PHILADELPHIA: PlayPenn has announced the selection of six new plays which will be featured in workshops and readings during its 14th annual New Play Development Conference, slated to run July 10- 29 at the Drake Theatre. The conference will also feature two additional readings of works-in-progress and forums for artists and theatre lovers.
The six plays selected for the 2018 conference are:
- Bruise & Thorn by J. Julian Christopher, about two laundromat workers who dream of getting out of Jamaica, Queens.
- Tha Chink-Mart by Ray Yamanouchi, about five Asian-American teens in suburban Long Island who must navigate cultural struggles at home and at school.
- Dimenticar by Mattie J. Hawkinson, about a loving father’s mysterious death after his car is found at the bottom of a river.
- Kids Drop (Off) by Dominic Taylor, about a group of parents who have a “staycation” while their first graders are on a field trip.
- The Garbologists by Lindsay Joelle, about two dissimilar sanitation workers who must reevaluate each other after a valuable discovery.
- You, the Fire, and Me by Sevan Kaloustian Greene, a coming-of-age story about a close group of three fed-up friends who decide to join a terrorist organization.
The six conference playwrights were chosen from a pool of more than 800 applicants and come from a range of cultural and career experience. They will receive in-depth workshops with directors, dramaturgs, and professional actors to develop their plays and two public readings during the development period. All readings will be open to the public free of charge and a detailed schedule of conference events will be available in May.
