Pride Films and Plays' 5th Annual Great Gay Play and Musical Contest Reveals Finalists

Pride Films and Plays has for the last five years celebrated unique voices in the annual Great Gay Play And Musical Contest. And the finalists for 2015 once again represent the best and brightest in 'What's New And What's Next' in LGBT Theater. Enhanced staged readings of the four new plays and one new musical will be held May 15 to 17 at Center on Halsted's Hoover-Leppen Theatre.

The five finalists for the weekend are:

At A Certain Age by Steve Shade
below by Samantha Charlip
Family Holiday by DC Cathro
Pen, a musical by Leo Schwartz and DC Cathro
Safe by Donna Hoke

(Please note the below is not capitalized.)

The schedule for the weekend is:

Friday, May 15 at 7:00 At A Certain Age
Saturday, May 16 at 2:00 Safe
Saturday, May 16 at 7:00 Pen
Sunday, May 17 at 2:00 below
Sunday, May 17 at 5:00 Family Holiday

Tickets for all performances are $10 and can be purchased starting February 15 atwww.brownpapertickets.com, or 1 800 838 3006.

Here are synopses of the works and author bios:

At A Certain Age

by Steve Shade

At A Certain Age, a play in 8 scenes, explores the shifting dynamics in gay male relationships from teenage to senior years, addressing identity crises and life passages instigated by coming out; companionship and bonding; independence and control; coupling and uncoupling; marriage and family; aging and the contemplation of solitary life.

Steve Shade has directed/devised over 70 productions with an eye towards Shakespeare/classical texts and new work/adaptation. In addition to his produced plays/adaptations, he has been a professor at several Southern California colleges, authored well over a dozen guides on a range of classical/contemporary plays, and recent work includes teaching/directing incarcerated youth in the Gateway Program of the juvenile justice system.

below by Samantha Charlip

The lives of two heroin addicts living below an overpass are thrown into disarray when a letter reveals one of them has a daughter who is getting married.

Samantha Charlip is an NY-based playwright and MFA recipient of NYU Tisch's Dramatic Writing Program. Plays include: Futurama (Finalist: O'Neill, Source Festival, Ingram Lab, Athe Award; Semifinalist: Shakespeare's Sister Fellowship, Princess Grace Fellowship, Nominations: Kennedy Center) and below (Semifinalist: O'Neill). Samantha was awarded Tisch's Full Tuition Departmental Fellowship.

Family Holiday by DC Cathro

RJ goes home for the holidays and a nice relaxing time with his parents, sister, nana and best friend. They, however, have other plans. Secrets are revealed and RJ is stuck in the middle of this fast-paced holiday farce for modern times.

DC Cathro is a playwright, actor and director in the DC metropolitan area. His playCommemorative Edition received a reading in PFP's The Sochi Plays and his play Limitswas selected as part of the Kennedy Center Page-to-Stage series with The Theatre Alliance in Washington, DC.

Pen, a musical by Leo Schwartz and DC Cathro

Unhappy from a recent breakup and looking for a distraction, Paul starts corresponding with a pen pal in another state. Soon, what began as an innocent flirtation evolves into an emotional attachment that neither of them expected. The problem? Paul's pen pal is a prisoner, incarcerated for 13 more years.

DC Cathro is a playwright, actor and director in the DC metropolitan area. His plays have received readings in Chicago, Maryland and Washington, DC.

Leo Schwartz is a winner of numerous awards including a Jeff. He is a multi-faceted composer, lyricist, and book writer. To hear his works visit www.leoschwartz.com

Safe by Donna Hoke

In 2011, a young gay teen hangs himself--but the events leading to the suicide began decades before, in 1986, when bullies tormented Nancy and her closeted best friend. Twenty-five years later, the cycle continues when Nancy is confronted by another bully--her son.

Donna Hoke is an award-winning playwright (Seeds, Safe, The Couple Next Door) with well over 100 productions in 27 states and on five continents. She's also an NYT-published crossword puzzle constructor, Western New York Dramatists Guild rep, founder/co-curator of BUA Takes 10: GLBT Short Stories, and three-year Buffalo's Best Writer (Artvoice).

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