Shown are Kelly Kapacs, Mary Ondrako, and Thomas Tomeo (who are playing young children) rehearsing their scene about Jenny Greenteeth, an evil water spirit who lives in a nearby pond.
                                 Submitted photo

Shown are Kelly Kapacs, Mary Ondrako, and Thomas Tomeo (who are playing young children) rehearsing their scene about Jenny Greenteeth, an evil water spirit who lives in a nearby pond.

Submitted photo

As three children play let’s-pretend, they argue over who gets to be the knight.

“One gets angry and storms off, and another is convinced that Jenny Greenteeth has gotten her,” local playwright Marcie Riebe said, describing the action in one of seven one-acts she has written for a show called “It’s Not Easy Being.”

Before you ask, Jenny Who?, please note Jenny Greenteeth is a legendary river hag with a reputation for pulling unsuspecting children into the water and drowning them — and she’s one of several magical, mystical, occasionally medieval entities that show up in Riebe’s original work, which Diva Theater will present Oct. 8 through Oct. 17 at The Olde Brick Theater, 126 West Market Street in Scranton.

While you needn’t expect Kermit the Frog to appear — remember how the lovable Muppet sang that it wasn’t easy to have his particular pigment? — the color green will play a big role as everyone from the Absinthe Fairy to Volvox Carteri algae enter the mix.

“There’s a snake, there’s some algae,” Riebe explained in a telephone interview, adding that one of the seven one-acts relates to “Greensleeves,” the song King Henry VIII wrote for Anne Boleyn, and another is based on “The Green Children of Woolpit” who, according to reports, mysteriously showed up in Suffolk, England centuries ago and had a greenish tint to their skin.

While several of the one-acts are “sort of otherworldly,” Riebe said there’s some science in the segment where a couple is arguing about what to have for dinner and one partner “is engrossed in her phone, reading about algae.”

As for the green snake, which Riebe describes as “kind of cute, by the end,” that creature enters someone’s home when they bring in plants to protect them from an expected frost. “The snake wants to stay inside where it’s warm.”

And there’s “a guy trying to woo a girl, who pretty much gets shot down as she shares all kinds of facts about ‘Greensleeves,’ ” Riebe said.

The playwright, who is co-directing the show with Paul J. Gallo, said the evening of one acts has many light-hearted moments and “should be a fun time. We have a lot of very talented actors and actresses getting that humor across. There are serious bits, but in general the one-acts are funny.”

Poems and songs will be interspersed among the seven one-acts, which are intended for an adult audience.

The Olde Brick Theater can seat 60 people, Riebe said. “And we’re asking audience members to be masked. If they can show a vaccine card they can get a discount.”

The show opens at 8 p.m. Oct. 8 and continues through Oct. 17 with shows at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays.

General admission is $15 and students/seniors are $12. To make a reservation, call 570-209-7766 and leave a message.