THE 2017 NEOMFA PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL OPENS THIS THURS, FEBRUARY 9 AT CONVERGENCE-CONTINUUM. TWO WEEKENDS / TWO WORLD-PREMIERE PLAYS BY AREA GRAD-STUDENT PLAYWRIGHTS. For the sixth year, convergence-continuum presents the NEOMFA Playwrights Festival. This year there are two world-premiere plays by local graduate-student playwrights.   These plays are part of a three-year intensive program of study under playwright and Cleveland State University professor Mike Geither, and are co-produced by convergence -continuum and the Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts (NEOMFA) in Creative Writing consortium. FEB 9, 10, 11:  THE DARKNESS BY KATIE WALLACE, RENEE SCHILLING AND ROB DANIELS.  Thu-Sat at 8 pm.  The Darkness is a darkly comic fable following the travails of Duncan as he journeys through a circus, suburbia and a sinister office building. Duncan is a believer in The Light, an organization which may or may not be a cult. As he attempts to convert human cannonballs and cookie-baking housewives alike, he discovers the true light may rest in the restorative power of Phil Collins' songs, pink lemonade and whoopee cushions - but not necessarily in that order. FEB 16, 17 18:    SEXUAL POLITICS BY JC CIFRANIC. Thu-Sat at 8 pm.  In Sexual Politics, the Deputy Mayor of Vienna is trying to clean-up the morals of the city. When Isabella's gay brother is arrested, she has to rely on unlikely friends to keep him out of jail in this topical, modern adaptation of William Shakespeare's Measure for Measure. The 2017 NEOMFA Playwrights Festival opens Thursday, Feb. 9 and runs at 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays through Feb. 18 at con-con's  Liminis Theater, 2438 Scranton Rd., Cleveland, OH 44113.    TICKETS ARE $10 GEN. ADMISSION AND $5 FOR STUDENTS.    TICKETS AND INFO AT CONVERGENCE-CONTINUUM.ORG OR 216-687-0074. ------------------------------------------------------ BACKGROUND INFORMATION:  NEOMFA The Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing (NEOMFA) is a consortium of Cleveland State University, Kent State University, The University of Akron and Youngstown State University that allows students to take classes on four different campuses and earn a degree from a single unified writing program.  Emerging writers may study in four genres – creative non-fiction, fiction, playwriting, and poetry – and take advantage of the resources offered on all four campuses.    Since its inception in 2005, the NEOMFA has offered small-group workshops, open readings, summer travel fellowships, and high-profile visiting writers, in addition to career-preparing internships, competitive graduate funding, and a diverse Midwestern landscape that tempts the creative eye.  The playwriting program is centered at Cleveland State University and includes providing MFA playwrights the opportunity to work with, and to have their works given full productions by, a professional theatre c ompany  during the NEOMFA Playwrights Festival.