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Magic Theatre, Building D
The annual summer Bay Area Playwrights Festival introduces audiences to hot new writers and boosts the careers of established and neophyte playwrights. In late July, the 2008 Playwrights Festival returns to the Magic Theatre in Fort Mason Center for a two-week run to present 10 new plays and playwriting panel discussions. The festival also offers playwriting workshops by renowned master playwrights Lee Blessing and Naomi Wallace.
“We read an unprecedented number of exceptional plays by young writers exploding with vision and rage, along with new and quite accomplished work by festival alumni,” said Amy Mueller, Artistic Director of the Playwrights Foundation, the group that selects the plays and produces the festival.
Most of the writers featured at the festival have talents in addition to playwriting, including acting, performing, poetry, and journalism. Many have also taught and studied drama and writing at prestigious schools such as Brown University, Yale School of Drama, Columbia University, and the University of California—Santa Barbara.
Some of the more established playwrights in the festival have had productions at acclaimed US and global venues such as the Guthrie Theater, the National Black Theatre Festival, and the Edinburgh Fringe. Politics also figure prominently in the 2008 festival. Jen Silverman’s plays have been produced in conjunction with Amnesty International and the immigrant rights group Families For Freedom. Wallace’s workshop focuses on “Transgression, Politics, and the Engaged Play.”
“Ultimately we felt that the mix would be a rich and provocative community that could provide audiences and each other with insight and interesting perspectives,” Mueller said of the blend of new and veteran playwrights chosen to have work in the festival.
Founded in 1976, the Playwrights Foundation attracts talented writers who have gone on to win major theater awards such as the Tony, the Obie, and the Pulitzer. Sam Shepard, Nilo Cruz, Anna Deavere Smith, and Philip Kan Gotanda are among the distinguished alumni.
The festival kicks off on Friday, July 25 with every tongue must confess, a new play by poet and playwright Marcus Gardley. Other plays in the festival include Whisper From the Book of Etiquette by Claire Chafee, Crane Story by Jen Silverman, and The Mountaintop by Katori Hall. The festival’s second week presents Dominic Orlando’s Danny Casolaro Died For You and Safe House by Geetha Reddy. On Sunday, July 27, the Bay Area Shorts (BASH) event features excerpts from short plays by Joan Bernier, Greg Beuthin, Erin Bregman, and Jonathan Luskin.
Make this a theatrical summer to remember at the Playwrights Festival. For more information about the festival, see July 25 and www.playwrightsfoundation.org.
— Claudia Willen
Images:
Bay Area Playwrights Festival: Dominic Orlando, Greg Beuthin, and Claire Chafee
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