Moonbox Productions Presents 2nd Annual BOSTON NEW WORKS FESTIVAL, June 22-25

Moonbox Productions has announced its 2nd Annual Boston New Works Festival taking place June 22nd - June 25th at the Calderwood Pavilion and the Boston Center for the Arts.

The Boston New Works Festival is a weekend long festival celebrating new original plays by local playwrights. The seven original plays selected for this year's festival will be performed on five different stages at the Calderwood Pavilion and the Boston Center for the Arts on Thursday, June 22nd (7:30pm - 9:30pm), Friday, June 23rd (8pm - 10:30pm), Saturday, June 24th (2pm - 10:30pm), and Sunday, June 25th (2pm - 10pm). Tickets are $25 per show and are available at bostontheatrescene.com or by calling 617-933-8600. Pay what you can tickets are available at the box office. For a complete list of show dates and times go to moonboxproductions.org.

Moonbox's request for submissions garnered a broad assortment of musicals and plays from very talented playwrights in the Boston area. From the over 50 submissions, Moonbox's diverse panel of judges chose seven original theatrical pieces for this year's festival. This year's festival includes three musicals and four original plays.

"Seven original plays, performed on 5 different stages over the course of four days, I can't tell you how thrilled we are to be hosting this event again," said Producer Sharman Altshuler. "Moonbox has always sought to staff and cast our shows exclusively from the local Boston community, and to be able to extend that commitment now to the support and showcasing of local playwrights and theater-creators is deeply exciting and gratifying! The Boston area is teeming with creative talent, and this Festival creates a fun, accessible, welcoming, and exciting event that all communities in the greater Boston area and beyond can participate in and enjoy together," said Altshuler.

Selected playwrights and plays for the 2023 Boston New Works Festival include:

Ken Green - The F&L at 1330

The Plaza Black Box Theatre

Friday, June 23rd - 8pm

Saturday, June 24th - 5pm & 8pm

Sunday, June 25th - 6pm

The F&L at 1330 is a play that looks at gentrification of a dive bar on Chicago's Near North Side through the eyes of the owners. Carla and Bernardo are the brother-and-sister owners of Fernando and Lalo's, a bar started by their father and uncle. It's been in its location at 1330 N. Larrabee Street since the 1970s. But as the neighborhood goes "upscale," a bar like the F&L becomes a relic on valuable land. With city government and developers circling, Carla and Bernardo also confront family issues that force them to decide whether it's worth it to fight "progress."

David Reiffel - Glory

The Plaza Theatre

Friday, June 23rd - 8pm

Saturday, June 24th - 3pm & 8pm

Sunday, June 25th - 3pm

Glory is an original musical that probes today's volatile mix of politics, power, community, and religion.

In a small town, a local church sees a threat in a billboard across the road. The billboard suggests God might not exist, and the congregation has appealed to a nationally known Christian Dominionist preacher and his wife, Glory, for help. But when Glory has a strange encounter with Victor, a homeless man on a quest of his own, her world is shaken. As battle lines are drawn, Glory must choose which is more sacred: her faith, or the truth.

Erin Davis - honeyhole

The Wimberly Theatre

Saturday, June 24th - 2pm & 6pm

Sunday, June 25th - 3pm & 7pm

In the hot, sweaty heat of one southern summer; Lou, a young queer beauty queen, meets Ellis, the new girl in town. In this original play, Lou begins to realize that the thing her mama has always thought would be her ticket to a bigger life outside of a few-stoplight-gossipy-sorta-town, might just be the thing that's holding her back from becoming who she is, who she wants to be, and what she dreams of doing: hiking the Appalachian Trail like her father once did. honeyhole follows Lou's journey with self-realization, first love, and allowing herself to be seen.

Regie Gibson - The Juke

Roberts Studio Theatre

Thursday, June 22nd - 7:30pm

Saturday, June 24th - 6pm

Sunday, June 25th - 3pm & 7pm

In this musical, a young pastor, from a long line of pastors has inherited a church and the leadership of the town of Crossroads. But, a charismatic stranger comes to town with a power that threatens to destabilize everything. The Juke: A Blues Bacchae uses elements of the Euripidean tragedy to explore African-American family, music, history, and spirituality.

Gabriela Tovar - La Lengua No Tiene Hueso

Deane Hall

Friday, June 23rd - 8pm

Saturday, June 24th - 2pm

Sunday, June 25th - 2pm & 5pm

La Lengua No Tiene Hueso is a play about a Latinx family experiencing important historical events related to Latinx/Hispanic culture and community. La Lengua No Tiene Hueso or the Tongue Has No Bone, is based on a Latinx proverb. The tongue has no bone, but it cuts the deepest, and through the deepest things. La lengua no tiene hueso, pero corta lo más grueso. A family of four, mama, papa, hija, and hijo, use pieces of media, literature, and conversation to explore 10 moments of latino history. As they take us on this journey, they beg to ask the questions; who is the American dream for? Does it matter what language we tell our stories in? And how does this country treat nuestro pueblo today?

Angele Maraj & Brianna Pierre - Once Upon a Carnival

The Plaza Theatre

Thursday, June 22nd - 7:30pm

Sunday, June 25th - 7pm

Once Upon a Carnival is an original musical set in the Caribbean nation of Trinidad & Tobago. When 16-year-old Bhavan is forced to move from New York City to his mother's home country of Trinidad after his father's death, he is faced with the task of overcoming grief and accepting his identity through a magical quest in the mythological bush land. Set to a vibrant score infused with chutney, soca and calypso sounds, Bhavan's adventure will test his and the audience's notions of grief, identity and found family while exploring the magical world of Trinidad at Carnival time.

Sophie Kim - SWAN

Deane Hall

Thursday, June 22nd - 7:30pm

Saturday, June 24th - 5:30pm & 8:30pm

Sunday, June 25th - 8pm

If you had to give up everything you knew, everyone you loved, to be something you didn't understand...would you? SWAN

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