The Hub Announces Free for All Play Fest 2013

The Hub Theatre has announced its first annualHUB PLAY FEST, a staged reading festival showcasing new plays. The two-day festival features four new play readings, and offers two insightful Panel Discussions about topics relevant to theatre in America. The entire festival is free and open to the public.

During its five-year history, The Hub Theatre has offered staged readings throughout its season as a way of fostering new work, and getting genuine audience responses to new plays. Helen Pafumi, The Hub Theatre's Artistic Director said, "Staged readings give us a wonderful opportunity to explore new plays or playwrights by allowing us to hear the work out loud. And the bonus is we also get to hear the audience reaction and talk with them about what they saw. Seeing how a play works, with an audience, informs whether or not we might produce the work as part of our regular main stage season."

The Hub has a proven track record of auditioning plays through staged readings before moving them to fully mounted stage productions. Marc Acito's BIRDS OF A FEATHER (Helen Hayes Award, Outstanding New Play) received a staged reading at The Hub before it moved to the main stage for its World Premiere and Helen Hayes eligibility. Pafumi said, "The audience reaction at the BIRDS reading was so wonderful, we knew Marc's play had to be produced, and we knew we had to be the theatre to do it."

In addition to the four new plays at this year's Festival, The Hub is hosting important conversations with the community through two Panel Discussions. During Day One of the Festival, noted playwright, Jacqueline Lawton, one of 30 of the nation's leading black playwrights named by Arena Stage's American Voices New Play Institute, will lead a panel in conversation with the audience about Gender Parity in American Theatre. This is a relevant conversation as theatre companies are questioning the importance of hiring female playwrights and directors. On Day Two, The Hub's Playwright in Residence, Kristen LePine (DIRE WOLVES), will lead a panel discussion exploring the challenges a theatre and a playwright face in a session called,New Play Development.

FESTIVAL DAY ONE - SATURDAY, JUNE 1

1:00 PM

SHE RODE HORSES LIKE THE STOCK EXCHANGE

By Amelia Roper | Directed by Robert Lufty

In a nice New England park, in a nice New England city, two nice New England couples try very, very hard to be nice to each other ... while the world around them falls apart. Award-winning Australian playwright and Yale School of Drama MFA Candidate, Amelia Roper, leads us on an absurdly funny and terrifying ride through downsized, foreclosed America. The cast include Jon Odom and Eric Tucker.

3:00 PM

PANEL DISCUSSION - GENDER PARITY IN AMERICAN THEATRE

Moderated by Jacqueline Lawton

PANELISTS:

Michael Dove, Artistic Director, Forum Theatre

Eleanor Holdridge, Freelance Director, Catholic University Head of MFA Directing Programs

Helen Pafumi, Playwright and Artistic Director, The Hub Theatre

While female theatre artists make up over 50% of those involved in the theatre, why are so few female playwrights being produced? Why so few female directors helming shows? The esteemed panel will tackle this issue head-on, discussing the gender divide, and sharing their opinions about what theaters can do level the playing field.

4:00 PM

THE ELECTRIC BABY

By Stefanie Zadravec | Directed by Kasi Campbell

In this dazzling new play, three very different couples discover that their lives are connected in ways that none of them could ever imagine. A middle-aged couple confronts the secrets of their troubled marriage. A young woman becomes attached-literally, by a pair of pink, fluffy handcuffs-to the hopeful young man who secretly loves her. And a Romanian mother and Nigerian father care for their child, who glows like the moon, and brings everyone together to experience the power of storytelling, the importance of community ... and the hope of new beginnings. Casting will be announced soon.

FESTIVAL DAY TWO - SUNDAY, JUNE 2

1:00 PM

FAILURE: A LOVE STORY

By Philip Dawkins | Directed by Helen Pafumi

Join us for a magical, musical fable about the triumphs and aspirations of three sisters living in a rickety two-story building by the Chicago River. The building was the Fail family home and clock shop in 1928. Nelly was the first to die, followed soon after by sisters, Jenny June, and Gerty. As with so many unforeseen circumstances in life-blunt objects, disappearances, and consumption-these sisters never saw death coming. This profoundly funny and moving story reminds us that in the end, all that remains is love. The cast includes Michael Kevin Darnall, Kristen Garaffo, Heather Haney, Katie Jeffries, Casie Platt, and Chris Stinson.

3:00 PM

PANEL DISCUSSION - NEW PLAY DEVELOPMENT

Moderated by Kristen LePine

PANELISTS:

Randy Baker, Playwright & Co-Artistic Director, Rorschach Theatre

Allyson Currin, Playwright in Residence, Theatre J Locally Grown

Anne McCaw, Executive Director, The Inkwell

Helen Pafumi, Playwright and Artistic Director, The Hub Theatre

What goes into developing a new play for production? The Hub gathers theatre experts from across the Washington Metro area to share their insights about the challenges, the process, and their successes in selecting and developing new work for production.

4:00 PM

CHING CHONG CHINAMAN

By Lauren Yee | Directed by Lee Mikeska Gardner

Turning every cliché about Asian American identity on its head, award-winning playwright Lauren Yee (A MAN, HIS WIFE, AND HIS HAT) introduces us to the all-American Wong family. Ed the patriarch loves to golf, and mom Grace wants another child. Desdemona obsesses over early admission into Princeton, while her brother Upton is focused on World of Warcraft superstardom. To ease the burden of homework and free up more time for training, Upton acquires an indentured servant from China. Life in the Wong household is turned upside down with the arrival of Jinqiang ("Ching Chong"), who harbors his own American dreams! The cast featuresJennifer Knight, Hazel Loranzo, MiRann Powell, Al Twanmo, Jacob Yeh, andNicholas Yenson.

The 2013 HUB PLAY FEST is generously sponsored by Friends of Lake Anne, a community-development organization dedicated to supporting Reston, VA and Lake Anne area events.

All 2013 HUB PLAY FEST readings and panel discussions are FREE OF CHARGEand will take place at the RESTON COMMUNITY CENTER. Reservations are encouraged and are available at https://bit.ly/HubFest. Rush tickets will be available at the door, only as space permits.

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