Tangent Theatre Company Announces Latest New Works Reading Series: NEW16 SELECTS

Tangent Theatre Company announces their fall/winter new plays reading series, NEW16 Selects - a showcase of four original plays by emerging playwrights to be held in four unique locations in Tivoli. The readings will be presented on select Sundays, from November 20th - December 18th.

The spirit of the readings is to provide a dynamic, interactive and comfortable place where writers can hear their plays read by seasoned actors and discuss their work and creative process. Audiences will get a first look at fresh, original plays - these selects are finalists from the company's prior NEWvember New Plays Festival submissions, in an effort to give previous short-listed plays a spotlight. The annual festival is being re-imagined by this new format this year, by way of expanding their current pub-reading model and highlighting Tivoli's businesses, as well. The writers hail from California, Canada and Philadelphia. The readings are free, but reservations are encouraged.

Tangent will present the readings as follows, Sundays at 6pm: November 20 - Panzur Restaurant (panzur.com) Play: Widower by David Jacobi; December 4 - Sana Fe Tivoli (santafetivoli.com) Play: Somersaulting by Liz Maestri; December 11 - The Barn in Tivoli (thebarnintivoli.com) Play: The Gods and Calvin Brewer by Jessica Anderson; December 18 - Murray's Café (murraystivoli.com) Play: Battered by Arthur Holden.

The final plays were selected based on originality, range, production potential, storytelling quality and emotional resonance. For the fifth year in a row, Tangent's new plays series was awarded a project grant from Arts Mid Hudson, to further spotlight this artists-driven event. Tangent's readings have boosted visitors and business to Tivoli's eclectic village and has seen writers whose works have gone on to further development and acclaim. Of note, NEWvember alumni John Cariani's Love/Sick has been widely produced since it appeared at the 2012 festival, James McLindon's Comes a Faery, saw an Off-Broadway run.

It's the promise of new works and discovering new voices that gets the producing team energized. According to Tangent's Artistic Director, Michael Rhodes, "The support and development of new work is becoming increasingly important for Tangent. The plays selected for this series were finalists for our previous festivals. Every year we have to leave some very strong plays behind for one reason or another, so we wanted this series to feature the work of these exciting playwrights who could easily have been included in NEWvembers of years past."

NEW16 Selects, Nov. 20 - Dec. 18 (four select Sundays @ 6pm); at Panzur Restaurant, Santa Fe Tivoli, The Barn in Tivoli and Murray's Café; free, but reservations are encouraged. For more info and to reserve: tangent-arts.org