Professional Live Theatre in Austin, TX
NEW PLAY
FESTIVAL
HISTORY
2018 Festival of New Texas Plays
April 26th-29th
Austin Playhouse opened their 2018-2019 season with the world premiere of Monroe, one of the finalists of our 2018 Festival of New Texas Plays!
Winners
Eidophusikon by Reina Hardy
A mysterious man and a tiny scrappy girl are building a new machine inspired by a legendary creation out of scavenged materials in a tiny underground bunker. The machine is called an Eidophusikon and its purpose is to transcend time. When their work is interrupted by a man who needs part of the Eidophusikon to heal his own grief, the fantastic machine and everyone who works on it is in danger. A wonderfully theatrical fable that challenges audiences and performers to expand the limits of the stage and their imaginations.
Nutshell by C. Denby Swanson
Nutshell tells the story of Frances Glessner Lee, the mother of forensic science, who used her inheritance in the 1930's and 1940's to make miniatures of crime scenes, which are still used today to train investigators. In the play, she conducts a seminar, even though she is dead herself, in an attempt to understand the physical evidence of her own life and build the legacy that even today continues to help solve violent crimes.
Monroe by Lisa B. Thompson
A mysterious pregnancy, a lynching, and dreams of California haunt Cherry, a domestic who believes that God is telling her to leave the south. Although her family tolerates her eccentric ways, her friend Clyde takes her visions and dreams seriously. When Clyde invites her to go along with him to California, Cherry must decide whether being the keeper of her family’s roots and cultural traditions justifies living under Jim Crow. Set in rural Louisiana during the Great Migration, Monroe reveals how the threat and aftermath of racial terror dominates the psyches of young African Americans.
Finalists
Birthrights by Kira Rockwell
Dirty Dirty by Amy Gijsbers van Wijk
Eidophusikon by Reina Hardy
Homeland by Michael Parsons
Monroe by Lisa B. Thompson
Nutshell by C. Denby Swanson
Shekinah by Blake Hackler
Small Steps by Briandaniel Oglesby
Tail End Charlie by Joey Banks
The Lady Demands Satisfaction by Arthur M. Jolly
Eidophusikon by Reina Hardy
Nutshell by C. Denby Swanson
Monroe by Lisa B. Thompson
2017 Festival of New American Plays
May 5th-7th
Winners
Low Hanging Stars by Sarah Saltwick
This intimate new play by Austinite Sarah Saltwick uses a supernatural twist to reveal the devastating cracks in a mother-daughter relationship. Young starlet Gillian Rhodes has been taken to a small town in Massachusetts where her mother spent a summer as a young girl. Ostensibly to take time off from a hectic schedule, the real reason for Gillian's isolation is exposed through a chance encounter with the ghost of a troubled young man.
Capital Crime! by Carson Kreitzer
In 1906, model and actress Evelyn Nesbit's husband killed her wealthy benefactor, launching a tabloid sensation. The event was branded the "Show Girl Murder" and Evelyn became known as "The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing." This whimsical, rock and roll inspired play takes on the aftermath of the murder when a movie company produces a film about the event. Connecting the exploitation of Nesbit to contemporary exploitation of young women, Carson Kreitzer’s Capital Crime! is an original, irreverent, and very fun look at the dark side of America's obsession with youth.
Flying by Sheila Cowley
During World War II women aviators supported the war effort by flying training missions and taking on the dangerous job of flying planes in need of repairs or on their way to the junkyard. After the war, these women were often grounded as jobs were reclaimed by men. Flying introduces us to Susan, a former WASP now working to keep her husband's airfield and repair shop operational until her husband, Bob, returns home. When a former colleague of Bob's arrives at the airfield looking for work, it exposes all the vulnerabilities of Susan's current position and the hypocrisy from her past. Sheila Cowley’s beautiful new play looks at the contributions of women to the war effort and the difficulties of getting back to "normal" life.
Finalists
A to Z by Monica Raymond
Atacama by Augusto Federico Amador
at the very bottom of a body of water by Benjamin Benne
Capital Crime! by Carson Kreitzer
fish by Pat Pfeiffer
Flying by Sheila Cowley
Low Hanging Stars by Sarah Saltwick
On Pine Knoll Street by Mark Cornell
The Captives by Barbara Blumenthal-Ehrlich
Tumbleweed by Marcus Scott