San Diego REP to Present HEAR U.S. NOW New Play Festival

San Diego Repertory Theatre (San Diego REP) announced the details of a new online festival running November 12-14, 2021. The San Diego REP Hear U.S. Now New Play Festival features readings of commissioned plays that provoke contemporary conversations. The new festival will showcase brand new plays from four playwrights: Boni B. Alvarez, Jason Grasl, Nambi E. Kelley, and Giovanni Ortega. Top directors from around the nation will also join these writers. Those directors for each play are: Elizabeth Frances for The Normal Force, Margo Hall for American History X (Working Title), May Adrales for Duty Free, and Jesca Prudencio for The Butterfly of Chula Vista.

In 2020, San Diego REP commissioned and developed plays from writers who identify as Black, Indigenous, People of Color and/or LGBTQIA+ through the Hear U.S. Now Commission program, funded in part by the Leon and Margo Embry Fund for New American Plays as well as a National New Play Network Commission (for Nambi E. Kelley's play).

"I am honored to have led our development process as a sort of creative midwife, supporting the initial vision each writer had for crafting a provocative story that speaks to where we are today," says San Diego REP Associate Artistic Director and Literary Manager Danielle Ward. "The breadth of themes explored in this collective of writers is a beautiful illustration of the diversity of perspectives within a given race or culture that makes up America. This is exactly why we created the Hear U.S. Now commission program in the first place."

San Diego REP's Hear U.S. Now New Play Festival will be held November 12-14, 2021. Festival passes are available at pay-what-you-can prices at https://www.sdrep.org/hearusnow or 619.544.1000.