South Carolina New Play Festival Announces 2022 Titles

The South Carolina New Play Festival announced the shows for the city-wide performing arts festival in Greenville, South Carolina, August 12-14. The festival will feature readings of Kate Hamill's The Scarlet Letter, directed by Shelley Butler, Kareem Fahmy's Dodi and Diana, directed by Adrienne Campell-Holt, Adam Ben-David, Christyn Budzyna, and Jessica Penzias' musical From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, directed by West Hyler, and Samantha Miller's Dragonsoul Offline. The festival will end with a cabaret from Jarrod Spector and Kelli Barrett.

The South Carolina New Play Festival is led by Executive and Artistic Director West Hyler (Cirque du Soleil's Paramour on Broadway), the former producing artistic director of the New York Musical Festival (NYMF) and Artistic Director Shelley Butler (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical in Tokyo, Japan), who has directed the premieres of more than two dozen new plays, including the world-premiere production of the TONY-nominated play A Doll's House, Part Two by Lucas Hnath.

All readings will be free with first-come, first-serve open seating. Reserved seating is available for Patrons and VIPs of the festival. To reserve a seat, sign up for a class, or learn more about the South Carolina New Play Festival, visit www.southcarolinanewplayfestival.org.

Kate Hamill's THE SCARLET LETTER

based on the novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Friday, August 12
7:00 PM | Gunter Theater
Directed by Shelley Butler

Two years after her husband goes missing, intelligent, strong-willed Hester Prynne has a child and gets branded an adulteress. Further defying Puritan ideals, she refuses to reveal the father's identity and is condemned to wear a scarlet A to mark her shame. Then her estranged husband shows up-bent on revenge. This brand-new adaptation of the classic novel takes a modern approach to the secret life of a puritanical society - and reveals that the story of Hester Prynne is not so far removed from our modern world.

Kareem Fahmy's DODI AND DIANA

Saturday, August 13

2:00 PM | Warehouse Theatre

Directed by Adrienne Campbell-Holt

In Dodi and Diana, a husband-and-wife travel to Paris in August of 2022, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the death of Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed, unearthing an uncanny connection to the star-crossed lovers that will alter the trajectory of their marriage. A Finalist for National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, the South Carolina New Play Festival is honored to be presenting this play in August of 2022, the same time as the events happening onstage.

Adam Ben-David, Christyn Budzyna, and Jessica Penzias' FROM THE MIXED-UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANKWEILER

Saturday, August 13
8:00 PM | Greenville Theatre
Directed by West Hyler

11-year-old Claudia Kincaid and her younger brother Jamie run away from home and hide out at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In this theatrical retelling of the famous novel, the art in the museum comes to life as the siblings set out to unravel the mystery surrounding a stunning statue with rumored ties to Michelangelo. From the Mixed-up Files... was listed as one the Top 100 Books for Children by the U.S. National Education Association in 2007 and in 2012 ranked as #7 among all-time children's novels in a survey published by School Library Journal.

Samantha Miller's DRAGONSOUL OFFLINE

Sunday, August 14
2:00 PM | South Carolina Children's Theatre
In October 2020 as a response to field-wide reckoning with racial injustice and inequities in the industry compounded by the COVID crisis, the ReImagine: New Plays in TYA program was launched by TYA/USA. The aim was to support the development and visibility of new works for young audiences by BIPOC playwrights in an artist-centered process. The South Carolina New Play Festival is honored to be premiering a winning play of the TYA/USA "Reimagine" Project. In Dragonsoul Offline, Devon is split between the online world of battling dragons and the real world of battling middle school. To him, there's nothing worse than logging off from his party of friends and sitting through another lonely and mundane day of 7th grade. When the student body president (and girl of his dreams) takes notice of Devon's natural leadership abilities in a time of need, Devon starts to wonder if maybe some of what makes him so epic online can also make the real world a little more interesting... An action-packed play split between two different worlds and two different personas shows us how one smart kid discovers his true superpower.