THE HENRY CLYDE CANNING MURDER HOUSE to Play Durango PlayFest

Playwright Christian Missonak will premiere his dark, psychological drama, The Henry Clyde Canning Murder House, with a cast of rising screen and stage stars, at the 8th Annual Durango PlayFest, June 23-28. In less than a decade, PlayFest has matured into a coveted incubator for well-known and emerging playwrights, actors, and directors to develop new works and test them with live audiences.

Synopsis: Years after their father is convicted for the murder of sixteen women, siblings Elise and Harry are forced to confront their own buried secrets when Harry comes home with plans to exploit their infamous past by converting the family homestead into a murder house tourist attraction.

Trained at Columbia University and The Second City Conservatory, Missonak is now a New York-based playwright and screenwriter whose short plays have been performed on stages across New York and Chicago. In 2021, Christian made his professional regional debut at Madlab Theatre Co. in Columbus, OH, for his play, Sheridan, which premiered to positive reviews. His short plays have been performed all over Chicago, New York, and have been produced as audio dramas. Other theatrical production credits include Save Ferris (Under the Gun Theatre), and Cooperative (Metropolitan Playhouse). Film credits include Something of a Monster, a psychological thriller Missonak co-wrote, which is available on Apple TV and Prime Video. The Henry Clyde Canning Murder House was recently named the second runner up for the 2026 Stanley Award and a second rounder in Austin Film Festival's Stage Play category.

The 2026 PlayFest is excited to welcome the following cast:

• Jason Lythgoe - Durango resident and So-Cal native who has performed on stages across the country from The Old Globe in San Diego to the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. He has appeared in several productions at the Durango Arts Center Theatre Company, which he created, and Merely Players.
• Ivy King - Pagosa Springs, CO-based actor whose theatre credits include The Odd Couple, Tiny Beautiful Things, Last Call at the Riptide, and Siberia with a View, all with Thingamajig Theatre.
• Lennox T. Duong - Juilliard-trained, NYC-based actor whose most recent role included Hannah (understudy) in the Off-Broadway production of Shit. Meet. Fan. with Neil Patrick Harris. She participated in the 2022 PlayFest.
• Adam Fontana - New York City-based stage and television actor who's had roles in Swing State, As You Like It, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Mary Poppins, The Shape of Things, Dames at Sea and Forever Plaid, all with Merely Players.

Directing the play will be Melissa Firlit, national and international director, producer, and educator, with works seen in Denver, New York, Ireland, and Scotland.

The festival will also feature readings of The German by two-time Tony nominee, Lyle Kessler, Hazel and Bea in the In-Between by New York-based emerging playwright Zoe Stanton-Savitz, and the absurdist comedy A Deal Picked Just for You by award-winning Iranian-American writer and director John Farmanesh-Bocca.

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