Actors Theatre of Louisville Announces Lineup for 41st Humana Festival of New American Plays

By: Nov. 15, 2016
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Actors Theatre of Louisville Artistic Director Les Waters and Managing Director Kevin E. Moore are very proud to announce the lineup for the 41st Humana Festival of New American Plays. A cultural highlight for theatregoers, artists and industry professionals across the country, the Humana Festival runs March 1 through April 9, 2017.

This year's Festival program will feature six world premieres, including (in order of opening):

In addition, a bill of three ten-minute plays will also premiere as part of the scheduled lineup. Ten-minute plays and playwrights will be announced in February, 2017. For more information on individual full-length plays, see below.

"The Humana Festival of New American Plays is a leading force in today's theatre. Our writers explore and define the world that we all share," said Les Waters. "I am very proud that Actors Theatre's passion and dedication to artistic risk and courage provides a space for these voices to be heard."

"I'm thrilled to join Les Waters and the fantastic team at Actors Theatre in announcing what will be my first Humana Festival as Managing Director. I first attended the festival as a guest in 2010 and loved every aspect," said Kevin E. Moore. "The Humana Festival has long been a vital part of the American theatre landscape. Our partnership with the Humana Foundation is unparalleled, and their nearly four-decade-long commitment ensures that theatre continues to thrive in this country and around the globe. The 2016 Festival was attended by more than 34,000, with visitors from 41 states and 65 colleges and universities represented in the audience. By investing in the future of American theatre, Actors Theatre makes a significant impact not only on the national theatre canon, but on the local economic prosperity of Louisville."

For more than four decades, Actors Theatre of Louisville has been the driving force in new play development, introducing 450 plays into the American theatre's repertoire and representing the work of more than 370 playwrights. The internationally acclaimed Humana Festival is recognized as a crucial incubator for new work, and a launching pad for myriad subsequent productions around the country and the world. Plays recently commissioned and produced by Actors Theatre have been seen by audiences far and wide. Lucas Hnath's The Christians, which premiered in the 2014 Humana Festival under the direction of Les Waters, recently was recognized on American Theatre magazine's list of "The Top 10 Most-Produced Plays of the 2016-2017 Season." The 2015 Humana Festival premiered The Glory of the World by Charles Mee, which had a successful transfer to BAM in New York this past January, and Dot by Colman Domingo, whose production at the Vineyard Theatre this past February was a New York Times Critics' Pick. Additionally, Sarah Ruhl's For Peter Pan on her 70th birthday went on to a run at Berkeley Repertory Theatre with Les Waters again as director, following an exciting premiere in the 2016 Humana Festival.

This year's lineup of plays will be performed in rotating repertory in three theatres located in Actors Theatre's downtown Louisville complex: the 633-seat Pamela Brown Auditorium, 318-seat Bingham Theatre, and 159-seat Victor Jory Theatre. The 2017 Humana Festival schedule also offers a weekend of enrichment events for college students, and features special weekends for theatre professionals and theatre lovers, which include networking opportunities, discussions, and parties-making Louisville the place to be in the American theatre this spring. A full list of the weekend package opportunities is included in the listings section below.

Weekend packages and single tickets for the 2017 Humana Festival of New American Plays will go on sale to the public beginning Wednesday, November 16. Actors Theatre's Season Ticket Holders can access single tickets and package add-ons during a special pre-sale on Tuesday, November 15. For more information, please visit ActorsTheatre.org or call our Box Office at 502.584.1205. For Festival Ticket Package reservations, please call 502.561.3344 or visit ActorsTheatre.org.

Actors Theatre celebrates the 41st Humana Festival with underwriter the Humana Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Humana, Inc. Additional support is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust.

Editor: The involvement of the Humana Foundation in the Humana Festival of New American Plays is very important to us. We would greatly appreciate inclusion of its participation in your coverage. The Humana Festival represents the largest and longest-running active partnership between a corporation and a theatre in the United States.


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