Yale School of Drama Presents Carlotta Festival, May 11-20

The Yale School of Drama, under the leadership of James Bundy, Dean, and Victoria Nolan, Deputy Dean, will present the Carlotta Festival of New Plays, May 11 – 20. The festival, which features two fully produced, full-length plays as well as a workshop performance of eight one-act plays, is a showcase for works by Yale School of Drama playwrights in productions directed, designed, acted, and managed by students. The productions will rotate in repertory at the New Theater (1156 Chapel Street, between York and Park Streets).
 
"Though only in its second year, the Carlotta Festival already feels like a fixture on the New Haven arts scene," states Playwriting Department Chair Richard Nelson in press notes. "Here is a celebration not only of the thrilling talents of our emerging playwrights, but of all the wonderfully talented artists who make the Carlotta such a joyous event.  The playwriting faculty of the Drama School--John Guare, Lisa Kron, Tina Landau, Lindsay Law, Lynn Nottage, Rebecca Rugg, Derek Walcott, and myself--is pleased to invite you to see our students work and to share the excitement we feel for these gifted young artists."
 
The Wendy Play, a comedy by Amy Herzog featuring thirteen theater students from ACES Educational Center for the Arts, "tells of a young woman who takes a summer job teaching theatre at a high school arts conservatory, where she writes a play for the students to perform.  When Wendy's provocative twist on A Midsummer Night's Dream brings her up against petty politics and neurotic colleagues, she digs in her heels to defend teenage curiosity.  Wendy quickly discovers that although she may be the teacher, she has a lot to learn." Kara-Lynn Vaeni directs."
 
Marcus, or The Secret of Sweet, by Tarell Alvin McCraney, "is a soulful and funny coming-of-age story set in a small urban enclave on a Louisiana bayou.  Marcus is a teenaged boy whose mother wishes he would remain a child; his friends are bewildered by his attraction to men; and life for Marcus is not so sweet.  Beset by desire, insecurity, fear, and love, Marcus also finds himself bedeviled by ghosts and visions from African myth rising from the bayou waters." Jessi D. Hill directs.
 
Speaking Our Mind is made up of one-act plays by Mattie Brickman, Lauren Feldman, John Fisher, Dorothy Fortenberry, Amy Herzog, Matt Moses, Gonzalo Rodriguez Risco, and Jennifer Tuckett.  Inspired by the autobiographical performance art of Yale School of Drama teacher Lisa Kron, these eight Yale playwrights bring a wide range of personal stories to the stage. 
 
A pass to all three Carlotta Festival events is $45; $30 for students and seniors with I.D.  Tickets to individual events are $18; $12 for students and seniors. To purchase a pass or single tickets, call (203) 432-1234 or visit yalerep.edu/drama.

Photo of Lisa Kron by Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.