The Landing Theatre Company Has Announced the Winners of the 2020 New American Voices Playwriting Festival

The Landing Theatre Company's New American Voices Playwriting Festival is an annual event showcasing four exceptional plays written by outstanding emerging playwrights from across the United States.

From an eminently competitive pool of 565 submitted plays, the Winners are:

THE NEW GALILEOS

by Amy Berryman (New York, NY)

Friday, April 17 @ 7 pm

Directed by Emily Neves

Three female scientists find themselves held hostage by the government for their stance on climate change. The play weaves between their current crisis and their pasts, leading them to an interrogation room. A piece about the intersection of science and capitalism; personal interest and the greater good.

QUEEN OF SAD MISCHANCE

by John Minigan (Framingham, MA)

Saturday, April 18 @ 1 pm

Directed by Lily Wolff

Kym thinks she's lucked into the perfect resume-builder for a biracial college senior determined to find a career in academia: helping renowned feminist scholar Beverly Norden finish her groundbreaking book on Shakespeare's Queen Margaret before Alzheimer's makes the task impossible. As the passing months make clear that Beverly's failing memory is not the greatest obstacle to their work, Kym reassesses her connection with Beverly, Beverly's son, and

academia itself. What can the Margaret story tell her about her own path forward?

AGATHE

by Angela J. Davis (Los Angeles, CA)

Saturday, April 18 @ 7 pm

Directed by Benito Vasquez

Twenty-five years after the Rwandan genocide, this play celebrates the little-known story of Agathe Uwilingiyimana, Rwanda's female president for just fourteen hours, who, during one of the darkest moments in history, accomplishes a miracle: the survival of her five young children. The play also honors Agathe's spirit, evidenced by today's Rwanda having record numbers of women in government.

THE BEST PUNK BAND IN CONWAY, MISSOURI: AN ORAL HISTORY OF PRESLEY COX AND THE FALLOUT FIVE

by Kirby Fields (New York, NY)

Sunday, April 19 @ 2 pm

Directed by Bradley Dean Whyte

The Best Punk Band in Conway, Missouri: An Oral History of Presley Cox and the Fallout Five uses the oral-history format to chart the rise and fall of a fictional punk band in the American Middle West in 1988. The cast of 8 fleshes out the community by assuming multiple roles (64 in all!), as older and younger versions of the band and the community move back and forth in time, sometimes recounting the past from the present (and not always agreeing with one another's memories) and sometimes stepping directly into scenes from 30 years ago. For some, the distance between the events and the telling of the story softens the emotions that were once raw. For others, the memories only bring painful reminders of what might have been. The play is sympathetic toward both points of view: the perspective of age and the passion of youth.

** Talkbacks with the Playwright, Cast and Director follow each reading. **

VENUE

Landing Center for the Arts

7807 Long Point Road

Houston, TX 77055

ADMISSION

FREE (Donations suggested, to support new play development and production)

RESERVATIONS RECOMMENDED - Seating is Limited

Tickets at www.landingtheatre.org

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