Four aspiring playwrights will present staged readings of their work Nov. 16-17 as part of the University’s 2006 A.E. Hotchner Playwriting Festival.
“Demons and Other Large Blunt Objects,” a full-length play, is a story of war and delusion by graduate student Dan Rubin.
The full-length “60 Seconds Live” is a fast-paced tale of news manipulation by junior Nicholas Loyal. Two short plays, “The Pennsylvanian” by junior Noga Landau and “Habana Libre” by junior Lee Osorio, also will be presented.
Readings of “Demons and Other Large Blunt Objects” and “The Pennsylvanian” will begin at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 16. Readings of “60 Seconds Live” and “Habana Libre” will start at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 17. Both performances will be held in the A.E. Hotchner Studio Theatre.
The works were selected from original plays submitted in January by students University-wide. An adjudication committee made up of faculty and theater professionals chose the four winners to be presented at the festival, which is sponsored by the Performing Arts Department (PAD) in Arts & Sciences.
The winning works were subject to an intense two-week workshop this fall, culminating in the staged readings. Visiting dramaturg Liz Engleman, president of the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas, hosted the workshop.
Engleman, formerly resident dramaturg of the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, N.J., is serving as a freelance dramaturg for new play festivals in the United States and abroad.
While on campus, Engleman also will take part in the PAD’s symposium “Playwrights and Politics: Two Acts on the National and International Scene.” The event, which runs from 3:30-6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 9, at Edison Theatre, will examine the nature of political theater and the impact of the arts on national and international politics.
Past Hotchner festivals have resulted in development of new plays that have gone on to win the biannual A.E. Hotchner Playwriting Competition, receiving full productions as part of the regular PAD season.
Past winners include “Killing Women” (2002) and “Psalms of a Questionable Nature” (2003), both by Marisa Wegrzyn (LA ’03), and “Six Seconds in Charlack” (2005) by Brian Golden (LA ’04).
In spring 2007, the PAD will stage its latest Hotchner Competition winner, “Highness” by Carolyn Kras (LA ’06).
Both the staged readings and the symposium are free and open to the public. The A.E. Hotchner Studio Theatre is located in Mallinckrodt Student Center.
For more information, call Joy Ryan at 726-0793 or 807-7709 or e-mail jaryana@artsci.wustl.edu.