Playhouse on the Square Kicks Off NewWork@TheWorks Series Tonight

The finalists for Playhouse on the Square's NewWorks@TheWorks Playwriting Competition have been selected. Six original plays will be featured as part of the NewWorks@TheWorks Reading Series, beginning tonight, October 5, 2013.

The NewWorks@TheWorks Playwriting Competition was established in 2012 so that Playhouse on the Square could renew its focus on cultivating original works. The company began accepting play submissions in January 2013. A panel of local directors, actors, and designers selected the finalists for the reading series. The finalists are:

Memory Grove by Dean Farell Bruggeman
Reading Date: October 5, 1:00 PM
Four married couples face destructive, life-altering obstacles. Is love fatally misplaced? "Til death do us part" is more an omen than a vow.

In Her Awkward Fist by Wayne Paul Mattingly
Reading Date: October 6, 7:00
On the day of her father's burial, 14-year-old Brigette meets Marvin, a middle-aged man. Friendship quickly evolves into intimacy. Is it love or lust?

The Swan Queen & The Radical Faerie by Frank Canino
Reading Date: October 12, 1:00 PM
A bitter, retired ballerina and her self-destructive stepson battle to find common ground. Ironically, they will become the guide and model for the other's journey into death.

We Live Here by Harold Ellis Clark
Reading Date: December 1, 7:00 PM
A Black couple from New Orleans' 9th ward wins a house in a white neighborhood and discovers their "dream come true" is too good to be true.

Mountain View Teri Feigelson
Reading Date: December 2, 7:00 PM
Set deep in the mountains of Appalachia, a teenage girl tells the story of her kinfolk and The Shadows lurking in the woods around her.

Sorrow's End by Nathaniel Lachenmeyer
Reading Date: December 3, 7:00 PM
A family hires a cult deprogrammer to save their son. What seems to be a casebook intervention turns into a psychological thriller.

Staged readings are open to the public and will be held at Playhouse on the Square, 66 S. Cooper Street in Midtown Memphis. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased by calling the box office at 901-726-4656 or at playhouseonthesquare.org.

Each reading will be followed by a question and answer session during which audience members can give feedback on the play. Audience comments will help to determine which two plays will be fully produced at TheatreWorks as part of Playhouse on the Square's 2014 - 2015 Season.