IAMA Theatre Company presents staged readings of four new plays written by members of the company’s 2021-22 Under 30 Playwrights Lab. The readings take place July 28 through July 31 at Atwater Village Theatre. Admission is free.

Making up the Lab’s class of ’22 are playwrights Sowmya Ashokkumar, Karyn Peyton, Dylan Schifrin and Daysha Veronica. The four met on a monthly basis during their one-year residency to share and develop their work in a peer-guided format led by program director Nicholas Pilapil, and were also given dramaturgical support from the artistic and literary staff at IAMA.

The schedule of public readings is as follows:

- Thursday, July 28 at 8 p.m.:
When I Say You Are Killing Me, written by Karyn Peyton, directed by Emily Moler
A documentary theater solo show told in monologues: A queer playwright uses real-life tapes and journal entries to piece together past, present and future events involving the film producer who groomed her over the course of five years when she was in her twenties.

- Friday, July 29 at 8 p.m.:
the fishes and the birds, written by Sowmya Ashokkumar, directed by Rebecca Wear
A play about grief, rituals and talking seagulls: Madhuri is tasked to shepherd her dead mother's soul to heaven, but is unsure if she will be successful due to their complicated relationship.

- Saturday, July 30 at 8 p.m.:
Breathless, written by Daysha Veronica
Black college student Jah time-travels back to the slavery era in place of an ancestor trying to escape the plantation. There, he is forced to confront a timeless question for Black people in this country: where are we most safe?

- Sunday, July 31 at 8 p.m.:
No One Wants To Work Anymore., written by Dylan Schifrin, directed by Lee Kasper
In this fevered, musical interrogation of hustle culture, burnout and the growing anti-work movement, six new hires at a mysterious mega-corporation must complete an unconventional onboarding process: trek through Antarctica, don't freeze to death and build up a managerial skill set along the way.

Inaugurated in 2019, IAMA’s Under 30 Playwrights Lab is being re-branded as the Emerging Playwrights Lab for the 2022-23 season. The new name is intended to reflect a more inclusive evolution to support writers at many stages of their playwriting career. The new program is currently accepting applications through July 15, 2022.

Atwater Village Theatre is located at 3269 Casitas Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90039. Free parking is available in the ATX (Atwater Crossing) lot one block south of the theater.

For information about the playreadings and the Emerging Playwrights Lab, go to www.iamatheatre.com/emergingplaywrights.