San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
THREE THEATERS ROLL OUT NEW PLAY FESTIVALS IN APRIL
Local, emerging and Black playwrights get the chance to shine on local stages and screens this month with new play festivals kicking off at three San Diego County theaters. They’re nestled close together because two were postponed from earlier in the year due to the Omicron case surge. Here’s a look at the lineups.
The Old Globe ninth annual Powers New Voices Festival
The Globe presents a weekend of readings of five new American plays presented Friday through April 10 in its Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre. Tickets are free but must be reserved, beginning at noon Tuesday, by calling (619) 234-5623. Visit theold globe.org.
“Celebrating Community Voices” — 7:30 p.m. Friday .An evening of two one-act plays: Miki Vale’s “And We Danced” explores the life and impact of Ruth Ellis, an openly gay Black activist in 1940s Detroit; and Queen Kandi Cole’s “Game Night,” about a diverse group of friends who dig deep into their souls while gathered for an evening of games and cocktails.
“Regular” by Ngozi Anyanwu — 4 p.m. Saturday. This Globecommissioned play examines the rarely explored topic of Black love
— what it is and how it has changed over the years across generations and cultures.
“Exotic Deadly: Or the MSG Play” by Keiko Green — 7:30 p.m. Saturday. A time-traveling adventure comedy about an awkward Japanese American high school student who discovers, to her horror, that her family is responsible for manufacturing the reviled flavor enhancer MSG.
“The Red and the Black” by Keelay Gipson — 4 p.m. April 10. Two Black couples spending a weekend in the Berkshires encounter troubled waters when they realize their shared skin color doesn’t mean they share the same politics.
San Diego Rep Black Voices 2022 Play Reading Series
San Diego Repertory Theatre is presenting an online series of play reading on Monday evenings through April 18. All readings are at 5:30 p.m. An in-person watch party will be held at the Rep for the final play, “Backing Track.” Tickets are “pay what you can.” Online registration is required at sdrep.org/blackvoices.
“Food Day” by Marti Gobel — Monday. Lynn, a popular Food Channel host and chef, has a life-altering moment when she receives a fan letter from an inmate at a maximum-security prison, raising discussions of who deserves quality food and who makes those decisions.
“Reparations” by Darren Canady — April 11. This sci-fi/ Afrofuturism play is about a young Black woman participating in a government reparations program with a required blood test that unexpectedly unlocks the secrets of her family’s genetic history.
“Backing Track” by R. Eric Thomas — April 18. Mel, the mother of two daughters, tries to reclaim her place in a gentrified neighborhood while her kids learn firsthand how to balance their own lives.
New Village Arts First Draft New Play Festival
This three-day play festival, which kicked off Friday and concludes today, features 10 new scripts by local playwrights, as well as a monologue-writing workshop taught by Gill Sotu (3:30 p.m. today, $10). Individual plays are $10 to $15. The remaining events take place at New Village Arts, 2787 State St., Carlsbad. Details: newvillagearts.org
“All News Radio” by Emma Caroline Lias — 2 p.m. today .A late-night radio host gets an unexpected studio visitor while reporting the news of the assault and murder of a local teenager whose killing he knows more about than he should.
“The Somalis and the Semper Fi” by Morgan Kinnally — 5:30 p.m. today. Mahdi, a Somali refugee and community leader in Southern California, is overwhelmed by the problems in his community, including arrests, threats and hate crimes. When violence visits his own family, he questions his responsibility and what he can do to change.
pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com