AboutFACE Ireland Announce Selected Plays For 8th Annual NEWvember New Plays Festival

AboutFACE Ireland have announced the final selections for the 2019 NEWvember New Plays Festival Dublin - a showcase of original plays to be held cross-city at two venues, Smock Alley in the city centre and the Civic in Tallaght, November 1-3 2019. The announcement was made by AboutFACE Co-Artistic Directors Anna Nugent and Paul Nugent. NEWvember Dublin will feature these works over a three-day weekend, presented via rehearsed readings. After 5 years of NEWvember Festivals in New York, this is the 3rd year the event will be held in Dublin. The spirit of NEWvember is to provide a dynamic, interactive and welcoming place where writers can hear their plays read by seasoned actors, and discuss their work and creative process. It was also announced that many of this year's playwrights will be in attendance, and will take part in post show Q&As, including writers travelling from the US. Additionally, this year's festival will feature for the first time a playwrights roundtable discussion, mixing emerging writers with established playwrights.

The NEWvember Dublin 2019 plays are:

The Paper Hangers by Emily Brauer Rogers

Me isn't feeling quite right about her new baby and the expectations around motherhood, but is sure this trip away to the countryside with her husband will sort all that out. That is, until her mother comes along too ... and magical things start happening to the house, in this beautiful and haunting tale of recovering from trauma, adapted from the short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

Cast includes Megan Day, Patrick de Montfort, Lizzy Morrissey, Anna Nugent, Paul Nugent & Fiona Rose Stout, directed by Yvonne Ussher.

- Friday 1st November at 3pm at Smock Alley Boy's School

I Poured the Tea by Nicholas Makin

Seamus and Boxer seem to have it made, on their paid-for holiday in the tropics ... until their island starts to feel a bit deserted and rather dangerous; meanwhile over in the Chairman's office of an investment bank, Dickie Fitzsimons is feeling the heat and seeking to pass the buck, in this fast-moving comedy of the blame game and the financial crisis.

Cast includes Gerry Cannon, Tim Casey, Laurence Lowry, Michael Mullen, Eoin O'Sullivan & Yvonne Ussher, directed by Kathleen Warner Yeates.

- Friday 1st November at 7pm at Smock Alley Boy's School + post-show Q&A with the writer

Telemachus Unbound: A New American Myth by Ned Dougherty

Telemachus has waited all his life to meet his father, but now Odysseus is back home, he's struggling to live up to his dad's demands at Camp Olympus for Those Who Aspire to Be Men - and his mum Penelope seems lost in her gardening. Luckily Athena and Poseidon are here to help - in the form of two fast-talking girls with tricks up their sleeves, in this playful and imaginative story capturing fathers and sons, the roles of masculinity, and what happens when a god comes down a slide?

Cast includes Megan Day, Patrick de Montfort, Kit Geraghty, Anna Nugent, Maureen O'Connell & Mark Tankersley, directed by Paul Nugent.

- Saturday 2nd November at 3pm at Smock Alley Boy's School + post-show Q&A with the writer

Bloodshed, Screaming and Monsters by Aidan Parkinson

Kevin returns home to Dublin having lost everything, but with a family like his, what can save him? This powerful and funny state-of-the-nation play, brimming with song, heartbreak, poetry and laughter, features a cast of unforgettable characters and asks big questions about what makes us Irish - the drink, the craic, emigration, words, and the meaning of family.

Cast includes Stephen Gorman, Lizzy Morrissey, Paul Nugent, Gerry O'Brien, Caitriona Pattison, Fiana Toibin & Yvonne Ussher, directed by Anna Nugent.

- Saturday 2nd November at 7pm at Smock Alley Boy's School + post-show Q&A with the writer

Playwrights Roundtable (free entry)

A panel discussion with a group of playwrights, discussing their writing life, the process of creating a play and what playwrights need. Featuring a mix of established writers including Gary Duggan, Deirdre Kinahan and Adam Wyeth, as well as a number of this year's NEWvember playwrights, in conversation with dramaturg Krystal Sweedman and AboutFACE Co-Artistic Director Paul Nugent.

- Sunday 3rd November at 12 noon at Civic

Development Spotlight Presentation:

Looking at the Sun by Emily Bohannon

Ron just loves summer vacation and is so excited to have his family and friends at his beach house. But his overworked wife just wants to sleep, his kids don't want to hear his stories, the Joneses are searching for a swinger, Vaughn is wrapped up in his imaginary girlfriend, and can anyone even understand the two Australians next door? A playful and moving comedy of love, longing, loneliness - and not getting candy floss.

Cast includes Alan Buckley, Ciaran McGlynn, Tara McKeever, Sean McManus, Declan Mills, Caoimhe Mulcahy, Anna Nugent, Paul Nugent, Matthew O'Donnell & Kathleen Warner Yeates, directed by Eric Weitz.

- Sunday 3rd November at 3pm at Civic + post-show Q&A with the writer

Tickets are available now from Smock Alley and the Civic.

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