City Theatre Announces THE 2023 MOMENTUM FESTIVAL OF NEW PLAYS, May 18- 21

City Theatre has announced the 2023 Momentum Festival: New Plays at Different Stages (Momentum '23). To be held in-person on its South Side campus from May 18 - 21, 2023, the festival features public readings of three new plays in progress as well as a documentary featuring City Theatre.

The festival overlaps the final week of the mainstage production, American Fast by Kareem Fahmy, an NNPN Rolling World Premiere.

"The Momentum festival is one of our favorite times of the year at City Theatre", said Monteze Freeland, City Theatre Co-Artistic Director. "We have the pleasure of inviting you into the exploration of new works in their various stages of development. This year we are excited to introduce the wildly imaginative Inda Craig- Galván to Pittsburgh audiences, in addition to welcoming back Tami Dixon, Martin Giles, as well as a documentary highlighting the making of Sharon Washington's 2016 play Feeding The Dragon. Spend the weekend on the South Side this spring and enjoy three staged readings, a community story circle, and for something new: a movie!"

The festival opens with a one-man show, Bar Jokes Tales, written and performed by Martin Giles, directed by Marc Masterson. Giles's piece Whispers of Heavenly Death was part of City Theatre's "Spotlight" performances in collaboration with City of Asylum in the summer of 2021.

Inda Craig-Galván's Berth Breach, Breach Birth, directed by Kyle Haden, follows a pregnant large animal vet, as she connects with one of her pregnant patients.

The festival will also feature a screening of the documentary, When My Sleeping Dragon Woke ("Best Documentary Feature," Heartland International Film Festival), directed by Chuck Schultz and co-directed by Judah-Lev Dickstein with Executive Producers Colman Domingo and Raúl Domingo Edith Productions. This behind-the-scenes documentary follows Sharon Washington as she brings her original, world premiere play Feeding the Dragon to life at City Theatre (2016-2017 season).

Closing out the festival will be a workshop of Tami Dixon's South Side Stories Revisited in anticipation of the 2024 production at City Theatre. The reading will include an excerpt from the 2014 script as well as an interactive opportunity for audience members to share their own South Side experiences.

All readings are free and open to the public. Registration is required as space is limited. To register visit CityTheatreCompany.org or call the Box Office at 412.431.CITY (2489).

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