For the sixth year in a row Cranston’s Epic Theatre is presenting its Summer Spectacular Show featuring over 500 actors and actresses in a series of short plays and monologues written and directed by Kevin Broccoli.

This summer Broccoli has chosen the title “We Might Be Heroes,” using the premise that a race of aliens is about to land on earth and destroy the planet.

“The only thing mankind can do to battle them is to seek out potential superheroes already living among us,” Broccoli said. “As the alien ships close in, humanity grows desperate. Do these heroes exist? How do we find them? And what happens if they don’t want to fight?”

Broccoli is not only a prolific writer, he is a talented and imaginative one. While some of his short pieces are quite profound, others are hilarious. If you don’t like one, wait a few minutes and another one smoothly appears in the small up-close black box theatre.

The amazing task is finding 500 people to perform them. The actors range from veterans like Bob Colonna to many new faces who have been involved in local acting classes.

Every night is different, so you can drop in to the performances and experience a variety of talent. Last Saturday was particularly moving as 11 pieces were performed using 18 actors, including 2nd Story’s Lynne Collinson and her two young granddaughters making their theatre debut. The entire program runs about an hour and a quarter.

Broccoli also uses actors with disabilities, but you wouldn’t know it with their ability to deliver a winning performance.

You can catch one or more performances through July 25 at Artists’ Exchange, 50 Rolfe Square in Cranston. For more information or reservations, go to www.epictheatre.org.