The First Annual Gene Frankel Theatre Festival to Feature Over 20 Debut Plays

This August the inaugural Gene Frankel Theatre Festival will take palce in NoHo featuring new theatrical works. Running from August 4–17, the two-week festival will showcase an exciting lineup of 25 one-acts and short plays, selected from over 100 submissions. Performances run nightly and on the weekends at the historic Gene Frankel Theatre which has been featuring groundbreaking new work for over seven decades. All featured plays are New York premieres, with many also making their world debut.

A distinguished jury panel—Thomas R. Gordon, Francesca Ravera, and Thomas G. Waites—will recognize excellence in acting, directing, and playwriting. Awards will be given for Best Male Actor, Best Female Actor, Best Director, and Best Play in both the one-act and short play categories. Winners will be announced on August 17 during a Gala and Awards Ceremony, which will also include live performances by guest artists Thomas G. Waites, Francesca Ravera, Jason Lee, and more.

Gene Frankel Theatre’s owner and artistic director Thomas R. Gordon has curated, in collaboration with award winning actor Francesca Ravera, a unique lineup featuring original work by some of New York's finest playwrights. 

Gordon shared why he was driven to create the festival, “I was inspired to do this festival by my former business partner Gail Thacker, who is also the former owner of the Gene Frankel Theatre. Gail is also doing a festival in August with Lucky Pearto at the GFT called 15 Minutes of Frame, so I thought it would be great to have August be a month of festivals. I also wanted to add my own personal touch to this festival to make sure we have a great time and that we are presenting great theatre. We are looking to create new opportunities for artists and unique shows for our audiences. We want to invite talented artists to not only join our community, but the New York City theatre scene”.