Bay Street Theater Announces Successful New Works Festival

Bay Street Theater & Sag Harbor Center for the Arts is pleased to announce the success of Title Wave at Bay Street: The 5th Annual New Works Festival, which took place at Bay Street TheaterFriday, May 4 - Sunday, May 6. The audience responded positively to all four readings and had the unique opportunity to hear new works read by actors based in both New York City and the Hamptons, including legendary actresses Estelle Parsons (Roseanne, Bonnie and Clyde) and Jane Alexander (All the President's Men, The Great White Hope). After each reading, the audience had the opportunity to participate in a talkback with the playwrights and directors, where they were able to ask questions and give feedback on the play.

Bay Street Theater's Annual New Works Festival is a weekend which features readings of new plays and musicals in development. The mission of the Festival is to give playwrights a chance to present their works in progress in front of an audience and learn from the audience's response, as well as to give the audience at Bay Street and the East End community a chance to experience up-and-coming works for the theater. Many scripts from previous New Works Festivals have gone on to full productions both at Bay Street and at theater companies around the country. Each play is read by professional actors in its entirety, accompanied by minimal staging. Each reading is then followed by a talkback during which the playwrights and the audience have the opportunity to ask questions of each other and share their reactions to the play. Title Wave at Bay Street: The 5th Annual New Works Festival featured a rock musical adaptation of Medea, written by The Kilbanes and directed by Reggie D. White, A Seagull in the Harbor, written by Emily Mann and directed by Stephen Hamilton, The Prompter, written by Wade Dooley and directed by Bay Street Theater's Artistic Director Scott Schwartz, and Eight Nights, written by Jennifer Maisel and directed by Bay Street Theater's Associate Artistic Director Will Pomerantz.

Bay Street Theater's New Works Festivals are curated by Scott Schwartz, Artistic Director at Bay Street Theater, and Will Pomerantz, Associate Artistic Director at Bay Street Theater. The Bay Street Theater Patrons Council was an essential part of the selection process as well, reading and offering feedback on scripts under consideration. Title Wave at Bay Street: The 5th Annual New Works Festival is sponsored in part by The Sag Harbor Inn.

Bay Street Theater & Sag Harbor Center for the Arts is a year-round, not-for-profit professional theater and community cultural center which endeavors to innovate, educate, and entertain a diverse community through the practice of the performing arts. They serve as a social and cultural gathering place, an educational resource, and a home for a community of artists.

Photo: Reading of Eight Nights by Jennifer Maisel at Title Wave at Bay Street: The 5th Annual New Works Festival

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