21st Annual New Works Festival. This festival fosters the growth of New England playwrights while showcasing the talent of local and regional actors and directors. Playwrights from across New England submit their 10-minute shorts, one-act, and full-length plays to an independent panel who select the festival’s shows in anonymous readings.

Schedule of Events

January 20, 2023

8:00 pm - Shiva

Shiva by Mara Dresner
Honegger Prize Winner For Best Full Length
Directed by Jocelyn Duford

Rebekah's beloved mother has died and it is the last night of Shiva, a Jewish mourning ritual. When her Reform rabbi can't attend to conduct the service, her Aunt Lenore finds an Orthodox rabbi who won't count women toward the quorum needed to recite the Mourner's Prayer – and they are two men short. With an estranged father and his new fiancée, a bulimic cousin, and two well-meaning and ill-at-ease co-workers thrown into the mix, Shiva explores life, death, grief, family and Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies.

January 21, 2023

8:00 pm - An Evening of Shorts

Windfall by Charles Hertz
Honegger Prize Winner For Best Short Play
Directed by Tim Diering
What could possibly be wrong with learning you're entitled to a sudden, unexpected, and perfectly legal payment? A down-at-the-heels insurance beneficiary meets the gilded heir to a family business. One is the son of long-time loyal employee of the business; the other is the son of the owners who made their fortunes at it. Their histories overlap in ways bound to alienate but also bond them.

Playing Fields Of Somerville by James McLindon
Directed by Sara Martin
Two Little League coaches mold kids into adults in very different ways.

7th Inversion by Luke Herzog
Directed by Robyn Buckley
On the opening day of a legendary new rollercoaster, Masochist Mountain, a thrill-seeker realizes all-too-late that the ride might be far more dangerous than advertised.

Lady Lorna by Deirdre Girard
Directed by Arlene Barnard
Lorna no longer uses her psychic ability on stage, but Jerry tempts her into one last reading that changes the course of his life…

Path Of Love by James McLindon
Directed by David Houlden
A woman feigns astonishment that her boyfriend wants to marry her to force him to confront his inability to express his feelings for her. Only when he does will she say yes.

Catharsis Interruptus by Elaine Brousseau
Directed by Leslie Pasternack
In Ancient Greece, two actors, Cosmas and Hilarion, use the occasion of an outdoor drama festival to debate the wisdom and necessity of the theatrical practice of wearing masks. Meanwhile, Thalia, Cosmas' sister, has her own ideas. The play uses anachronism to heighten the comedy and put the mask-wearing in perspective.

Take Me Home by Christopher Lockheardt
Directed by Geehae Moon
All Chelle wants to do is go home. But Penny's not sure it's home anymore.

You Don't Have To Go Home But You Can't Stay Here by Erin Enwright
Directed by Adair Rowland
Much to Gigi's dismay, Josie has brought Peter back to the apartment after dinner. Peter and Josie haven't been dating long but it's been long enough for Gigi, Josie's kitten, who decides to take a stand on all four paws. Her thoughts are not transparent to Josie or Peter but her actions certainly are. Not a Peter fan? Not Gigi!

January 27, 2023

8:00 pm - One Acts

Meteoric by Luke Herzog
Honegger Prize Winner For Best One Act
Directed by John Moynihan
Backstage at the Starburst Chuckle Hut, rising comedian Ankor Popov quarrels with Will Fallow, his under-appreciated opening act. Then come reports of an incoming disaster that might be described as a cosmic joke. It's not funny… Then again, maybe a punchline is the best way to close out the act.

How She Laughed by Andrea Fleck Clardy
Directed by Eden Tomaszewski
Thirty years apart in age and worlds apart in attitude, Juliet and Sprague meet on the roof of their apartment building, arguing about how to appreciate essential workers. Each lives alone. In the anxiety and isolation of the COVID pandemic in 2020, they get to talking and forge an unlikely connection.

January 28, 2023

8:00 pm - An Evening of Shorts

Windfall by Charles Hertz
Honegger Prize Winner For Best Short Play
Directed by Tim Diering
What could possibly be wrong with learning you're entitled to a sudden, unexpected, and perfectly legal payment? A down-at-the-heels insurance beneficiary meets the gilded heir to a family business. One is the son of long-time loyal employee of the business; the other is the son of the owners who made their fortunes at it. Their histories overlap in ways bound to alienate but also bond them.

Playing Fields Of Somerville by James McLindon
Directed by Sara Martin
Two Little League coaches mold kids into adults in very different ways.

7th Inversion by Luke Herzog
Directed by Robyn Buckley
On the opening day of a legendary new rollercoaster, Masochist Mountain, a thrill-seeker realizes all-too-late that the ride might be far more dangerous than advertised.

Lady Lorna by Deirdre Girard
Directed by Arlene Barnard
Lorna no longer uses her psychic ability on stage, but Jerry tempts her into one last reading that changes the course of his life…

Path Of Love by James McLindon
Directed by David Houlden
A woman feigns astonishment that her boyfriend wants to marry her to force him to confront his inability to express his feelings for her. Only when he does will she say yes.

Catharsis Interruptus by Elaine Brousseau
Directed by Leslie Pasternack
In Ancient Greece, two actors, Cosmas and Hilarion, use the occasion of an outdoor drama festival to debate the wisdom and necessity of the theatrical practice of wearing masks. Meanwhile, Thalia, Cosmas' sister, has her own ideas. The play uses anachronism to heighten the comedy and put the mask-wearing in perspective.

Take Me Home by Christopher Lockheardt
Directed by Geehae Moon
All Chelle wants to do is go home. But Penny's not sure it's home anymore.

You Don't Have To Go Home But You Can't Stay Here by Erin Enwright
Directed by Adair Rowland
Much to Gigi's dismay, Josie has brought Peter back to the apartment after dinner. Peter and Josie haven't been dating long but it's been long enough for Gigi, Josie's kitten, who decides to take a stand on all four paws. Her thoughts are not transparent to Josie or Peter but her actions certainly are. Not a Peter fan? Not Gigi!

Date: January 20-21 and 27-28, 2023

Cost: $16/All Seats

Location:
Firehouse Center For The Arts,
1 Market Square,
Newburyport, MA 01950.

Click here for more information