For its first production of the year, the Valley Center Stage has collected four one-act plays to perform this month. “An Evening of One Acts” includes works by local authors Peter Cook and Ruth Perlman as well as Kurt Vonnegut and Elaine May.

Leading the charge on the show is Wanda Boe, who is in the director’s chair for the first time. Boe has been with the theater for about five years, she said, and in that time has been an assistant director and stage manager on many VCS plays.

“Being an assistant director to really good directors like Rich Wiltshire, Peter Cook, Jim Snyder and René Schuchter has helped me bring some things to the table that I wouldn’t have brought before,” she said. “So I’ve read the scripts a lot and made sure actors are having fun and the opportunity to bring their best selves forward.”

Boe explained that the four plays were chosen by herself and the theater’s play selection committee. The committee chose “Mr. Nep,” by Peter Cook, who has also directed and acted in many previous productions, and “OMD,” by Seattle playwright Ruth Perlman.

“Mr. Nep” is futuristic comedy about a man waking up strapped to chair and being told he needs a brain transplant. “OMD” is another comedy about a family in France living together in the countryside, but Boe hinted that there is more to the play she does not want revealed quite yet.

“It’s about a father-in-law, a son-in-law and a daughter, all living together in a country home outside of Paris in the 1700s and the father-in-law has lost his job. He needs to learn how to use the new communication machine, and that’s all I want to say about that, because the rest is pretty funny,” Boe said.

To round out the rest of the night’s one-acts, Boe chose “Not Enough Rope” by Hollywood screenwriter, actress and director Elaine May, and “Who Am I This Time?” by Kurt Vonnegut.

“Not Enough Rope” is dark comedy about a woman who moves into a house with a drummer and an old woman, and their chaotic interactions. “Who Am I This Time?” is a love story with a theatrical twist, Boe explained.

“It’s based on a Kurt Vonnegut short story. It is about a man who has no personality off the stage but becomes immersed in the characters. He is the opposite in his day-to-day life. The woman who has never acted before, falls in love with him,” she said.

Because there are four short plays each night, many actors, including Valley Center Stage regulars René Schuchter, Peter Cook, and Rochelle Wyatt, will appear in multiple plays.

Schuchter, an actor in three of the plays, said jumping between characters is fun and keeps him on his toes.

“It’s all the different tones,” he said. “Hopefully the audience experience is that of me as an actor… to see those different characters coming through…. Part of the process is finding who is this person, and there are three people to find, instead of just one.”

“An Evening of One Acts” opens Friday, Feb. 10. For tickets and full schedule, visit www.valleycenterstage.org.