“Equality” is the theme as Performing Fusion Theatre takes to the stage with its Somerville Theatre Festival to be presented at The Somerville Center for Arts at the Armory Jan. 24 and 25.

By Erica Scharn

Performing Fusion Theatre kicks off its first Somerville Theatre Festival at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 24, and Saturday, Jan. 25, at The Somerville Center for Arts at the Armory at 191 Highland Ave.

Presented by the Performing Fusion Theatre, which aims to promote multiculturalism through the integration of art, each night will showcase the same 10 short plays of 10 minutes or less with the theme of “equality,” as well as live multicultural entertainment. The plays were selected out of more than 50 submissions to the call for plays in the fall. Tickets for the show can be bought in advance or at the door, with a cash and credit bar for food and drinks.

“We have an opportunity to bring people of different colors, sexual orientations and ages together in the community,” Ayshia Stephenson, executive director of the Performing Fusion Theatre, said.  “It was really important to us that with this festival we give a range of people who otherwise might feel politically alienated a voice.”

Stephenson co-founded the Performing Fusion Theatre with Brian Moore-Ward, artistic director, in the summer of 2013. Stephenson, who is also on the English department faculty at Salem State University, has a background in writing, sociology and performance. Moore-Ward was a theatre major and has been involved in the Boston theatre scene for over 20 years. They are actively involved in the art scene in other ways, as well, including an upcoming full-length independent film by local producers called The Stoop.

“When we were thinking about an area for this, a lot of things happen in Cambridge and Boston. But Somerville, all the different artists…I think to have something like this in Somerville is just great for the community,” Moore-Ward said. “It was kind of the perfect place.”

The majority of the playwrights that won the contest are local residents, and out of more than a dozen actors selected during auditions, several are from the city. In addition to access to local talent, Moore-Ward and Stephenson pointed to the importance of local organizations supporting the arts, including the Armory and Bunker Hill, which granted access to its space.

Before creating the Performing Fusion Theatre, Stephenson and Moore-Ward said they knew they wanted to start a theatre company, so they started brainstorming the specifics.

“We just really wanted to see the stage and the audience really be more representative of the different faces, backgrounds, ethnicities in Boston,” Stephenson said. The plays, she added, highlight “the sort of multicultural issues that we feel we don’t want swept under the carpet.”

The shows end at 10:30 each night. Tickets, which are $15 in advance, can be purchased www.eventbrite.com/e/somerville-theatre-festival-tickets-8575865645. Tickets are $20 at the door.