Perry-Mansfield Sets Lineup for 19th Annual New Works Festival

Perry-Mansfield has announced the full lineup for their 2016 New Works Festival. The 19th Annual festival, held on June 10 and 11 in Steamboat Springs, CO will develop five new works in partnership with the Actors Theatre of Louisville, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) Theatre Company, The Lark, Primary Stages, and South Coast Repertory.

"For almost 20 years, Perry-Mansfield has been a haven of new play development deep in the Rocky Mountains," said Andrew Leynse, Artistic Director. "This year, over 40 theatre artists from five leading institutions will join us in beautiful Steamboat Springs to collaborate and create something new. We are honored to welcome this diverse mix of voices and to be an important step in the life of these plays. Be amongst the first to experience these premiere plays before they go on to be produced across the country."

I Now Pronounce

By Tasha Gordon-Solmon

Presented by Actors Theatre of Louisville
Directed by Meredith McDonough

Comedies end in marriage. Tragedies end in death. This play begins with both. A disaster at a wedding leads those involved to question their own life choices over the course of an increasingly strange night.

Orange

By Aditi Kapil
Presented by South Coast Repertory
Directed by Jessica Kubzansky
Dramaturgy by Kimberly Colburn

Leela is different. A teenager from India, she sketches life's important moments in her journal, and she's about to go on an adventure through Orange County. When a family wedding gets boring, her rebellious cousin decides to make a run for it with her boyfriend-taking Leela along. As they careen through the night, Leela challenges their view of her-and each other. A touching story about a unique young woman's search for her place in the world.

The Quiet Ones

By Mary Elizabeth Hamilton
Presented by The Lark
Directed by John Clinton Eisner

How do you function in a world that is evolving without you? Katherine's old-school methods as a Kindergarten teacher have come under new scrutiny. She struggles to handle a disturbing event between two of her students, her only son is getting married and she can't decide on a pair of shoes, and she is still working to recover from the break up of her family 17 years ago after her husband transitioned genders. As Katherine attempts to navigate a new culture using all the old rules, the fragility of her world-view becomes painfully clear. The Quiet Ones explores what is lost or gained as we evolve as people and as a society.

The Yes Ready Within

By Mat Smart
Presented by Primary Stages
Directed Henry Wishcamper

Eden Prairie, Minnesota - 1971. On the night Apollo 15 lands on the moon, a draft dodger returns home to Eden Prairie from Canada. He risks arrest to deliver a message to a girl from his high school class. A play that asks: what does it mean to be brave?

Zoey's Perfect Wedding

By Matthew Lopez
Presented by the Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) Theatre Company
Directed by Mike Donahue
Dramaturgy by Douglas Langworthy

It's November 2008. Obama has just been elected and Zoey has just gotten married. One of these things is about to end in disaster. ZPW is a new comedy about hope, expectations and the inevitability of growing up.

Reading Schedule
Friday, June 10th @ 4pm - The Chief

The Yes Ready Within by Mat Smart

Friday, June 10th @ 8pm - The Chief

I Now Pronounce by Tasha Gordon-Solmon

Saturday, June 11th @ 1pm - Julie Harris Theater

The Quiet Ones by Mary Elizabeth Hamilton

Saturday, June 11th @ 4pm - Julie Harris Theater

Orange by Aditi Kapil

Saturday, June 11th @ 8pm - Julie Harris Theater

Zoey's Perfect Wedding by Matthew Lopez

Tickets

Single tickets for each reading are $15 in advance, $20 at the door. Festival Passes start at $60. Tickets are available at http://perry-mansfield.org/new-works-festival-2/. For advanced ticket reservations and other information, please call 970-879-7125 and ask for Toni. For lodging and area information, please visit the Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort online.