Old Globe Sets NEW VOICES FESTIVAL for 12/13-15

The Old Globe today announced it will present the New Voices Festival, a weekend of readings of new American plays by both professional and aspiring playwrights, Dec. 13 - 15, 2013. The Festival will kick off Friday with an evening of 10-minute plays, directed by Katherine Harroff, that were written over the past year by community members who took part in The Old Globe Community Voices, a program dedicated to introducing adult residents of San Diego County to the process of creating their own theatrical work. The Festival weekend will also feature readings by professional playwrights, including Luce by JC Lee, directed by Shana Cooper; The Great Pretender by David West Read, directed by Richard Seer; and A Nice Indian Boy by Madhuri Shekar, directed by James Vásquez. Funded by a grant from The James Irvine Foundation, the New Voices Festival will take place in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, part of the Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Tickets to all four readings are free but require reservations. Reservations are currently available to donors and subscribers. Tickets can be reserved by calling the Box Office at (619) 23-GLOBE.

"The Old Globe boasts a long and distinguished history as an incubator of new American works for the stage," said Artistic Director Barry Edelstein, "and in launching our New Voices Festival, we aim to build on that strong legacy. The three writers whose works we will showcase bring a variety of cultural and aesthetic perspectives to our stage that I know our audience will enjoy. But I'm particularly proud to build a bridge between their professional writing and the dazzling work created in our Community Voices writing workshops by an amazing group of talented San Diegans. Such connections deepen the bonds between The Old Globe and the community and place theater at the center of a conversation about the broad cultural life of our city."

The complete New Voices Festival lineup is as follows:

• An Evening of Community Voices (Friday, Dec. 13 at 7:30 p.m.)

Over the past two years, The Old Globe Community Voices has provided free playwriting workshops in communities across San Diego County, resulting in the creation and public presentation of 10-minute plays. Now, a selection of plays written during Community Voices will be presented together in a unique evening of theater, giving life to a multitude of perspectives that truly capture the essence and diversity of San Diego.

An Evening of Community Voices will feature plays by Ken Felts, Jessica Hilt, Miller Oliver, Chris Parker, Lorena Santana, Gill Sotu, and Khamp K. Thongrivong. Katherine Harroff directs.

• Luce by JC Lee (Saturday, Dec. 14 at 4:00 p.m.)
  Everyone wants to believe they've raised the perfect child, and in the eyes of parents Amy and Peter, their son Luce has exceeded all expectations. Since he was adopted from a war-torn African country, Luce has grown up to be an honors student, all-American athlete, and model citizen. But when a teacher makes an alarming accusation, everyone's lives are upended, and Amy and Peter begin to question their idealized image of their son. Shana Cooper directs.
• The Great Pretender by David West Read (Saturday, Dec. 14 at 7:30 p.m.)
  Roy and his team of puppeteers have dedicated their lives to bringing joy and imagination into the hearts of children with their popular TV show "Mr. Felt." Their backstage antics and larger-than-life personalities have always threatened to overwhelm their world of make-believe, but when a private heartbreak strikes, their faith that the show must go on allows them to pull together the pieces and move forward. Richard Seer directs.
• A Nice Indian Boy by Madhuri Shekar (Sunday, Dec. 15 at 4:00 p.m.)
  Megha and Archit Gavaskar always dreamed about having a nice Indian boy like Naveen as a son-in-law. They just never imagined that he would marry not their daughter but their son-nor that he would be a Caucasian with more knowledge of Hindi culture than their Americanized children. In this unexpected romantic comedy, one California family must learn how to find common ground between their culture's honored traditions and the ever-changing world around them. James Vásquez serves as director.

Funded by a grant from The James Irvine Foundation, The Old Globe Community Voices was launched in September 2012 to introduce non-traditional audiences to theater arts and support a dynamic creative process for San Diegans who have not had opportunities to envision themselves as artists. Throughout the past year, community members from all over San Diego County have taken part in workshops that emphasize building skills in playwriting and performance, resulting in the writing, rehearsing and public presentation of 10-minute plays with professional actors at The Old Globe.

The James Irvine Foundation is a private, nonprofit grantmaking foundation, with offices in San Francisco and Los Angeles. The Foundation was established in 1937 by James Irvine, a native Californian who devoted most of his life to business interests in San Francisco and the development of his 110,000-acre ranch in Southern California, which was among the largest privately owned land holdings in the state. Since 1937, the Foundation has provided over $1.3 billion in grants to more than 3,500 nonprofit organizations throughout California. With about $1.7 billion in assets, the Foundation made grants of $67 million in 2012 for the people of California.

Pictured: Director Katherine Harroff; Photo Courtesy of The Old Globe

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