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| "My Mother's Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding," written by "Come From Away" duo Irene Sankoff and David Hein was presented in the 2017 New Works Festival. |
Audiences for TheatreWorks Silicon Valley will have a chance to see what might become the next big hit when the company presents its 20th anniversary New Works Festival Aug. 11-20 in Palo Alto.
Some of the hits that have emerged from
the festival have included Tony-winning “Memphis” as well as “Nan and the Lower
Body,” “Jane Austen’s Emma” and others.
This year’s event will feature staged
readings of one musical, three plays and some special events. In a staged
reading, the actors use scripts with limited movement and no sets or costumes.
Dinner and a conversation with
playwrights David Henry Hwang and Rajiv Joseph start the festivities at 8 p.m.
Aug. 11. Admission is $325 for both events or $75 for the conversation only.
“Happy Pleasant Valley: A Senior Sex
Scandal Murder Mystery Musical” by Min Kahng and directed by Jeffrey Lo, is the
first new work, playing at 8 p.m. Aug. 12, 7 p.m. Aug. 16 and 8 p.m. Aug. 19.
When a woman learns that her grandmother is about to be kicked out of her
senior apartment, she springs into action. Grandma is in hot water because her
active sex life seems to kill the men she sleeps with.
Coming up next is a dark comedy, “Nerve”
by Minita Gandhi,” at 3 p.m. Aug. 13 and 3 p.m. Aug. 19. Described as a multigenerational
journey that explores the legacy and the love of food, it will include dishes
cooked on stage and served to the audience.
Food also is involved in “Madeleines” by
Bess Welden at 8 p.m. Aug. 17 and 3 p.m. Aug. 20. Jewish sisters, whose mother
has just died, grapple “with how to love each other through haunted pasts,
shared grief and the solace of baking together.” Leslie Martinson directs.
Giovanna Sardelli, the festival’s
longtime director who has just been named TheatreWorks artistic director,
directs, “Low Expectations” by Michael Gaston, slated for 7 p.m. Aug. 15 and
noon Aug. 19. Encouraged to write about his family, Gaston wrote a true
monologue about relatives during the Civil War and later and a fictional short
story set in Northern California. They’re combined into a play with music.
Besides the conversation with
playwrights Joseph and Hwang, special events will include a performance by
actor and transgender activist Shakina followed by an after party at 7 p.m.
Aug. 18. Tickets are $150 for the show and party, $50 for the show only.
The festival will wrap up with a chance
to meet and hear from the playwrights and composers at noon Aug. 20. Moderated
by Lo, TheatreWorks casting director and literary manager, it will allow
questions by the audience.
Season passes for the staged readings
and the latter are $60 ($55 for Season 53 subscribers). Tickets for it and the
individual readings are $20. There are no assigned seats.
All events will take place at the Lucie
Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto.
For tickets and more information call
(650) 463-1960 or visit www.theatreworks.org.
