The Long Beach Playhouse will kick off its 28th annual New Works Festival (NWF) in its Studio Theatre on Friday, March 23.
New Works is a national competition for plays that have never been produced. A call for scripts is made, and playwrights submit their works to the Playhouse. The New Works committee reads all of the submissions and chooses the two plays it thinks have the best chance to go on to full productions, according to the Playhouse.
“We receive as many as 100 submissions from playwrights each year,” said Madison Mooney, executive director of the Long Beach Playhouse. “We are honored to read their plays and appreciate the willingness of the authors to put forth their work for our review.”
This year’s winners are Happy Thanksgiving by Tim Boland and Men Overboard by Rich Orloff. The former imagines holiday conversations by family members who did and did not vote for Donald Trump. Men Overboard observes a family preparing for a boy’s bar mitzvah.
The two staged readings will take place on March 23 and 24, with one script performed each night. Following the presentation, a facilitated discussion will take place with the audience. This year, two theater professionals, Cecilia Fannon and Lorin Howard, are providing written critiques to the two winning authors.
“Because these plays are performed as readings, the focus is on the words and inflection,” said Laura Clagett, co-chair of the New Works committee. “The audience pays attention in a different way because there’s nothing to distract from the script.”
Playhouse board member and New Works co-chair Anna Kate Mohler said, “The feedback and discussion between the actors, director and audience can be lively and thought-provoking. It’s a chance for the audience to see the artistic process from many perspectives. We are pleased that Tim Boland is expected to attend the performance. Unfortunately, our other author had previous commitments but looks forward to hearing about the reading of his play and receiving the feedback from Fannon and Howard.”
New Works productions include formal auditions for the roles, and actors have been cast for each play. Happy Thanksgiving, which is directed by Sheridan Cole, features Jack Murphy, Susan Stangl, Holland Renton, Lawrence Ingalls, Ellen Beiser and Prince Johnson. Men Overboard, directed by Reed Flores, includes Joshua Johnson, Michael Kaye, Jaxson Brashier, Russell Malang, Caitlin Barry and Gary Douglas in its cast.
“One of the most important things we can do is encourage playwrights. New Works exemplifies what it means to be a community theater,” said Sean Gray, artistic director for the Playhouse. “I encourage the public to attend. It’s a chance to see something new and actually participate in the dialogue about the plays.”
Tickets for the shows are $10 and can be purchased online at lbplayhouse.org or in person at the box office or before the show. The box office is open Wednesday through Saturday from 3pm to 8pm and Sundays from 1pm to 2pm for scheduled matinees. The Long Beach Playhouse is located at 5021 E. Anaheim St. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit lbplayhouse.org or call (562) 494-1014.
Source: LB Playhouse
