— Two-day festival of new plays gives writers an opportunity to showcase in front of live audience
Somers Point – SPQR Stage Company is pleased to host the fourth-annual “New Works Weekend,” a two-day showcase of new plays written by local and regional playwrights, on Feb. 19 and 20.
Seven 10-minute original plays will be staged, some for the very first time, at Somers Point’s Studio;Space during the “New Play Festival,” an event that was launched at SPQR’s original location, the Cape May Aerodrome.
SPQR Artistic Director Bill Sterritt, a long-time proponent for fresh and original works to have a place to be seen, developed the idea for the event.
“I learned that there’s a decent amount of South Jersey residents writing plays either as a career or a hobby or just for fun. But their stories only existed on paper,” said Sterritt, of Cape May. “Plays need somewhere to live and breathe and grow. I wanted to help give these talented writers a place to showcase their works.”
Consideration for the festival, which was never meant to be limited just to South Jerseyans, drew applications from playwrights from around the country. Sterritt received dozens of submissions, from which he narrowed it down to the seven in this showcase. Though many are making their world premiere during New Works Weekend, some have been performed in subsequent productions, including the New Jersey Fringe and at Lincoln Center.
The festival is broken up in two parts, “Not Jersey” and “New Jersey,” based on where the playwrights reside. The plays included in New Works Weekend are:
- “Surf’s Up” by Ken Levine
- “Words to that Effect” by F.J. Hartland
- “Barren Landscape” by Steve Gold
- “The Birthday Boat” by Michele Markarian
- “The Bad Good Old Days” by Tom Chin, Ventnor
- “Jackie and Marilyn” by Heidi Mae, Ventnor
- “The Bohemian Vagabond Freeloader’s Guide to Rome” by Susan Tischler, North Cape May.
“This is a great chance for these writers to have their works finally seen by a live audience,” said Sterritt, “and for the audience to perhaps see the next Broadway hit before it moves on the Great White Way.”
Performances are 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 19 and 20, at Studio;Space, 112 Woodland Ave., Somers Point. Tickets are $10 (cash) and can be purchased at the door. For more information, please call 323-793-2153 or email spqrstageco@aol.com
More information on SPQR Stage Company can be found at StudioSpaceSPNJ.com or Facebook.com/spqrstagesco.
