Black Box New Play Festival

January 19 – February 5, 2023

Thurs – Sat @ 7:30pm
Sun @ 3pm

Gallery has a history of supporting emerging playwrights, fostering play development, and producing world premieres. Our playwright-focused festival, returning to the stage this season, aims to polish a collection of short new plays and create an exciting presentation of theater over the three-week run.
 

Black Box New Play Festival

Week One: Jan. 19 – 22, 2023

  • The Tree
    Playwright, Barbara Anderson
    Director, Saki Kawamura

    An old man. An old woman. A tree. Sometimes it takes inspiration to say what needs to be said and one never knows what that source of inspiration will be.

  • Facelift
    Playwright, Diane Sampson
    Director, Zoe Senese-Grossberg

    Two sisters argue with and about their elderly father and his imaginary friend. Is he losing it, or is he, just maybe, the wisest of them all?

  • Arm’s Length Romance (A Duologue)
    Playwright, John Busser
    Director, Gregory Lipson

    They love you just as far away as you are.

  • Ledge
    Playwright, Robert Cullinane
    Director, Kevin Bain

    A chance meeting on a skyscraper ledge has lifelong consequences for two strangers.

  • Wrong Side of the Tracks
    Playwright, Vicki Riba Koestler
    Director, Justin Braun

    Dahlia and Paul have an agenda for the lunch they’re about to host. Their guest will be an important one, and everything has to be just-so. But when someone else arrives just before their expected visitor, the couple’s plans become much more complicated.

  • Sorry Doesn’t Have to Mean Good Bye-Bye
    Playwright, Glenn Alterman
    Director, Michelle Silva

    Sam has finally had the courage to end his long term relationship with Sue – in a very dramatic way. Sue is not happy at all. As the two try to resolve their issues, it becomes clear that this will not be an easy breakup. As they argue we begin to learn the true nature of their relationship.

  • Fast Times
    Playwright, David Susman
    Director, Thomas Netter

    When a busy, high-powered married couple tries to pull off an afternoon tryst the results are less than satisfying.

 

 

Week Two: Jan. 26 – 29, 2023

  • Desperately Seeking Anonymity
    Playwright, Mark Eisman
    Director, Leah Abrams

    His name has only recently become notorious. Hers has always been.

  • Mackie
    Playwright, Jeff Carter
    Director, Brendan Clifford

    When Mackie McNeal, the tough manager of a run down residential hotel is hospitalized, only two people sit in the waiting room attendant on his condition; his middle-aged son, and Mackie’s hotel handyman.

  • Reunion
    Playwright, George Sapio
    Director, Kelleen Moriarty

    What started out as a long-overdue apology has turned into a mission of spite.

  • Proximity
    Playwright, Patrick McEvoy
    Director, Seraphina Violet Cueller

    Ever wonder? That’s what Charles wanted to know from Urlana after hearing sirens outside. They talk about different possibilities before their next door neighbor, Landra, knocks and tells them something violent happened. They go outside to check it out, but when Charles returns, he wonders who is lurking nearby.

 

 

Week Three: Feb. 2 – 5, 2023

  • Open Table
    Playwright, Ken Levine
    Director, Gabrielle Giacomo

    A young couple and a mountain man dine at an unusual restaurant at the top of a mountain and wind up questioning their lives.

  • Taking Over Your Life
    Playwright, David James
    Director, Emma Cavage

    A family is concerned that their eldest son has become an addict and so they organize an intervention to save his life.

  • Forgetting to Forgive
    Playwright, Glenn Alterman
    Director, Ted Thompson

    While watching TV, Mom takes too many pills. She calls her son who rushes to her home. As they discuss why she took the pills and then reminisce about their lives, mother and son realize how very much alike they are.

  • When You Can Get the Milk for Free
    Playwright, Judd Lear Silverman
    Director, Alysia Homminga

    In an age of rebranding and repackaging, as new generations rise to power and where any old icon can be tossed out on the trash heap, some hard changes are made at Farmwood Hills Dairy (and Amusement Parks) with some rather devastating results.

  • A Dozen Paper Tissue Roses
    Playwright, Tuyet Thi Pham
    Director, Elizabeth Bove

    After a long absence, two former lovers meet for coffee after one seeks out the other to return a gift.

  • The Morning After
    Playwright, Kris Thompson
    Director, Jenn Susi

    Rachel and Paul have been married for ten years, having spent the majority of that time chasing their careers. A year ago they decided they wanted to settle down and start a family, but getting pregnant is not as easy as they thought it would be.

 

Festival Staff

Producers: Sue Glausen & Dominic Cuskern
Sound Designer: Courtney Seyl
Lighting Designer: Lucas Gomes
Production Stage Manager: Sydnee Drake Peterson
 


 
All questions related to the Black Box New Play Festival should be sent to blackbox@galleryplayers.com
 

 

2022 Black Box New Play Festival


Watch last year’s festival here!

 

 

Black Box New Play Festival

“Words can’t express what I feel right now. What a special two nights I just had. Sitting with friends and strangers and watching 2 hours of my work in a theater full of love and support for my writing. This whole process has been not only fun but important because I learned so much from seeing OCEAN PLANET staged and realized. What a special memory. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for believing in me and producing this weekend of my plays.” – Brett Epstein, playwright