Tickets Now On Sale for Florida Rep's New Play Festival, Running 5/1-4

Florida Repertory Theatre has announced that tickets are now on sale for its 1st Annual PlayLab Festival, an intensive weekend of readings that showcases new voices in American Theatre, and allows playwrights to develop work in a safe creative environment.

Running May 1-4 in the Historic Arcade and the ArtStage Studio Theatre, tickets are $10 per reading or $35 for an All-Access Pass.

As part of its initiative to develop new plays and nurture playwrights in its ensemble of theatre artists, Florida Rep's 1st Annual PlayLab features readings of four new plays from four award-winning playwrights, a workshop of Journey to Oz by Christopher Parks, commissioned specially for Florida Rep's Children's Theatre Series, and a fully realized production of Heart Song, a new comedy by Stephen Sachs that is now enjoying its Eastern United States premiere at Florida Rep.

Each reading will feature a talk-back and a discussion with the playwrights, directors, and actors, and the audience feedback will guide Florida Rep as it decides which of the four plays it will produce in its 2014-2015 season.

Selected from over a hundred submissions, Florida Rep's festival includes plays by Tony-nominated actor and playwright, Stephen Mo Hanan, who starred in Florida Rep's 2008 production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum; Atlanta-based playwright, librettist, and designer, Daryl Lisa Fazio; prolific playwright, screenwriter, and director, William Missouri Downs; established New York and regional playwright, Bob Clyman; and renowned children's theatre pioneer, Christopher Parks-author of last season's Children's Theatre Series hit, The Odyssey Experience.

The readings will feature work from many of Florida Rep's ensemble of artists, professionals from across the state of Florida, and a number of local actors familiar to Southwest Florida audiences. Directors include Florida Rep Producing Artistic Director, Robert Cacioppo; Florida Rep Associate Director, Jason Parrish; ensemble member, Greg Longenhagen; FGCU theatre professor, Barry Cavin; and Theatre Conspiracy Artistic Director, Bill Taylor.

FLORIDA REP'S PLAYLAB FESTIVAL
Visit FloridaRep.org for more detailed descriptions.

In the Historic Arcade Theatre

RAINBOW'S RETURN
by Tony Nominee, Stephen Mo Hanan
Directed by Robert Cacioppo
An insightful and delightful comedy set in 1984 San Francisco where aging hippies confront a changing world and where flower-power transforms a dysfunctional family.
»In the Historic Arcade Theatre • May 4 at 5pm

SPLIT IN THREE
by Daryl Lisa Fazio
Directed by Greg Longenhagen
A moving, intimate, and beautiful story of sisterhood that unfolds against the backdrop of the segregated South. It is rural Mississippi in 1969, a place where separation begets isolation and where difference turns out to be a saving grace.
»In the Historic Arcade Theatre • May 3 at 5pm

In the ArtStage Studio Theatre

JOURNEY TO OZ
by Christopher Parks
Commissioned for Florida Rep's Children's Theatre Series
Directed by Jason Parrish
An exciting, interactive retelling of the world's most beloved folk tale, L. Frank Baum classic The Wonderful Wizard of Oz! Audiences will EXPERIENCE Dorothy's epic journey home like never before!
»In the ArtStage Studio Theatre • May 1 at 8pm & May 3 at 2pm

MR. PERFECT
by William Missouri Downs
Directed by Bill Taylor
Mr. Perfect is a romantic comedy about a quirky flight attendant, Zooey, looking for love in all the wrong places...and altitudes.
»In the ArtStage Studio Theatre • May 2 at 2pm & May 3 at 8pm

THE EXCEPTIONALS
by Bob Clyman
Directed by Barry Cavin
A smart and compelling exploration of parenthood in a new millennium that asks where you draw the line between eugenics and opportunity.
»In the ArtStage Studio Theatre • May 2 at 8pm & May 4 at 2pm

Tickets are now on sale through the box office at 239-332-4488 and online at floridarep.org. Single tickets are priced at $10 per show or $35 for the 5-Reading All-Access Pass.

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