Monthly Archives: May 2018

CINCINNATI LAB THEATRE ANNOUNCES
2018 NEW WORKS FESTIVAL
July 19 – 28, 2018

CINCINNATI, May 10, 2018 — Cincinnati LAB Theatre’s New Works Festival will present two fully staged workshop productions and two original play readings in a rotating festival repertoire over two weekends, July 19 – July 28, 2018. All performances will again be presented in Cincinnati at Clifton Performance Theatre, 404 Ludlow Ave, Cincinnati, OH.

Cincinnati LAB Theatre is now in its fifth producing season. Cincinnati LAB Theatre’s past productions include Buckeye and Judas by Elizabeth a. Harris, Led Thespian by Jason Podplesky, 3some by Brian Griffin, An Evening with Stephen Crane by Phil Paradis, Chase the Dragon by Kirk Sheppard, and Identity: An Evening of Three Twenty-Minute Plays by Elizabeth a. Harris, Brian Griffin, and Leah Strasser.

Part of Cincinnati LAB Theatre’s mission is to provide playwrights with opportunities to develop their work through a traditional workshop process, while utilizing some of the area’s finest professional actors. Cincinnati LAB Theatre’s New Works Festival is comprised of two different series that will present new and innovative works in various stages of development, encourage open and honest discussions, and allow audiences an inside look into the creative process.

WORKSHOP SERIES: The New Works Festival Workshop Series will present two brand-new fully staged workshop productions:

Medusa in You by Valetta Anderson. Directed by Daryl Harris.
A son is murdered by police who have sworn to protect and serve. A sister races for vengeance for her twin brother’s death. Follow two parent-pairs in parallel universes as they chase their daughter, Eve, in her race for vengeance for Adam. Each Black and White parent-pair battles for their surviving child, as History conjures its own agenda.
Performances July 19, 21, and 27, 2018, at 7:30pm.

The Hired Man by Heather Meyer. Directed by Jason Podplesky. The Hired Man, follows a restless cattlewoman, Matty, as she’s hired on at a struggling cattle ranch in the modern-day American West. Matty searches for respite from the hauntings of her mother with the ranch owner, Hank, and his granddaughter, Ellen. Can Matty find answers and peace?
Performances July 20, 26, and 28, 2018 at 7:30pm.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Valetta Anderson (Playwright, Medusa in You) Stageplays include “Hallelujah Street Blues” Horizon Theatre; “The Match” Kennesaw State University; “Leaving Limbo” Essential Theatre; “Today” (an AT&T:Onstage Award recipient) by Jomandi Productions that also produced “She’ll Find Her Way Home” as did Pittsburgh’s Kuntu Repertory Theatre and Nashville’s Fisk University and available from Blue Moon Plays. “Toni,” her first screenwriting credit is available on Amazon. “Traveling Thomas” and “Medusa In You” are in development. Valetta’s affiliations include Working Title Playwrights and Dramatists Guild. Formerly she served as Executive Director, DeKalb Council for the Arts; Teaching Artist with the Alliance, Fox and Horizon Theatres; and Adjunct Professor of Playwriting at Spelman College.

Daryl Harris (Director, Medusa in You) is an Associate Professor in the Theatre and Dance Program, School of The Arts, Northern Kentucky University (NKU). At NKU since 2003, in addition to directing departmental productions and teaching theatre courses that include Race, Gender & Theatre; African-American Dramatic Literature; and Arts for Social Change, Daryl has been responsible for creating community-based theatre projects, as well as multi-cultural programming. He is a 50-year veteran of traditional, experimental, educational, and applied theatre. He has studied and worked throughout North America, Europe, West Africa, Asia and Australia as a producer, writer, director, actor, costume designer, professor, facilitator, and lecturer. In 2017, as a Fulbright Specialist, he co-wrote, costumed, directed, and played a cameo role on Sri Lanka International Buddhist Academy’s world premiere production of the traditional Buddhist tale, Sanda Kinduru. This was the third in a series of initiatives using theatre techniques to help English as a Second Language students learn and confidently use the language. Locally, he has directed Celebrated Silence for All Shades Theatre, Cincinnati: City of Immigrants for Arts Wave, and several productions for New Edgecliff Theatre, including Race, and a non-traditionally cast production of The Glass Menagerie. His primary passion: engaging scholars and communities transculturally and transnationally across disciplines.

Heather Meyer (Playwright, The Hired Man) is a playwright in Minneapolis and grew up in the flat spaces of North Dakota. In addition to playwriting, she works as a comedy writer and also writes for an international children’s animated series. She has an MFA in Playwriting from Spalding University Low-Res Creative Writing Program and is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild. Her internet places are http://www.heathermeyeronline.com and @heathermeyer2.

Jason Podplesky (Director, The Hired Man) has worked regionally with The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, The Contemporary American Theatre Company, The Know Theatre of Cincinnati, The Human Race Theatre, and the Cincinnati LAB Theatre. In New York he has worked at The Flea Theater, The Classical Theatre of Harlem, The Public Theater, MCC, and was a member of the Lincoln Center Theater Director’s Lab.

PLAY READING SERIES: The New Works Festival Play Reading Series will present staged readings of new plays currently under development:

Four Horses by Mary Beringer. Directed by Erin Carr. Four Horses is a blasphemous dark comedy about the end of the world. When Pestilence accidentally kills Death, the whole world stops. The people of Earth become immortal, and it is up to the remaining three horsemen to track down a replacement Death. They think they have found one when they discover the last person on Death’s list, but training a new Death is more difficult than it sounds. Saturday, July 21, 2018 at 5:00pm.

When the Son is Shining by Jeffery Fischer Smith. Directed by Jeffery K. Miller. As 1960s America falls apart, so does a small Long Island family. Morality collapses on all fronts. Big and small family worlds are in upheaval. Father, mother, son, wife, neighbors – all find themselves pitted against each other. Set against the backdrop of the tumultuous 1960s, this play reveals the unraveling of an American family during the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald, and Martin Luther King Jr., and the conviction of Jack Ruby. No one will arise unscathed but will their world completely unravel?
Saturday, July 28, 2018 at 5:00pm.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Mary Beringer (Playwright, Four Horses) is a writer who was born and raised in Ohio. She went to Ursuline Academy high school, and majored in English in college, where she began writing plays and films. Four Horses is her first play to be produced in the Cincinnati area.

Erin Carr (Director, Four Horses) is currently working as a professional actor, physical theatre creator and theatre activist out of Cincinnati, OH. In addition, she is the Co-Artistic Director of the feminist-centric theatre company, ReVamp Collective, based in Philadelphia, PA, as well as the Co-Founder of Solasta Theatre Lab in Cincinnati, OH. Additional information: http://www.erincarr.com.

Jeffery Fischer Smith (Playwright, When the Son is Shining) is a Los Angeles area-based writer and producer working in theatre, film, and television. His stage plays have been produced in New York City and around the USA from Washington to Georgia and California to Massachusetts. Internationally, his work has been produced in Australia, Canada, Malaysia, Mexico, and the Philippines. Jeffrey’s short film Reservations (co-screenwriter / co-executive producer) – based on his award-winning short play of the same name – is currently making the film festival circuit. He received his MFA in Writing from Spalding University and his BA from Cornell University. More information about Jeffrey can be found at: http://www.jfischersmith.com and on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/jfischersmith.

Jeffery K. Miller (Director, When the Son is Shining) holds a BA in Theatre from NKU and an MA (ABT) in Performance, Theatre and Practice from Miami University. He is an actor, director and playwright that has worked with companies all over the region. His creative portfolio focuses on developing plays that can lead to problem-solving dialogue with young audiences.

Single Tickets and 2018 New Works Festival All-Access Pass

Single tickets to the 2018 Cincinnati LAB Theatre New Works Festival may be purchased at the door.

• Workshop Series:
  • $15 Adult – General Admission per performance
  • $10 Student – General Admission per performance
• Play Reading Series:
  • $5 – General Admission per performance

All-Access Pass
Save $15 and experience all that Cincinnati LAB Theatre has to offer this season! 2018 All-Access Passes are $25. 2018 All-Access passes allow general admission entry for passholders into all 2018 Cincinnati LAB Theatre New Works Festival events.

‘All tickets including Single Tickets and 2018 ALL ACCESS Pass are sold CASH at the door.
No pre-purchase or credit card purchase available.

About Cincinnati LAB Theatre
Cincinnati LAB Theatre is an organization for established and emerging playwrights and performers and is dedicated to a collaborative creative process that will present established works of drama and develop new plays through a traditional workshop model. Cincinnati LAB Theatre will provide a solid platform for artists to cultivate, strengthen, and hone their artistic crafts and talents and offer quality theatre for Cincinnati audiences.

Cincinnati LAB Theatre
2018 New Works Festival Schedule

Thursday, July 19, 2018
7:30pm – Workshop Series: Medusa in You by Valetta Anderson.

Friday, July 20, 2018
7:30pm – Workshop Series: The Hired Man by Heather Meyer

Saturday, July 21, 2018
5:00pm – Play Reading Series: Four Horses by Mary Beringer
7:30pm – Workshop Series: Medusa in You by Valetta Anderson

Thursday, July 26, 2018
7:30pm – Workshop Series: The Hired Man by Heather Meyer

Friday, July 27, 2018
7:30pm – Workshop Series: Medusa in You by Valetta Anderson.

Saturday, July 28, 2017
5:00pm – Play Reading Series: When the Son is Shining by Jeffery Fischer Smith
7:30pm – Workshop Series: The Hired Man by Heather Meyer

All performances will be presented at Clifton Performance Theatre, 404 Ludlow Ave, Cincinnati, OH.

Follow Cincinnati LAB Theatre on our Facebook page and our website http://cincylabtheatre.wixsite.com/cincylab.