Actors Theatre Of Louisville Announces The 44th Humana Festival Of New American Plays

The future of American theatre is in Louisville! Actors Theatre of Louisville and Artistic Director Robert Barry Fleming proudly announce the lineup for the 44th Humana Festival of New American Plays. The upcoming Festival marks Fleming's first at the helm of Actors Theatre, the nation's leading incubator for new play development. A cultural highlight for theatre lovers, artists and producers across the country, the Humana Festival runs March 1 through April 12, 2020 in Louisville.

The 44th Festival program will feature five world premieres, listed in order of first performance:

· Are You There? by Vivian Barnes, Jonathan Norton and Gab Reisman

· Nicole Clark is Having a Baby by Morgan Gould

· Where the Mountain Meets the Sea by Jeff Augustin

· FLEX by Candrice Jones

· Grace by Nolan Williams, Jr.

IMPACT

The upcoming Humana Festival marks Actors Theatre Artistic Director Robert Barry Fleming's inaugural season. Fleming joined Actors Theatre in June. He shared,

"The Humana Festival of New American Plays is at the center of the genesis of the new play movement in our country. While it is with a heavy heart we face our first Humana Festival of New American Plays without our ardent Actors Theatre of Louisville friend and supporter David Jones, Sr., we are confident the brilliance of the fresh voices included in this slate of theatrical experiences will honor his legacy of inclusive support and patronage of diverse voices. That kind of generosity helps Actors Theatre realize a collective vision of work that makes meaningful space for transcendent creative expression. Great art can catalyze a spirit of resilience, transformation and even liberation. Through theatre making, Actors aspires to that kind of substantive social impact as a hallmark of what we do."

By investing in the future of playwriting, Actors Theatre makes a significant impact not only on The National Theatre canon but also on the economic prosperity and cultural vibrancy of Louisville. The 2019 Humana Festival was attended by more than 38,000 people, with visitors from 41 states and 52 colleges and universities represented in the audience.

For over four decades, Actors Theatre of Louisville has been a driving force in new play development, introducing more than 450 plays into the American theatre repertoire and representing the work of more than 400 playwrights and ensembles. The internationally acclaimed Humana Festival is recognized as a crucial incubator for new work and a launchpad for myriad subsequent productions around the country and the world. Plays that have recently premiered at Actors Theatre-including Liliana Padilla's How to Defend Yourself, Molly Smith Metzler's Cry it Out, Leah Nanako Winkler's God Said This, Jen Silverman's The Roommate, Lucas Hnath's The Christians and The Thin Place, and Colman Domingo's Dot-have continued to be produced on stages far and wide.

Actors Theatre celebrates the 44th Humana Festival with underwriter the Humana Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Humana, Inc. Additional support is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust.

Editor: The involvement of the Humana Foundation in the Humana Festival of New American Plays is very important to us. We would greatly appreciate inclusion of its participation in your coverage. The Humana Festival represents the largest and longest-running active partnership between a corporation and a theatre in the United States.

This year's lineup of plays will be performed in rotating repertory in three theatres located in Actors Theatre's downtown Louisville complex: the 633-seat Pamela Brown Auditorium, 318-seat Bingham Theatre and 159-seat Victor Jory Theatre. The 2020 Humana Festival schedule also offers a weekend of enrichment events for college students and features special weekend packages for theatre lovers and practitioners alike. These weekends are packed with discussions, networking opportunities and parties, making Louisville an exciting destination for the American theatre this spring.

Weekend packages for the 2020 Humana Festival of New American Plays are now on sale. Single tickets go on sale January 6, 2020. For more information, please visit ActorsTheatre.org or call our Box Office at 502.584.1205.

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