BECKY AND HER LUNG TRANSPLANT to Premiere at 7th Annual Durango PlayFest

Denver-based husband-and-wife writing team Lucy Wright and William Missouri Downs will premiere their dramedy, Becky and Her Lung Transplant, at the 7th Annual Durango PlayFest, June 24-29. Now in its seventh season, PlayFest has fast become a renowned incubator for well-known and emerging playwrights, actors, and directors to develop new works and test them before audiences.

The play follows an unemployed, divorced Hollywood screenwriter who takes a fluff job writing an "inspiring" family channel movie about a child's lung transplant, only to discover that the "true story" may not be true, nor is her own life.

"Lucy and Will are both accomplished writers in their own right, but bring something truly special to PlayFest as a team," said Felicia Lansbury Meyer, PlayFest artistic director. "They've crafted a story that blends drama and comedy seamlessly, and characters you won't soon forget."

Wright was nominated for the DGA's Lillian Gish Award for her screenplay The Hitchhikers. Her play Kabuki Medea won a Bay Area Critics Award and was produced internationally. She co-wrote Kabuki Faust, and is a certified voice coach with an MFA from The National Theatre Conservatory. Acting credits include The Laramie Project and The Glass Menagerie.

Downs has received two National New Play Network rolling premieres and was twice a finalist at the Eugene O'Neill. His plays have been produced by over 300 theaters in the U.S. and internationally. He's published 14 plays and four books, including Screenplay: Writing the Picture. Downs holds MFAs in acting (University of Illinois) and screenwriting (UCLA), has directed 30 plays, and written for NBC sitcoms.

The cast of Becky and Her Lung Transplant includes:

• Jodi Long - Emmy-award-winning actor, well-known for her television, film and stage roles. She is the president of the SAG-AFTRA local board in Los Angeles.
• Jodi Kingsley - Chicago-based actress, best known for 10 seasons as DCFS officer Madeline Gastern on NBC's Chicago Med.
• Gabriella Cavallero - Actor, director and audiobook narrator who has appeared in productions at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts for more than 26 seasons.
• Conor Sheehan - A Durango favorite with numerous roles with the award-winning Merely Players. Sheehan won a 2024 Broadway World Denver Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Play, for his role as Ariel in The Tempest.

Nick Chase, co-artistic director of Boulder-based Local Theatre Company, will direct.

PlayFest will also feature readings of There Are Monsters by Andrea Aptecker, DQM or Drag Queen Magic by Ian August, and Drowning by Bill Capossere.