The Rep, theatre squared present New Play Festival
For the second year, Fayetteville and Little Rock professional regional theater companies are partnering for the Arkansas New Play Festival, showcasing works-inprogress by up-and-coming playwrights, Thursday and Friday in Little Rock and Friday-may 20 in Fayetteville.
The Arkansas Repertory Theatre will base its participation — staged readings of two new plays each Thursday and Friday nights — “off campus” at the Oxford American headquarters, 1300 Main St., Little Rock.
Northwest Arkansas-based Theatre squared, which originated the festival in 2009, will focus on the same four new plays at its home base, the Walton Arts Center’s Nadine Baum Studios, 505 W. Spring St., Fayetteville.
On May 20, it will also offer a showcase of one- to 10-minute plays by Arkansas high school students (in partnership with the University of Arkansas Brown Chair of Literacy) and the sixth annual 24-Hour Play-off, a partnership with Fayetteville-based Ceramic Cow Productions, in which teams of five will write, rehearse and perform a new 10-minute play, all within 24 hours, competing for $1,500 in cash prizes sponsored by area businesses.
The Little Rock schedule:
Thursday — 7 p.m.: Uprooted by Arkansas playwright Clinnesha Dillon Sibley; 9 p.m.: The Ballad of Rusty and Roy by Jonny and Troy Schremmer
Friday — 7 p.m.: The Spiritualist by Robert Ford, Theatre squared’s artistic director; 9 p.m.: “The Football Project,” an as yet untitled work by Samuel Brett Williams.
A talk-back session with the playwright and the cast will follow each reading. Tickets are $7 per show, $20 for a two-day pass to all four readings. Call (501) 378-0405 or visit www.therep.org.
The Fayetteville lineup:
Friday — 7:30 p.m.: Uprooted
Saturday — 6 p.m.: The Spiritualist; 8 p.m.: The Ballad of Rusty and Roy
May 20 — 1 p.m.: Arkansas Young Playwrights Showcase; 3:30 p.m.: “The Football Project”; 6 p.m.: 24 Hour PlayOff.
A conversation with playwright, director and cast will follow each reading. Tickets are $7 (readings), $10 (24 Hour Play-off), $30 for a New Play Pass (through Theatresquared’s “30 under 30” youth access program) that includes all six events. Admission to the Young Playwrights Showcase is free. Call (479) 443-5600 or visit waltonartscenter.org.
“The Arkansas New Play Festival is the state’s only dedicated professional outlet for the development of new work, and seeks to give voice to emerging playwrights whose stories resonate with the shifting demographics of mid-america,” Ford says.
“This year’s lineup is incredibly exciting, with music, bold storytelling and strong Arkansas ties. I can’t wait to hear the conversations they spark.”
And, Rep Artistic Director Bob Hupp adds, “We are pleased to partner once again with our friends at Theatre squared in Fayetteville. Their work brings a new dimension to what we can offer audiences in central Arkansas, and this year’s lineup of readings promises to be especially dynamic.“
Visit the website, theatre2.org/12-arkansas-new-playfestival.