Kennedy Center Presents the 10th Annual Page-to-Stage New Play Fest
By: Gabrielle Sierra Aug. 24, 2011
The Kennedy Center hosts its 10th annual Page-to-Stage new play festival from Saturday, September 3, 2011 to Monday, September 5, 2011, featuring more than 40 theaters from the D.C. metropolitan area, all with a mission to produce and support new work. The three-day, Center-wide event offers a series of free readings and open rehearsals of plays and musicals being developed by local, regional, and national playwrights, librettists, and composers. A performance calendar appears on the following pages. The comprehensive list of participating theaters includes:
ABG Playwrights
AccokeekCreek Theatreco
Adventure Theatre
American Century Theater
American Ensemble Theater
Arts on the Horizon
Baltimore Playwrights
Bowie State University
Bright Alchemy Theatre
Catholic University
The Essential Theatre
Faction of Fools
First Draft at Charter Theater
Force/Collision
The Georgetown Theatre Company
Georgetown University Performance Studies Program
Georgetown University Theatre
Horizons Theatre
The Hub Theatre
The Inkwell
Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival
Kennedy Center Theater for Young Audiences
Molotov Theatre Group
My Creative Spirit
National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts
No Rules Theatre Company
Open Circle
The Playwright Zone
Playwrights Group of Baltimore
Quotidian Theatre Company
Safe Streets Arts Foundation
Scena Theatre
Seventh Street Playhouse
Signature Theatre
Studio Theater
Synetic Theater
Theater J
Timeless Visual Works
Wandering Souls
Welders Theatre
WSC Avant Bard
PERFORMANCE CALENDAR*
*Schedule and artists subject to change without notice
MILLENNIUM STAGE SOUTH
Catholic University: Life Is But A Dream and The Outcasts of Poker Flat,
1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Life Is But A Dream takes us back into the world created by Lewis Carroll with him in the lead. We meet up with Alice, but something about her is not the same. As Lewis delves further into Wonderland, more and more of his creations have been twisted by someone else's will. When he can stand it no longer, he is forced to confront Alice about the strange happenings and learns a scary truth about his precious creation and himself. This one-act musical is still a work in progress in fulfillment of Andrew Morrissey's Master's Thesis at Catholic University.
Arts on the Horizon: Drumming with Dishes, 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Written by David Kilpatrick and directed by Jennifer Furlong, Drumming with Dishes is about an adventurous toddler who introduces her imaginary friend to a very special kitchen, where instead of food, they cook up beautiful music. This gentle, whimsical adventure celebrates turning the ordinary into the extraordinary. Pasta box shakers and dishes drumming away with spoons are some of the friendly surprises that encourage a child's sense of play. And as the heroine empowers her timid friend to create music, we discover what wonders can be accomplished when we all work together. An interactive, non-verbal show, which features two adult actors and a musician, this production is geared towards children ages 2-5.
8:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Written by Charles Huckelbury, Tyler Budde, Michael Edwards, M. W. Estes, and Jordyn Cahill, the reading of Gumbo is directed by Tyler Budde. Set in New Orleans during hurricane Katrina, this musical drama is about an elderly woman with a death wish, and a drug-addicted looter who accommodates her. Was it compassionate assisted suicide or cold blooded murder? Please note that this piece contains adult content/language.Written by Robert Johnson, Victor Hassine, and Ania Dobrzanska and directed by Tyler Budde, Settling Scores is a comedy about a man who tattles on others to get himself off the hook for a minor drug rap. He is reluctant at first to cooperate with an ambitious prosecutor, believing that the drug war is nonsense for interfering with the rights of consenting adults. But then he realizes that here is his chance to make up lies about his enemies. Please note that this piece contains adult content/language. Written by Philip Sullivan and directed by Dennis Sobin, Elvis Returns from Prison is a musical with the premise that Elvis Presley has not been dead since the 1970s, but in prison. The secret is now out with his quiet release. A full explanation is given and sung of how he landed there, why he failed to get "good time" credits while in prison due to his rebellious attitude, and what he intends to do to get his career back on track.SOUTH ATRIUM FOYER The Essential Theatre: Bad Medicine, 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Written by Barbara K. Asare Bediako and directed by Letricia Hendrix, Bad Medicine is a dramatic exploration of women's medicine, holistic healing, and traditional spiritual healing practices and how they exist within the sphere of western pharmaceutical treatment paralleled with other cultures.Baltimore Playwrights Festival, 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Featuring seven new works by Maryland playwrights. Works include The Sculptress by Marilyn Millstone, Web of Deceit by Colin Riley, Self, Inc. by J-F Bibeau, Unraveled on the Gravel - a new musical by Keven Kostic, Abraham & Isaac by Steve Schulze, Asking Questions by Nancy Murray, and Zulu Fits by Alonzo LaMont. The Hub Theatre: Clara's Little Questions, 7:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Written by Helen Pafumi and directed by Jeremy Skidmore, Clara's Little Questions is a dark, comedic look about how terrifying our children can be. Lydia has just found out some scary, tricky news. Now she has to figure out how to tell her daughter Clara, and her new boyfriend, James. Clara's million little questions keep Lydia from ever being able to think straight and if she does not move fast her carefully constructed world could shatter. Please note that this piece contains adult content/language.NORTH ATRIUM FOYER Timeless Visual Works: The Mommy Miniya & Me Show: My Diary Series,
1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
The Mommy Miniya & Me Show is a series of original family stage plays and musicals starring and based on the lives of the creator, writer, director, producer, teacher, preacher, and mother Ollie L. Jefferson and her daughters Nailah and Miniya. Nailah considers writing a series of plays with "Mommy, Miniya, & Me." Mommy discovers her daughters' talents and suggest they coordinate a dance with their favorite song. The only problem is both girls have their own personal styles, ideas, agendas, likes, and dislikes. Can they work as a team or will sibling rivalry get the better of them? It may take some neighborly advice for these two sisters to unify. The shows provide audiences, from pre-K to seniors, an opportunity to enjoy inspiring and enlightening scene samples for the entire family. Bright Alchemy Theatre: When the Stars Go Out, 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Written by Stephen Spotswood and directed by Jay Brock, When the Stars Go Out tells the story of Naomi, a lead scientist at the nation's largest observatory, who is having the most stressful day of her life. She's seven months pregnant; her husband is an astronaut on a two-year mission to The Edge of the solar system and doesn't know he's going to be a father; and she's burying a best friend for the second time. As her mind conjures a litany of worst-case scenarios that could befall her husband in the depths of space, she comes face to face with the question of whether she can have this child on her own and whether she wants to be a mother at all. Please note that this piece contains adult content/language. Molotov Theatre Group: A Very Grand Guignol Christmas Carol, 7:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Written by Shawn Northrip and directed by Lucas Maloney, A Very Grand Guignol Christmas Carol is a blood-and-guts adaptation of Dickens's classic tale of holiday loneliness and spiritual redemption. Please note that this piece contains adult content/language.
TERRACE GALLERY
ABG Playwrights: A Natural History of My Husband's Cars, 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Written by Nicole Burton and Jim Landry and directed by Nicole Burton, A Natural History of My Husband's Cars is a multimedia performance. From the ‘61 Mercury station wagon to the ‘72 Oldsmobile to the ‘90 Plymouth Laser, take a ride through one man's automotive life and times.
Written by Mario Baldessari and Chris Stezin and directed by Leslie A. Kobylinski, BEST MEN is a comedy about estranged friends who are reunited under unexpected circumstances. Please note that this piece contains adult content/language. The Georgetown Theatre Company: A to Z, 7:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Written by Monica Raymond and directed by Emily Jablonski, A to Z follows the relationship between Annie and Zafiya over the span of 40 years, from 1968 to 2008. In 1968 at the age of 18, the two meet while Annie tutors Zafiya in reading at a juvenile detention center. Their lives couldn't be more different-Annie is a freshman at a prestigious college, while Zafiya is incarcerated. Through the first act, their relationship ebbs and flows, through Annie's increasing political awareness, her involvement with Zafiya's activist brother Tyrone, and Zafiya's escape from the center. When they reconnect 25 years later, the dynamic has changed-and each has information the other needs about Tyrone's death. Please note that this piece contains adult content/language.FAMILY THEATER
Kennedy Center Theater for Young Audiences: The Man of the House,
4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Written by and starring David Gonzalez, The Man of the House is about a boy's search for his long-lost father that leads to unexpected discoveries about Cuba, the CIA, and the hidden story of his own family. Join award-winning storyteller David Gonzalez as he shares a brand new solo piece in development as part of KCTYA's HERITAGE PROJECT. For ages nine and up.
Seventh Street Playhouse: Lincoln and God, 4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Written and directed by Anthony E. Gallo, Lincoln and God is a two-act drama that examines the sixteenth President's conflict with men and God through defeats, triumphs, and tragedies during the Civil War. Did he hear God in the dialogue, actions, and words of wife Mary, the Reverend Phineas Gurley, friends, colleagues, and enemies? Abraham Lincoln is the only American President who did not claim church membership. What was his relationship with God? Was he an American Moses? Or was he an American Herod? A lively discussion will follow the reading.
Throughout the summer, five individuals in care at Saint Elizabeths Hospital located in Southeast D.C. participated in a playwriting class each developing their own short play on themes of recovery, overcoming adversity, and hope. Directed by Andy Wassenich and Elissa Goetschius, Reflections: Plays from St. Elizabeth's Hospital uses local actors to bring their plays to life. The play will tour in the fall for free to local organizations/communities where there is limited access to the arts. There will be a brief Q & A following the reading. My Creative Spirit: That Colorblind Kind of Love, 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Written by Rebekah Pierce and directed by Shanea Taylor, That Colorblind Kind of Love is about Sampson and his slave Twyla who are kindred spirits that have loved and searched for one another for more than a century. Twyla and Sampson are forbidden to love - the slave and master - and after being forced to abandon their love over the course of 150 years, their souls are finally reconnected in the present. But is love truly color blind in this so-called post-race era? Please note that this piece contains adult content/language.The Playwright Zone: KarlMarx.com, 7:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Written by John Becker and directed by Brad Porter, KarlMarx.com is about Ella Kennedy, a grad student struggling to finish her dissertation on Karl Marx's suicidal daughter, whose bad life choices eerily parallel Ella's. She takes a job with an ironically termed think tank, whose sole client is a shady Russian group that wants her to sell Karl Marx umbrellas and coffee cups. KarlMarx.com is an original hybrid of love story, history lesson, and comedy. Please note that this piece contains adult content/language. REHEARSAL ROOM #3American Ensemble Theater: Closing Time, 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Jennifer's Bar and Grill is a New York City way-station where up-and-comers like Bruce Willis bide their time before finding stardom. Written by Martin Blank and directed by Tom Prewitt, Closing Time is about an obsessively honest bartender and actor, Dylan Holden. Possibly near his big break, with the love of his life by his side, Dylan wants the deceitful manager he claims assaulted him fired. In one night, he must decide how much he's willing to lie to keep his dreams alive or lose them forever. Please note that this piece contains adult content/language.Catholic University of America (MFA Playwrights): Four One-Act Plays and Saints and Lovers, 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Catholic University of America presents four new one-act plays by MFA playwrights Frank Disalvo, Rachel Barclay, Kat White, and Matthew Smith. Written by Rachel Barclay and directed by Rachel Burkhardt, Saints and Lovers is about Katherine who worries that she is in over her head when her grandmother announces that Saint Paul is coming in eight minutes to take her dying soul.Playwrights Group of Baltimore: The BaltiVORE Plays, 7:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Written and directed by various members of the Playwrights Group of Baltimore, The BaltiVORE Plays are a series of ten-minute plays inspired by Baltimore's culinary delights. Start with a crabcake, throw in a Berger cookie or two, sprinkle on some Old Bay, and serve with a sno-ball, a lemon stick, and some Utz chips. You'll feast on Baltimore foods (well, vicariously) as the playwrights address the human condition using some of Charm City's favorite
edibles as inspiration.Sunday, September 4, 2011MILLENNIUM STAGE NORTH
Faction of Fools: Carlo vs Carlo, 6:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Written by Aaron Cromie and directed by Eva Wilhelm, Carlo vs Carlo is a witty, comedic battle of the Italian Carlos (Carlo Goldoni and Carlo Gozzi) for their audiences' affections and for a place in the history of great Italian theater. The piece explores the entertaining history of Commedia dell'arte and its eventual conversion to a more modern theatrical form. Please note that this piece contains adult content/language.
Horizons Theatre: Vanishing Point, 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Written by Australian novelist and poet Jeri Kroll in collaboration with adapter and director Leslie Jacobson, Vanishing Point is adapted from the verse novel of the same name and explores the descent into illness (anorexia) of a young Australian woman, responding to the stress of life in a dysfunctional family. The play follows her journey towards healing and wholeness through the positive influences of some individuals in her life, including a horse trainer, a therapist, and an elderly female patient. The language of the piece is filled with evocative images and the story offers interesting and unexpected opportunities for movement. Please note that this piece contains adult content/language.
Written by Allyson Currin and directed by Jessica Lefkow, Caesar and Dada explores what happens when Shakespeare's Julius Caesar collides with radical art in 1919 Zurich. WSC Avant Bard is formerly known as Washington Shakespeare Company. Please note this piece contains adult content/language.No Rules Theatre Company: Peter Pan: The Boy who Hated Mothers, 7:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Written and directed by Michael Lluberes, Peter Pan: The Boy who Hated Mothers is a fantastical exploration of the fears of growing up and the power of the human imagination. Michael Lluberes's visceral new adaptation works from the original source materials to craft a darker, scarier, and more dimensional version of Peter Pan for modern audiences of all ages to enjoy. MILLENNIUM STAGE NORTH
Signature Theatre: American Musical Voices Project Repertory, 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Hear selections from world premiere musicals The Boy Detective Fails by Joe Meno and Adam Gwon and The Hollow by Hunter Foster and Matt Conner, currently running in repertory at Signature Theatre.
AccokeekCreek Theatreco: Well-Laundered Plays, 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Directed by Bob Bartlett, AccokeekCreek presents six new short plays by three D.C. and three U.K. playwrights set in Laundromats. Please note that these pieces contain adult content/language.
Compiled, adapted, and directed by, and starring Steve LaRocque, Byline: Ernie Pyle is a one-man show based on dispatches written by World War II correspondent Ernie Pyle. It begins and ends with thoughts about what happens to ordinary citizens when they go to war, and the chances for returning to normal lives. In between are stories about the Americans who came from every walk of life to serve as infantrymen, combat engineers, nurses, cooks, and sailors, and how they got through each day of the war, with determination, fear, ingenuity, boredom, and humor. Many of the stories include vivid sketches of everyday Americans (always identified in Ernie Pyle's dispatches by name and home address) fighting the greatest war in history. The locale moves from England to North Africa, Sicily, and finally to Normandy for D-Day, as Ernie Pyle sent his dispatches six times a week, reporting from Navy ships, Army jeeps, field hospitals, command posts, and foxholes.Scena Theatre: Albert Nobbs, 7:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Written by Robert McNamara and directed by Maria Benson, Albert Nobbs is set in a large Dublin hotel called Morrison's Hotel. Albert Nobbs is the perfect waiter. He never drinks and never flirts with the maids, but he has a secret. Albert is a "she"-a woman who has dressed as a man to avoid poverty and harassment. Now she is trapped in her guise as the part of a man. One night at Morrison's Hotel she has to share her bed with another "man," Hubert Page. To her chagrin, she discovers that Hubert is a woman! Hubert is married to a woman and leads a harmonious life. Albert is indeed inspired by this turn of events and falls in love with a chambermaid, Helen Dawes, only to meet a tragic end.NORTH ATRIUM FOYER
The Inkwell: Playwrights' Showcase: Twisted Obsessions and You for Me for You,
1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Playwrights' Showcase: Twisted Obsessions is a selection of three new plays by exciting, emerging American Playwrights: Where the Wangdoodle Sings, Lake Undersee, and (Don't) Look at Me.
Written by Randy Baker and directed by Jessica Burgess, Circus of Angels is about a deranged ringmaster who has brought together a group of disparate criminals to create a circus-like performance of Paradise Lost. As in Milton's poem, a revolution among the prisoners is imminent and it will begin with one dangerously persuasive angel. Please note that this piece contains adult content/language.REHEARSAL ROOM #1American Century Theater: Love Brothers Serenade, 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Written by Jacqueline E. Lawton and directed by Paige Hernandez with dramaturgy by Otis Ramsey-Zoe, the hip hop-infused drama Love Brothers Serenade follows Reynaldo and Ricardo as they struggle for survival and fight to forge their own identities in D.C.'s inner city ghettos. As these young men come of age, they find comfort, security, and family in the street gangs, drug deals, and violence that surrounds them. Adapted from Giuseppe Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera, this play investigates the honor code, loyalty, and rites of passage at the heart of this volatile community. Love Brothers Serenade reveals that the bond of brotherhood has just as much strength to unite as it does to destroy. Please note that this piece contains adult content/language.Georgetown University Theatre, Performance Studies Program, and Welders Theatre:
Tree House, 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Written by Joshua Goode and directed by Joanna Ruf, Tree House is about a husband and wife steeped in domestic turmoil who are shocked to find a budding tree growing between the floorboards in the middle of their bedroom. The tree grows with reckless abandon and forces the couple to confront the demons of their relationship. Loosely inspired by the writings of philosopher Judith Thompson, Tree House employs magical realism to explore the many questions and emotions surrounding loyalty, trust, and the right to and responsibility of choice. Please note that this piece contains adult content/language.New Playwrights' Slam, 7:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Short selections from new work by D.C. area playwrights. Featured playwrights include Bret Abelman, Rich Amada, Audrey Cefaly, Will Mallon, Catherine O'Connor, Gwydion Suilebhan, Patricia Wakely-Wolf, Mary Watters, among otheres. The Slam Acting Company will be led by Woolly Mammoth Company member Mitchell Hebert.REHEARSAL ROOM #3Theater J: The Religion Thing, 3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Written by Renee Calarco and directed by Joe Calarco, The Religion Thing is about Mo and Brian, a picture-perfect D.C. couple. Mo and Brian are smart, witty, and have a beautifully remodeled kitchen. But when Mo's best friend Patti announces she's found Jesus and is putting her own career on hold, Mo must take a closer look at the harder truths surrounding her own marriage. The Religion Thing is a brand new comedy about relationships, faith, ghosts in the closet, and the fine line between compromise and regret. Please note that this piece contains adult content/language. Catholic University: Blinky's Jubilee, 7:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Written and directed by Katherine White, Blinky's Jubilee is about two teenage girls who struggle with the effects of their mother's alcoholism and the prospect of becoming just like her. Please note that this piece contains adult content/language.
TERRACE GALLERY
Marco Ramirez, Studio Theatre, Open Circle, KCACTF, 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
A Million Billion Thunders at 1:00 p.m. and Sex on Wheels at 2:30 p.m.
Bowie State University: Salvation Road, 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.Written by DW Gregory and directed by Bob Bartlett, Salvation Road is about a cynical teenager who is forced to reconsider his philosophy of detachment when his sister disappears into a religious cult. Please note that this piece contains adult content/language.Force/Collision: What a Stranger May Know (a Virginia Tech Memorial),
7:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Written by Erik Ehn and directed by John Moletress, What a Stranger May Know (a Virginia Tech Memorial) is a play cycle that commemorates the Virginia Tech massacre of April 16, 2007 with 32 plays, one for each of the victims. The cycle is currently being written, has never been given a reading, and is planning a nationwide collegiate production of all 32 plays happening on April 16, 2012. Please note that this piece contains adult content/language.FAMILY THEATER Angel Polar Bear, LLC w/ Metro Stage: Kris Kringle, 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
With book by Maria Ciampi and music and lyrics by Angelo Natalie, Kris Kringle is directed by Andy Wassenich and is about a talented young dreamer of a toymaker, Kris Kringle, who has a curse on his family name that prevents him from ever working at the North Pole. It's the busiest year ever at the North Pole with the Nice List at an all-time high. Santa is stressed and he governs the North Pole with rules aplenty. Santa banished Kris Kringle's grandfather from the North Pole and cursed his descendants when he tried to make the Elves' Workshop into a place of profit. In their scheme to ruin Christmas at the North Pole and boost sales, evil doll manufacturer Roy G. Reedy and his associate Ms. Horn dupe Kris into believing that the curse has been lifted and send him off to the North Pole to become an elf. When he arrives, Kris, ever the idealist, breaks all the rules and sets the North Pole on its ear. Once the curse takes effect, chaos reigns and Christmas is put in jeopardy. The settling of an old family feud is now crucial in order to save the day. A holiday musical for all ages, Kris Kringle is a story of reconciliation, forgiveness, and the joy of giving.Adventure Theatre: Five Little Monkeys, 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Directed by Karin Abromaitis, Five Little Monkeys is adapted by Ernie Nolan, based on the children's books by Eileen Christelow. Going shopping...baking cakes...sitting in trees...JUMPING ON BEDS! In this zany play, all in cumulative verse, five silly simian siblings insist on doing things their own way and-heedless of admonitions-much more monkey mayhem ensues. And maybe a call from a doctor.
Synetic Theater: Speak No More: The Silent Shakespeare Festival, 7:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Synetic Theater will present selections from its upcoming productions in Speak No More: The Silent Shakespeare Festival. Synetic's ensemble of performers will begin with a brief warm-up with selected movements from their training program in Synetic's unique style of physical theater followed by scenes from their award-winning productions of Macbeth, Othello, and Romeo and Juliet. A brief Q&A period will follow for the audience to speak with the casts and the creative team about how the company develops its silent works.TICKET INFORMATION
Page-to-Stage is free and open to the public. No tickets required. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Seating is limited and subject to availability. Doors open 30 minutes prior to the start of each performance. There is no free parking for free events.FUNDING CREDITS
Page-to-Stage is made possible by The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation and is funded in part by the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the ArtsFor more information about the Kennedy Center, please visit www.kennedy-center.org
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