Last Year’s Patrons’ Pick winner: “Fiction” by Steven Dietz. (Photo provided — Burdette Parks)

SARANAC LAKE — For the past two years, the show that kicks off the season at the Pendragon Theatre has been selected by popular vote.

Anyone who would like to weigh in can drop by the theater at 15 Brandy Brook in Saranac Lake at 7 p.m. this Saturday for the Patrons’ Pick Play Readings and listen to actors read scenes from three plays. At the end of the evening, the audience members will vote for their favorite play.

“In the past we’ve read the whole play,” Executive Artistic Director Karen Lordi-Kirkham said from her office at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where she is a theater professor. “That was a big-time commitment.”

According to the Pendragon’s managing director, Tara Palen, the change was made “so people would be curious and interested to try more — a vertical tasting, if you will.” The actors reading scenes this year include Tyler Nye, Donna Moschek, Dylan Van Cott, Nina Scheuer, Leslie Dame, Fran Yardley, Nick Attanasio and Keith Tanner.

Lordi-Kirkham collects suggestions from Pendragon patrons in a very casual manner. People suggest plays that they would like the company to perform at fundraising events or after performances. The idea to allow patrons to vote on what play should open the season just “popped into my head,” said Lordi-Kirkham. She hadn’t heard of this being done by other theater companies. She took over as artistic director five years ago after working regularly as a director of Pendragon productions for about 20 years.

Lordi-Kirkham decided to democratize the process because “people get excited when their play is selected. They feel like they’ve been heard.” From the many suggestions she receives, she reduces it down to five or six plays. She uses several criteria, including her own aesthetic, whether a play captures the cultural moment, and also whether she thinks her company can bring it off well. Some musicals, for example, are too elaborate for Pendragon to stage; they won’t fit in the theater’s space.

This Saturday, Pendragon actors will read scenes from Sam Shepard’s “True West,” Jordan Harrison’s “Marjorie Prime” and Norm Foster’s “The Love Lost.” Last Saturday, patrons listened to selections from Lucy Prebble’s “The Effect,” Stef Smith’s “The Girl in the Machine” and Nick Payne’s “Constellation.”

“You also don’t have to attend to vote for your favorite,” said Palen. “This way our audiences who are not around this time of year can still have a say in the process. But for our patrons who can attend, they get a nice chance to see a preview of the options firsthand, and it’s free. The concept has become a bigger hit each year, and last year the votes were coming in on email faster than I could open them!”

The first show of the season is staged in June. It is therefore very much for a local audience. The summer tourist season is not yet in full swing, the whole Pendragon team has not quite assembled and the sets are necessarily simpler. Last year the Patron’s Pick was “Fiction” by Steven Dietz, and in the inaugural year Yasmina Reza’s “Art” got the most votes.

You are not required to attend the readings to vote. Votes should be sent to tara@pendragontheatre.org. More information can be found at www.pendragontheatre.org or by calling the box office at 518-891-1854.

The Pendragon’s holiday production, “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” opens on Dec. 9.