The University of Arizona School of Theatre, Film & Television Will Host New Directions Festival: Broken

The University of Arizona School of Theatre, Film & Television (TFTV) will present the fifth annual New Directions Festival: Broken, a curated evening of original works created entirely by students, March 26-29, at the Tornabene Theatre on the University of Arizona campus. The event is free and open to the public.

The annual festival celebrates student innovation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and professional-level mentorship in new work development.

This year’s festival invites audiences to experience a thematically cohesive suite of original plays — and a song — developed around the concept of brokenness, interpreted broadly by student creators within the School’s Live and Screened Performance program.

Among the featured works are two plays by senior theatre student Josiah Santos, one commissioned specifically for the festival. Tragically, Santos and two fellow University of Arizona students lost their lives in an accident late last year. The inclusion of his work in this year’s festival stands as a tribute to his artistic voice and a celebration of his creativity, humor, and commitment to storytelling.

The festival is shaped by students in TFTV’s Advanced Topics in Dramaturgy course, who work under the mentorship of New Directions Festival Artistic Director, Professor Elaine Romero. Students issued a call for pitches, commissioned original works, curated dramaturgy, and organized the dramatic flow of the evening, mirroring the professional processes used by theatres to develop new work.

Throughout rehearsals, playwrights, directors, actors, and dramaturgs collaborate in an ongoing development process, revising texts in response to performance, feedback, and creative conversation. The workshop format gives undergraduate artists a rare opportunity to evolve and refine their original works in real time.

“New work development is some of the most advanced work we do in the theatre, and our students are acquiring the skills to build new works,” Romero said. “After this experience, our playwrights will be able to revise their works after hearing them in rehearsal. Our actors will be able to relearn lines and scenes. Our directors will rethink their choices based on changing text. Our dramaturgs will shepherd new works that speak to the present moment. Our students are gaining a flexibility and adaptability rarely seen in academic theatre.”

Showtimes

• Thursday, March 26 at 7:30 PM
• Friday, March 27 at 7:30 PM
• Saturday, March 28 at 1:30 PM and 7:30 PM
• Sunday, March 29 at 1:30 PM

All performances take place at the Tornabene Theatre on the University of Arizona campus and are free to attend and open to the public. Seating is general admission and available on a first-come, first-served basis.