Long Beach Playhouse New Works Festival 2024 Winners Revealed

This year, the Long Beach Playhouse will celebrate its 34th New Works Festival, a national competition for plays which have never been produced. Scripts are submitted and read by members of the New Works committee. The committee ultimately selects two plays which are presented as staged readings. There is one local winner from California, and a non-local winner with no location restrictions. 

This year’s staged readings will be presented on March 29 and 30. Following the readings, a moderated talkback session allows the audience to ask questions of the actors, director, and if attending, the playwright. The winners also receive a written critique from Cecilia Fannon, a professional theater critic. Playwrights receive a copy of the recorded reading and a $100 cash prize. 

This year, the non-local winner is If I Could Turn Back Time by Gerry Rodriguez. It will be presented on Friday, March 29. The local winner is First Aid by Jeff Kaufman, and it will be presented on Saturday, March 30. 

If I Coud Turn Back Time is a story of a family brought together by the need to plan a funeral for the unexpected death of their daughter and their reaction to their non-gender conforming son’s life as Sharona, their chosen drag persona. It’s both funny and heart-wrenching as the family grapples with its own history, biases, expectations, and ultimately acceptance. 

First Aid imagines Pat Nixon, having run away from her husband on the eve of the 1968 presidential election, hiding in a Missouri motel. When she encounters Cat, a young African-American woman, the two find themselves baring their souls and hatching a plan to escape their situations. Their plan falls apart when Nixon campaign operatives knock on the door.

“We receive as many as 100 submissions from playwrights each year,” said Carmen Tunis, New Works Committee Co-Chair of the Long Beach Playhouse. 



Co-Chair, Roxanne Martinez, adds “We are honored to read their plays and appreciate the willingness of the authors to put forth their work for our review.”

“Because these plays are performed as readings, the focus is on the words and inflection. The audience pays attention in a different way because there’s nothing to distract from the script,” said Madison Mooney, Long Beach Playhouse Executive Director. 

“One of the most important things we can do is encourage playwrights. New Works exemplifies what it means to be a community theater,” said Sean Gray, Artistic Director for the Playhouse. “I encourage the public to watch. It’s a chance to see something new and actually participate in the dialogue about the plays.” 

Thanks to a generous sponsorship by the Port of Long Beach this event will be free for all of the community. Reservations can be made online at www.lbplayhouse.org or by calling or visiting the Playhouse box office.

For more information on the New Works Festival events go to www.lbplayhouse.org and click on New Works Festival.

The Long Beach Playhouse is located at 5021 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach, CA, 90804, directly across from the Recreation Park golf course. The Playhouse is community-supported theatre with programs and events that cut across age, gender, ethnic, and cultural boundaries.

For more information or to reserve tickets visit LBPlayhouse.org or call 562-494-1014

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