WICA New Works June Festival to Feature Dance, Drama, Poetry, and World Premieres

Whidbey Island Center for the Arts will host its New Works June festival, which has gained a reputation for bringing fresh, bold storytelling to Whidbey Island. This year's festival, running June 4-14, features a diverse lineup of programming and an exciting chance to witness the organization's commitment to storytelling, in whatever form it takes.

"New Works June is the perfect example of what the arts are intended to do," said WICA Executive Artistic Director Deana Duncan. "They're meant to push the boundaries, encourage expression, and uplift voices. With New Works June, this is your chance to take a seat and experience firsthand new art within an incubator. In this, we are inviting audience members to come experience 'performing arts that you'll hear about first' at WICA, because we know that this is only the beginning for these inspired works."

The June 4 opening night of the festival will kick off with a performance of new Modern dance works by Meander Dance Collective, exploring the question "Who are we?" In addition to this, the festival will include an invitation-only, non-ticketed professional staged reading of Giant (June 5, 7, and 13), directed by the festival's Producing Director Vito Zingarelli. Inspired by true events, Mark Rosenblatt's drama Giant explores the tangled legacy of literary icon Roald Dahl. With biting wit and unsettling honesty, the play scrutinizes how charm and intellect can mask prejudice, confronting the uneasy truths behind beloved cultural figures. Blending dark humor with sharp insight, Giant challenges audiences to reckon with the real-world harm of antisemitic rhetoric and the enduring power of words.

New Works June will also feature two evenings of Solo Theatrics (June 6 and 14). In these solo performances, Alyssa Keene and Eric Mulholland, two WICA stage icons, will explore memory, caregiving, history, grief, and human connection. WICA's ongoing partnership with Island Shakespeare Festival (ISF) will be on display June 11 for the Robin Hood of Sherwood Forest world-premiere staged reading and new works conversation. Also on June 11, Claudia Castro Luna will be sharing work from her most recent poetry book, Green, the World. The book, partly inspired by the verdure and spring of Whidbey Island, is an ode to the plants and trees that surround and sustain us. Castro Luna will also read an excerpt from her upcoming lyrical memoir The Flowers Along the Way, forthcoming in September of this year. ISF and Meander Dance will be back again on June 12 for a combination of theatre and dance programming.

"With New Works June, it's important to note that all offerings are accompanied afterward with audience talkback sessions allowing the audience to become a partner in the collaboration," said Zingarelli. "I find one of the most exciting opportunities of presenting new work is to engage with the community, exchange ideas with the artists, and experience a greater connection with the work. Please do plan to stay and participate in this vital and illuminating component of New Works June."

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