You might want to ready your standing-o face for another round of “Theatregasm.”

Now in its sixth year, “Theatregasm = 6,” is a festival featuring short plays written by local artists and produced by local directors and actors. It opens at 8 p.m. Friday at Theatre ‘d Art’s downtown theater.

The festival showcases 11 works that range from funny to dramatic to just plain weird. Artistic director Brian Mann promises this year’s festival will offer nothing short of the “unexpected.” 

“Come with an open mind,” Mann says.

Founded in 2003, Theatre d’Art specializes in avante-garde theater. Its mission, the website says, is to bring Colorado Springs a selection of “bold and engaging productions you can’t see anywhere else.”

Theatregasm works are submitted by local playwrights, including veteran writers such as Jeff Keele and Phil Ginsburg. Newbie Meg Hodorovitch will open the festival with her work, “Through the Eyes of the Director.”

Hodorovitch first experienced Theatregasm as a member of the audience.

“I’ve been to every Theatregasm since the first one,” Hodorovitch says. “The fourth was the first I acted in and the fifth was the first time my work was shown.  What I love about it is how it’s so different every year.

So what’s different about this year?

“We’ve traditionally had a good deal of comedy,” says Mann, this year, we’ve infused some meaty, intellectual stuff into the mix.”

Mann says much of that change is a reflection of what artists submitted this year. Short plays typically lend themselves to comedy, so it’s no surprise previous years lineups have predominantly featured all things funny. Works from artists this year were richer in depth.

“There’s a great variety of themes and each of the 11 plays is unique, but compared to previous years, there’s a less comedic focus. We’ve introduced some thought-provoking pieces.”