Downtown Urban Theater Festival Announces 2014 Season Finalists

In spring 2014, the Downtown Urban Theater Festival (DUTF) will return for a much-anticipated 12th annual season and from 140 submissions, DUTF has narrowed it down to 29 finalists. The decisions were extremely difficult due to the amazing plays received from gifted emerging writers who hail from across the U.S. and internationally from Canada, Egypt, Iran, Israel, United Kingdom, Rio de Janeiro and Romania.

After four weeks of review by the DUTF team and Artistic Director Reg E. Gaines, Tony-nominated for Bring in da Noise Bring in da Funk, the finalists (in no particular order) are:

DOMESTIC CATEGORY

Rock Wilk (Brooklyn Quartet)

Aaron Leventman (The Wrong Dr. Harold)

Royal Shiree (Clippings)

Eugenie Carabatsos (Lost Satellites)

Nia Witherspoon (Messiah Complex)

Claire Tran (Grandma Kim vs. America)

Adam Esquenazi Douglas (Forever 27)

Marlo Camillo Valentine (Dominoes at Ivettes)

Eugene Lee (Lyin' Ass)

Irene Hernandez (Gee, Thanks)

Gustav Gauntlett (Hoops)

Gina Femia (Five Sided Truths)

Jamal Williams (Toadstool Tea)

Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai (Formosa)

Cornelius Fortune (Dislocations)

Marsha Estell (In Search of a Love Supreme)

Roxie Perkins (Caylee's Big Show)

Javier Reyes (Toy Soldiez)

Adrina Smith (The Dark Nights of Lady Day)

Christina Quintana (Blank Canvas)

Fabio Costoprado (Deceiving)

Anne Fox (Lesbians On Mars)

Marya Sea Kaminski (Women at The Well)

Marcus Yi (The Procedure)

Mary Webb (Love At Home)

INTERNATIONAL CATEGORY

Paul Cosma/ Romania (Two of Us)

Altenir Jose Silva/ Brazil (The Idea)

Michael Hess/ Canada (Tigers in Love)

Chris Purnell/ United Kingdom (Back Home)

In the coming weeks, the finalists will participate in one-on-one interviews and in December the 16 plays accepted into DUTF 2014 will the announced.

In 2001, DUTF was founded with the purpose to build a repertoire of new American theatre that echoes the true spirit of urban life and speaks to a whole new generation whose lives defy categorizing along conventional lines. That purpose has been realized many times over, as more than 100 writers have created and refined their work for the stage and thousands of inspired audience members have applauded their performances. DUTF inaugurated the festival in 2002 at HERE in SoHo to help revitalize the NYC downtown arts scene, which, at the time, was experiencing a severe downturn due to the WTC disaster. It has been recognized as "one of the world's best festivals for new works" and described as "not only prestigious, but a slice of heaven for playwrights who want the chance to freely express themselves." (Lisa Mulcahy, Theater Festivals, Allworth Press, 2005)

Visit DUTF online at www.facebook.com/pages/Downtown-Urban-Theater-Festival/152194641470752, www.twitter.com/DUTFNYC andhttps://www.youtube.com/dutfnyc.