New Works in Action launches four plays in September

As part of its program to develop new plays, Spooky Action Theater is launching four play development events in September. Following August workshop performances ofKlytmnestra by performance artist Dane Figueroa Edidi, these events complete New Works in Action Round One. Two previously unproduced plays will receive in-house readings. Two more plays will be presented to audiences in fully staged workshop performances. Round Two will commence in October.The objective of New Works in Action, launched in March 2013, is to provide an opportunity for new playwrights to present their work to theater professionals and audiences, who provide feed-back and participate in developing and strengthening new scripts for future full production.

Spooky Action’s initial call for new works elicited numerous play submissions from the greater Washington, DC area. Submitted plays were read, evaluated and chosen based on their alignment with the Spooky Action Theater aesthetic. The selected plays reach beyond naturalism, stretch the imagination and evoke the subconscious by using layers of reality and inventive juxtapositions of past, present and future. They lend themselves to a vigorous, movement-based performance style.

The New Works in Action process begins with a sit-down reading with the author, director and a cast of professional actors. Scripts that go to the next level are rehearsed and presented for a limited number of workshop performances as book-in-hand productions. For these, the play is up on its feet, actors carry the script, and the staging is supported with lights, sound and streamlined set and props. The workshops include a post-show discussion to engage the audience in the development process.

A call for Round Two submissions will be posted on Spooky Action Theater’s Web site in October 2013.

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Round One Presentations
Aug 23 & 24 – Klytmnestra by Dane Figueroa Edidi (workshop performance)
Sept 14 & 15 – Fisker Fights for His Life, by Ernie Joselovitz (workshop performance)
Sept 16 - Postcards from the Apocalypse, by Paco Jose Madden (table reading)
Sept 21 & 22 – Dire Wolves, by Kristen LePine (workshop performance)
Sept 23 - The Revelation of Bobby Pritchard, by Rich Espey (table reading)