traditional productions with actors reading from scripts in a casual café atmosphere. This is the Next Stage Inc. readers' theater.

The independent local theater company will present two one-act comedies by David Ives, The Green Hill and Degas, C'est Moi, at 7:30 p.m. today and tomorrow at Webster's Bookstore Café, 128 S. Allen St.

Jay Shuchter, Next Stage co-founding producer and artistic director, said both pieces involve characters trying to create meaning in their lives and eventually realizing they already have it.

"We love Ives because he writes comedies about serious stuff," Shuchter said. "He's a master at it."

Shuchter and fellow English lecturer Mary Skees Young founded the company in 1992 as an outlet for mainstage productions, acting classes, outreach to local schools and readers' theater performances, which take the floor at Webster's every other month.

Shuchter said the space at Webster's is ideal for the fast-paced one-acts often produced by readers' theater.

"We prefer relatively intimate spaces," he said. "In-your-face theater."

Elaine Meder, Webster's co-owner, is familiar with readers' theater as a participant and an observer.

Meder, who has acted and directed with Next Stage, said the lively readers' theater performances typically appeal to the same crowd attracted to Webster's.

"They're not pretentious in any way," she said.

"You can just walk in and not be committed to sitting for an hour and a half," Meder said.

Meder said focusing more on the script than any other theatrical element results in a performance driven by the language itself.

"The words just become more expressive," she said.

State College resident Janine White, one of five cast members, said the small cast allows each actor to portray multiple characters.

White, who has been involved with Next Stage for about three years, said her roles in this performance range from a phone operator to a German tourist.

"The little parts are sometimes the most fun," White said. "They give you a chance to quickly assume a character with just a voice or a facial expression."

White said the minimalism of readers' theater performances allows Next Stage to produce interesting theater without the time and resources needed for a mainstage production.

"You have a chance to do something on a small scale and still expose people to great scripts," she said.

Admission to both performances is free. For more information, contact Jay Shuchter or Mary Skees Young at 357-1166.