Zoetic Stage Launches the Finstrom Festival of New Works

Zoetic Stage, the multi-award-winning professional theatre based at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Downtown Miami, presents the inaugural Finstrom Festival of New Work.

This three-week festival will be the culmination of a national playwriting contest in which three finalists will have their plays workshopped and presented as staged readings. The event will take place during late Spring or early Summer 2021. Based on COVID-19 restrictions and guidelines, the event will take place at the Adrienne Arsht Center or presented virtually on social media. The company has officially opened a call for submissions.

Zoetic Stage Artistic Director Stuart Meltzer and Festival Coordinator Kent Chambers-Wilson will oversee all aspects of the program. Each of the winning plays will receive a one-week workshop, utilizing the talents of South Florida directors, actors and dramaturgs.

"It has always been a dream of the Zoetic Stage founders to build a new play festival. This year presented the perfect opportunity to bring this dream to fruition", says Meltzer. "I am equally excited to welcome Kent Chambers-Wilson as Festival Coordinator. His passion for new work and his theatre background make him a perfect partner for an endeavor like this."

The festival is named after beloved South Florida playwright and arts patron Tony Finstrom, who was a long-time Carbonell Award judge and founder of the Silver Palm Awards. The
author of numerous plays, Finstrom was the recipient of various honors including the Charlie Cinnamon Award and the South Florida Theatre League's Remy Pioneer Award. Mr. Finstrom passed away in December 2018.

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oetic Stage was founded in 2010 by Stuart Meltzer, Michael McKeever, Christopher Demos-Brown, Stephanie Demos-Brown and Kerry Shiller to create fresh, bold interpretations of contemporary plays and musicals. The company is dedicated to enhancing South Florida's national artistic profile by producing regional premieres and developing new works to become part of the American stage repertoire.

Zoetic Stage was named the Best Theater Company of 2020 by the Miami New Times and has received 120 Carbonell Award nominations for theater excellence, winning 41 - including 6 awards for Best New Work and 4 awards for Best Production of a Play or Musical. Zoetic Stage productions have received 28 Silver Palm Awards for Outstanding Achievement.

Since its inception, Zoetic Stage has developed and/or premiered work which has gone on to win prestigious national awards or has been produced throughout the country and beyond. Including American Son by Christopher Demos-Brown, which was presented at the Booth Theatre on Broadway, and After by Michael McKeever which was presented Off-Broadway at 59E59.

Zoetic Stage is a Member of the National New Play Network, Florida Professional Theatres Association and the South Florida Theater League.