Tag: African-American Collective Theater

Alan Sharpe on making Black LGBTQ+ theater against the odds

How can a Washington, DC, theater group exist for three decades, and yet practically no one has ever heard of them?

That’s a question playwright Alan Sharpe gets asked a lot — one he also asks himself a lot — so it’s not surprising that he has accumulated more than a few answers. Sharpe is the founding artistic director of African-American Collective Theater (ACT), which celebrates its 30th anniversary with a return to live public performance on Sunday, May 29, 2022.

Featured plays in ‘In the Flesh’ (clockwise from top left): Antwain Cook-Foreman and Zukeh Freeman in’ Bad Date’; Abbey Asare-Bediako, Adrianne Foster, and Ashley Nicole Lyles in ‘A Visit to the Ladies Room’; Moses Princien and Ameirah Neal in ‘After Ours’; Gregory Ford and Larry Hull in ‘One Day in the Park.’

In the Flesh — the vehicle for that return — is a reader’s theater–style program of short, original, LGBTQ+-themed plays written and directed by Sharpe. It’s the latest installment in a series of performances that began back in 1992, inspired by the previous year’s first DC Black Pride Festival. ACT’s annual “DC Black Pride Weekend LGBTQ+ Theater Showcase” has since become a spring tradition on the last Sunday in May — during both DC Black Pride weekend and Memorial Day weekend — for residents and visitors to the District alike.

Those origins probably suggest some of the answers to the question of ACT’s relative obscurity, despite a clear, unwavering identity and mission.

“First of all,” Sharpe speculates, “we are not a theater company per se. I am a struggling playwright who simply wanted to have his work seen before audiences. There has never been any particular interest in my plays among producers and/or theater companies, but being an acknowledged theater geek, I am blessed to have a large pool of friends who were actors. The one quality they all shared in addition to talent was generosity. So whenever I put out a call to see my work performed, they answered that call and brought my efforts to life.

“ACT has no board, no by-laws, no

Alan Sharpe

consistent performing space, no nonprofit status, and frequently no funding,” Sharpe continues. “But year-in and year-out, those friends have gathered to rehearse and perform — not just during DC Black Pride weekend but throughout the year. And although DC has always been ACT’s primary base, they’ve also performed in New York, Philly, Baltimore, Louisville, and Atlanta.”

Any funding has come from ticket sales, the occasional playwrighting grant, and Sharpe’s own threadbare pockets. Those minimal resources inevitably led to a signature barebones style that focused audience attention on the scripts and the talented performers. Ironically, these very qualities helped develop the flexibility that enabled ACT to endure for three decades and survive when, as with so many other artists, the COVID-19 pandemic forced ACT to pivot to virtual presentations.

But in-person performances before a live audience are where the magic of theater really occurs. If mainstream theater institutions have remained basically unimpressed and indifferent, ACT audiences have always been enthusiastic and responsive. “Perhaps, I’m like Tyler Perry, in terms of audience loyalty,” Sharpe jokes. “But without the charisma and business sense.”

Still, regardless of popularity, readings aren’t traditionally reviewed, certainly garner no awards, and minimal production values do not attract much attention in the face of the dazzling stagings DC theater is justifiably known for. “Quite frankly, what we do is probably not considered very theatrical,” Sharpe admits.

“As a writer, I’m just an old-fashioned storyteller, whose style remains rooted in traditions of the ’50s, ’60s, and early ’70s. I’m more interested in human interaction than in developing new forms and blazing unique stylistic trails. Obviously, theater has moved on. What’s fresh, exciting, and popular onstage now…is not what I do.

“In addition,” Sharpe laughs. “We are a niche of a niche of a niche. Our focus has always been the lives, loves, challenges, and triumphs revealed by interactions among LGBTQ+ members of the African American community. Especially early on, that frequently meant the larger Black community and the white gay community took turns being uninterested.

“Nevertheless, 30 years is plenty of time to see things evolve. It’s certainly not lost on me that the three most recent winners of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama have dealt with Black, queer themes [Fat Ham by James Ijames in 2022, The Hot Wing King by Katori Hall in 2021, and A Strange Loop by Michael R. Jackson in 2020]. Here in DC, exciting groups like Brave Soul Collective, Cagedbirds Productions, Breaking Ground, Black in Space, and others are forging new forms and pointing the way toward the future. That’s incredibly exciting, affirming, and — to any small degree that we’ve nurtured, encouraged, and supported the next generation of Black artists making LGBTQ+ theater — incredibly gratifying.”

In the Flesh performs Sunday, May 29, 2022, at 5:00 pm in the First Congregational UCC Church at 945 G Street NW, Washington, DC – conveniently located downtown within a short walking distance from all of the official DC Black Pride Host Hotels, and just steps away from both the Metro Center and Gallery Place Metro stations. Advance tickets ($15) are on sale online.

COVID Safety: Proof of vaccination and mask protocols are mandatory for the performance.

ABOUT ALAN SHARPE

Alan Sharpe began creating LGBTQ-themed projects in 1970, as a freshman film student at Boston University. An on-campus theater company that he co-founded while there eventually evolved into African-American Collective Theater (ACT) after his move to Washington, DC, in 1976.

In the early 90s, African-American Collective Theater revised its original mission from Black theater in general to focus solely on LGBTQ themes and subject matter. In 1993 Sharpe wrote the film Party — an AIDSFilms Production in association with Gay Men of African Descent. Later, he both wrote and directed the serial drama Chump ChangeS — widely acknowledged as one of the first African American web series on the internet. During the subsequent three decades, as an HIV+ artist, he has written and directed over 130 plays and short films — all showcasing the vibrant mosaic of LGBTQ+ life and culture in the Black community.

In addition to fellowships in theater and Larry Neal Awards in dramatic writing from the D.C. Commission of the Arts, Sharpe was selected to participate in the Kennedy Center Playwrights’ Intensive and the Playwrights’ Arena program at Arena Stage. He is also the recipient of awards from the Gay and Lesbian Activists’ Alliance (GLAA), Us Helping Us (UHU), and a Prism Award, for his body of work in support of the African American LGBTQ+ community. In 2012, he was honored to have a Legacy Award named after him by the DC Black Theater Festival. More recently, he became the inaugural recipient of the Alan Sharpe Award, initiated in 2019 by the Center for Black Equity and DC Black Pride Inc. to annually celebrate cultural contributions to the LGBTQ+ Community. In December 2021, he received a Community Pioneer Award from the Rainbow History Project for his pioneering arts work to establish the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer communities of today’s DMV.

Beyond ACT, Sharpe is proud to be a charter member of the Brave Soul Collective (BSC) — for which he has also written an ongoing series of plays — as well as the African-American Playwrights’ Exchange (APEX), Urban Playwrights United (UPU), the NPX New Play Exchange, and the Dramatists’ Guild.

May 27, 2022
2016 ‘Page-to-Stage’ Schedule for September 3-5, 2016 at The Kennedy Center

The 15th Annual Page-to-Stage New Play Festival Schedule

Saturday, September 3 to Monday, September 5, 2016

PERFORMANCE CALENDAR-UPDATED 8/19/16

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2016

11 AM–12:20 PM

ISRAELI LOUNGE

Ally Theatre Company: Clover, written by Laura Rocklyn and Ty Hallmark, directed by Ty Hallmark.

Gilded Age–era Washington socialite Clover Adams strives to remain calm while coping with her beloved father’s death and the possible philandering of her husband. As the story unravels, he discovers darker forces that brew through her family line finally catch Clover in their grasp. Followed by post-performance discussion. Drama. Ages 13 and up.

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11 AM–11:40 AM

MILLENNIUM STAGE NORTH

City Kids Theatre: Cashall Alley Kids Kick It Old School, written by Ray Ficca and Raya Kenney, directed by Ray Ficca.

The kids of Cashell Alley procrastinated on a group project for Ms. Henry’s history class. At the 11th hour a spring thunderstorm knocks out the power (and internet access) in their Georgetown neighborhood and they have to do some real-time history gathering so they don’t fail or miss their championship wiffle ball game! Followed by post-performance discussion. Family. All ages.

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11:30 AM-1 PM

AFRICAN ROOM

Unexpected Stage Company: What Difference Does It Make? Written by Deb Margolin, directed by Christopher Goodrich.

Written by OBIE Award winner and founding member of Split Britches Theater Company Deb Margolin, What Difference Does It Make? is a tragicomic human cartoon located in a telephonocracy—a land where the telephone company’s Board of Directors has created its constitution and rules the world. The main characters, Myrtle and Arnold Schmidt, are struggling to reconcile different views on the importance of their own status as fictional characters, and hence the very meaning of their lives. Followed by post-performance discussion. Comedy. Adults only.

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11:30 AM-12:45 PM

RUSSIAN LOUNGE

Initiative Student Theatre: Question. No Answer, written by Maggie Hirst, Derek Martin, and Hunter Mass, directed by Bonnie Newton, Maggie Hirst and Gabi Wright.

Initiative Student Theatre presents three disquieting one-act plays guaranteed to make you question your ideas about everything from sexual assault on college campuses to coming out and maybe even sexually confident grandmas. Variety. Adults only.

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12 PM-1 PM

SOUTH ATRIUM FOYER

Seventh Street Playhouse: A Musical Medley, written by Anthony E. Gallo & Composed by John Ward, Beatrix Whitehall, Margaret Bagley, Grant Bagley, and directed by Beatrix Whitehall.

A medley of musical pieces from four musicals: Lincoln and God, Vandergrift!, Peggy, and David: The Bluegrass Musical. Followed by post-performance discussion. Musical. All ages.

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12 PM–1:50 PM

TERRACE GALLERY

First Draft at the Rose Theater Company: Ginnungagap, written by Keith Bridges, directed by Leslie Kobylinski.

This exhilarating new play is based on Norse Mythology’s term for the “primordial void,” “the yawning gap” described as the bottomless beginning of the abyss that was all there was prior to the beginning of the cosmos and into which the cosmos will collapse again. The play follows one man’s devastating loss and his struggle to discover the truth about the power of love and human connection. Followed by post-performance discussion. Drama. Ages 13 and up.

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12:30 PM-1:45 PM

ROOF TERRACE RESTAURANT

Strand Theater Company: Exit Pluto, written by Amy Bernstein, directed by Elena Kostakis.

Betty believes that by running her bakery like a fortress constantly under siege, she will stave off what she fears most and understands least: change. But change is a hungry beast, knocking at the door, and not even the fortress can withstand the pounding. Followed by post-performance discussion. Drama. All ages.

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1 PM-2 PM

MILLENNIUM STAGE SOUTH

The Highwood Theatre: The Students’ Arts Collaborative, Developed by students from The Highwood Theatre and Loiederman Middle School for the Creative and Performing Arts.

Students from The Highwood Theatre and Loiederman Middle School for the Creative and Performing Arts present a collection of short scenes, monologues, songs, and previews of the upcoming season. Followed by post-performance discussion. Variety. All ages.

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2 PM–4 PM

FAMILY THEATER

Pallas Theatre Collective: Crazy Mary Lincoln, written by Jan Tranen & Jay Schwandt, directed by Tracey Elaine Chessum

A new musical exploring the First Family following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Mary and Robert Todd grapple with grieving Lincoln and a very new dilemma—does a president belong to the family, or does he belong to the ages? Followed by post-performance discussion. Musical. All ages.

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2:30 PM–3:35 PM

AFRICAN ROOM

The Indian Ocean Theatre Company: A Theist, written and directed by John Sowalsky.

A full-length absurdist comedy which questions the existence of God. The perfect antidote for those who found The God Delusion too strident and God’s Not Dead too trite. There are no easy answers, only cheap laughs. Followed by post-performance discussion. Comedy. All ages.

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2:30 PM-3:45 PM

ROOF TERRACE RESTAURANT

Strand Theater Company: Net Worth, written and directed by Bari Hochwald.

Net Worth takes the audience on a journey of humor, money management and self-reflection as they attend a workshop on personal finances sponsored by the Lions Club of

Cleveland, OH. Moving quickly back and forth between teaching in the present and reliving the memories that each subject evokes, our character finds the strength to declare independence from her “Liabilities” and understand the values of her “Assets.” Followed by post-performance discussion. Comedy. Ages 13 and up.

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2:30 PM–4:30 PM

ISRAELI LOUNGE

Catholic University of America MFA Playwrights: Short pieces by CUA MFA Program Students, written and directed by Rebecca Dzida and Garret Milton.

Myth, Faith, and Folklore: Catholic University’s playwrights tackle subjects from millennials to virgin birth. Variety. Ages 13 and up.

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2:45 PM-4:15 PM

SOUTH ATRIUM FOYER

The Essential Theatre: The Bloodless Jungle, written by Peter Lawson Jones, directed by S. Robert Morgan.

An up-and-coming local politician, Ethan St. John is a sitting President’s handpicked, Skull & Bones Society–style choice to receive national support in a run for Congress. His success would solidify the President’s and his party’s power on the House floor. Will the diligence and dedication that endeared St. John and his wife to his local constituents be enough to sustain him? Will the political machine and unrelenting glare of the media crush his dream? This play offers a compelling lesson for every politician and citizen about the limits of friendship when political stakes are elevated. Considering the heightened rancor that characterizes politics today, the story can be torn from the headlines of any news publication. Followed by post-performance discussion. Drama. Ages 13 and up.

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3 PM-4:15 PM

RUSSIAN LOUNGE

The Kennedy Center’s VSA and Accessibility Program: VSA Playwright Discovery Competition 2016. Written by Lukia Artemakis, Ella Brett-Turner, Sophia DuRose and Kaitlyn O’Malley; Emma Filosa, Elijah Gaines, and Jaleel Lindsay; Andrew Projansky, and Brad Weatherford, directed by Lori Hudson Wolter, Gregg Wiggans, and Kevin Thorne II.

Seven award-winning short plays from high school students across the county written on the theme of living with a disability. Followed by post-performance discussion. Drama. Ages 13 and up.

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3:30 PM-4 PM

MILLENNIUM STAGE NORTH

Words Beats & Life: Flattops and F-words, written by Star Johnson, directed by Desiree Springer.

A love letter to the mothers of Hip Hop, Flattops and F words is a Hip Hop musical that takes us through a day in the life of three young black women in D.C. who meet at a fundraiser for a jailed local activist who is awaiting trial for shooting and killing a police officer. And it’s all set to funky, pulsing, ’90s Hip Hop beats. The show tackles hard questions about women’s place in the Black Lives Matter movement, teeny weeny afros, colorism, and the lack of intersectionality in white feminism (the f word). The action is set to music played by an onstage DJ. Followed by post-performance discussion. Musical. Ages 13 and up.

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4 PM–6 PM

TERRACE GALLERY

Brave Soul Collective: TENFOLD: An Evening of Brave Soul Performances, written by Thembi Duncan, Stanley Z. Freeman, Josette Marina Murray, Jared Shamberger, Alan Sharpe, and Monte J. Wolfe, directed by Thembi Duncan, Josette Marina Murray, Jared Shamberger, Alan Sharpe, and Monte J. Wolfe.

In honor of Brave Soul Collective’s 10-year anniversary as a vital arts, education, and outreach organization dedicated to HIV/AIDS outreach & prevention as well as issues affecting the lives of Black LGBTQ people through the performing and healing arts, this “theatrical mixed bag” of monologues and short scenes focuses on a host of hot button issues, including: HIV/AIDS prevention, homophobia, mental health, relationships, sex, gender identity and racism—all within the scope of life “and…the unknown.” Followed by post-performance discussion. Drama. Adults only.

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4:30 PM–6:30 PM

SOUTH OPERA TIER LOUNGE

The Washington Rogues: Pillowtalk, and other parts of speech, written by Natalie Piegari, directed by Ryan S. Taylor.

Romance in the 21st century is like a game of sexy Tetris. Pillowtalk, and other parts of speech is a series of interconnected comic vignettes following a group of contemporary young people through relationships across the spectrum of gender and sexuality. A comedy about new love, lost love, and love reignited, told in the language created between two people. And sometimes more. Followed by post-performance discussion. Comedy. Adults only.

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5:30 PM–7:30 PM.

AFRICAN ROOM

Unknown Penguin: Anatomy of an Infidelity, written and directed by Patrick Flynn.

Famed British broadcaster and science historian James Burke presents the audience with a test in perception. Ryan Hollander commits an infidelity of unknown severity against his wife Cindy Malatesta with a coworker during a party. We never meet the couple in question or know for certain what happened. Instead we follow two couples who know Ryan and Cindy: Julia and Frank, an unmarried but cohabitating D.C. power-couple and Becca and Amelia, a married “average” couple (Becca’s an assistant, Amelia’s a teacher). The couples all react to the infidelity differently but with a level of moral certainty that is then tested when their significant other does not automatically reinforce their views. Their relationships and views of morality are tested as the characters intertwine and interact. Presented in a Thornton Wilder-meets-BBC documentary style. Followed by post-performance discussion. Drama. Ages 13 and up.

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6 PM-6:50 PM

ROOF TERRACE RESTAURANT

FRESHH Inc. Theatre Company: Name Calling, written by Goldie Patrick, directed by Candis Jones.

What do most girls want to be when they grow up? A lawyer? A teacher? A Goddess?! Name Calling dissects the marginalization of women in their common daily encounters. From grocery shopping to going to work to intimate relationships with lovers, the main character is haunted by the advances, harassment, and stereotypes that plague her. No one seems to know her real name, not even her closest friends. Until the day she can take no more of the rest of the world telling her who she must be, and she must decide how to fight to rename herself. The way she decides to fight surprises everyone, including herself. Followed by post-performance discussion. Drama. Adults only.

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6 PM-7:10 PM

MILLENNIUM STAGE SOUTH

Pinky Swear Productions: Over Her Dead Body, written by John Bavoso, directed by Ryan Maxwell.

Sing a song of murder, forget the lady’s name. Toss her in the water, try not to take the blame. Play a lilting melody on bones and flaxen hair. But they’re awake and coming back for you so gentlemen, beware. Over Her Dead Body: A Bluegrass Benediction comes to you fresh from winning the audience awards for Best Musical and Best Overall Show (out of more than 100 shows) at the 2016 Capital Fringe Festival. Musical. Ages 13 and up.

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6 PM-7:50 PM

RUSSIAN LOUNGE

Tonic Theater Company: Dahlia, written by P. Seth Bauer, directed by Kelsey Phelps.

Based on actual events: Young Josh struggles with the evidence, published by his Uncle Steve, that his Grandfather George Hodel is the murderer in the unsolved Black Dahlia murder case. Followed by post-performance discussion. Drama. Adults only.

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6:30 PM-7:05 PM

SOUTH ATRIUM FOYER

Bucharest Inside the Beltway: Andy Is Missing, written by Star Johnson, directed by Tim Abrams.

After surviving a traumatic incident, Andy becomes an agoraphobic who hasn’t left her home in two years. One day, without telling anyone she steps out of her front door and starts walking and keeps walking, discovering more about herself and what’s become of the world every step of the way. Followed by post-performance discussion. Musical. All ages.

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7:10 PM–8:10 PM

ISRAELI LOUNGE

Rapid Lemon Productions Inc.: The 12th Annual Variations Project, written by D.C. Cathro, Audrey Cefaly, Shelby Chapman, Kevin Costa, Joe Dennison, Kevin Kostic, Michal Roxie Johnson, Justin Lawson Isett, Kimberley Lynne, and Nancy Murray, directed by Lance Bankerd.

The Variations Project—the mid-Atlantic region’s original 10-minute play festival—returns for 2016 with Variations on Blame. Followed by post-performance discussion. Variety. Ages 13 and up.

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7:30 PM-8:50 PM

MILLENNIUM STAGE NORTH

Playwrights Group of Baltimore: USA 2017, written and directed by members of the Playwrights Group of Baltimore.

How will the events of 2016 change us? What will our nation look and feel like next year? We don’t know either, but it’s fun to imagine! The Playwrights Group of Baltimore presents a set of 10-minute play prognostications designed to provoke and delight. Followed by post-performance discussion. Variety. Ages 13 and up.

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7:30 PM-9 PM

SOUTH ATRIUM FOYER

Bucharest Inside the Beltway: Colombo Calling – a play from Sri Lanka, written by Cristina Bejan, directed by Alex Mihali.

Having recently received a Ph.D. from Cambridge, Karthi returns to Colombo for the first time in 22 years. Facing discrimination and racism even as a visitor, Karthi learns what it means to be Tamil in 2006 Sri Lanka. Followed by post-performance discussion. Drama. Ages 13 and up.

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8 PM-10 PM

FAMILY THEATER

Safe Streets Arts Foundation: Holocaust Images and the Poetry, Art and Music of American Prisoners, written by 30 American prisoners, directed by Argentilhia Boechat.

Multimedia presentation showing Holocaust period Jewish family films and Nazi propaganda films while the poetry, art, and music of American prisoners is presented live. Followed by post-performance discussion. Variety. Adults only.

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8 PM-10 PM

TERRACE GALLERY

African-American Collective Theater: More Than a Mouthful, written and directed by Alan Sharpe.

African-American Collective Theater returns, racy as ever, with this tease of its 25th Anniversary Season—another sexy sampler of subversively silly, slyly salacious and even sporadically serious, short plays chronicling life in the black gay community. Followed by post-performance discussion. Drama. Adults only.

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8:30 PM–10 PM

ROOF TERRACE RESTAURANT

Pinky Swear Productions: Mighty Storms, Strange Seas, and the Metro, written by Natalie Piegari, Joan Cummins, and Brittany Alyse Willis.

Samples of three works-in-progress from Pinky Swear Productions’ resident playwrights: Three stories where the everyday rubs up against the supernatural, the sublime, and the surreal. In Safe As Houses, by Natalie Piegari, a violent storm brings more than just wind and rain as a patchwork family struggles to survive disasters…natural and otherwise. In Abarat, by Joan Cummins—adapted from the novel by Clive Barker—a young woman must journey through a group of fantastical islands peopled by monsters friend and foe. In Use All Available Doors, by Brittany Alyse Willis, every strange and wonderful Metro story happens at once on a single dreamlike trip down the Red Line. Followed by post-performance discussion. Musical. All ages.

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8:30 PM–10 PM

SOUTH OPERA TIER LOUNGE

Scena Theatre: Illegal Helpers, written by Maxxi Obexer, directed by Robert McNamara.

A documentary play that deals with the plight of the “illegal helpers” who seek to provide aid and shelter to the migrants—even though it is against the law. A powerful look at a contemporary tragedy that threatens to engulf Western Europe. A sharp look at those who help— and those who callously sit by doing nothing. Followed by post-performance discussion. Drama. All ages.

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SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2015

6 PM-6:45 PM

MILLENNIUM STAGE NORTH

Synetic Theater: Dante’s Inferno, written and directed by Paata Tsikurishvili.

A physical theater interpretation of Dante’s Inferno through a combination of physical warm-up and excerpts of Synetic’s choreography. Followed by post-performance discussion. Drama. Ages 13 and up.

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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2015

11 AM-11:25 AM

MILLENNIUM STAGE SOUTH

Arts on the Horizon: Adventures with Mr. Bear, written and directed by Ryan Sellers.

The wonder and magic of a child’s imagination are brought to life in this charming nonverbal production. One cozy winter afternoon, a young girl and her favorite stuffed animal, Mr. Bear, play a game of hide-and-seek which evolves into a series of exciting adventures. Together, they embark on a journey of endless possibilities—all from the comfort of her playroom! Cuddle up with your favorite stuffed animal friend and join us for a sneak peek at this work in progress. Best for ages 2–5. Followed by post-performance discussion. Family-friendly. All ages.

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11 AM-12:15 PM

AFRICAN ROOM

Nu Sass Productions: The Veils, written by Hope Villaneuva, directed by Clare Schaffer.

Splitting time between the present wedding planning between Mel and her family, and Mel’s time in Afghanistan, The Veils explores the experiences of a soldier coming to terms with being a part of two very different worlds and a woman who isn’t sure who she is or what she wants anymore. Followed by post-performance discussion. Drama. Ages 13 and up.

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11:30 AM–12:30 PM

FAMILY THEATER

Crash of Rhinos: The Lost Chapter of Peter Pan, written by Paul Reisman, directed by Matthew McGhee.

After returning from Neverland with her brothers and her newly adopted Lost Boy siblings, Wendy doesn’t see Peter Pan again until she’s grown up with a child of her own. But where was Peter Pan during all those years? What had he been doing and why did he wait until that particular moment to return? Followed by post-performance discussion. Adventure. All ages.

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11:30 AM –2:30 PM

ISRAELI LOUNGE

University of Maryland – Department of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies: Goldfish, written by Shupin Yang, directed by Olivia Brann.

Goldfish explores the theme of love and family setting in a one-child household in contemporary China. The play features on the family relationship of Xiao-Zhong, a young governor who follows his mother’s will, even for marriage with Ya-Ting. Two days before the wedding, Xiao-Zhong decides to contact his cousin Yi, whom his mother has forbid him to see. Yi, who has been studying abroad, pays him an unexpected visit and asks him to validate his forged college certificate. Xiao-Zhong helps Li-Yi while Ya-Ting warns him to stay away from Yi. However, an anonymous post about Yi’s illegal act puts Yi in the danger of being prosecuted. Will Xiao-Zhong go against his mother and wife to help his cousin? Will he succeed in fixing the relationship with his “brother”? Followed by post-performance discussion. Drama. Ages 13 and up.

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12 PM-2 PM

ROOF TERRACE RESTAURANT

Venus Theatre Company: Juliana, written by Vanda, directed by Deborah Randall.

The Juliana Project, based in New York City, is a group of actors and one writer who monthly perform Vanda’s novel, Juliana at The Duplex nightclub. It is about LGBT life in 1940s New York City. Drama. Ages 13 and up.

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12:30 PM-2:30 PM

TERRACE GALLERY

Baltimore Playwrights Festival: Selections from various productions, by Siegmund Fuchs, David Zax, Robert Bowie, Sharon Goldner, Seth Freeman, and Andrea Markowitz; directed by John Wilson, Barry Feinstein, Miriam Bazensky, and Ryan Haase.

The Baltimore Playwrights Festival has brought its audiences intriguing original plays by Maryland and D.C. authors for 35 years. This time you’ll see scenes from six plays ranging from a hilarious and poignant gay support group in the closet (literally and metaphorically) to a riveting story of war correspondent abducted by the Taliban, from a biting satire toying with the notion that Anne Frank is indeed alive and well, to a corrupt businessman’s farcical legal team, and from a young man arrested for offending the community with a word (and what a word) on a sign to the 1960s answer to All in the Family. Variety. Ages 13 and up.

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12:50 PM-2:05 PM

AFRICAN ROOM

Nu Sass Productions: Oedipus Regina, written and directed by Angela Kay Pirko.

The story has been told and retold, yet once again the Muses gather to try and claim the tale each for their own. Love, death, sorrow, and sacrifice; the damnation of a family as you’ve never heard it before. Followed by post-performance discussion. Drama. Ages 13 and up.

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12:30 PM-2:20 PM

RUSSIAN LOUNGE

All of the Above: A Very Present Presence, written and directed by Ann Timmons.

When daily pressures become too much for Alice, she flees her home and almost-grown children to enjoy the solitude of the family farmhouse retreat. Her plan to have time to sort things out is thwarted, however, by a surprise visitation from a “spirit guide” who used to be her Great Aunt Nell. With Nell, Alice takes a journey through memory and history, and learns that her problems spring from sources deeper than she imagined. Followed by post-performance discussion. Comedy. Ages 13 and up.

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1 PM-1:30 PM

ISRAELI LOUNGE

University of Maryland – Department of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies: B.W.A. (Black Woman’s Anonymous), written and directed by Whitney Geohagan and April Monu.

This piece explores what it means to be an African American woman in the 21st century, addressing the deep-seated issues these women face. Followed by post-performance discussion. Drama. Ages 13 and up.

1 PM-2 PM

ATRIUM

Monumental Theater Company: Wendy, written by Gretchen Midgley and John Henderson, directed by Walter Ware III.

Many years after the Peter Pan story has come to a close, a grown Wendy Darling finds her daughter, Jane, on the brink of growing up herself. It takes reliving the magical events of her past for Wendy to rediscover the bittersweet wonders of childhood, growing up, and imagination, and to realize it is her daughter’s turn to live the same adventure. Journey second to the right and straight on till morning with Wendy. Musical. All ages.

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1 PM-4 PM

MILLENNIUM STAGE NORTH

Faction of Fools: Classics Made Foolish – The Threequel, adapted and directed by Paul Reisman.

D.C.’s award-winning Fools are back in the factory exploring a physical take on scenes from beloved classics replete with their celebrated brand of comedy and high-flying spectacularity. The audience will get a window into this unique process, including the live-workshopping of a scene and a question-and-answer session. Followed by post-performance discussion. Comedy. All ages.

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1:30 PM-3:30 PM

THEATER LAB

Rorschach Theatre: Forgotten Kingdoms, written by Randy Baker, directed by Shirley Sertosky.

On a small island in Indonesia, a wooden house balances on stilts over a churning sea. In this house, Reverend David Holiday tries to convert a skeptical young local whose fate has become improbably intertwined with his own. At stake this night is the life of the young man’s father, the future of this island’s ancient culture, and the happiness of an American family caught between worlds. As the night turns into morning, the fate of David’s haunted young son becomes the biggest question of all. Drama. Ages 13 and up.

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2 PM-3:40 PM

SOUTH ATRIUM FOYER

Bowie State University – BSU Theatre: Red Solo, written by Jeremy Keith Hunter, directed by Charles H. Franklin IV.

The recipe is simple: strength, intelligence, bravery. For Heath, a young artist discovering himself, this requires adherence to strict standards instilled in him by his alpha father: hard work, womanizing, and absolute control. Torn between expectation, promise, and fame, Heath must come to terms with the man he is and the one he wants to be. Followed by post-performance discussion. Drama. Adults only.

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2:10 PM-4 PM

ROOF TERRACE RESTAURANT

Venus Theatre Company: The Ravens, written by Alana Valentine, directed by Deborah Randall.

The Ravens is a riveting drama about Kira, a trying-to-be-ex–sex worker in Kings Cross, Sydney, Australia. When she receives a large victim’s compensation payout, her friend Mark, who once saved Kira’s life and feels that he is “owed” by Kira, moves back into her life and her flat. But a chance meeting with Nina, a young social work student working at the local chocolate shop, seems like it might give Kira the courage and support she needs to finally get the violent Mark out of her life. An encounter with one of Nina’s old age clients at a nursing home focuses Kira’s determination but can she get out alone or can she take her friend Nancy, who is working at the Honey Spot strip club and brothel but living in a dominating lesbian relationship? As an evocative radio play, The Ravens won the 2015 BBC International Radio Writing Award from the BBC World Service. As a stage play, it is a visceral, provocative work of fierce insight and compassion for womens’ struggle out of violence. Drama. Ages 13 and up.

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2:30 PM-4:30 PM

SOUTH OPERA TIER LOUNGE

GPC PRODUCTIONS: Shoah Business, written by Jennie Berman Eng, directed by Bridget Grace Sheaff.

NYU Screenwriting student Ivy is tasked with writing a Holocaust screenplay. As she investigates a Mercedes Benz Holocaust labor camp for women, and begins to write about it, she soon discovers writing historical fiction is a great responsibility and carries hefty emotional weight. When she is offered a production deal, Ivy must decide if the requested edits that come along with the deal are worth compromising a true story. Drama. Adults only.

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3 PM-4 PM

MILLENNIUM STAGE SOUTH

FRESHH Inc. Theatre Company: Just how black?, written by Gianina Lockley, directed by Goldie Patrick.

This one-woman show revisits conversations that challenge, accept, and reject the notion that blackness can be defined or (inter)nationally agreed upon. Just how black? uses multimedia to examine the intersections of race, class, ethnicity, and gender, and its impact on our identity. Followed by post-performance discussion. Musical. Ages 13 and up.

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3 PM-4:30 PM

ISRAELI LOUNGE

Doorway Arts: A Minute in Presidential History, written by Lindsay Adams, John Bavoso, Patricia Connelly, Rich Espey, Chema Pineda Fernandez, Rich Espey, Patrick Gallagher Landes, Annalisa Dias Mandoly, Warren Perry, and Lauren Jane Redmond, and directed by Matt Ripa.

Enjoy this theatrical hall of presidents as local playwrights tackle each president one minute at a time. Comedy. Ages 13 and up.

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3:30 PM-5 PM

AFRICAN ROOM

Playwrights Collaborative: Collaborative Shorts 2016, written and directed by members of Playwrights Collaborative.

Short plays dealing with current issues. Variety. Ages 13 and up.

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4 PM-4:45PM

TERRACE GALLERY

Naked Theatre Company: ClickB@it, directed by Rachel Murray and Kevin Place.

An ensemble-driven, vignette-style show inspired by internet “click bait” and “viral” phenomena, ClickB@it will examine how these elements shape media, permeate social development, and exacerbate news headline ‘numbness’—all delivered with a fun, pop-y, sketch sensibility. Followed by post-performance discussion. Comedy. Adults only.

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4 PM-6 PM

RUSSIAN LOUNGE

ABG Playwrights and Thelma Theatre: Around the Snake Turn, by Patricia Connelly.

Baaba, a woman living in a small African village, questions its religious traditions after her son is accused of rape and she is expected to turn over her daughter to become a sexual slave to the high priest to atone for her son’s alleged crime. As Baaba fights to save her children from their fate, she finds herself caught in a struggle between a changing world and one that’s holding on to its old ways to preserve its cultural past. Followed by post-performance discussion. Drama. Ages 13 and up.

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5 PM-6 PM

SOUTH ATRIUM FOYER

American Ensemble Theater: Character Building, by Booker T. Washington; adapted and directed by Martin Blank.

A one-man musical for middle, high school, and adult audiences adapted from Dr. Washington’s inspirational talks given to his students at Tuskegee University. Musical. All ages.

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5 PM-7:10 PM

ROOF TERRACE RESTAURANT

Arcturus Theatre Company: Indian Summer, by Gregory S. Moss, directed by Ross Heath.

When a young man stays with his bereaved step-grandfather for a few months, he becomes entangled in a love triangle with two of the other young residents of the Rhode Island oceanside town in this comic tragedy… or is it a tragic comedy? Drama. Ages 13 and up.

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6 PM-7 PM

ISRAELI LOUNGE

The Law Theater Project, in collaboration with the Rainbow Theatre Project: The IMHO Series 1 Trilogy, featuring Justice Disordered, written by Dr. Samantha M. McDermitt, directed by Christopher Janson.

Have you ever wondered what goes on, behind the closed doors of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Conference Room, where no records are kept and cases are decided which affect all our lives? Come with us now to Justice Disordered, an accurate, and highly charged tour by First Class “fly-on-the-wall” and watch a very tight case discussed and decided by the nine Justices! Forget legalese! They speak from their “guts,” and their views often “crash” into their fellows’. Justice Disordered is Supreme Court drama at its best in one act, focused on very current, cutting-edge, gender discrimination issues. No law school required! Followed by post-performance discussion. Drama. Ages 13 and up.

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6 PM-7:15 PM

FAMILY THEATER

Istijmam presented by Center Stage: Et’teffah/The Apples, written by Abdelkader Allolua, directed by Jamil Benhamamouch.

Istijmam, a collaborative of theater makers from Oran, Algeria, moves outward from the manifestos of Brecht and Grotowski to repopulate the halga, Algeria’s town square, and renew populist traditions of improvisation and physical interaction. A U.S. premiere, Et’teffah/The Apples foregrounds the repression and sectarian schisms that consumed Algeria during the Dark Decade of the 1990s. This gritty, intimate production, full of dark humor and barbed observation, bears witness to Algeria’s shadowed past and confronts the complex destiny of the present day. Drama. Ages 13 and up. Presented in collaboration with the U.S. State Department Center Stage program.

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6 PM-7:45 PM

AFRICAN ROOM

The Welders: Girl in the Red Corner, written by Stephen Spotswood, directed by Amber Paige McGinnis.

When Halo signs up for mixed martial arts lessons, she thinks it might make a good hobby. Her trainer thinks she’s a lightweight. Her mother and sister think it’s just plain weird. Very quickly she learns that life inside the cage and outside the cage are disturbingly similar. And that the only way to survive either is to fight. Drama. Ages 13 and up.

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6:30 PM-8:10 PM

SOUTH OPERA TIER LOUNGE

1st Stage: Eat It Too, written by Jennifer Barclay, directed by Johanna Gruenhut.

Brett, a thriving Hollywood actress, returns to her hometown to wreak the most horrific kind of revenge. A dark comedy where the American dream meets the American nightmare. Followed by post-performance discussion. Drama. Ages 13 and up.

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6:30 PM-8:30 PM

TERRACE GALLERY

Georgetown University Program in Theater and Performance Studies: Appalachian Nightingale, written by Olivia Duff, directed by Anita Maynard-Losh.

Set in the contemporary mountains of eastern Kentucky, Appalachian Nightingale re-stages the Philomena myth (two sisters, one man, a broken song) in a world that sounds like a tough banjo. Followed by post-performance discussion. Drama. Adults only.

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6:30 PM-8:30 PM

THEATER LAB

Mosaic Theater Company of DC: Hooded, or Being Black for Dummies, written by Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm, directed by Serge Seiden.

This irreverent world premiere comedy set in Achievement Heights, Maryland follows Marquis, a book-smart prep schooler and Tru, a street-savvy drop-out from inner-city Baltimore. Their worlds overlap in a holding cell where both are being detained. Tru observes that Marquis seems to have lost his “blackness” and pens a how-to manual entitled Being Black for Dummies, assuming the role of professor, courtship counselor, and Hip Hop advisor. Marquis returns to school ready to make his mark as he and Tru continue to butt heads, debate, and ultimately prove that Nietzsche and 2pac were basically saying the same thing. Followed by post-performance discussion. Comedy. Adults only.

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7 PM-8:10 PM

SOUTH ATRIUM FOYER

NextStop Theatre: Still Alive, written by Jonathan Coulton and Ricky Drummond, directed by Ricky Drummond.

A new musical featuring the music of Jonathan Coulton. The show follows scientist Jon as he fights to survive zombie and robot apocalypses. Musical. Adults only.

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7:30 PM-8:45 PM

RUSSIAN LOUNGE

LiveArtDC: Clara Bow Project, written by Alia Faith Williams, directed by Heather Whitpan, 7:30–8:45 p.m.

The rise and fall of the original “It Girl” of the 1920s, Clara Bow. Followed by post-performance discussion. Drama. Ages 13 and up.

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7:45 PM-9:30 PM

AFRICAN ROOM

The Welders: A Welders 2.0 Showcase of New Work, written by The Welders, directed by KenYatta Rogers.

Meet the second generation of The Welders, a D.C.-based Playwrights’ collective. The Welders are committed to passing on the organization to future generations of D.C. playwrights. This showcase, following the full-length presentation of Stephen Spotswood’s Girl in the Red Corner (slated for production fall 2016), will give audiences a chance to get to know the other six playwrights of Welders 2.0 through original ten-minute plays and excerpts. Drama. Ages 13 and up.

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8 PM–9:15 PM

ATRIUM

Forum Theatre: Selections from Forum (Re)Acts.

(Re)Acts is a community-minded event used to develop immediate artistic responses to current events and pressing topics and to create safe space for progressive conversations. This collection will include pieces from Forum’s last three (Re)Acts performances—(Re)Acts: #BlackLivesMatter; (Re)Acts: #RefugeeCrisis; and (Re)Acts: #Orlando. With these topics still overwhelming both our international and domestic conversations, Forum will revive a mix of pieces that feel just as raw, relevant, and worthy of exploration as they did in their original performance.

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8 PM-9:30 PM

MILLENNIUM STAGE SOUTH

Tonic Theater Company: Strings, written by Carole Bugge, directed by Stevie Zimmerman.

Loosely riffing on a real-life train ride in which American physicists Burt Ovrut and Paul Steinhardt and English physicist Neil Turok tweaked the Big Bang theory, changing it forever. En route from Cambridge to London, the fictional trio discusses science, explores old jealousies and infidelities, and is visited by famous dead scientists Isaac Newton, Marie Curie, and Max Planck. Followed by post-performance discussion. Drama. Ages 13 and up.

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8:30 PM-9:30 PM

ROOF TERRACE RESTAURANT

Factory 449: Made You Ugly, written by Elan Zafir, directed by Rick Hammerly.

One man’s relationship with love, failure, and the fight to connect. The story of a father’s exploration of sex, death, science fair projects, and the holocaust…fast cars, bedtime stories, Neil Sedaka, losing everything you love, and the unpaved road back to that little boy you call “son.” Followed by post-performance discussion. Drama. Adults only.

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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.

Here are the theatres represented:

1st Stage

ABG Playwrights and Thelma Theatre

African-American Collective Theater

All of the Above

Ally Theatre Company

American Ensemble Theatre

Arcturus Theater Company

Arts on the Horizon

Baltimore Playwrights Festival

Bowie State University

Brave Soul Collective

Bucharest Inside the Beltway

Catholic University of America MFA Playwrights

City Kids Theatre

Crash of Rhinos

Doorway Arts Theatre Company

The Essential Theatre

Faction of Fools

Factory 449

First Draft at The Rose Theatre Company

Forum Theatre

FRESHH Inc. Theatre Company

Georgetown University

GPC Productions

The Highwood Theatre

The Indian Ocean Theatre Company

Initiative Student Theatre

Istijmam presented by Center Stage

The Kennedy Center’s VSA and Accessibility Program

The Law Theater Project, Inc. and Rainbow Theatre Project

LiveArtDC

Monumental Theatre Company

Mosaic Theater Company of DC

Naked Theatre Company

NextStop Theatre

Nu Sass Productions

Pallas Theatre Collective

Pinky Swear Productions

Playwrights Collaborative

Playwrights Group of Baltimore,

Rapid Lemon Productions, Inc.

Rorschach Theatre,

Safe Streets Arts Foundation

Scena Theatre

Seventh Street Playhouse

Strand Theater Company

Synetic Theater Company

Tonic Theater Company

University of Maryland

Unexpected Stage Company

Unknown Penguin

Venus Theatre Company

The Washington Rogues

The Welders

Words Beats & Life

August 19, 2016
Magic Time! A Report on ’24/7′ at African-American Collective Theater

Playwright/Director Alan Sharpe.

For the 24th year, the African-American Collective Theater marked DC Black Pride Weekend with readings of seven short plays, collectively titled 24/7, all written and directed by Alan Sharpe, whose storytelling mastery and insights into the lives of same-gender-loving black men prompted the audience at Anacostia Arts Center to laughter, cheers, and a few tears.

The titles of Sharpe’s plays often wink with innuendo—e.g., Hand Jobs and Aural Sex. To be sure, Sharpe’s characters and story lines are unblushing and unabashed, but there’s more to his short plays than sex. Sharpe consistently taps into a depth of emotion within and between his characters that comes to a climax with a complexity and narrative momentum one associates with major full-length stage works. Plus he’s got a gift for shade and funny one-liners that had the audience cracking up.

‘Raw Deal’: Juan Raheem, Donald Burch III, and Tristan Phillip Hewitt. Photo courtesy of African-American Collective Theater.

The program began with Raw Deal, set in a seedy motel room where a porn shoot is to take place. Jackie (Donald Burch III), the impatient amateur pornographer, needs a young hustler named Red (Juan Raheem) to persuade Cory, his buddy in the trade, to “go all the way” on camera for big bucks. Jackie leaves the room, Cory (Tristan Phillip Hewitt) enters from the shower, and the bargaining begins. An upgrade from mutual masturbation at $50 a head could mean upward of a thousand if Cory would agree to “smash” Red “raw” (without a condom). There’s comedy in their dickering, but the high stakes make for serious suspense.

‘Every Goodbye Ain’t Gone’: Monte J. Wolfe, Caroline G. Pleasant, and Michael Sainte-Andress. Photo courtesy of African-American Collective Theater.

The most emotionally wrenching work on the program was Every Goodbye Ain’t Gone. A son named Louis (Monte J. Wolfe) returns home at the behest of his mother, Earline (Caroline G Pleasant), because his father, Levi (Michael Sainte-Andress), is dying. Louis knows it won’t go well. Twenty years ago, as a 16 year old, he was kicked out of the house by his father for being gay. The son knows the father has not changed, and the meeting is as hurtful as Louis expected. But what Earline unexpectedly tells him afterward—”You tried. Remember that”—became one of those moments one cannot watch without choking up.

‘No Homo’: Josette Marina Murray and Maurice T. Olden. Photo courtesy of African-American Collective Theater.

A visitation room outside a courtroom is the scene of the gripping No Homo. A high school youth (Maurice T. Olden) has been on trial for beating to death a fellow student. His defense was that the other boy came on to him sexually. The student’s mother (Josette Marina Murray) has come to find out what really happened. What she and we learn is a story full of disturbing truths about a boy’s fear of been seen as gay and how far he will go to prove he’s not.

‘XXX-ADULTS ONLY- H- OT!!!’: Larry Hull and Charles Harris, Jr. Photo courtesy of African-American Collective Theater.

The over-the-top title of XXX-ADULTS ONLY- HOT!!! refers to the backrooms in porn shops that back in the day—before cruising apps—were frequented by gay men for hookups. Sharpe has the two middle-age characters, Rob (Charles Harris, Jr.) and Nate (Larry Hull), regale us with a trip down this salacious memory lane that the audience found hilarious. What brings Rob and Nate together now is the fact that they’re both married and on the down low, and their options for finding a quickie in the dark have dried up—so maybe together they could have an arrangement of convenience? The loneliness in their longing is touching.

‘Four Play’: (clockwise) Ricardo Lumpkin, Jared Shamberger, Reginald Ricard, and Raquis Da’Juan Petree. Photo courtesy of African-American Collective Theater.

A 20th high school class reunion in a hotel brings four men together in Four-Play. Kyle (Raquis Da’Juan Petree) has brought his sometime boyfriend Drew (Jared Shamberger) but joins another gay classmate, Theo (Ricardo Lumpkin), in the men’s room, and an old flame is rekindled. Meanwhile Kyle is hit on by Damon (Reginald Richard). In the ensuing opportunities for unfaithfulness and deceit, a comic convention, Sharpe finds fresh humor and heart.

‘Sex Toys’: Darnell Morris and Zukeh Freeman. Photo courtesy of African-American Collective Theater.

The most cunningly misleading title of the program belongs to Sex/Toys, which is actually about two gay fathers who argue about whether Jaden, their adopted four-year-old, should be given “boy toys” or “girl toys.” Anthony (Darnell Morris), who is the more masculine-appearing husband, insists that if Jaden wants princess playthings, that’s what Jaden should get. Kenny (Zukeh Freeman), who grew up bullied for being effeminate, insists on sparing Jaden that fate by making sure he plays with toys that are butch. It’s an intriguingly framed dispute, and a provocative example of how Sharpe can take an “issue” and make it live and breathe.

‘Sunset’: Gregory Ford and Morgan Duncan.

The final entry, a beautiful play called Sunset, is one I had heard and appreciated as part of Hand Jobs. Two long-time lovers, well past middle age, sit on their front porch watching the sun go down. Daniel (Morgan Duncan) is in failing health but does not want to go to his doctor’s appointment; Vernon (Gregory Ford) tries to change his mind; Daniel won’t go. Instead Daniel asks Vernon to sing to him. And the song Vernon chooses is “Bye Bye Blackbird.” As they join in singing it together, the play becomes a gorgeous elegy to love in old age.

The cast of ’24/7.’ Photo by African-American Collective Theater.

24/7 proved once again why Alan Sharpe has become the local-hero griot of DC’s African-American LGBTQ community.

Running Time: Two hours and 20 minutes, with one intermission.

(Front Center) Alan Sharpe, Founding Artistic Director of African-American Collective Theater and the cast of ’24/7.’ Photo by Kenneth Hanson.

24/7 was performed March 26, 2016, at at the Anacostia Arts Center – 231 Good Hope Road SE, in Washington, DC.

(I attended the 5 pm performance. At the 8 p.m. performance, a play called Prom Night P*ssy—read by Davon Harris, Ashley Nicole Lyles, Emmanuel Kyei-Baffour—replaced No Homo.)

May 30, 2016
Magic Time! ‘Good Hope Road’ (Staged Reading)

For decades theatergoers have warmed to plays set in rooming houses. Playwrights have been fond of the form too, because it permits an otherwise random mix of boarders to become an engrossing cast of characters with intriguing lives and intertwined story lines. If you add plays set in hotel lobbies, you’ve got a shelf full of scripts—albeit some now gathering dust.

Playwright/Director Alan Sharpe.

Just when you might think the formula was past its prime, along comes Alan Sharpe’s brand-new, beautifully wrought full-length play Good Hope Road, which I was fortunate to hear read aloud yesterday at DC Arts Center. Presented by the African-American Collective Theater (ACT) as an LGBTQ Theater Showcase during DC Black Pride Weekend, the play breathed such entertaining and moving fresh life into the boarding-house genre that I left wanting to know immediately when I could expect to see it onstage in a full production.

Good Hope Road is set in Anacostia on the front porch of a four-unit apartment building whose residents are six gay black men. Over the course of the play they are joined by five other gay black men. They range in age from 70 to 20, each and every one of them is a distinct and compelling character, each has a fascinating story to tell, and their lives intersect in surprisingly touching ways.

The words good hope in the title capture what is ultimately the play’s indomitable and aspirational spirit. But first the writer’s road takes us through places that seem funny on the surface but have sadness underneath.

The eldest character is Oscar (read by Michael Sainte-Andress), a retired schoolteacher confined to a wheelchair whose dependence on Depends has not dampened his astringent wit. (Sharpe gives him the play’s sharpest one-liners, much to the delight of yesterday’s full house.) Oscar employs a young man named Mario (Juan Raheem), who is possessed of perhaps the sweetest temperament and biggest heart of any home-healthcare aide ever.

Oscar’s longtime friend is a renter named Earl (Donald Burch III), who is also retired and an earnest foil to Oscar’s cantankerousness. Earl lives with his lover Jesse (Jason Crews), who owns a barber shop where, as we learn in Act Two, he has secretly been trysting with a cute hair cutter, Dion (Raquis Da-Juan Petree).

A third unit in the building is shared by three brothers, all of them gay. Danny (Tristan Phillip Hewitt) is a ne’er-do-well having no employable assets except his hot 20-year-old body, with which he wins a wet-underwear contest and hooks up extensively. Danny’s older brother Darryl (Monte J. Wolfe) seriously gets on his case trying to get him to grow up. Their well-meaning middle brother Dwight (Jeremy Keith Hunter) tries to mediate their strife. By the time a secret about Darryl’s sex life is revealed in Act Two, we realize Sharpe has created with these three disparate brothers an extraordinarily original portrait of a loving family.

Two men arrive to rent the fourth unit, and they also happen to be gay—engaged to be married in fact. Malik (Justin Fair) is so light-skinned Oscar thinks he’s white. (Malik’s mother is black and his father is Jewish.) Malik’s fiance is Armani (Reginald Richard), whose name sounds as upscale as his family background. The cliffhanger that ends Act One has to do with the fact that Armani’s rich uncle intends to buy the betrothed boys this very building as a wedding present—which comes as a huge shock to the other tenants.

Just as Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun set a complex domestic drama in the context of a racist real estate market, Sharpe has set the interconnected stories of these boarders in the context of rapid changes happening right now in Anacostia. As such Good Hope Road is not only a wonderfully told story about wholly unstereotypical characters, not only a poignant portrait of eleven indelible lives—it is a barometer of a neighborhood in transition and a brilliant bellweather dramatic work.

The cast of ‘Good Hope Road’: Monte J. Wolfe, Jeremy Keith Hunter, Tristan Phillip Hewitt
Juan Raheem, Michael Sainte-Andress, Donald Burch III, Jason Crews,
Gregory Ford, Justin Fair, Reginald Richard, and Raquis Da’Juan Petree.

Good Hope Road, presented by the African-American Collective Theater, was read May 24, 2014 at DC Arts Center – 2438 18th Street, NW, in Washington, DC.

May 25, 2015

Printable Schedule for Page-to Stage-Festival Schedule This Weekend and Monday-8/30-9/1/14 at The Kennedy Center

Date	Starting Time	Show and Description	Genre/Presenter	Where
Saturday, Aug 30	Noon–3:30 p.m.	Margherita by Anthony Gallo. Margherita Sarfatti and Benito Mussolini, former lovers, meet after a three-year separation. Il Duce suddenly appears at her door as she attempts to leave the country. What does he want? What does she want? The play takes place during a three-day encounter in 1939. A number of bizarre incidents follow. She is well aware of what he wants– the 1,300 letters he has sent her during their 25-year affair. He knows she wants out of the country. And he does play with her mind….	Drama and Opera/Seventh Street Playhouse	MILLENNIUM STAGE NORTH
Saturday, Aug 30	Noon-2:00 p.m.	Collaborative shorts by members of the company.The members present various original short pieces.	Comedy/Playwrights Collaborative	SOUTH ATRIUM FOYER
Saturday, Aug 30	Noon-2:00 p.m.	Time Will Tell… Stage II by Ollie L. Jefferson How can one say “I don’t want to make the same mistakes as my mother or father,” yet do the very same things–or worse? How can we raise up the next generation and prevent them from following in our footsteps and experiencing the destructive aftermath? Time Will Tell…Stage II is the sequel of a mother’s memoir. At 20- something years old, a few decisions suddenly change the courses of life and destiny. Recommended for mature audiences.	Drama/Timeless Visual Works, LLC	NORTH ATRIUM FOYER
Saturday, Aug 30	Noon-2:00 p.m.	Carved in Stone: A Comedy of Terrors by Mario Baldessari, directed by Doug Wilder When his amateur sculpture of the 10 Commandments is ordered to be removed from public property, a fundamentalist Christian turns to Jewish mysticism to continue his fight against the “War on Christianity.” The otherworldly golem he creates destroys the tranquility of two small Wyoming towns and his own marriage–by unearthing a family tragedy better left buried. Recommended for mature audiences. Explicit language and themes.	Comedy/Crash of Rhinos	TERRACE GALLERY
Saturday, Aug 30	Noon–2:30 p.m.	The Unbleached American by Michael Aman, directed by S. Robert Morgan The company tells the story of Ernest Hogan, the “father of ragtime” and the first African American to perform on Broadway. Beloved by his fans and wealthy beyond his wildest dreams, Hogan was also an infamous writer of “coon songs” that many considered offensive to his own race. The Unbleached American imagines the relationship between Ernest and the woman sent to care for him at the end of his life. Recommended for ages 13 and up.	Drama/The Essential Theatre	RUSSIAN LOUNGE (Box Tier Level of Opera House)
Saturday, Aug 30	1–2 p.m.	**A New Heart written and directed by Pooja Chawla*** Megha believes her heart is broken and is in desperate need of a new one. She is full of hope when she comes across a small clinic in town that claims to restore her heart to brand new. But little does she know there are several others in the clinic’s waiting room seeking the very same thing. What ensues is a journey into the many facets of the human heart to see what makes it ticks as well as triumph. Recommended for Mature Audiences.	Comedy/Day Dreamers International	ISRAELI LOUNGE (Box Tier Level of Concert Hall)
Saturday, Aug 30	3–5:30 p.m.	Camp Logan by Celeste Bedford Walker, directed by Thembi Duncan The company presents a World War I military drama. Recommended for ages 13 and up.*	Drama/African Continuum Theatre Company	FAMILY THEATER
Saturday, Aug 30	3–5 p.m.	The Informer by Liam O’Flaherty, adapted and directed by Robert McNamara This engrossing play is a classic presentation of friendship and betrayal set against the backdrop of 1920s Dublin in the aftermath of the Irish Civil War. Gypo Nolan, an ex-policeman and member of the Revolutionary Organization, turns his comrade-in-arms, Frankie McPhillpi, in to the police for a murder committed during a farm laborers’ strike. His act of conscience makes him a traitor to his revolutionary comrades, as Dan Gallagher, a commandant of the Revolutionary Organization, swears he will find and kill “the informer.” Recommended for mature audiences/Explicit Language.	Drama/Scena Theatre	SOUTH ATRIUM FOYER
Saturday, Aug 30	3–5 p.m.	The Charm Plays by members of the company. What puts the “Charm” in Charm City? The Playwrights Group of Baltimore offers different short takes on the concept of “charm” in some serious and some comic ten-minute plays. Recommended for ages 13 and up.	Comedy and Drama/Playwrights Group of Baltimore	NORTH ATRIUM FOYER
Saturday, Aug 30	3–5 p.m.	**Ode to a Rubber Chicken written and directed by Kathleen Cole Burke*** Two vegans run around like chickens with their heads cut off, trying to solve a whale of a problem. Recommended for ages 13 and up.	Drama/Catholic University of America MFA Playwrights	ISRAELI LOUNGE (Box Tier Level of Concert Hall)
Saturday, Aug 30	3:30–5 p.m.	The Chocolate Chess Pie of Amory by Lizzie Brevard, directed by Maya Roth It’s August 1955 in Amory, Mississippi, a time and place where the community is planning more than just sweet potato casserole, and their Momma’s fried chicken for Sunday lunch after church. With vengeance on their minds, and “Bless her heart!” on their lips, these Southern ladies have outlined plans to subtly trap those in their way to social ruin. Inspired by Edgar Allen Poe’s short stories, The Cask of Amontillado* and Hog Frog, The Chocolate Chess Pie of Amory follows two women who have been pushed too far. Written by a recent alumna of Georgetown University, this laugh-out-loud comedy is filled with satiric wit, heart, and gospel music. It suggests all these good Southern women need for revenge is to introduce the threat of scandal and to bake a delicious chocolate chess pie. Recommended for ages 13+.	Comedy/Georgetown University	TERRACE GALLERY
Saturday, Aug 30	4–5 p.m.	Garfield, the Musical with Cattitude [FF] based on the characters created by Jim Davis, book by Jim Davis and Michael Bobbitt, music and lyrics by John L. Cornelius Garfield, a chubby and sarcastic tabby cat, fantasizes about having the most amazing birthday in the history of birthdays. He deserves it for being the best cat ever! But it seems that all his friends–Arlene, Odie, Jon, and even his nemesis, Nermal–have forgotten. Feeling rejected, Garfield ventures out to find adventure, but quickly learns that “home is where the heart…and the food is.” Family friendly.	Music/Adventure Theatre MTC	TERRACE THEATER
Saturday, Aug 30	4:30–5:45 p.m.	**Virago by Monique LaForce, directed by Catherine Aselford*** In a not-too-distant future, the Crimson Queen deftly rules Virago–forging political alliances, opening trade routes–and is ousted from her throne by a power hungry rival who imposes a reign of terror on the country. Scraping together a rebel force, the Crimson Queen vows to use all her feminine wiles to regain power, crush her enemies, and rule her country again. Recommended for mature audiences.	Drama/Guillotine Theatre	RUSSIAN LOUNGE (Box Tier Level of Opera House)
Saturday, Aug 30	6–7 p.m.	In His Own Words: A Concert in Tribute to Walter Dean Myers [FF] by Walter Dean Myers, directed by Scott Reese During a career spanning more than 45 years, Walter Dean Myers wrote more than 100 books for children of all ages, including 2 Newbery Honor Books, 3 National Book Award Finalists, and 6 Coretta Scott King Award/Honor–winning books. In 2012, he was appointed the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, serving a two-year term in the position. This theatrical tribute to Mr. Myers combines music, dance, and spoken word with text from some of his most famous books, including excerpts from picture books like Harlem, We Are America, and Blues Journey to his gritty teen novel Monster and his memoir Bad Boy. This one-night-only celebration of Walter Dean Myers is a fitting tribute to a man who changed the face of young adult literature and touched so many with his eloquent and unflinching portrayal of young African American lives. Family Friendly.	Music/The Kennedy Center, in collaboration with the University of Maryland	MILLENNIUM STAGE SOUTH
Saturday, Aug 30	7:30–10 p.m.	Archipelago by Juliana Avery, directed by Marie Byrd Sproul When middle-aged divorcee James and his teenage daughter Kat hear that James’s elderly father has suffered a fall, they swoop in to rescue him. James is sure that his father will now see sense and move to a “senior living community.” But Grandpa has no plans to move, as James soon discovers, because he’s happily shacked-up with his new girlfriend, Pearl. So what if she can’t always remember his name? She’s one hell of a kisser! A new comedy about the nature of responsibility, love, and the hurdles of caring for extremely grumpy people. Recommended for ages 13 and up/Explicit Language.*	Comedy/ The Playwright’s Gymnasium	ISRAELI LOUNGE (Box Tier Level of Concert Hall)
Saturday, Aug 30	8–10 p.m	**Birthmark by Lou Ann K. Behan*** “Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain’t goin’ away.” –Elvis Presley. A cantankerous man in a wheelchair demands that an irascible dance instructor, struggling to find purpose in her life, teach him social dancing. Secrets, lies, and mistakes in the past always find a way to screw up the best of intentions. Recommended for ages 13 and up.	Comedy/1st Stage	MILLENNIUM STAGE NORTH
Saturday, Aug 30	8–10 p.m.	Hand Jobs written and directed by Alan Sharpe The company returns with its third program of edgy, short plays by founder Alan Sharpe, chronicling the lives, loves, and challenges of Black LGBTQ residents in our Nation’s Capital. Recommended for mature audiences.	Drama/African-American Collective Theater	TERRACE THEATER
Saturday, Aug 30	8–10 p.m.	Prisoners Laugh and Cry by several prisoners, including Patricia Prewitt, John Raley, Marc Estes, and Steven Knight The company presents drama, comedy, and music by imprisoned playwrights. Recommended for mature audiences.*	Drama/Comedy/Music/Safe Streets Arts Foundation	FAMILY THEATER
Saturday, Aug 30	8–10 p.m.	Saint Mel by Chris Stezin, directed by Richard Washer After his last public meltdown, a formerly beloved movie star/director is holed up in a bungalow. No one knows where he is except his unlikely best friend (a still-beloved movie star/director) and two shady characters–who just might have stumbled onto their big break. Recommended for mature audiences/Explicit Language.	Drama/First Draft	SOUTH ATRIUM
Saturday, Aug 30	8–10 p.m.	Eleanor Gantry’s Daughters Come Home by Stephen Spotswood The Gantry sisters managed to survive their strange, violent youth. But when they return home to be at their mother’s deathbed, they begin to unearth old crimes–ones that threaten to tear their family apart unless they figure out how to bury the bodies for good. Recommended for Mature Audiences/Explicit Language.	Drama/Pinky Swear Productions	NORTH ATRIUM
Saturday, Aug 30	8–10 p.m.	Ruined by Rome by Cynthia Burns Coogan, directed by Krista Cowan Inspired by American sculptor Harriet Hosmer, an artist struggles to survive the male-dominated forces of art and religion to win the commission of a lifetime. Recommended for mature audiences.*	Drama/American Ensemble Theater	TERRACE GALLERY
Saturday, Aug 30	8–9:45 p.m.	Look! Up in the Sky! by Mario Baldessari and Richard C. Washer, directed by Ray Ficca Several new works written by company members focused around the theme of heroism. Recommended for mature audiences/Explicit Language.	Comedy/Actors Repertory Theatre	RUSSIAN LOUNGE (Box Tier Level of Opera House)
Sunday, August 31	6–7 p.m.	VSA Playwrights This performance recognizes the eight Senior Division (grades 10–12) winners of the VSA Playwright Discovery Competition. Excerpts of four scripts will be performed as staged readings. The VSA Playwright Discovery Competition invites middle and high school students with and without disabilities to examine the disability experience and express their views through the art of script writing. A Jean Kennedy Smith Arts and Disability Program.	Various/ VSA Playwrights	MILLENNIUM STAGE SOUTH
Monday, September 1	11 a.m.–12 p.m.	**Blossom’s Rainbow written and directed by Margot Greenlee*** A painter’s brush sets a young cherry blossom’s world into motion. Infused with whimsical dance, vibrant colors, and dynamic live music, join Blossom on her journey from the red mountains down to the indigo city in this new piece that celebrates Japanese culture featuring stunning choreography by Margot Greenlee and dynamic, live Taiko drumming by Mark H. Rooney. Recommended for families with children ages 2 to 5.	Music/ Arts on the Horizon	MILLENNIUM STAGE NORTH
Monday, September 1	11 a.m.–1:30 p.m.	G-d’s Honest Truth by Renee Calarco, directed by Jenny McConnell Frederick Roberta and Larry always try to do the right thing–for their son (two and a half years into his engagement); for their marriage (never go to bed angry); and especially for their synagogue (which is always trying to build its membership–they’d be happy to tell you more). When they have the opportunity to help rescue a Holocaust Torah, they know they have to bring it to Temple Beth David. Partially inspired by the true story of Rabbi Menachem Youlus, the self-dubbed “Jewish Indiana Jones,” G- d’s Honest Truth* asks how far we would go to believe a story that’s too good to be true as told with humor and pathos by the Helen Hayes Award^(r)–winning playwright and recent recipient of the 2014 Jewish Plays Project Award. Recommended for ages 13 and up.	Comedy/Theater J	TERRACE GALLERY
Monday, September 1	11:30 a.m.–3 p.m.	*Theater Alliance Bake-off by Kathleen Akerley, Bob Bartlett, Tearrance Chisholm, and Katherine Clair*** Bake-off playwrights are given a list of “ingredients”–people, places, things, ideas, etc.–that they must incorporate into their piece. These ingredients are sometimes given weeks in advance to allow the writers to outline and brainstorm, though sometimes playwrights only know their ingredients at the beginning of the 48-hour writing period. With such a short timetable to create their pieces, bake-off writers are encouraged to allow their instincts guide them through and are forced to ignore the nagging urge to rewrite as they go. After two days, the playwrights print out what they’ve got, in whatever form they’ve got, and the pieces are read. Recommended for mature audiences.	Drama/ Theater Alliance	ISRAELI LOUNGE (Box Tier Level of Concert Hall)
Monday, September 1	1–4 p.m.	**Darwin at Dawn [FF] by Gino Dilorio, Gillian Drake*** In 1849, Charles Darwin is in a race against time. Over the objections of his wife, Emma, he has begun writing his book, On the Origin of Species. Charles knows that other scientists are working to publish similar theories and that his work will change scientific inquiry forever. Emma fears that God will smite them for challenging belief in the creation. When Annie, Darwin’s young daughter, suddenly contracts a serious illness but Charles continues his work, the rift between Emma and Charles grows. Will their marriage crumble? What is the nature of his daughter’s illness? Is this all God’s punishment or simply the natural order of things? Family Friendly, recommended for ages 10 and up.	Drama/Tonic Theater Company	FAMILY THEATER
Monday, September 1	1–3:30 p.m.	Abstract #23 by Joel David Santner Abstract #23 is a dark, comedic satire that follows a lovesick and fame- obsessed artist who is bombarded with unprecedented adoration and opportunity after the successful reception of his latest art installation. As the pressures of his newfound celebrity consume him, the line between his art and reality disintegrates. Recommended for mature audiences/Explicit Language.	PostComedy/Taffety Punk	SOUTH ATRIUM FOYER
Monday, September 1	1–2:30 p.m.	Witches Vanish by Claudia Barnett, directed by Deborah Randall In a series of stylized, highly visual vignettes employing puppetry, poetry, and surrealism, the weird sisters from Macbeth explore the stories of women who disappear, whether by choice or force. Inspired by history, astronomy, and Shakespeare, and Witches Vanish examines the nature of change and the value of human life. Recommended for mature audiences/Explicit Language.	Drama/The Venus Theatre	NORTH ATRIUM FOYER
Monday, September 1	2–3:40 p.m.	The Aristocrats! The Musical by Shawn Northrip In the sweetest story inspired by the most offensive joke ever told, the daughter of a traveling vaudeville family falls in love for the first time and quits the act.	Music/New Musical Foundation	MILLENNIUM STAGE NORTH
Monday, September 1	2–4:30 p.m.	TOAST by company members. This will be the final “dress rehearsal” of dog and pony dc’s newest show TOAST, which appeared in an earlier stage at Page-to- Stage last year. TOAST is a participatory-performance- meets-science-fair that explores invention and discovery, the development of technology, and the intricate networks that weave us together. Participatory Theater. Recommended for ages 13 and up	Comedy/dog & pony dc	RUSSIAN LOUNGE (Box Tier Level of the Opera House)
Monday, September 1	3–5 p.m.	Wagner and Levi written and directed by David L. McWellan. Richard Wagner’s attempt to have conductor Hermann Levi, the son of a Rabbi, be baptized before Levi is allowed to conduct the opera Parsifal provokes a chain of events that almost leads to Wagner’s downfall. Can everyone be saved and redeemed? Parsifal the opera becomes Parsifal in real life. Recommended for ages 13 and up.	Drama/City Theatre Group	TERRACE GALLERY
Monday, September 1	3–5 p.m.	**Cosmetic Consciousness by Kristy Simmons*** A woman who works at a plastic surgery marketing company scrambles as the economy shrinks. Plastic surgery practices seek to stay afloat with marketing guile as a sudden, burgeoning “cosmic consciousness” sweeps the nation. This mysterious force wreaks mayhem on the practices and patients, but the owners of the marketing company would rather die than go under for a cosmic facelift. Our young employee may have just the nip and tuck for the final cosmic cure. Recommended for Mature Audiences/Explicit Language.	Comedy/Fuse Productions	THEATER LAB
Monday, September 1	4–6 p.m.	Billie’s Song by Thomas W. Jones II. The company tells the story of Billie Holiday through song. Recommended for ages 13 and up.	Music/MetroStage	TERRACE THEATER
Monday, September 1	4–6 p.m.	The Soulman’s Soul by Joycelyn Walls* Numerous pieces from the festival are presented. Recommended for ages 13 and up.	Drama/Baltimore Playwrights Festival	ISRAELI LOUNGE (Box Tier Level of Concert Hall)
Monday, September 1	5– 6 p.m.	**Kidz at Play [FF] written and directed by Renee Charlow*** The company presents three short plays. Family Friendly, recommended for families with children ages 5 to 12.	Comedy/ My Creative Spirit	SOUTH ATRIUM FOYER
Monday, September 1	6–7 p.m.	The Island of Dr. Moreau by Nathan Weinberger, directed by Paata Tsikurishvili. The company showcases its training methods and pieces of its latest physical theater adaption of the horror classic, The Island of Dr. Moreau. Recommended for ages 13 and up.	Drama/Synetic Theater	MILLENNIUM STAGE SOUTH
Monday, September 1	7:30–9:30 p.m.	**Galilee by Christine Evans*** Galilee takes place amidst the collision of competing economic and ecological forces in a small Australian coastal town on the Great Barrier Reef. As the sea temperatures rise and the world’s first hybrid blackfin sharks appear, biology student Carol, her entrepreneur mother Mardy, and the old-time diver Jimmy struggle with their own decisions–fight, flee, or adapt?	Drama/ABG Playwrights	SOUTH ATRIUM FOYER
Monday, September 1	7:30–9 p.m.	In to the Out Side/D.C. al Coda written and directed by John Sowalsky The company presents an absurdist comedy somewhere between Beckett and the Marx Brothers. Recommended for ages 13 and up.	Comedy/The Indian Ocean Theatre Company	NORTH ATRIUM FOYER
Monday, September 1	7:30– 8:30 p.m.	Sparks: Short Works by The Welders by Bob Bartlett, Renee Calarco, Allyson Currin, Caleen Sinette Jennings, Gwydion Suilebhan The company presents excerpts from several original works. Recommended for ages 16 and up/Explicit Language.*	Comedy, Drama/ The Welders	RUSSIAN LOUNGE (Box Tier Level of the Opera House)
Monday, September 1	8– 9:30 p.m.	It’s a Circus Out There written and directed by Kevin Finkelstein. A didactic play that uses a modern-day circus as an allegory for the presidency, It’s a Circus Out There tells the story of Leila Blaze, the new CEO of the Bringling Brothers Circus. Recommended for ages 13 and up/Fire Eater present.	Comedy/Federal Theatre Project	MILLENNIUM STAGE NORTH
Monday, September 1	8–9 p.m.	The Theatre of the Soul by Nikolai Nikolaevich Evreinov, directed by Charlie AinsworthInside A man’s heart, his rational and emotional selves desperately debate for the man’s life. Recommended for ages 16 and up/Contains Nudity.	Drama/Gallaudet University	TERRACE GALLERY
Monday, September 1	8–9:30 p.m.	Agents of Azeroth by Jennifer Lane, directed by Ryan Taylor. As part of his massive leaks of classified material, Edward Snowden revealed that NSA and CIA agents were spending large amounts of time and resources investigating World of Warcraft, searching for potential terrorist threats among millions of trolls, elves, and orcs. Playwright Jennifer Lane and the Washington Rogues ask, “What’s up with that?!?” Agents of Azeroth* is a satirical look at big important topics like the encroaching surveillance state, cyberbullying, and the mercurial nature of identity in the electronic age. It is also super, super geeky. “For country. For honor. For the Alliance!” Recommended for Mature Audiences/Explicit Language.	Comedy/ The Washington Rogues	THEATER LAB

*Female Playwright

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From The Kennedy Center:

The 13th Annual
Page-to-Stage Festival 2014

With works in honor of the Women’s Voices Theater Festival

Saturday, August 30, 12 noon–10 p.m.
Sunday, August 31, 6–7 p.m.
Monday, September 1, 11 a.m.–10 p.m.

Venues throughout the Kennedy Center
FREE! No tickets required, limited seating available.

The Kennedy Center hosts its 13th annual Page-to-Stage new play festival, featuring more than 40 D.C.- area theater companies. This year’s festival pays tribute to the Women’s Voices Theater Festival–an initiative by more than 40 D.C. area theaters to produce a world premiere play by a female dramatist in the fall of 2015. In honor of the Women’s Voices Theater Festival, the 13th Annual Page-to-Stage festival showcases more than 30 female playwrights.

“The Kennedy Center is proud to host the dozens of theater companies dedicated to new voices and support the process of artistic collaboration and creation at the Page to Stage festival,” stated festival curator Gregg Henry. “This year, we are pleased so many playwrights in next year’s citywide Women’s Voices Theater Festival are showcasing their works at the Kennedy Center.”

The three-day, Center-wide Page-to- Stage 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.

Don’t miss your chance for a first look at outstanding works for upcoming 2014-2015 season premieres!

Limited seating available on a first-come, first-served basis.
General admission seating opens approximately 30 minutes prior to each event.
Programs, artists, and schedules are subject to change without notice.
No free parking for free events.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~
PARTICIPATING THEATERS INCLUDE:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1st Stage Theater
ABG Playwrights
Actors Repertory Theatre
Adventure Theatre MTC
African Continuum Theatre Company
African-American Collective Theater
American Ensemble Theater
Arts on the Horizon
Baltimore Playwrights Festival
Catholic University of America
City Theatre Group
Crash of Rhinos
Day Dreamers International
dog & pony dc
The Essential Theatre
Federal Theatre Project
First Draft
Fuse Productions
Gallaudet University
Georgetown University Theater and Performance Studies
Guillotine Theatre
The Indian Ocean Theatre Company
The Kennedy Center and University of Maryland
MetroStage
My Creative Spirit
New Musical Foundation
Pinky Swear Productions
Playwrights Collaborative
Playwrights Group of Baltimore
The Playwright’s Gymnasium
Safe Streets Arts Foundation
Scena Theatre
Seventh Street Playhouse
Synetic Theater
Taffety Punk
Theater Alliance
Theater J
Timeless Visual Works, LLC
Tonic Theater Company
The Venus Theatre
VSA Playwrights
The Washington Rogues
The Welders

August 26, 2014

Reporting from The Page-to-Stage Festival: ‘The Three Musketeers’ and ‘The Young Spectaculars and the Front Yard Adventure‘ by Lauren Katz

This Labor Day weekend, the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts hosts the 12th annual Page-to-Stage Festival. Featuring over 40 theatre companies from the Washington DC area, the festival allows theatergoers to witness readings and excerpts from new works. I personally had the opportunity to observe only a couple of the many plays premiering through this event.

Faction of Fools Theatre Company presented three scenes from their adaption of Alexandre Dumas’ Three Musketeers. Written and directed by Paul Reisman and starring Brit Herring, Drew Kopas, Justin Purvis, D. Grant Cloyd, Rachel Spicknall Mulford, Lindsey D. Snyder, and Toby Mulford, the play focuses on Cardinal Richelieu’s attempt to gain political power in France, while D’Artagnan and the Three Musketeers find a way to save the day. The play is still in the process of being written, but based on the audience reaction, I am sure we all look forward to seeing what the product will become.

The play is fairly similar to the typical heroic tale, but with an added twist. Faction of Fools’s goal is to bring Commedia dell’Arte to the Washington DC area, and their adaptation did just that. The art form originated around the early 16^th century in Italy, and is characterized by use of masks, physical comedy, improvisation, physical comedy, and stock characters – such as foolish old men, young lovers, and scheming servants. Through use of these qualities, the company not only brings flair to the story, but also added humor.

I have always been a fan of Commedia dell’Arte, and I was impressed to find that the actors cleverly embraced the art form right down to their physical movements that connected with their stock characters, such as the graceful glide of “The Lovers,” and the quick and compressed movements of the “Servants,” which helped increase contrast between characters. I would be curious to see how Reisman further incorporates the art form into the finished product.

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Arts on the Horizon aims to bring theater and education to children ages six and under. Their work explores numerous different topics, but one consistent characteristic is their choice to create plays without words. Instead, the performers make use of other forms of sound, such as props and music. The result is a new and stimulating experience for young audiences that allows them to understand what they are watching without lines going right over their heads.

For the Page-to-Stage Festival, the company presented The Young Spectaculars and the Front Yard Adventure. Written by David Kilpatrick, directed by Michael John Casey, and starring Melissa A. Caffrey and Stanley Andrew Jackson III, the story follows two children as they imagine ways to save the world from their own front yard. At the top of performance, Caffrey handed numbered props out to the children in the audience that they were later asked to throw on the stage when their number came. Casey’s choice to include the children in this manner creates the illusion that they are helping build the story, which is a creative way to enhance their imaginations.

As an individual interested in drama education and finding new ways to inspire an interest in theater at a young age, I would be curious to see future productions from Arts on the Horizon. They know how work around the needs of young audiences in order to create a story that they will understand, and based on the positive response from the children at The Kennedy Center, they are clearly doing their job well.

This weekend was my first experience with Page-to-Stage, but I was fascinated to catch a glimpse at these innovative ideas come to life. I look forward to witnessing what future Page-to-Stage Festivals bring to the Washington DC area.

LINKS
Watch Saturday night’s performance of The Young Spectaculars and the Front Yard Adventure at The Kennedy Center (Scroll down to ‘Watch Past Performances’).

Reporting from The Page-to-Stage Festival: The Good Devil, In Spite of Himself and Aural Sex by John Stoltenberg.

Reporting from The Page-to-Stage Festival: The Law of Return by Alison Drucker.

The Schedule for the 2013 Page-to-Stage Festival.

September 2, 2013
Reporting from The Page-to-Stage Festival: ‘Toast Incubator Series’ and ‘Doubting Thomas’ by Jessica Vaughan

toast at dog & pony show DC

dog & pony show DC is an ensemble theater company that devises shows instead of writing them and tackles a huge range of genres. They focus especially on new ways of experiencing theater for the audience. Last season they had a couple of big successes in the area with A Killing Game and Beertown.

toast, the play they workshopped at Page-to-Stage, is still almost six months from production and I am very curious to see what final form it will take. It’s impossible to tell from the workshop, but that is only because when company member Jon Reynolds said they want to create the piece with the audience, they meant it. This was very much an incubator.

The show began with an entertaining TED-like half hour of the history of Western civilization’s science and art from Euclid to Einstein and Grecian urns to cubism. With toast, they want to explore innovation and discovery, especially at the intersection of traditional creative arts and science…culminating in the toasting of bread. After the brief tour through history with two company members acting out the drama as three others read, they focused down on the last few minutes of the play and Einstein’s theory of relativity, which, unlike Euclid’s right angles and even Picasso’s warped perspectives, is almost impossible to dramatize

I know this because they then broke the audience up into four groups and tasked us with explaining the theory of relativity through drama with various constraints like not being able to use the stage for one group or any words for another. The company members led each group and they are all experienced facilitators and dedicated to dog & pony DC’s unspoken mission to ensure the audience is having fun and is never made fun of. That made it completely safe and enjoyable, if a bit strange, to come to a show and create and act in it ourselves. The final skits were funny, diverse, and the best, most inspiring science class I’ve ever been to.

I will definitely be in the seats for toast when it reaches its final form next year, if only to see how they finally do try to explain what the world looks like at the speed of light.

dog & pony DC will be holding another incubator salon on August 14, 2013 at 1:30 PM at Arena Stage – 1101 6th Street. SW, in Washington, DC.

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Doubting Thomas by Mario Baldessari

Local theater company Crash of Rhinos is set to become the theater company in residence at the National Conservatory of Dramatic arts in January. They’ve been busy with films most recently, participating in the DC and Baltimore 48 Hour Film Project and of course, taking two works in progress to Page-to-Stage.

Mario Baldessari.

Doubting Thomas by Mario Baldessari is comedy about belief, dying well, and meeting Thomas Aquinas. In a completely packed room, Director Lee Mikeska Gardner created a fast-paced and polished reading of the play when it could have just been a few people standing at music stands and reading. We still probably would have laughed really hard. Doug Wilder, Steven Soto, and Jim Helein all play characters named Tom. Wilder’s Tom is dying of cancer, Helein’s Tom is a 700-year-old incorporeal Saint who’s philosophical meanderings still have me thinking, and Soto’s Tom is a faith healer in Mexico that Tom’s ex-boyfriend Jesse (played by playwright Mario Baldessari) gets healing from and tries to get Tom to go see as well. Tom’s sister Ann and Mother (Liz Dutton and Caren Anton) are excellent foils in his journey towards healing and/or death, and Maggie Erwin completes the cast as the faith healer’s assistant Number 8.

Lee Mikeska Gardner.

Baldessari announced at the end, “I have some cutting to do;” it did need a bit of focus, but he’s going to have a difficult time puzzling out what to cut, because every scene was an interesting mix of comedy, philosophy, and tragedy that was sometimes quite riveting. In a play about death and belief, the key bus station moment between the Toms was handled brilliantly – amusing and enlightening – which was such a relief because a play about faith can become so easily preachy or saccharine and this was neither. These are funny, memorable characters and big themes, the kind of thing when they’re full realized that will make for an impactful and important piece of theater. LINKSReporting from The Page-to-Stage Festival: The Good Devil, In Spite of Himself and Aural Sex by John Stoltenberg.

Reporting from The Page-to-Stage Festival: The Law of Return by Alison Drucker.

The Schedule for the 2013 Page-to-Stage Festival.

September 2, 2013
Reporting from The Page-to-Stage Festival: ‘The Good Devil, In Spite of Himself’ and ‘Aural Sex’ by John Stoltenberg

If you’ve never made your way to The Kennedy Center’s Page-to-Stage fest, let me let you in on a few pleasures that await you even before the pleasures packed into this annual Labor Day weekend of staged readings. First off is the odd exhilaration of experiencing this grand architectural edifice—which at times feels designed on some scale not actually human—converted into one big playful laboratory for the cultivation of brand spanking new plays. Creative invention, populism, and artistic freedom all free: What’s not to like? Next is the sensation of getting into places the public rarely sees, such as rehearsal rooms that feel like bunkered inner sanctums. Woo hoo, how cool is that? And finally, there’s the impressive presence of the KenCen ushering staff, all of them as chipper as can be in helping meandering theatergoers find their way to the reading space they’re looking for. Perhaps in keeping with the adventurous spirit of the lost lambs they shepherded, they seemed to be having a lot more fun on their jobs than usual.

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The Good Devil, In Spite of Himself by Mario Baldessari and Tyler Herman is a rambunctious, ribald farce about a troupe of commedia dell’arte players who are bedeviled by a sovereign censor plus Mephistopheles himself. The time, says a stage direction, is “The 17th Century. Or thereabouts.” The place is “France. Or thereabouts. Specifically, the stage of a nomadic Commedia dell’Arte theater troupe set up in a village square. Or, obviously, thereabouts.” Which is an accurate tipoff that some very silly text will follow

Mario Baldessari.

The play takes off from a royal decree that commedia players shall henceforth never speak dialog on stage. (I thought the playwrights just made that premise up. I learned during the lively talkback it’s a historical fact). Contrary to what you might think, the decree doesn’t forbid speaking—just dialog. Ergo monologues, arias, and all manner of slapstick shenanigans are okey-dokey. The ensuing plot is nutty, the sort you don’t really have to follow because each moment-to-moment comedic bit offers its own hilarity. A fun-loving bunch—actors Vaughn Irving, Liz Dutton, and Doug Wilder, directed by Tyler Herman, with stage directions read by Baldessari—brought the script’s nine loony characters to life, and as they did so, the audience laughed throughout.

Tyler Herman.

After the one-hour-15-minute reading ended, Baldessari suggested there’s some text tweaking to come—though to this observer the piece seemed ready to mount. The only change I recommend is that the play needs a different title. The one it’s got sounds dry, like something turgid and musty and Restoration. The play needs something that promises the hoot it is—such as (wait for it) The Silence of the Hams. (Okay, you can groan now).

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I was first exposed to Alan Sharpe’s observant eye on black gay men’s diverse lives when I attended a staged reading of his No Homo at the DC Queer Theatre Festival in May 2012. So I was keen to see Aural Sex, a Page-to-Stage reading of six two-character plays he wrote and directed. The audience was with it every beat of the way, laughing, at times uproariously, often in knowing anticipation of where a sexual innuendo was about to lead. Yet what turned out to be interesting about the six short one-acts was that though sex was never far from the scene at hand, Sharpe’s story lines did not necessarily culminate in the characters’ having sex. In fact what was presented was an intriguing narrative revealing why the characters did not have sex.

The first, Cleaning House, centers on a quarrel between two lovers, Rodney (Darnell Morris) and Dorian (David A. Richardson). Dorian accuses Rodney of being unfaithful, the dispute turns ever cattier as Dorian trash-talks Rodney, and there’s a cruel twist at the end. The problem I had was that there was no way to even guess why these two have stayed together this long, or why they became lovers to begin with. Dorian is a first-class prick, and Rodney seems too smart to be so far in over his head.

The writing really picked up, though, with the second, Now…and Then, a devilishly constructed story about clergy sexual abuse, clergy sexual harassment, clergy malfeasance of many sorts. But we don’t know that at first. We meet a kindly, benevolent minister, Rev. Williams (Donald Burch III), and his fold’s eager youth counselor, Lamont (Reginald Richard), whose hunky body and troubled past the Rev contrives to exploit.

The sharp writing continued in play three, Or Forever Hold Your Piece, a chance meeting over drinks at a wedding reception between Kevin (Rashard Harrison), who is the brother of the bride, and Anthony (Stanley Andrew Jackson III), who turns out to be the groom’s ex-lover—which pushes Kevin’s buttons, with horrifying results.

After that shockeroo, the two-hour evening should have had an intermission, for much-needed relief of sundry sorts, including time to reflect on the plays so far, lest they seem in their similar two-hander setups to run together.

The fourth, Oh Freedom, is set in a college dorm room and offers a touching fresh take on the classic sweet-but-closeted-gay-virgin (Lem, read by Cleavon Meabon IV) with a crush on his ever-horny-straight-jock/stud roommate (Chauncey, read by Juan Raheem). It would have worked perfectly well to bring us back into the show from an intermission.

Alan Sharpe (Front) and the cast of ‘Aural Sex.’

In the fifth, s-EX, Sharpe raised the “Will they or won’t they have sex?” stakes ever higher. Russell (Brian Hamlett) comes back from a night of partying to crash on the couch of his ex-lover Carl (Monte J. Wolfe), who, since they broke up, has put Russell up, put up with Russell’s absence of income, and claimed the bedroom they once shared. Said bedroom’s shutable door figures prominently.

In Second Thoughts an older gentleman, Leland (Michael Sainte Andress), wearing a comfortable caftan, has come home from a pickup bar (where, he says, he dropped by for “some refreshment…and eye candy”) with a hot and hot-to-ply-his-trade hustler, Tavarius (Tristan Phillip Hewitt). Among the play’s themes is the question “Who picked up whom?,” but the most provocative, and most richly rendered, is the by-now familiar question “Will they or won’t they?” Except now the question as framed by Sharpe turns on a character often caricatured in the gay world as an old queen. Sharpe renders Leland’s portrait with astonishing compassion, grace, and complexity. If there were ever a black Tennessee Williams, he would be deeply moved.

LINKS
Reporting from The Page-to-Stage Festival: The Law of Return by Alison Drucker.

The Schedule for the 2013 Page-to-Stage Festival.

September 2, 2013
Here is Today’s ‘Page-to-Stage’ Festival Schedule for Monday, September 2, 2013 at The Kennedy Center

Here is the schedule for TODAY, Monday, September 2, 2013
at the ‘Page-to-Stage’ Festival’:
Performances are from 11 AM until 9:30 PM

At The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts -2700 F Street, NW, in Washington, DC
Page-to-Stage is FREE!
No tickets are needed.
Seating is on a first-come basis.
Doors open 30 minutes before the start of each performance.
Paid parking is available in the building.
Free shuttle from The Foggy Bottom Metro.

____

MILLENNIUM STAGE NORTH

11 AM-3 PM

The Inkwell: Plays in Progress

An afternoon of Inklings and an Inkwell showcase. The afternoon of Inklings will include six 10 minute readings of local playwrights works in development with The Inkwell including plays by Danielle Mohlman, Noelle Vinas, Kitty Felde, Rick Massamo, Jason Wells, and Gina Fierra. The Inkwell Showcase will include two 20 minute readings of plays further along in the Inkwell’s development process. These plays include Gwydion Sulieban’s The Great Dismal and a new musical by Krista Knight titled Salamander Leviathan. Recommended for ages 13 and up.

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TERRACE GALLERY
1 PM–2 PM
Bowie State University
A Mile in My Shoes
[FAMILY FRIENDLY]
by Jennifer L. Nelson

A Mile in My Shoes is a series of linked original playlets that illuminate moments in the lives of families from various backgrounds. An ensemble employs a wide variety of shoes to bring to life humorous and touching stories resonant for children and parents.

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SOUTH ATRIUM FOYER
1 PM–2:30 PM
Baltimore Playwrights Festival
A showcase of summer productions including: Countdown to the Happy Day by Thomas W. Stephens, When The Letter Writers Have All Died by Tricia Schwaab, Sick Stories, Gentle Granddaddy by S. Ann Johnson, and The Rainbow Plays by Rich Espey. Recommended for ages 13 and up.

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Countdown to the Happy Day

by Thomas W. Stephens
A two-character drama that depicts the unlikely involvement of Gertie, 30s/40s and a self-inflicted street person; and Cervin, a hulking 15-year-old. From their initial encounter on a nighttime city street, the two are chary of each other and emotionally combustible. Gertie, a troubled Army vet, resists being drawn into the world of Cervin, a seventh-grade dropout. Their relationship, nonetheless, grows ever more overlaid, complex, and inevitable.

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When The Letter Writers Have All Died
by Tricia Schwaab
Lori comes to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to connect with the father she never met and to be alone in the presence of others. She meets Andrew, a college student doing research for a paper. When he tries to strike up a conversation, Lori appears to be uninterested in being friends with him. But Andrew persists and Lori finds herself looking forward to spending time with him. As their friendship develops, Andrew discovers Lori’s secret, and he’s troubled by what he learns. He’s not sure he can bear losing Lori, whom he cares about, so soon after meeting her. Andrew decides to share his own battle with depression in order to save Lori from her inner demons. Interwoven with the stories of others who visit the wall, Lori and Andrew’s story is about finding their individual paths to healing.
____
Sick Stories, Gentle Granddaddy
by S. Ann Johnson
Little Miss Mabelle would describe her maternal grandfather as a sweet old man who makes her laugh and spoils her rotten. So the sick stories her family members share about him must be figments of their imagination, right? Wrong. In Sick Stories, Gentle Granddaddy, the drunken past conflicts with the docile present of a husband, father, and gentle granddaddy.

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The Rainbow Plays
by Rich Espey
The rainbow flag that symbolizes gay pride and the gay rights movement was created more than 30 years ago. In its current version, the flag consists of six horizontal stripes, each of which has a symbolic meaning: red (life), orange (healing), yellow (sunshine), green (nature), blue (harmony), and purple (spirit). The first six plays in this collection address one of those themes; while the seventh play incorporates them all into one.
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THEATER LAB
1 PM–2:30 PM
Federal Theatre Project .
The Inaugural Election for President of Mrs. Jacobson’s Sixth Grade Class
[FAMILY FRIENDLY]
by Kevin Finkelstein

An allegory on America’s presidential elections, this reading tells the story of Mrs. Jacobson’s sixth grade class. When the class’ hamster dies, Mrs. Jacobson decides to hold an election for class president. Six candidates pledge, but only one can win. Comedy.

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REHEARSAL ROOM #1
1 PM–5:30 PM
ABG Playwrights

____
1 PM–3:30 PM

Time of the Troubles
by Kitty Felde
Why does brother turn against brother, almost overnight? That’s the question that haunts the characters of Time of the Troubles. The play is set at Christmastime, in a poor parish on the outskirts of Dandora, on the eve of the bloody 2007 elections. But it’s as much a story about the LA riots and how the violence haunts a pair of cops who were stranded in South Central as the violence erupted. Drama. Recommended for ages 13 and up.

____
3:45 PM–5:30 PM
Bethesda
by Jennie Berman Eng

Diplomat Barry and his family have recently returned to Washington, D.C., after a mysterious scandal abroad. Wife Joy tries to work her networking magic and reinstate Barry as quickly as possible. She’s also pulled strings and secured the kids into prestigious Sidwell Friends School. But Barry is dragging his feet, and seems unwilling to try to get his job back. The kids, too, are suffering both from their parents’ fighting, and from the emotional wounds of their recent past in Bolivia, including Kevin’s discovery that his father was involved with their maid. When Kevin finds out his sister Hildy is cheating on her boyfriend back in La Paz with an American, he runs away. The family tracks him down to the airport, where he’s trying to return to La Paz, and all of the past and its secrets come to head in a violent clash between father and son. Drama. Recommended for ages 13 and up.

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NORTH ATRIUM FOYER
2 PM–5 PM
City Theatre Group
The Great Ascent
by David L. McWellan
An explosion in Hyde Park, in which two people have been killed brings British Intelligence to investigate the action. A social-political thriller that explores prejudice and misunderstanding. Drama. Recommended for ages 13 and up.

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TERRACE GALLERY
2:30 PM–5:30 PM
First Draft
Hinged
by Sarah Sorkin

In 1570, Queen Elizabeth’s ailing court painter, Levina Terling, is under pressure not to let the secrets of her portrait techniques die with her. An up-and-coming rival senses an opportunity and plants his apprentice to find out the secrets. 440 years later, art historian Lorna Buckley strives to rescue Levina Terling from historical obscurity and set the record straight. Can she overcome four centuries of male-dominated opinions or has nothing really changed since 1570? Drama. Recommended for ages 13 and up.

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AFRICAN LOUNGE
2:30 PM–5:30 PM
Guillotine Theater
Civilizing Lusby
by John Morogiello
Two businessmen try to make a killing on a railroad venture during the Gilded Age. But when they condemn a Chesapeake waterman’s shack to make way for the track, will the waterman opt to make a killing of his own? Drama. Recommended for ages 13 and up.

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NORTH OPERA TIER LOUNGE
2:30 PM–5:30 PM
Pinky Swear Productions
The Last Burlesque
by Stephen Spotswood
Darcy was raised by fire-eaters, contortionists, and clowns. It’s only natural she’d fall for a woman who pierces her body with hooks, dangles from the ceiling, and disrobes for an audience. Burlesque, sideshow. Drama. Recommended for mature audiences.

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FAMILY THEATER
3 PM–5 PM
African Continuum Theatre Company
Mon Chaton
by Thembi Duncan
Summer, 1926. A country schoolteacher inherits a Harlem boarding house from her worldly, sophisticated aunt and finds herself caught in a whirlwind of enthralling characters and events that teach her more about herself than ever imagined. Mon Chaton is one of the untold stories of lesbians and gays during the period that came to be known as the Harlem Renaissance. Drama. Recommended for ages 13 and up

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REHEARSAL ROOM #2
3 PM–5 PM
The Essential Theatre
The Music of Nina Simone
by Robert Neblett and David Grapes
Music arrangements by Vince Dimura
An electric new musical revue celebrating Jazz icon Nina Simone. Child prodigy, jazz superstar, civil rights activist, political exile, Nina Simone was all of these things and more. One of the true divas of the 20th century and a genuine musical powerhouse, she defined a generation and defied classification. Silky, soulful, and a jazz powerhouse, this musical tribute provides a celebrated exploration long overdue. Biography/Musical. Recommended for ages 13 and up.

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SOUTH ATRIUM FOYER
3 PM– 6 PM
Strand Theater Company
House Beautiful
by Liz Maestri
In a decaying town, one lone house still stands. Inside, three generations of a family weather the end of an era. Drama. Recommended for ages 13 and up.

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MILLENNIUM STAGE SOUTH
6 PM–7 PM.
Synetic Theater
The Picture of Dorian Gray
A text-and-movement interpretation of Oscar Wilde’s classic. Fearing the ravages of time and realizing the impermanence of youth, Dorian Gray makes a fateful wish–that his almost supernaturally lifelike portrait grow old while he remains forever young and beautiful. Synetic inventiveness and unforgettable visuals will elevate Oscar Wilde’s fantastical story to yet another level. Movement/Drama.

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TERRACE GALLERY
7:30 PM–9 PM
The Washington Rogues
The Campsite Rule
by Alexandra Petri
Popular sex columnist Dan Savage’s campsite rule states that the one guideline for May to December romance is: leave your younger partner better than you found him. With humanity and wit, The Campsite Rule charts the course of 20-something professional Susan and college freshman Lincoln’s unlikely relationship. Between their friends’ disapproval, Susan’s other hookups, and the chaos of life in general, the duo face challenges on the road to romance. Alexandra Petri’s sexy new comedy “The Campsite Rule” asks: what is normal and when can you tell you’ve grown up? Comedy. Recommended for mature audiences.

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MILLENNIUM STAGE NORTH

7:30 PM–10:30 PM
Baltimore Rock Opera Society (BROS) .
Gründlehämmer

With the aid of the Royal Guard, Lothario has oppressed his citizens, confiscated the powerful instruments that gave voice to their music, and formed an alliance with an immortal cave-dwelling monster, the Gründle. While most Brojans live their lives in fear, an innocent young boy of great talent is coming of age in a tiny hamlet on the outskirts of the Kingdom. His tremendous skills on the guitar bring hope to the tiny farming village and spark the flames of resistance in those that can still remember true Rock. Will this young boy cast off his innocence to claim the Gründlehämmer? Will the Dark King release his iron grip on the lifeblood of Brotopia? Join the Brojans in their struggle to reclaim the power of Rock n’ Roll. Rock Opera. Recommended for ages 13 and up.
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FAMILY THEATER
7:30 PM–10 PM
Flying V
The Pirate Laureate and the King of the Sea
by Zachary Fernebok
Heyo! In a world where words cut deeper than swards, there are no greater pirates sailing the deep than Captain Grayscale and his Pirate Laureate Finn. They best be careful. Their names are becoming known ocean wide and with their new found fame, they may find themselves in a sinister sights of the one man wrecking crew of the Ocean Ephrata – Rey Del Mar, King of the Sea.Comedy/Adventure.

____

TERRACE THEATER
7:30 PM–10:30 PM
The Playwrights Forum in association with LCTM Enterprises .
Welcome to the Land of Bad Choices
by James H. Hanrahan and Harry M. Bagdasian
A school security guard and two soldiers with PTSD carry guns to school on this day. No one set out to be the bad guy, but there’s shooting. Two of the men are injured and a child is dead. Welcome to the land of bad choices. Drama. Recommended

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THEATER LAB
7:30 PM–9:30 PM
Theater J
Our Suburb
by Darrah Cloud
for mature audiences.

Directed by Tony Award–winning actress and Broadway director Judith Ivey.

An homage to Our Town, this world premiere invites audiences to suburban Illinois in 1977, when the Nazis marched on Skokie. Amidst holiday planning, interfaith teenage relationships, and a growing dark menace–life and love happen. Drama. Recommended for ages 13 and up.

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SOUTH ATRIUM FOYER
7:30 PM–9:30 PM
The Welders
Greatest Hits
The Welders, a DC-area playwrights’ collective whose mission is to establish an organically evolving, alternative platform for play development and production, will present a reading of the best short works from throughout its members’ career. The Welders: Renee Calarco, Allyson Currin, Caleen Sinnette Jennings, Bob Bartlett, and Gwydion Suilebhan. Recommended for ages 13 and up.

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NORTH ATRIUM FOYER
7:30 PM–9:30 PM
The Playwrights Gymnasium
An Ordinary Afternoon
by Mary Watters
A woman is finally forced to confront a terrible problem that she’s turned a blind eye to for years. Her husband’s actions trigger series of events and the woman’s carefully managed life begins to unravel when strangers intrude on her comfortable world. Drama. Recommended for mature audiences.

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REHEARSAL ROOM #1
7:30 PM– 9 PM
Washington Improv Theater
iMusical: Uncovered
iMusical: Uncovered is an improvised musical that discovers the songs underneath the cover of ordinary life. A single audience suggestion inspires the cast to explore the magic within the human condition, using lyrics, music and scenes created instantly “on the spot.” Musical Theater. Recommended for ages 13 and up.
____
REHEARSAL ROOM #2
7:30 PM -9:30PM
force/collision
Separate Rooms
by Joe Calarco
force/collision presents a work-in-progress reading of playwright Joe Calarco’s new play Separate Rooms. Sex, death, booze and a mysterious woman in the closet as friends and lovers unite during a wake in a New York City apartment. Cast includes Tracy Olivera, Kimberly Gilbert, Thomas Keegan, Jenna Sokolowski, Evan Casey, and Tim Getman. Comedy. Recommended for ages 13 and up.

____
REHEARSAL ROOM #3
7:30 PM–9:30 PM
Scena
Sabateur!
Drama. Recommended for mature audiences.
___
The performance is free and open to the public, and will be streamed live on the Kennedy Center website.
____

THE ENTIRE SCHEDULE FOR THE 2013 PAGE-TO-STAGE FESTIVAL.

September 1, 2013
Reporting from The Page-to-Stage Festival: ‘The Law of Return’ by Alison Drucker

Playwright Martin Blank. Photo courtesy of Martin’s website martinblankauthor.com

The Law of Return is Martin Blank’s emotionally-gripping, thoughtful, and timely 80-minute show inspired by mid-80’s news events concerning the Jonathan Jay Pollard espionage case. Pollard, a civilian intelligence analyst based in Suitland, Maryland, removed thousands of classified documents from the U.S. Navy’s Anti-terrorist Alert Center and gave them to Israel. He still is serving a 30-year prison term, which is set to end in November 2015.

The title of the play refers to the Israeli law which grants Jews the right to go to Israel and become citizens. Pollard is Jewish and lost family members in the Holocaust. Once found out, he unsuccessfully sought safety at the Israeli Embassy under this law. The action of the play explores the possible motivations for his espionage and suggests painfully conflicting loyalties both to the U.S. and to Israel as a Jewish homeland. It also bears on the tension between Israel’s special role as a Jewish homeland and its existence as one sovereign state among many.

Playwright Martin Blank is a local asset. Not only has he authored numerous plays, but he was the Founding Artistic Director of Theatre J. For the past five years, he has served as Artistic Director of American Ensemble Theater, which sponsored this production. Elise Thoron directed.

There were solid, convincing performances from all three cast members – Anthony van Eyck, Rick Foucheux, and Slice Hicks, who portrayed the naval officer in charge of Pollard, Pollard’s Israeli contact, and Pollard himself. Rick especially aced his role – probably the most complex one, transforming from kind and mensch-y father figure to Machiavellian practitioner of Real Politik.

___

If you missed the Page-to-Stage reading there will be another reading at The Northern Virginia Jewish Community Center on Sunday, November 10th at 6 p.m.

LINKS

Read a synopsis of The Law of Return.

Martin Blank’s website.

A conversation with Martin Blank and Director Elise Thoron by Keith Loria about The Law of Return on DCTheatreScene.

September 1, 2013
Here’s Today’s ‘Page-to-Stage’ Festival Schedule for Sunday, September 1, 2013 at The Kennedy Center

Here is the schedule for TODAY, Sunday, September 1, 2 013
at the ‘Page-to-Stage’ Festival’ at The Kennedy Center.
Performances are from 6-7 PM Only!

At The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts -2700 F Street, NW, in Washington, DC
Page-to-Stage is FREE!
No tickets are needed.
Seating is on a first-come basis.
Doors open 30 minutes before the start of each performance.
Paid parking is available in the building.
Free shuttle from The Foggy Bottom Metro.

____

MILLENNIUM STAGE SOUTH
6 PM–7 PM.
VSA Playwrights
The nine winners of the 29th Annual Playwright Discovery Performance competition and their winning scripts will be celebrated, and excerpts of a few scripts will be performed as staged readings.____

____

From The Kennedy Center:

Here are the 2013 VSA Playwright Discovery Program High School Winners

Margaret Abigail Flowers, The Broken Ornament

Margaret Abigail Flowers, 17, originally hails from Houston, Texas, and has recently graduated from Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. She is the winner of numerous regional and national awards for her poetry and playwriting, including The Blank Theatre Young Playwright’s Competition and multiple Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. She will be attending Stanford University in the fall of 2013 as an undergraduate student.

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Will Hedgecock, Bad Days

Will Hedgecock, 17, is a senior at Edison High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He is an editor of Eyrie, the school’s nationally recognized journal of creative expression, an active participant in his school’s drama program, as well as an Eagle Scout. Will received the regional and state All-Star awards for the OSAI one-act competition for his role as Claudius. In addition, he has produced and directed two of his own one-act plays locally. He plans to major in theatre before pursuing a graduate program in playwriting program.

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Nik Kerry, Sons of Atlantis

Nik Kerry, 19, is a recent graduate of Centerville High School in Centerville, Ohio. Those that know him would describe him as energetic and enthusiastic about life. Born in Utah in 1994, he grew up in Ohio where he spent most of his time writing or playing musical instruments. Since being published in a poetry collection in fifth grade, Mr. Kerry’s work has been seen in the Teenink.com magazine, A Celebration of Young Poets magazine, Dark Gothic Resurrected magazine, and he is the self-published author of Nevermore, a book for Kindle. He currently resides in Utah.

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Mickey Liebrecht, Broken Bodies

Mickey Liebrecht, 16, is a junior at Arapahoe High School in Littleton, Colorado. She is currently enrolled in a number of honors and AP courses. Her greatest love is the choir she is a part of, Young Voices of Colorado, where she has been taught to read and make music. More critically, she has also learned to use music as a tool for her own creative originality-a skill she truly values. She hopes to become a profiler with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

____

Elana Loeb, Sertraline Lullabies

Elana Loeb, 18, recently graduated from Palo Alto High School in Palo Alto, California. She is a big sister, a singer-songwriter, and an avid Shakespearian. In addition to Sertraline Lullabies, she has written two one-act comedies, an one-act musical, and a full length play. This fall Elana will begin her freshman year at Cornell University.

____

Cal Sheridan, Cal Sheridan: Not Suffering

Cal Sheridan, 18, recently graduated from Boise High School in Boise, Idaho. For Cal, the stage is his life. Whether writing or acting, he loves being a part of the theatrical experience. He has written two plays: Chestnuts Roasting and Cal Sheridan: Not Suffering. His theater experience also includes working on stage crew as well as numerous acting credits. When not participating in theater, he enjoys writing scripts for cartoons and songs on Garageband. Cal studies under Dwayne Blackaller, a professional playwright at the Boise Contemporary Theatre.

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Dimitra Skouras, Joanna’s Baby

Dimitra Skouras, 18, is a recent graduate of Dallastown Area High School in York, Pennsylvania, where she was involved in the music and drama programs. Her lifelong involvement in community theatre fostered her love for all aspects of the performing arts. She enjoys literature, baking, and comedic television, and it is her dream to one day write for TV. Dimitra hopes to attend college sometime in the (hopefully near) future, as soon as she figures out how to pay for it.

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Nathan Wilgeroth, Love Like Anything

Nathan Wilgeroth, 18, recently graduated from Vista Ridge High School in Cedar Park, Texas. He was Vice President of his school’s theatre department, having won multiple school- and district-wide acting awards. In addition, he was a member of the Texas All-State Mixed Choir and President of his school’s choir department. In the fall, Nathan will attend Boston University and plans to major in English Literature.

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Nicole Zimmerer, Falling with Grace

Nicole Zimmerer, 19, just graduated from Westside High School in Houston, Texas. She was a member of the school’s theatre company for four years, as well as a member of National Honors Society. She has had cerebral palsy since birth and has written the words “non-progressive, non-contagious condition” on more college essays than she would like to admit. She is an avid writer and is very passionate about theatre, television, and film. Nicole will be attending the University of Houston in the fall, with plans to major in Playwriting and Dramaturgy.

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The 2013 VSA Playwright Discovery Program winners will participate in a weekend of pre-professional activities at the Kennedy Center during the annual Page-to-Stage festival. The young playwrights will engage with seasoned professional playwrights, directors and actors to refine their work and developed their playwriting skills.

Selected excerpts from three scripts will be performed on the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage on Sunday, September 1, 2013 at 6 p.m..

The performance is free and open to the public, and will be streamed live on the Kennedy Center website.

____

THE ENTIRE SCHEDULE FOR THE 2013 PAGE-TO-STAGE FESTIVAL.

September 1, 2013
Here is Today’s ‘Page-to-Stage’ Festival Schedule for Saturday, August 31, 2013 at The Kennedy Center

Here is the schedule for TODAY, Saturday, August 31st
at the ‘Page-to-Stage’ Festival’:
Performances are from NOON until 10:30 PM

At The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts -2700 F Street, NW, in Washington, DC
Page-to-Stage is FREE!
No tickets are needed.
Seating is on a first-come basis.
Doors open 30 minutes before the start of each performance.
Paid parking is available in the building.
Free shuttle from The Foggy Bottom Metro.

____

FAMILY THEATER
NOON-2 PM
Kennedy Center Kenan Fellowship
Before Oscar Was Wilde
by Steven Levingston

A comic and bittersweet recounting of Oscar Wilde’s U.S. Tour as a young style-setter of 28. Featuring Aubrey Deeker, Alyssa Wilmoth Keegan, and Michael Glenn, directed by Jeremy Skidmore.
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MILLENNIUM STAGE NORTH
NOON-3 PM
Field Trip Theatre
Our Father
by Danielle Mohlman

Thrown together on Christmas Eve, three displaced siblings are forced to confront addiction, religion, and what it really means to “grow up.” Drama. Recommended for mature audiences.

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REHEARSAL ROOM #1

NOON-2:30 PM
1st Stage Theatre
One More Night

[FAMILY FRIENDLY]
Book, Music and lyrics by Lou Ann K. Behan
Music and lyrics by Gary Fitzgerald
Additional music provided by Gary Cuccurullo
Neither death nor flimsy shoes can stop Queen Caroline, (Napoleon Bonaparte’s youngest sister), while her household in the new Kingdom of Naples is in turmoil. Her husband, King Joachim, is consumed with guilt about her death. Their daughters bicker, snipe and think of clever ways to drive him crazy. The King outlaws all dancing and balls, yet the daughters continue mysterious nightly forays, defying him openly and ruining their slipper like shoes. His scorned former lover, now the Queen of Sicily, plots to overthrow him using her son, the foppish, cruel Prince of Agata. A brash, determined young shoemaker hawks newfangled leather shoes… and he looks familiar. In this re-imagining of a beloved Grimm Brothers’ tale, there is an urgent need to set things right. Promises made long ago must be kept, but Queen Caroline has only One More Night. Musical.

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AFRICAN LOUNGE

NOON-2:30 PM
EMP Collective
Spooky Action at a Distance
by Matthew Buckley Smith
It’s 1971, and with the Vietnam War still grinding on, Simon Pirklowski plays it safe, studying physics at Berkeley to avoid the draft. But when he befriends a shady bartender and agrees to tutor his beautiful wife, Simon finds out just how thrilling uncertainty can be. Drama. Recommended for mature audiences.

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NORTH OPERA TIER LOUNGE

NOON-3 PM
dog & pony dc
Toast Incubator Salon
This is your opportunity to experience the development of a new work from the inside out. DC-based devised theater ensemble dog & pony dc is exploring technological innovation, invention, group process, and creativity in their newest participatory work Toast. d&p dc creates work through collaborative inquiry and artistic experimentations. In creating Toast, d&p dc is trying to distill key ingredients for innovation (i.e. discovery-oriented environments, culture of “tinkering,” “liquid networks”) and apply them in a multi-media, participatory performance that fully and transparently harnesses the audience as a resource integral for the completion of the show in performance. Which is where you come in! d&p dc brings their public devising events, Toast Incubator Salons, to Page-to-Stage. Inspired by TED talks and literary salons, these events pair a scientific discussion-demo with performances of works-in-progress from Toast, and culminate in a full-group devising activity. At thisToast Incubator Salon, participants will take in the first-look at the prologue to Toast (examining the relationship between artistic movements and scientific discoveries over time) and then work in small groups to edit, revise, or completely reimagine the script and staging. Participatory Theater.

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REHEARSAL ROOM #2
1 PM–2:30 PM
Seventh Street Playhouse
Eugenio
by Anthony E. Gallo
This fact-based, two-act drama deals with that tragic period in Italy during the Holocaust when 1,500 Jews were sent to their deaths at Auschwitz. It touches on the role of the Church and the Holocaust, and examines forgiveness amidst three conversions. Rome’s aloof and scholarly Chief Rabbi Israel Zolli loses faith following the apparent slaughter of his Polish family. He receives asylum in the Vatican, where he comes to appreciate Jesus as God suffering for humanity. The Rabbi rediscovers faith and converts to Roman Catholicism. This is seen as a betrayal of his spiritual duty and a defection to the age-old enemy. Was his conversion one of conviction or merely gratitude? What does he demand at his baptism that eventually removes a major symbol of discrimination? Drama.

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NORTH PLAZA
2 PM-5 PM
Faction of Fools
Three Musketeers
[FAMILY FRIENDLY]
DC’s commedia dell’arte theatre company presents a unique version of this audience favorite outside.

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MILLENNIUM STAGE SOUTH
2 PM–5 PM.
Catholic University of America:
____
Conversations I’ve Never Had
by Kathleen Cole Burke

A young woman hoping to find out who she is searches for herself in situations she’s never encountered.

____
Soldier W
by Kathleen Cole Burke
A soldier shows up on his best friend’s doorstep, home from the Iraq war, and totally unable to speak to her.

____
Prufrock
Adapted by Teri Gilmor
Based on The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot
Shrewd housemaid Marta adores the agoraphobic pianist James Prufrock, but it’s hopeless – not only is James her employer, he’s desperately in love with the beautiful and haughty Elizabeth. On the eve of Elizabeth’s wedding, James sets out to stage the perfect evening in her honor – music, conversation, tea and cakes and ices. Will Marta and James find the courage to confess their feelings before it’s too late?

____
Circulation
by Robert Montenegro
Library employee Chase experienced a true and rare moment of Zen while in the restroom but now finds himself unable to share his secret with an eager co-worker. Recommended for ages 13 and up.

____
Bite Me
by Amanda Zeitler
An absurdist 10-minute play in which a shark attempts to sign up for swimming lessons at his local community pool, but is denied access by the desk attendant. Recommended for ages 13 and up.

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Life Intercepted
by Robert Montenegro
A high school football player wakes up in heaven only to find that it’s not operated quite the tight ship he had anticipated.

____

TERRACE THEATER

2 PM–5:30 PM
Georgetown University Theater and Performance Studies
Polk Street
by T. Chase Meachum
Polk Street: an end-of-the-line stop for people who are running from pieces of the past. It is a cradle of rebirth, for some, and a gutter for most. It is a place of sex and drugs – of love, and things that feel like it. It is a nest for runaways, lost children, drag queens, ministers, strippers, hustlers, druggies, artists, gays, and others who dream of freedom and dancing, of new lives with pasts. But, for all its inhabitants, for better or worse – Polk Street is home. Drama. Recommended for mature audiences.

____

REHEARSAL ROOM #1
3:30 PM–5:30 PM
Timeless Visual Works
Time Will Tell… Stage 1
Written, directed, and produced by Ollie L. Jefferson
Time Will Tell…Stage 1 introduces the timeless true story of a young woman full of dreams, coming of age and on her way to harsh reality. Travel through time with her as she recounts the decisions made in creating her life. Experience the journey of growing pains as she looked for love in all the wrong places. Based on the memoir to inspire daughters from all walks of life to turn from dead-end roads and step into their divine destiny. Drama. Recommended for ages 13 and up.

____

FAMILY THEATER
4 PM–5:15 p.m.
Kennedy Center Theater for Young Audiences and VSA FAMILY THEATER
Mockingbird
[FAMILY FRIENDLY]
by Julie Jensen from the novel by Kathryn Erskine
Caitlin’s world has always been black and white. As a girl with Asperger’s syndrome, she has always relied on her older brother Devon to help her make sense of the world outside of her favorite textbooks and dictionaries. Suddenly, tragedy strikes and Caitlin is left on her own. But with the help of a new friend, her school advisor, and her father, Caitlin begins to see that maybe what everyone needs is closure. Adapted by Julie Jensen from Kathryn Erskine’s National Book Award-winning novel, and directed by Tracy Callahan, Mockingbird is a new theater for young audiences play in development that shows how black and white are complemented by vibrant colors, which are beautiful and necessary for healing.

____

REHEARSAL ROOM #2
4 PM–6 PM
The National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts
The Good Devil, In Spite of Himself
by Mario Baldessari & Tyler Herman
Come enjoy the comedic travails of a 17th century commedia troupe besieged by an official decree that forbids them from using dialogue in their plays. The royally imposed restriction sends the comedy troupe on a rollercoaster ride of comic invention as they seek to successfully skirt the dialogue police! Comedy. Recommended for mature audiences.

____
AFRICAN LOUNGE
4 PM–6:30 PM
The Playwrights’ Gymnasium
Falwell
by Bob Bartlett
It’s been over eight years since Harlan Hodgson has left his tiny apartment. But, when his hateful dog, Falwell (an obese black lab), unexpectedly expires and 20-something newlywed interns Stephen and Sarah move next door, the outside world like never before beckons – and Harlan hears it.Comedy. Recommended for mature audiences.

____
NORTH OPERA TIER LOUNGE
4 PM–6:30 PM.
The Indian Ocean Theatre Company
In to the Out Side & D.C. al Coda
by John Sowalsky
Samuel Beckett meets the Marx Brothers in this self-deconstructing absurdist comedy. Comedy.

____
MILLENNIUM STAGE NORTH
6 PM–7 PM
Arts on the Horizon
The Young Spectaculars and the Front Yard Adventure
[FAMILY FRIENDLY]

Meet brother and sister, Andrew and Emma–aka The Young Spectaculars! Energized by their super-powered imaginations, but stuck creating their own adventures near the front porch, they save a cat and a picnic lunch before stumbling upon more than they bargained for. Join the Young Spectaculars for this show intended for the little hero inside all of us. Recommended for children ages 2 to 5.

____

TERRACE THEATER
7:30 PM–10:30 PM
African-American Collective Theater
Aural Sex
by Alan Sharpe
Readings of short plays chronicling the contemporary black, gay experience. Drama. Recommended for mature audiences.

_____

FAMILY THEATER
7:30 PM-9:30 PM
Safe Streets Arts Foundation
Compilation of plays by inmates across America that reflect their regrets, hopes, and aspirations.Drama/Music. Recommended for mature audiences.

____

REHEARSAL ROOM #1
7:30 PM–9:30 PM
American Ensemble Theater
The Law of Return
by Martin Blank
A spy thriller inspired by the mid-1980s Jay Pollard spy case set in Washington, D.C.

____
REHEARSAL ROOM #2
7:30 PM–9:30 PM
Crash of Rhinos
Doubting Thomas
by Mario Baldessari
Tom’s been diagnosed with an incurable form of cancer. When modern medicine fails him, he’s urged to seek out Thomas of God, a mysterious faith healer in Mexico, who is believed to channel the spirit of Saint Thomas Aquinas. The actual spirit of Thomas Aquinas, however, has other plans in store for Tom, his family and friends. Doubting Thomas is a comedy about life, death, and life-or-death situations. Comedy. Recommended for mature audiences.

____
AFRICAN LOUNGE
7:30 PM–9:30 PM.

Playwrights Group of Baltimore
It Happened in the Harbor
Various 10-minute plays discussing Baltimore harbors. Comedy/Drama. Recommended for ages 13 and up.

____

NORTH OPERA TIER LOUNGE
7:30 PM–9:30 PM
Theater Alliance
Risk and Return
The members of DC Area Playwrights Group on Facebook were issued the following challenge by Theatre Alliance: Write a short piece for the stage on an issue/topic/idea that scares you to write about. It should be relevant to the DC metro area. It should have an element of danger and risk. It should matter, to you and to your audience. This presentation showcases a selection of short works by the playwrights who accepted the challenge.

____

MILLENNIUM STAGE NORTH
8 PM–10 PM
MetroStage
Ella Fitzgerald: First Lady of Song
Book by Lee Summers
Conceived, directed, and choreographed by Maurice Hines
Featuring Freda Payne
Hosted by Maurice Hines
Ella along with her cousin/traveling companion, Georgiana, and her manager Norman Granz tell her on and offstage stories. This production explores Ella’s start as a homeless street dancer, winning an amateur night at the Apollo Theatre at age 15 which launched her on to the national stage, headlining with Chick Webb and his orchestra at the Savoy Ballroom, to performing live at the Cote D’Azur. From scat to bebop, this play will show the fascinating journey of a legendary artist. Musical.

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THE ENTIRE SCHEDULE FOR THE 2013 PAGE-TO-STAGE FESTIVAL.

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August 31, 2013
12th Annual Page-to-Stage Schedule at The Kennedy Center Tomorrow, Sunday, and Monday & It’s FREE!

The 12th Annual Page-to-Stage Festival 2013 Takes Place on:
Saturday, August 31, 12–10:30 p.m.
Sunday, September 1, 6–7 p.m.
Monday, September 2, 11 a.m.–10 p.m.

In venues throughout The Kennedy Center.

IT’S FREE!
No tickets required, but there is limited seating available.

The Kennedy Center hosts its 12th annual Page-to-Stage festival, featuring more than 40 DC-area theater companies. The three-day event offers free readings and open rehearsals of plays and musicals being developed by local, regional, and national playwrights, librettists, and composers.

Don’t miss your chance for a first look at outstanding works for upcoming 2013-2014 season premieres!
Limited seating available on a first-come, first-served basis.
General admission seating opens approximately 30 minutes prior to each event.
Programs, artists, and schedules are subject to change without notice.
No free parking for free events.

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PARTICIPATING THEATERS INCLUDE:
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1st Stage Theater
ABG Playwrights
African Continuum Theatre Company
African-American Collective Theater
American Ensemble Theater
Arts on the Horizon
Baltimore Playwrights Festival
Baltimore Rock Opera Society (BROS)
Bouncing Ball Theatrical Productions
Bowie State University Theatre Department
Catholic University
City Theatre Group
Crash of Rhinos
dog & pony dc
EMP Collective
The Essential Theatre
Faction of Fools
Federal Theatre Project
Field Trip Theatre
First Draft
Flying V
force/collision
Georgetown University Theater and Performance Studies
Guillotine Theater
Howard University
The Indian Ocean Theatre Company
The Inkwell
Kennedy Center Kenan Fellowship
Kennedy Center Theater for Young Audiences
MetroStage
The National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts
Pinky Swear Productions
Playwrights Forum in association with LCTM Enterprises
Playwrights Group of Baltimore
The Playwrights’ Gymnasium
Safe Streets Arts Foundation
Scena Theatre
Seventh Street Playhouse
Strand Theater Company
Synetic Theater
Theater Alliance
Theater J
Timeless Visual Works, LLC
VSA
Washington Improv Theater
The Washington Rogues
The Welders
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PERFORMANCE DESCRIPTIONS AND SCHEDULE
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Please note that the schedule is broken down by day, followed by show times at each venue that day in chronological order.

Programs, artists, and schedules are subject to change without notice.

FF – These events are Family Friendly; all other events may contain mature content.

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SATURDAY, AUGUST 31st
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NORTH PLAZA

2–5 p.m. Faction of Fools (Open Rehearsal 2–4, Performance 4–5)
The Three Musketeers [FF]
DC’s commedia dell’arte theatre company presents a unique version of this audience favorite outside.

MILLENNIUM STAGE SOUTH

2–5 p.m. Catholic University of America
Circulation (2–2:10)
by Robert Montenegro
Library employee Chase experienced a true and rare moment of Zen while in the restroom but now finds himself unable to share his secret with an eager co-worker. Recommended for age 13 and up.

Soldier W (2:10–2:50)
by Kathleen Cole Burke
A soldier shows up on his best friend’s doorstep, home from the Iraq war, and totally unable to speak to her.

Why You Shouldn’t Have Sex in a Car (2:50–3) By Amanda Zeitler
Max and Cee Cee’s relationship hits a speed bump when a bungled backseat tryst lands them behind bars. Recommended for age 13 and up.

Prufrock (3–3:40)
adapted by Teri Gilmor
based on The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot
Shrewd housemaid Marta adores the agoraphobic pianist James Prufrock, but it’s hopeless – not only is James her employer, he’s desperately in love with the beautiful and haughty Elizabeth. On the eve of Elizabeth’s wedding, James sets out to stage the perfect evening in her honor – music, conversation, tea and cakes and ices. Will Marta and James find the courage to confess their feelings before it’s too late?

Life Intercepted (3:40–4:10)
by Robert Montenegro
A high school football player wakes up in heaven only to find that it’s not operated as quite the tight ship he had anticipated.

Bite Me (4:10–5)
by Amanda Zeitler
An absurdist 10-minute play in which a shark attempts to sign up for swimming lessons at his local community pool, but is denied access by the desk attendant. Recommended for age 13 and up.

____

8–10 p.m. MetroStage
Ella Fitzgerald: First Lady of Song
Book by Lee Summers
Conceived, directed, and choreographed by Maurice Hines
Featuring Freda Payne
Hosted by Maurice Hines
Ella along with her cousin/traveling companion, Georgiana, and her manager Norman Granz tell her on and offstage stories. This production explores Ella’s start as a homeless street dancer, winning an amateur night at the Apollo Theatre at age 15 which launched her on to the national stage, headlining with Chick Webb and his orchestra at the Savoy Ballroom, to performing live at the Cote D’Azur. From scat to bebop, this play will show the fascinating journey of a legendary artist. Musical.

MILLENNIUM STAGE NORTH

12–3 p.m. Field Trip Theatre
Our Father
by Danielle Mohlman
Thrown together on Christmas Eve, three displaced siblings are forced to confront addiction, religion, and what it really means to “grow up.” Drama. Recommended for mature audiences.

6–7 p.m. Arts on the Horizon
The Young Spectaculars and the Front Yard Adventure [FF]
Meet brother and sister, Andrew and Emma–aka The Young Spectaculars! Energized by their super-powered imaginations, but stuck creating their own adventures near the front porch, they save a cat and a picnic lunch before stumbling upon more than they bargained for. Join the Young Spectaculars for this show intended for the little hero inside all of us.Recommended for children ages 2 to 5.

TERRACE THEATER

2–5 p.m. Georgetown University Theater and Performance Studies
Polk Street
Written by T. Chase Meacham
Based on Polk Street Stories by Joey Plaster
Directed by Joseph Megel
Polk Street: an end-of-the-line stop for people who are running from pieces of the past. It is a cradle of rebirth, for some, and a gutter for most. It is a place of sex and drugs – of love, and things that feel like it. It is a nest for runaways, lost children, drag queens, ministers, strippers, hustlers, druggies, artists, gays, and others who dream of freedom and dancing, of new lives with pasts. But, for all its inhabitants, for better or worse – Polk Street is home.Drama. Recommended for mature audiences.

7:30–10:30 p.m. African-American Collective Theater
Aural Sex
by Alan Sharpe
Readings of short plays chronicling the contemporary black, gay experience. Drama. Recommended for mature audiences.

FAMILY THEATER

12–2 p.m. Kennedy Center Kenan Fellowship
Before Oscar Was Wilde by Steven Levingston
A comic and bittersweet recounting of Oscar Wilde’s U.S. Tour as a young style-setter of 28. Featuring Aubrey Deeker, Alyssa Wilmoth Keegan, and Michael Glenn, directed by Jeremy Skidmore.

4–5:15 p.m. Kennedy Center Theater for Young Audiences and VSA
Mockingbird [FF]
by Julie Jensen from the novel by Kathryn Erskine
Caitlin’s world has always been black and white. As a girl with Asperger’s syndrome, she has always relied on her older brother Devon to help her make sense of the world outside of her favorite textbooks and dictionaries. Suddenly, tragedy strikes and Caitlin is left on her own. But with the help of a new friend, her school advisor, and her father, Caitlin begins to see that maybe what everyone needs is closure. Adapted by Julie Jensen from Kathryn Erskine’s National Book Award-winning novel, and directed by Tracy Callahan, Mockingbird is a new theater for young audiences play in development that shows how black and white are complemented by vibrant colors, which are beautiful and necessary for healing.

7:30–9:30 p.m. Safe Streets Arts Foundation
Compilation of plays by inmates across America that reflect their regrets, hopes, and aspirations. Drama/Music. Recommended for mature audiences.

REHEARSAL ROOM #1

12–2:30 p.m. 1st Stage Theatre
One More Night [FF]
Book, Music and lyrics by Lou Ann K. Behan
Music and lyrics by Gary Fitzgerald
Additional music provided by Gary Cuccurullo
Neither death nor flimsy shoes can stop Queen Caroline, (Napoleon Bonaparte’s youngest sister), while her household in the new Kingdom of Naples is in turmoil. Her husband, King Joachim, is consumed with guilt about her death. Their daughters bicker, snipe and think of clever ways to drive him crazy. The King outlaws all dancing and balls, yet the daughters continue mysterious nightly forays, defying him openly and ruining their slipper like shoes. His scorned former lover, now the Queen of Sicily, plots to overthrow him using her son, the foppish, cruel Prince of Agata. A brash, determined young shoemaker hawks newfangled leather shoes… and he looks familiar. In this re-imagining of a beloved Grimm Brothers’ tale, there is an urgent need to set things right. Promises made long ago must be kept, but Queen Caroline has only One More Night. Musical.

3:30–5:30 p.m. Timeless Visual Works
Time Will Tell… Stage 1
Written, directed, and produced by Ollie L. Jefferson
Time Will Tell…Stage 1 introduces the timeless true story of a young woman full of dreams, coming of age and on her way to harsh reality. Travel through time with her as she recounts the decisions made in creating her life. Experience the journey of growing pains as she looked for love in all the wrong places. Based on the memoir to inspire daughters from all walks of life to turn from dead-end roads and step into their divine destiny. Drama. Recommended for age 13 and up.

7:30–9:30 p.m. American Ensemble Theater
The Law of Return
by Martin Blank
A spy thriller inspired by the mid-1980s Jay Pollard spy case set in Washington, D.C.

REHEARSAL ROOM #2

1–2:45 p.m. Seventh Street Playhouse
Eugenio
by Anthony E. Gallo
This fact-based, two-act drama deals with that tragic period in Italy during the Holocaust when 1,500 Jews were sent to their deaths at Auschwitz. It touches on the role of the Church and the Holocaust, and examines forgiveness amidst three conversions. Rome’s aloof and scholarly Chief Rabbi Israel Zolli loses faith following the apparent slaughter of his Polish family. He receives asylum in the Vatican, where he comes to appreciate Jesus as God suffering for humanity. The Rabbi rediscovers faith and converts to Roman Catholicism. This is seen as a betrayal of his spiritual duty and a defection to the age-old enemy. Was his conversion one of conviction or merely gratitude? What does he demand at his baptism that eventually removes a major symbol of discrimination? Drama.

4–6 p.m. The National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts
The Good Devil, In Spite of Himself
by Mario Baldessari & Tyler Herman
Come enjoy the comedic travails of a 17th century commedia troupe besieged by an official decree that forbids them from using dialogue in their plays. The royally imposed restriction sends the comedy troupe on a rollercoaster ride of comic invention as they seek to successfully skirt the dialogue police! Comedy. Recommended for mature audiences.

7:30–9 p.m. Crash of Rhinos
Doubting Thomas
by Mario Baldessari
Tom’s been diagnosed with an incurable form of cancer. When modern medicine fails him, he’s urged to seek out Thomas of God, a mysterious faith healer in Mexico, who is believed to channel the spirit of Saint Thomas Aquinas. The actual spirit of Thomas Aquinas, however, has other plans in store for Tom, his family and friends. Doubting Thomas is a comedy about life, death, and life-or-death situations. Comedy. Recommended for mature audiences.

AFRICAN LOUNGE

12–2 p.m. EMP Collective
Spooky Action at a Distance
by Matthew Buckley Smith
It’s 1971, and with the Vietnam War still grinding on, Simon Pirklowski plays it safe, studying physics at Berkeley to avoid the draft. But when he befriends a shady bartender and agrees to tutor his beautiful wife, Simon finds out just how thrilling uncertainty can be.Drama. Recommended for mature audiences.

4–5:30 p.m. The Playwrights’ Gymnasium
Falwell
by Bob Bartlett
It’s been over eight years since Harlan Hodgson has left his tiny apartment. But, when his hateful dog, Falwell (an obese black lab), unexpectedly expires and 20-something newlywed interns Stephen and Sarah move next door, the outside world like never before beckons – and Harlan hears it. Comedy. Recommended for mature audiences.

7:30–9:30 p.m. Playwrights Group of Baltimore
It Happened in the Harbor
Various 10-minute plays discussing Baltimore harbors. Comedy/Drama. Recommended for age 13 and up.

NORTH OPERA TIER LOUNGE

12–2 p.m. dog & pony dc
Toast Incubator Salon
This is your opportunity to experience the development of a new work from the inside out. DC-based devised theater ensemble dog & pony dc is exploring technological innovation, invention, group process, and creativity in their newest participatory work Toast. d&p dc creates work through collaborative inquiry and artistic experimentations. In creating Toast, d&p dc is trying to distill key ingredients for innovation (i.e. discovery-oriented environments, culture of “tinkering,” “liquid networks”) and apply them in a multi-media, participatory performance that fully and transparently harnesses the audience as a resource integral for the completion of the show in performance. Which is where you come in! d&p dc brings their public devising events, Toast Incubator Salons, to Page-to-Stage. Inspired by TED talks and literary salons, these events pair a scientific discussion-demo with performances of works-in-progress from Toast, and culminate in a full-group devising activity. At this Toast Incubator Salon, participants will take in the first-look at the prologue to Toast (examining the relationship between artistic movements and scientific discoveries over time) and then work in small groups to edit, revise, or completely reimagine the script and staging. Participatory Theater.

4–5:30 p.m. The Indian Ocean Theatre Company
In to the Out Side & D.C. al Coda
by John Sowalsky
Samuel Beckett meets the Marx Brothers in this self-deconstructing absurdist comedy.Comedy.

7:30–9:30 p.m. Theater Alliance
Risk and Return
The members of DC Area Playwrights Group on Facebook were issued the following challenge by Theatre Alliance: Write a short piece for the stage on an issue/topic/idea that scares you to write about. It should be relevant to the DC metro area. It should have an element of danger and risk. It should matter, to you and to your audience. This presentation showcases a selection of short works by the playwrights who accepted the challenge.

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SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MILLENNIUM STAGE SOUTH

6–7 p.m. VSA Playwrights
The nine winners of the 29th Annual Playwright Discovery Performance competition and their winning scripts will be celebrated, and excerpts of a few scripts will be performed as staged readings.

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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 2
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MILLENNIUM STAGE SOUTH

6–7 p.m. Synetic Theater
The Picture of Dorian Gray
A text-and-movement interpretation of Oscar Wilde’s classic. Fearing the ravages of time and realizing the impermanence of youth, Dorian Gray makes a fateful wish–that his almost supernaturally lifelike portrait grow old while he remains forever young and beautiful. Synetic inventiveness and unforgettable visuals will elevate Oscar Wilde’s fantastical story to yet another level. Movement/Drama.

MILLENNIUM STAGE NORTH

11 a.m.–3 p.m. The Inkwell: Plays in Progress
An afternoon of Inklings and an Inkwell showcase. The afternoon of Inklings will include six 10 minute readings of local playwrights works in development with The Inkwell including plays by Danielle Mohlman, Noelle Vinas, Kitty Felde, Rick Massamo, Jason Wells, and Gina Fierra. The Inkwell Showcase will include two 20 minute readings of plays further along in the Inkwell’s development process. These plays include Gwydion Sulieban’s The Great Dismaland a new musical by Krista Knight titled Salamander Leviathan. Recommended for ages 13 and up.

7:30–10 p.m. Baltimore Rock Opera Society (BROS)
Gründlehämmer
With the aid of the Royal Guard, Lothario has oppressed his citizens, confiscated the powerful instruments that gave voice to their music, and formed an alliance with an immortal cave-dwelling monster, the Gründle. While most Brojans live their lives in fear, an innocent young boy of great talent is coming of age in a tiny hamlet on the outskirts of the Kingdom. His tremendous skills on the guitar bring hope to the tiny farming village and spark the flames of resistance in those that can still remember true Rock. Will this young boy cast off his innocence to claim the Gründlehämmer? Will the Dark King release his iron grip on the lifeblood of Brotopia? Join the Brojans in their struggle to reclaim the power of Rock n’ Roll. Rock Opera. Recommended for age 13 and up.

FAMILY THEATER

3–5:30 p.m. African Continuum Theatre Company
Mon Chaton
by Thembi Duncan
Summer, 1926. A country schoolteacher inherits a Harlem boarding house from her worldly, sophisticated aunt and finds herself caught in a whirlwind of enthralling characters and events that teach her more about herself than ever imagined. Mon Chaton is one of the untold stories of lesbians and gays during the period that came to be known as the Harlem Renaissance. Drama. Recommended for age 13 and up.

7:30–10 p.m. Flying V
The Pirate Laureate and the King of the Sea
by Zachary Fernebok
Heyo! In a world where words cut deeper than swards, there are no greater pirates sailing the deep than Captain Grayscale and his Pirate Laureate Finn. They best be careful. Their names are becoming known ocean wide and with their new found fame, they may find themselves in a sinister sights of the one man wrecking crew of the Ocean Ephrata – Rey Del Mar, King of the Sea. Comedy/Adventure.

TERRACE GALLERY

1–2 p.m. Bowie State University
A Mile in My Shoes [FF]
by Jennifer L. Nelson
A Mile in My Shoes is a series of linked original playlets that illuminate moments in the lives of families from various backgrounds. An ensemble employs a wide variety of shoes to bring to life humorous and touching stories resonant for children and parents.

2:30–4:30 p.m. First Draft
Hinged
by Sarah Sorkin
In 1570, Queen Elizabeth’s ailing court painter, Levina Terling, is under pressure not to let the secrets of her portrait techniques die with her. An up-and-coming rival senses an opportunity and plants his apprentice to find out the secrets. 440 years later, art historian Lorna Buckley strives to rescue Levina Terling from historical obscurity and set the record straight. Can she overcome four centuries of male-dominated opinions or has nothing really changed since 1570? Drama. Recommended for age 13 and up.

7:30–9 p.m. The Washington Rogues
The Campsite Rule
by Alexandra Petri
Popular sex columnist Dan Savage’s campsite rule states that the one guideline for May to December romance is: leave your younger partner better than you found him. With humanity and wit, The Campsite Rule charts the course of 20-something professional Susan and college freshman Lincoln’s unlikely relationship. Between their friends’ disapproval, Susan’s other hookups, and the chaos of life in general, the duo face challenges on the road to romance. Alexandra Petri’s sexy new comedy “The Campsite Rule” asks: what is normal and when can you tell you’ve grown up? Comedy. Recommended for mature audiences.

TERRACE THEATER

12–1:30 p.m. Bouncing Ball Theatrical Productions
It’s Like That for Everyone
by Shawn Northrip
The songs of the seminal ’70s glam punk band The New York Dolls have been transported into the story of Lorenzo Da Ponte’s Così fan tutte as set on the Bowery in the early ’70s. Two teenage boys enter into a bet to prove their girlfriends’ fidelity; each will attempt to seduce the other’s girl before the night is out. Recommended for age 13 and up.

4:30–6:45 p.m. The Playwrights Forum in association with LCTM Industries
Welcome to the Land of Bad Choices
by James H. Hanrahan and Harry M. Bagdasian
A school security guard and two soldiers with PTSD carry guns to school on this day. No one set out to be the bad guy, but there’s shooting. Two of the men are injured and a child is dead. Welcome to the land of bad choices. Drama. Recommended for mature audiences.

THEATER LAB

1–2:30 p.m. Federal Theatre Project
The Inaugural Election for President of Mrs. Jacobson’s Sixth Grade Class [FF]
by Kevin Finkelstein
An allegory on America’s presidential elections, this reading tells the story of Mrs. Jacobson’s sixth grade class. When the class’ hamster dies, Mrs. Jacobson decides to hold an election for class president. Six candidates pledge, but only one can win. Comedy.

7:30–10 p.m. Theater J
Our Suburb
by Darrah Cloud
Directed by Tony Award–winning actress and Broadway director Judith Ivey
An homage to Our Town, this world premiere invites audiences to suburban Illinois in 1977, when the Nazis marched on Skokie. Amidst holiday planning, interfaith teenage relationships, and a growing dark menace–life and love happen. Drama. Recommended for age 13 and up.

SOUTH ATRIUM FOYER

1–2:30 p.m. Baltimore Playwrights Festival
Sick Stories, Gentle Granddaddy (1–1:25)
by S. Ann Johnson
Little Miss Mabelle would describe her maternal grandfather as a sweet old man who makes her laugh and spoils her rotten. So the sick stories her family members share about him must be figments of their imagination, right? Wrong. In Sick Stories, Gentle Granddaddy, the drunken past conflicts with the docile present of a husband, father, and gentle granddaddy.Recommended for age 13 and up.

When The Letter Writers Have All Died (1:25–1:45)
by Tricia Schwaab
Lori comes to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to connect with the father she never met and to be alone in the presence of others. She meets Andrew, a college student doing research for a paper. When he tries to strike up a conversation, Lori appears to be uninterested in being friends with him. But Andrew persists and Lori finds herself looking forward to spending time with him. As their friendship develops, Andrew discovers Lori’s secret, and he’s troubled by what he learns. He’s not sure he can bear losing Lori, whom he cares about, so soon after meeting her. Andrew decides to share his own battle with depression in order to save Lori from her inner demons. Interwoven with the stories of others who visit the wall, Lori and Andrew’s story is about finding their individual paths to healing. Recommended for age 13 and up.

The Rainbow Plays (1:45–2)
by Rich Espey
The rainbow flag that symbolizes gay pride and the gay rights movement was created more than 30 years ago. In its current version, the flag consists of six horizontal stripes, each of which has a symbolic meaning: red (life), orange (healing), yellow (sunshine), green (nature), blue (harmony), and purple (spirit). The first six plays in this collection address one of those themes; while the seventh play incorporates them all into one. Recommended for age 13 and up.

Countdown to the Happy Day (2–2:30)
by Thomas W. Stephens
A two-character drama that depicts the unlikely involvement of Gertie, 30s/40s and a self-inflicted street person; and Cervin, a hulking 15-year-old. From their initial encounter on a nighttime city street, the two are chary of each other and emotionally combustible. Gertie, a troubled Army vet, resists being drawn into the world of Cervin, a seventh-grade dropout. Their relationship, nonetheless, grows ever more overlaid, complex, and inevitable.Recommended for age 13 and up.

3– 6 p.m. Strand Theater Company
House Beautiful
by Liz Maestri
In a decaying town, one lone house still stands. Inside, three generations of a family weather the end of an era. Drama. Recommended for age 13 and up.

7:30–9 p.m. The Welders
Greatest Hits
The Welders, a DC-area playwrights’ collective whose mission is to establish an organically evolving, alternative platform for play development and production, will present a reading of the best short works from throughout its members’ career. The Welders: Renee Calarco, Allyson Currin, Caleen Sinnette Jennings, Bob Bartlett, and Gwydion Suilebhan.Recommended for age 13 and up.

NORTH ATRIUM FOYER

2–4:30 p.m. City Theatre Group
The Great Ascent
by David L. McWellan
An explosion in Hyde Park, in which two people have been killed brings British Intelligence to investigate the action. A social-political thriller that explores prejudice and misunderstanding. Drama. Recommended for age 13 and up.

7:30–9 p.m. The Playwrights’ Gymnasium
An Ordinary Afternoon
by Mary Watters
A woman is finally forced to confront a terrible problem that she’s turned a blind eye to for years. Her husband’s actions trigger series of events and the woman’s carefully managed life begins to unravel when strangers intrude on her comfortable world. Drama. Recommended for mature audiences.

REHEARSAL ROOM #1

1–5 p.m. ABG Playwrights
Time of the Troubles (1–3:30)
by Kitty Felde
Why does brother turn against brother, almost overnight? That’s the question that haunts the characters of Time of the Troubles. The play is set at Christmastime, in a poor parish on the outskirts of Dandora, on the eve of the bloody 2007 elections. But it’s as much a story about the LA riots and how the violence haunts a pair of cops who were stranded in South Central as the violence erupted. Drama. Recommended for age 13 and up.

Bethesda (3:45–5)
by Jennie Berman Eng
Diplomat Barry and his family have recently returned to Washington, D.C., after a mysterious scandal abroad. Wife Joy tries to work her networking magic and reinstate Barry as quickly as possible. She’s also pulled strings and secured the kids into prestigious Sidwell Friends School. But Barry is dragging his feet, and seems unwilling to try to get his job back. The kids, too, are suffering both from their parents’ fighting, and from the emotional wounds of their recent past in Bolivia, including Kevin’s discovery that his father was involved with their maid. When Kevin finds out his sister Hildy is cheating on her boyfriend back in La Paz with an American, he runs away. The family tracks him down to the airport, where he’s trying to return to La Paz, and all of the past and its secrets come to head in a violent clash between father and son. Drama. Recommended for ages 13 and up.

7:30– 9 p.m. Washington Improv Theater
iMusical: Uncovered
iMusical: Uncovered is an improvised musical that discovers the songs underneath the cover of ordinary life. A single audience suggestion inspires the cast to explore the magic within the human condition, using lyrics, music and scenes created instantly “on the spot.” Musical Theater. Recommended for ages 13 and up.

REHEARSAL ROOM #2

3–5 p.m. The Essential Theatre
The Music of Nina Simone
by Robert Neblett and David Grapes
Music arrangements by Vince Dimura
An electric new musical revue celebrating jazz icon Nina Simone. Child prodigy, jazz superstar, civil rights activist, political exile, Nina Simone was all of these things and more. One of the true divas of the 20th century and a genuine musical powerhouse, she defined a generation and defied classification. Silky, soulful, and a jazz legend, this musical tribute provides a celebrated exploration long overdue. Biography/Musical. Recommended for age 13 and up.

7:30–9:30 p.m. force/collision
Separate Rooms
by Joe Calarco
force/collision presents a work-in-progress reading of playwright Joe Calarco’s new play Separate Rooms. Sex, death, booze and a mysterious woman in the closet as friends and lovers unite during a wake in a New York City apartment. Cast includes Tracy Olivera, Kimberly Gilbert, Thomas Keegan, Jenna Sokolowski, Evan Casey, and Tim Getman. Comedy. Recommended for age 13 and up.

REHEARSAL ROOM #3

3–5:30 p.m. Theater Alliance
Risk and Return, part 2
(See also Sat., Aug. 31 at 7:30 p.m. in North Opera Tier Lounge)

7:30–9:30 p.m. Scena
Saboteur!
Eight German saboteurs ran off the U.S. Coast in 1942 with the intent of launching a terror campaign in New York and Washington, D.C. Three of our American citizens were captured and tried–wherein the right and wrong of all involved hung in the balance. In this action-packed drama, is it justice or mob rule? Drama. Recommended for mature audiences.

AFRICAN LOUNGE

2:30–5 p.m. Guillotine Theater
Civilizing Lusby
by John Morogiello
Two businessmen try to make a killing on a railroad venture during the Gilded Age. But when they condemn a Chesapeake waterman’s shack to make way for the track, will the waterman opt to make a killing of his own? Drama. Recommended for age 13 and up.

7:30–10:30 p.m. Howard University
The Olive Fig Tree
Huma is a young woman who dressed, and was accepted, as a boy in her Afghanistan village. Now she’s in New York enrolled at NYU, where she and three of her fellow freshmen are attempting to start an all-girls group consisting of a Muslim (Huma), a Christian, a Jew, and an atheist. But life in the Big Apple gets complicated when Huma and her Jewish girlfriend fall in love with each other. Drama. Recommended for age 13 and up.

NORTH OPERA TIER LOUNGE

2:30–4:30 p.m. Pinky Swear Productions
The Last Burlesque
by Stephen Spotswood
Darcy was raised by fire-eaters, contortionists, and clowns. It’s only natural she’d fall for a woman who pierces her body with hooks, dangles from the ceiling, and disrobes for an audience. Burlesque, sideshow. Drama. Recommended for mature audiences.

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HERE’S DIRECTIONS AND INFORMATION ON THE FREE SHUTTLE FROM FOGGY BOTTOM METRO AND PARKING.

August 30, 2013

Tag: African-American Collective Theater

Here are the 2013 VSA Playwright Discovery Program High School Winners