Black Box Play Festival at The Gallery Players

Week One: Jan. 25 – 28, 2024

• The Constancy of Home
  Playwright, Jeff Carter
  Director, Brendan Clifford

  When a college student takes his girlfriend home to meet his parents, a sense of surreal confusion begins to set in almost immediately. Has the sameness of modern suburban life become so acute that no one knows precisely who’s who anymore?

• The Trouble with Peaches
  Playwright, Johanna Beale Keller
  Director, Thomas Netter

  Ruth has finally met the man of her dreams, Samir, and brought him to meet her diverse family of beloved cousins at their annual beach vacation in Galveston, Texas. This is a fast-paced farce about love, diversity, and misunderstandings of family traditions.

• When the Lilacs are in Bloom
  Playwright, Melanie Garber-Letitia
  Director, Laura Livingston

  When the Lilacs are in Bloom is a story about intergenerational trauma, finding healing where you can, and creating the life you want to lead regardless of how loud the naysayers can be – even if those naysayers are your own parents.

Week Two: Feb. 1 – 4, 2024

• Curtain Call
  Playwright, Alan Brooks
  Director, Trent Dawson

  Awakening backstage with a play in progress, a man is horrified to find that everyone expects him to go out on stage and be the lead.

• Ten Weeks
  Playwright, Rachel Leopold
  Director, Gabrielle Giacomo

  On the eve of Jo’s maternity leave, her colleagues at Lotus Creative gather to send her off with a surprise baby shower. As the women sip spiked seltzer and discuss the realities of working motherhood and the ways in which motherhood may or may not change them, the long-simmering competition between Jo and her protégé, Anna, is finally laid bare.

• Secondhand Smoke
  Playwright, Constance Humphrey Egan
  Director, Dominic Cuskern

  A powerful attorney dying from cancer tries desperately to retain control and dignity, while the people around her attempt to be of assistance. Secondhand Smoke examines the multi-generational impact of the collateral damage people inflict when they try to control the people around them, even if the motivation for that control is well-intentioned.