A.E. Hotchner Playwriting Festival to feature staged readings Nov. 16 and 17

Four aspiring playwrights will present staged readings of their work Nov. 16 and 17 as part of Washington University’s 2006 A.E. Hotchner Playwriting Festival.

Sponsored by the Performing Arts Department (PAD) in Arts & Sciences, the festival’s selection process actually began in January, when students from across the university submitted original plays to an adjudication committee made up of faculty and theater professionals.

The committee then selected four plays — two full-length works and two shorts — to undergo an intense two-week workshop this fall, culminating in the staged readings. Hosting the workshop is visiting dramaturg Liz Engleman, president of the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas.

This year’s full-length winners are Demons and Other Large Blunt Objects, a story of war and delusion by graduate student Dan Rubin; and 60 Seconds Live, a fast-paced tale of news manipulation by junior Nicholas Loyal.

The Pennsylvanian, by junior Noga Landau, and Habana Libre, by junior Lee Osorio, won for short plays.

Readings of Demons and Other Large Blunt Objects and The Pennsylvania 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.

Engleman, formerly resident dramaturg of the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, N.J., is currently serving as a freelance dramaturg for new play festivals in the United States and abroad. While on campus, she will also 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 to 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 9, will examine the nature of political theatre and the impact of the arts on national and international politics.

Both the staged readings and the symposium are free and open to the public and take place in the A.E. Hotchner Studio Theatre, located in the Mallinckrodt Student Center, 6445 Forsyth Blvd. For further information, please contact Joy Ryan, (314) 726-0793 or (314) 807-7709, jaryana@artsci.wustl.edu.

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 2003); and Six Seconds in Charlack (2005) by Brian Golden (LA 2004).

In spring 2007, the PAD will stage its latest Hotchner Competition winner, Highness by Carolyn Kras (LA 2006).