The New Voices New Works Series is an opportunity for playwrights to bring their works to life, get feedback, and refine their work. The benefits are: Staging new works: Playwrights get to see their work on stage, even in a reading format, it is incredibly valuable for the playwright. It allows them to see how their ideas translate to a live audience and make adjustments accordingly. Collaboration with professionals: Playwrights get to work with other professionals in the industry and can help the playwright learn from their experiences, gain new insights, and improve their craft.
Audience feedback and engagement: The open exchange of thoughts and ideas with audiences can be incredibly valuable for the playwright. It allows them to gauge how their work is received, understand what resonates with audiences, and make informed decisions about future development. The New Voices New Works serves as an incubator for dramatic works, which is essential for nurturing creativity and innovation in the theatrical arts. By providing a platform for new and developing works, our program helps to foster a culture of experimentation and risk-taking, which can lead to the creation of groundbreaking and impactful performances. This is an umbrella for a three-step program that assists playwrights with progressing their works from page to stage.
Stage #1 – New Voices New Works: Act One – On three consecutive Mondays, a total of nine 10-minute plays of which three different plays will be read each Monday. This year’s theme is, “love makes you do right, or do wrong”, based on the popular song by Al Green, Love and Happiness.
Stage #2 – New Voices New Works: First Look – These plays come from two different sources. The first source is from the above mentioned, 10-minute play series. We will choose 2 or 3 plays from the above 9 plays read, and based on audience feedback, we will invite the playwrights to embellish their script, and create a 45-60-90 play. This is based on their writing skill level. We will work with each playwright to get them to this next level. Once the play has become a full one-act play, or possibly two-acts, we will then hire a director and actors and present a “first look” at how the new material is received. The second source for “First Look” plays are those from community members whose plays have had traditional readings, and are now put “up on their feet” (with or without scripts-in-hand) and treated as full productions. These plays may also be introduced as ready for production, but have not been seen in public. This gives the playwright an opportunity to see their final product in front of a live audience, which is the true test of quality theater.
Stage #3 – New Voices New Works: Final Act – Final Act is when we take the final “First Looks” and bring it to our main stage. At this stage the “First Looks” have gone through all edits and final touches are made. At this time, the production is in its final stage and will be scheduled for our community to see.
PROGRAMMING
2023 – Act One: Our Ten Minute Play Festival
2024 – Act One: Our Ten Minute Play Festival
