2007 | New Works Festival
THE STORMS OF DOLPHINA
by Mary Fengar Gail, directed by Lorca Peress
On the Caribbean Island of Dolphina, exiled marine biologists Gwendolyn and Marlin Welles await the birth of their daughter. No one knows why the expectant Gwendolyn’s skin has a silvery glow or why she consumes live fish from the aquarium until an ultrasound reveals her secret. Enter a strange new world that explores the future consequences of global warming, toxic oceans, motherhood and the magic of voodoo.
MARY FENGAR GAIL’S plays include Drink Me, Opaline, and Devil Dog Six. She has had plays developed at the Utah Shakespearean Festival, the New York Stage and Film Company, and the Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference. Full productions were performed at the InterAct Theatre of Philadelphia, the New Jersey Repertory Company, the Seanachai Theatre of Chicago, and Theatre Conspiracy of Florida. Ms. Gail is a recipient of the Arnold Weissberger Award administered by New Dramatists, the National Children’s Theatre Award, and the Playwrights First Award. She recently received commissions from New Jersey Repertory, the Salt Lake Acting Company, South Coast Repertory, and the National New Play Network, as well as a playwriting fellowship from the California Arts Council.
FREEDOM HIGH
by Adam Kraar, directed by Gregory Simmons, with Katie Atcheson, Rosalyn Coleman, Leland Gantt, Dion Graham, Peter Handy, Jake Myers, Kevin Orton, Franny Silverman
June 1964: Black Civil Rights workers teach non-violent tactics to hundreds of white volunteers en route to Mississippi to help register blacks to vote. Jessica, a young white volunteer, has no idea how dangerous ─ emotionally and physically ─ the project will be until she falls in love with a young black Civil Rights worker and three workers disappear in Mississippi.
ADAM KRAAR’S plays include New World Rhapsody (Manhattan Theatre Club commission); The Spirit House (finalist, Actors Theatre of Louisville Humana Festival; premiered at Performance Network of Ann Arbor); The Abandoned El (Illinois Theatre Center); Storm In The Iron Box (National Play Award runner-up), and The Lost Cities of Asher (New River Dramatists fellowship). Plays produced and developed at: Primary Stages, N.Y. Stage and Film, N.Y. Shakespeare Festival, Ensemble Studio, Theatreworks U.S.A, Rude Mechanicals, H.B. Playwrights Theatre, Geva Theatre, Bloomington Playwrights Project and others. Awards: Sewanee Writers’ Conference, Inge Center for the Arts fellowship, Millay Colony (Berilla Kerr fellowship), Southeastern Theatre Conference, Manhattan Theatre Club playwriting fellowship. M.F.A., Columbia University. Plays published by Dramatic, Applause and Smith & Kraus. Adam grew up in India, Thailand, Singapore and the U.S. Visit www.adamkraar.com
HOWARD’S HAND: A HISTORIC FANTASTICAL
by Nick Zagone, directed by Jose Zayas, with Pete Barker, Nicole Becker, Thursday Farrar, John Fitzgibbon, Maurice Peress, Peter Schuyler, Paul Siemens, Monica Steuer, Ed Trucco, Robert B. Watson
In this mythical tale told with music, dancing, and puppetry, a Soviet submarine sinks off the coast of Hawaii and President Nixon relies on Howard Hughes’ brilliance and money to raise the sub and their spiraling careers. Aided by an aging starlet and subservient Mormon counsel, Nixon gains access to the ailing, drug addled Hughes, and the rest is history, or is it?
NICK ZAGONE’S plays have been enjoyed throughout the US and the world. Awards include: Mark A. Klein Playwriting Award, Artistic Director’s Achievement Award by San Fernando Valley Theatre League Alliance, Los Angeles Ovation Award Nomination, Fulton Opera House Award, JAW Festival Selection, Northwest Playwright’s Series Finalist, Seattle Times Footlight Award, Prospect Theatre Project Competition Winner, Northwest Playwright’s Series Finalist and Winner of Lamia Ink! One-Page Play Competition. Nick is the Founding Member of Open Circle Theatre in Seattle WA. Theatre Companies include: Cal-State Stanislaus, Stage 3, No-Shame Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, Seattle Repertory Theatre, ACT & Printer’s Devil. Commissions include: Sierra Repertory Theatre, Iron Ring Theatre and Prospect Theatre. Nick is also a screenwriter and is published by Dramatic Publishing and Black Box Press.