Boston-Area Playwrights Unite to Create Theatre in The Huntington's 2023 Summer Workshop Line-Up

Artistic Director Loretta Greco and The Huntington’s staff have announced the return of the Huntington Playwrighting Fellows Summer Workshop 2023 (July 15 – July 16, 2023). This two-week new work retreat, culminating in public readings of three new plays in development, is taking place for the first time since summer of 2019. All readings and events will take place in the newly renovated Maso Studio in the Huntington Theatre (264 Huntington Ave). Readings will feature the work of playwrights Masha Obolensky, Melinda Lopez, and Catherine Epstein. The 2023 Elliot Norton Award winner for Outstanding New Script, playwright and poet Lenelle Moïse, will also lead a one-hour community playwrighting workshop for adults of all experience levels.

“We created this program a decade ago out of a brainstorm with local writers of how to address specific needs of playwrights in our community,” says Director of New Work Charles Haugland. “I’m so proud to continue developing plays here that can then go on to productions near and far. Masha, Melinda, and Catherine’s plays are filled with vitality, joy, laughter, and sorrow, and we can’t wait to imagine them together with you, our audience. For the first time, we are also hosting a hands-on creative workshop with the brilliant Lenelle Moïse, whose work inspires so many people including me.”

The new plays include Interior of the Artist Without Her Sister by Masha Obolensky (Directed by Melia Bensussen) at 1:00 pm on Saturday, July 15; Power Trio by Melinda Lopez (Directed by Elena Araoz) at 1:00 pm on Sunday, July 16; and Oxbow by Catherine Epstein (Directed by Megan Sandberg-Zakian) at 4:00 pm on Sunday, July 16. Also taking place during the workshops is an event Rehearse Freedom: Crafting Character Through Sound with Lenelle Moïse (playwright of the Elliot Norton Award-winning K-I-S-S-I-N-G) at 4:00 pm on Saturday, July 15. All festivities will take place at the Maso Studio in the Huntington Theatre (264 Huntington Ave). All readings and associated events are open to the public, but not open to reviewing members of the press. The readings are free, and the one-hour workshop with playwright Moïse has a fee of $15.

“All of us at The Huntington are thrilled to see this cherished piece of our creative community’s summer back in full swing,” says Huntington Artistic Director Loretta Greco. “The HPF Summer Workshop is foundational to our new play commitment and has been the rigorous incubator which has brought us the joy of Kate Snodgrass’s The Art of Burning and this spring’s critically acclaimed K-I-S-S-I-N-G by Lenelle Moïse. This summer, we return under the sublime leadership of Charles Haugland, and we look forward to sharing the exciting gestating work from this summer’s thrilling writing cohort.”

ABOUT HPF SUMMER WORKSHOP

The HPF Summer Workshop began in 2012 and is an extension of the Huntington’s Playwriting Fellows program and Breaking Ground Reading Series. Huntington Director of New Work Charles Haugland supports the writers during the intensive, artist-driven development process. Past summer workshop plays have gone on to productions at The Huntington, Playwrights Horizons, P73, Alliance Theatre, Trafalgar Studios (London), Geva Theatre Center, Shotgun Players, Speakeasy Stage, Emerson Stage, and Theatre Rhinoceros, among others.

Two productions in The Huntington’s 2022-2023 season, K-I-S-S-I-N-G by Lenelle Moïse and The Art of Burning by Kate Snodgrass, were both developed in the HPF Summer Workshop. Both plays were nominated for Elliot Norton Award honors, with K-I-S-S-I-N-G winning eight awards, including Outstanding New Script and Outstanding Play, Large Theater. The new play by homegrown playwright Moïse was lauded by The Boston Globe as “A highlight of the theatre season!” and by WBUR as “The most exciting play Boston has seen in years!”

The Huntington is passionately to supporting, developing, and producing new work, and has produced over 100 New England, American, or world premieres since its founding in 1982. Endeavors to develop plays for the American theatre have expanded considerably since 2004 with the creation of the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, which opened with a world premiere by local playwright Melinda Lopez. The arrival of nationally renowned new play expert Loretta Greco as Artistic Director in 2022 promises a new, enriching era of new work at the theatre.

All readings and associated events are open to the public, but not open to reviewing members of the press. The readings are free and the one-hour workshop with playwright Moïse has a fee of $15. If the workshop fee poses any barrier, please contact Charles Haugland, Director of New Work, regarding a fee waiver at chaugland@huntingtontheatre.org  

ABOUT SUMMER WORKSHOP 2023

Interior of the Artist Without Her Sister

By Masha Obolensky

Directed by Melia Bensussen (The Art of Burning, Common Ground Revisited, Yerma, The Luck of the Irish at The Huntington)

Saturday, July 15 at 1pm (Maso Studio, 264 Huntington Ave)

About the play: Vanessa Stephen Bell created sensuous, colorful paintings; her sister Virginia Stephen Woolf wrote piercing, insightful prose. Growing up, the inseparable siblings drove each other in search of truth. So, in the wake of Virginia’s death, Vanessa plunges into the past and strives to create herself anew – who will she protect now? What can inspire her now? How will she live with the fear that she betrayed Virginia in ways big and small? Masha Obolensky’s Interior of the Artist Without Her Sister tells a story of fierce interdependence and haunting beauty.  

RSVP for the Interior of the Artist Without Her Sister reading

Rehearse Freedom: Crafting Character Through Sound (with Lenelle Moïse, writer of K-I-S-S-I-N-G)

Saturday, July 15 at 4pm (Maso Studio, 264 Huntington Ave)

About the workshop: In this energetic (occasionally ecstatic) one-hour workshop, playwright Lenelle Moïse guides participants through a series of "sound jams" and theatre exercises to explore the voice as an instrument for liberation. Practice being present, play with conviction, and learn to trust your instincts. Please wear loose, comfortable clothing and come prepared to join the chorus.

All experience levels welcome. This class is designed for adult participants (age 18+)

RSVP for Rehearse Freedom: Crafting Character Through Sound

Workshop fee: $15

If the workshop fee poses any barrier, please contact Charles Haugland, Director of New Work, regarding a fee waiver at chaugland@huntingtontheatre.org  

Power Trio

By Melinda Lopez

Directed by Elena Araoz (Original Sound at Cherry Lane, Anna in the Tropics at Berkshire Theatre Festival)

Sunday, July 16 at 1pm (Maso Studio, 264 Huntington Ave)

About the play: Vee washes ashore in a hostile new land, facing the immigration and naturalization service of Illyria. Challenged by the Fates and a three-headed dog, Vee wants more than just to survive — can they hope to find a new community, a new ‘home,’ and even love? In this reimagining of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and infused with music, Melinda Lopez explores how a new world becomes your own in Power Trio.

RSVP for the Power Trio reading

Oxbow

By Catherine Epstein

Directed by Megan Sandberg-Zakian (Skeleton Crew at The Huntington, Nat Turner in Jerusalem at New York Theatre Workshop)

Sunday, July 16 at 4pm (Maso Studio, 264 Huntington Ave)

About the play: In late winter, sisters Jessie, Martha, and Susan escape to a run-down cabin in Maine. When the furnace breaks, it’s their childhood friend Rajiv who shows up, but no one can agree on a solution. As the rest of the house starts breaking down, even a shared slice of bread can lead to a skirmish, and the sisters find themselves capable of both beautiful intimacy and stunning cruelty. Catherine Epstein’s Oxbow asks how we all deal with our desire to control the uncontrollable. 

RSVP for the Oxbow reading

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