Daniel Beaty's Emergence-See! serves as the centerpiece for the week-long event. The festival — which features "script readings, workshops and performances of new plays" — will run through Nov. 6 at the Connecticut stage.
Other events include a discussion with playwrights and an evening of short plays by the winners of the annual teenage playwriting competition, "Write On!"
The schedule of events (subject to change) follows:
by Michele Lowe - directed by Rebecca Taichman
Featuring Dariush Kashani, Mahira Kakkar, Kelly Aucoin, Nicole Shalhoub, Sachin Bhatt, Enver Gjokaj and Edward Hajj.
"A provocative look at the value of art and culture in wartime set against the back of the Iraq war."
by Jose Rivera - directed by Michael Wilson
Sona Tatoyan, Josie de Guzman, Gilbert Cruz, Johnny Sanchez, Vanessa Aspillaga and Raul Castillo.
"A love story that begins in Puerto Rico and spans 40 years."
book/lyrics by Cheryl Davis, music by Doug Cohen - directed by Jerry Dixon
Soara-Joye Ross, David St Louis, Natasha Williams, Danielle Lee Greaves, Wayne Pretlow, Eric Anthony, Brian E Chandler and Miles Wilson-Toliver.
"A new musical about Bessie Coleman, the world's first African American aviatrix."
by Emilie Beck - directed by Shira Piven
Starring Edward Asner. "Emmy Award winner Asner plays Leo Gold, a Polish-born Holocaust survivor in the early stages of dementia."
by Victoria Stewart - directed by Jeremy B. Cohen
Audra Blazer, Ross Bickell, John Rothman, Kit Flanagan, Vivienne Benesch and Alysia Reiner.
"Story of a rising young conservative female political pundit and the lengths she'll go to advance her career as news becomes entertainment and politics a performance."
Scheduled guests: David Grimm (Chick, The Great Osram), Luis Alfaro (Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner) and Elizabeth Egloff (The Ether Dome) — sneak peek of the latter play read by Ben Walker, Maggie Lacy and Nafe Katter.
by Daniel Beaty The performer-playwright "portrays an amazing cast of over 40 characters" in this work set in motion when "the supernatural emergence of a slave ship in front of the Statue of Liberty sends New York into a frenzy."
by Michael Tisdale - directed by Andy Paris
Karron Graves, Jedadiah Schultz, Melissa Hurst, Michael Stuhlbarg, Robert Clohessy, Scott Barrow, Kathryn Grody and Tom Riis Farrell.
"Real-life stories of Ohio families coming to terms with military losses."
