Samuel French Short Play Fest Writers Announced

Six of New York's most highly regarded playwrights have agreed to jury the 40 short plays featured in the 33rd Annual Samuel French Inc. Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival beginning July 15th at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre (416 West 42nd Street). The week-long festival (concluding July 20th) features a full program of the selected plays performed for a panel of judges comprised of established playwrights, agents and Samuel French editorial staff.  Six winners are chosen to have their plays licensed and published by Samuel French, Inc.

The playwrights include: Thomas Bradshaw (Strom Thurmond Is Not A Racist; Purity), Kathleen Clark (Southern Comforts; Secrets Of A Soccer Mom) , Israel Horovitz  (Barking Shark; My Old Lady) , Shirley Lauro (A Piece Of My Heart; Open Admissions), Eduardo Machado (The Cook; Kissing Fidel) and Jane Milmore (Love, Sex and the IRS; Confessions Of A Dirty Blonde). In addition, theatrical agents representing the following agencies: Beacon Artists Agency, The Gersh Agency, Bret Adams, Ltd., William Morris Agency, Abrams Artists Agency and International Creative Management will also serve on the judging committee.  (All judges are subject to change.) The 40 plays presented in the festival have been chosen from over 450 submissions by playwriting workshops, university theatre programs, and professional companies from across the country.

Plays in the festival will be presented in daily multi-sessions as per the following schedule: Tuesday July 15th  (7:30 PM) A Dark Wood, Twilight's Child,Balls – (9PM) The Dying Breed, (W)hole, The Cherry Sisters, Harborside; Wednesday July 16th (7:30PM)  Seal Song, F**king Art, Falutin – (9PM)  Marginalia, Juniper Jubilee, Checkpoint; Thursday July 17th (7:30 PM) A New Shade of Red, Wild Follows the Queen, Underneath it All – (9PM) Good Enough,  When Rodney Met the Vikings, Kiss and Tell; Friday July 18th  (7:30PM) Evenstar Ellesar, The Thread Men, The Adventures of…, Blind Date – (9PM)  Kissing Will, The Visit, Sex and Money and Money and Sex; Saturday July 19th (3PM)  Pi Yao and the Farmers' Daughters, Marked, Ayravana Files – (4:30 PM)  A Chicken Goes to Broadway, DNA, The Club, The Queen is Dead – (7:30PM) Molly Finn R.I.P. we love you, The Art Lady, Yog Sothoth – (9PM) 40 Stat 76, Friendly Fire, Muffin, The Grave; and on  Sunday, July 20th festival finals will be scheduled at 1PM, 2:30PM, 4PM and 5:30PM. (Schedule subject to change.)

The Off-Off Broadway Festival started in 1975 and is Manhattan's oldest continuous short play festival. Over 390 theatre companies and schools have participated in the Festival's first thirty years, including companies from coast to coast as well as abroad from Canada and England. This festival has served as a doorway to future success for many aspiring writers. Over the years, 175 submitted plays have been published, and many of the participants have become established, award-winning playwrights. For more information about the festival, plays, playwrights and participating companies, please visit the official festival website at www.samuelfrench.com/oobfestival. By requiring authors to collaborate with a producing organization and present their work in performance, Samuel French seeks to encourage the collaborative and creative process of playwriting.

Samuel French Inc. was founded in 1830 with offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Toronto and London, and retail bookstores in Hollywood and Studio City making it the oldest and largest publisher and licensor of plays in the world.

All tickets are $18.  For more information and ticket purchase call Ticket Central (212) 279 -4200 or log onto www.ticketcentral.com. The 33rd Annual Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival will run July 15th – July 20th at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre (416 West 42nd Street).

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