Running July 7-Aug. 2, the sixth annual Summer Play Festival will be in residence at the Public Theater for the second consecutive year. The Festival, which includes seven new plays and one musical, was founded in 2004 by Arielle Tepper Madover, the Tony-winning Broadway producer of Hair, 33 Variations Frost/Nixon, Monty Python's Spamalot and The Pillowman.
Selections for SPF 2009 follow:
The Chimes by Kevin Christopher Snipes. "Nick returns to his New England boarding school still haunted by choices he made 40 years ago. The past overwhelms the present as this thrilling drama flashes back to four young pranksters drawn together by their knack for Shakespeare and ripped apart by the onset of World War II."
Departure Lounge by Dougal Irvine. "It's the end of vacation as four guys wait for their flight home in this testosterone-driven new musical. With time to kill they recount the hilarious antics of the week, and as secrets tumble out we learn more about the lads than they know about themselves."
The Happy Sad by Ken Urban. "Finding love is easy. Defining love is not. New York City provides the backdrop to a contemporary comedy of sex, love, and dating in a city where there are too many options and not enough time." Reborning, by Zayd Dohrn. "Art and life become disturbingly interchangeable when a sculptor of baby dolls meets a woman desperate to recreate the past. This dark comedy takes an unsettling look at work, latex, and the power of creation."
The Sacrifices by Alena Smith. "At first glance the family has everything. But once they leave on a Caribbean cruise, the winds change, privilege becomes a prison, and their vacation will be anything but smooth sailing in this touching comedy drama."
Tender by Nicki Bloom. "A random act of violence leaves a family shattered and searching for a way to be whole again. Amid the ramifications, mystery, memory, and potential murder set the stage for this haunting drama about love, loss, and grief."
We Declare You a Terrorist, by Tim J. Lord. "Eight hundred civilians are taken hostage during the performance of a hit Moscow musical. In the aftermath, the playwright is plagued by the story of his captor - a young woman willing to die for her cause - in an intense drama where one person's patriotism is another's act of terrorism."
Whore by Rick Viede. "Sara just wants to be interesting, and an unexpected one-night stand propels her into a high stakes relationship with worldly Tim. As they are drawn into the fringes this thriller exposes a world of greed, lies, and fear which threatens to break the rules that hold them together."
Tickets for the 2009 SPF begin sale June 1. Living Room for Artists/SPF members may purchase tickets beginning May 1. For more information visit SPFNYC.
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SPF, which operates under the umbrella of Living Room for Artists, has produced over 70 original works, providing writers a financially supported protected environment in which to explore and hone their material with the aid of established professionals.
