PLAY SPACE Festival Will Present Four Debut One-Act Plays in One Night in SF
The festival will take the stage at Eclectic Box Theatre, led by producer Elsa Touche and writer Joe Wadlington.
]Producer/Director Elsa Touche and Producer/Writer Joe “Jubilee” Wadlington are launching Play Space, San Francisco's newest play festival, at the Eclectic Box Theatre (446 Valencia Street), June 10-13.
Within one night, audiences will discover four new one-act plays debuting simultaneously. All of the plays are written by local writers, produced by local directors, and starring local talent. Tickets are $35 (plus service fee) and are available now online through Eventbrite.
The four plays (Shah vs. Holmes, INTERIOR: SEX PARTY, Tennessee Williams Is Dead, and Satan vs. The Indiana Abortion Ban) were selected from dozens of submissions to Play Space's January open call for never-before-staged play scripts by local authors and directors. Play Space aims to be a lightning rod and incubator for Bay Area theatrical talent, as the numerous shake-ups, shifts, and closures of performing spaces in San Francisco beg for its theatrical community to evolve,
“SF needs a new way to put on theatre. Venues, producers — everyone is evolving. This is our offering to that evolution,” said Wadlington. “It was fascinating to read so many new scripts by local writers and see what is on the Bay Area's mind. There were clear (even repeated) themes of San Francisco's existential crisis, the audacity of continuing to live amidst a world stacked against us, lonely folks desperately seeking connection, and — most surprising of all — there was a lot of comedy. I think many of the artists in our pool had become bored with despair and chose to use their scripts to uplift. I'm thrilled with the program of shows we've selected. We have the variety, substance, and ingenuity I was hoping for. Audience members will leave inspired to create and loving San Francisco even more.” “I love the notion of bringing together creative people from different disciplines and 'scenes' and seeing what new relationships form, what creative ideas are born … and what fun can be had!” said Touche. “Back before the pandemic, PianoFight — RIP! — used to do a one-act festival; something like this (on a larger scale), bringing together the different performing artists that used their space: the drag theater troupe I was a part of, the improv groups, standup comedians, small theater troupes, and more. I loved being a part of that. It really was a creative 'play space': the sort of thing I thought was definitely needed in our local theater scene right now. I'm excited to see what develops!” The plays:
Shah vs. Holmes, written by Margaux Poupard and Meg Hayes and directed by Melanie Marshall, is a buddy comedy that follows notorious tech founder Elizabeth Holmes and notorious Real Housewife Jen Shah as they meet in prison and do what they do best: fraud. INTERIOR: SEX PARTY, written by Siyu Song and Fernando Gambaroni and directed by Jason Sacramone, is an intelligent comedy that takes place during an orgy.
Satan vs. The Indiana Abortion Ban, written by Leah Barsanti and directed by Beulah Vega, is a courtroom satire that follows a pregnant woman appealing for an exception to the state's abortion ban because she worries about who … or what … the father is. Tennessee Williams Is Dead, written by Peggy Powell and directed by Maryssa Wanlass, is a reflection on the value art making brings to the artist's life — no matter its quality.
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