Orlando Shakespeare Theater Announces Schedule For Playfest! The Harriett Lake Festival Of New Plays

Sept. 27, 2011 - PRLog -- Orlando Shakespeare Theater in Partnership with UCF announces its lineup of new play readings, special events and panel discussions for PlayFest! The Harriett Lake Festival of New Plays, running November 3-6, 2011 at the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center (812 East Rollins Street).

Previously held in April, the 10-day event is being replaced by an engaging, fast-paced long weekend packed with play readings, distinctive panels, lively parties and dynamic networking events. It is the perfect opportunity to converse with PlayFest artists, establish lasting connections and absorb groundbreaking new works in only four days.
This season, Orlando Shakes welcomes one of the most prolific and frequently produced playwrights in the United States, Jeffrey Hatcher, as Keynote Speaker on Saturday, November 5, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. Mr. Hatcher wrote the Casanova screenplay for director Lasse Hallstrom, as well as Stage Beauty (dir. Richard Eyre) and The Duchess (dir. Saul Dib). His new play, Strongman’s Ghost, will be presented as one of staged readings during PlayFest.

Mr. Hatcher's award-winning original plays have been performed on Broadway, off-Broadway and regionally across the U.S. and abroad. They include The Turn of the Screw, Three Viewings, Scotland Road, Neddy, Korczak's Children, A Picasso, Mercy of a Storm, Work Song (with Eric Simonson) and Lucky Duck (with Bill Russell and Henry Kreiger). His writing credits also include the Peter Falk TV series Columbo and E! Entertainment Television. He is a member and/or alumnus of The Playwrights’ Center, The Dramatists Guild of America, Writers Guild of America and New Dramatists.

Past PlayFest Keynote speakers and performances have included Philip Seymour Hoffman, Olympia Dukakis, Theresa Rebeck, John Pielmeier, Israel Horivitiz, Mark Brown and Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Schenkkan.

For an in-depth look at the PlayFest Readings and Special Events, please visit http://orlandoshakes.org/playfest.

PLAYFEST 2.0 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

READINGS – Cost: $5

The Odyssey
By Charlie Bethel | Friday, November 4 at 6:00 p.m.
Shipwrecks, cyclopses, sirens and sex goddesses; cannibalism, death, loyalty and revenge. Solo artist Charlie Bethel unpacks it all in this retelling of Homer’s epic tale of a cunning hero trying to get home and the circumstances that stretch him to his limit. 90 minutes.

Samsara
By Lauren Yee  | Saturday, November 5 at 11:00 a.m.
When American couple Katie and Craig vow to make a last-ditch effort to create a baby of their own, their quest leads them to India, where a thriving commercial surrogacy industry offers them one final chance at parenthood. But will their decision to “rent out” a surrogate unite or divide them? A hilarious, unsettling look at reproduction in the 21st Century, Samsara questions whether we can truly achieve intimacy in the face of shrinking worlds and expanding boundaries.

Smoke
By Gloria Bond Clunie | Saturday, November 5 at 2:00 p.m.
Country storeowner Ora Rakestraw wants no parts of the mysterious Wallace Johnson when he descends upon Manson, North Carolina to organize tobacco workers.  The government declares cigarettes deadly.  Things get hot when love and small town politics clash!

Strongman's Ghost
By Jeffrey Hatcher | Saturday, November 5 at 8:00 p.m.
The General is a dictator of a small foreign country who moonlights as a novelist.  Everyone loves his books.  They have to – he's the dictator.  Unfortunately, he doesn't have time to do the actual writing anymore, so he needs ghostwriters.  His soldiers have just brought him a new one.  His assignment: finish the General's final book before the country is invaded by a nation very much like the U.S.

Zombie Town
By Tim Bauer | Sunday, November 6 at 11:00 a.m.
When a horde of zombies overruns the small West Texas town of Harwood, the townsfolk assume the worst has already happened. But then a San Francisco Theater collective arrives, determined to tell the town's story. The resulting play, assembled from interviews and told in the townsfolk's exact words, is the true recounting of that terrible invasion.

The Invention of the Living Room
By Andrew R. Heinze | Sunday, November 6 at 4:00 p.m.
It's 1946. An apartment on the Lower East Side of New York City. Bessie Levin, an emotionally fragile yet dynamic woman, is haunted by the past but about to be hurled into the future. Bessie wants to keep her home unchanged and her racially mixed, religiously divided family together. Her son, Billy, is preparing to launch Levinstown, the first big postwar suburb, which he calls "the future of America." But will the Levins survive Levinstown? And will Bessie survive the future?

Feverish
By Steve Yockey | Sunday, November 6 at 7:00 p.m.
Feverish is a retelling of Phaedra and Hippolytus through a modern lens. The play fuses myth and modern ideas into a bold, vivid world of heightened realism, status games and unrequited lust, shedding a whole new light on the "complex" love between a mother and a son.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Play in a Day – A Fun-Raiser for PlayFest | Cost: $10
Hosted by Beth Marshall | Mandell Theater | Thursday, November 3 at 7:00 p.m.
15 actors, 6 writers, 6 directors and 4 production crew members donate their time and talents to write, direct, rehearse, run the technical aspects and perform 6 original 10-minute plays, all sharing the same theme, within a 24-hour time frame.

Keynote Address by Jeffrey Hatcher – Free Event!
Margeson Theater | Saturday, November 5 at 7:00 p.m.
Jeffrey Hatcher, author of The Turn of the Screw, visits PlayFest! Join us for his Keynote Address, followed by a reading of his new work, Strongman's Ghost.

Playwright's Panel – “What's a Playwright Gotta Do to Make a Living?” | Cost: FREE!
Mandell Theater | Sunday, November 6 at 2:00 p.m.

All Events take place at the John & Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center, 812 East Rollins Street, Orlando, FL  32803.

TICKETS AND PRICING:
Festival Pass - $28
A no-frills approach to PlayFest, the Festival Pass enables you to see all seven PlayFest readings. A fantastic bargain!

Industry Pass - $49 ($74 with Add-On)
For the serious theater-lover, Industry Passes are available at a discounted rate for Theater Professionals. Industry Passes include Pre-Access Seating to all seven Readings, as well as tickets to the opening and closing Reception, Keynote Speech with Jeffrey Hatcher, Play-in-a-Day and much more. For an additional $25, Industry professionals may purchase a ticket to God of Carnage.

PlayFest Patron - $250 - $500
Patrons receive a variety of exclusive benefits, including priority seating to all events and tickets to The Exit Interview workshop, coming spring 2012.  Call Noreen Levitt at 407-447-1700 ext. 204 for more information.

PlayFest Passes and tickets are available by calling 407-447-1700 or online at http://orlandoshakes.org/ or in person at the box office located inside the Lowndes Shakespeare Center, 812 East Rollins Street in Orlando’s Loch Haven Cultural Park.

PlayFest is made possible through the generous support of title sponsor Harriett Lake. Orlando Shakespeare Theater in Partnership with UCF is supported by United Arts of Central Florida with funds from the United Arts campaign and by State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Arts Council.

ABOUT PLAYFEST! THE HARRIETT LAKE FESTIVAL OF NEW PLAYS:
Orlando Shakespeare Theater in Partnership with UCF is dedicated to the development of new plays, one of our country's most enduring art forms. PlayFest! The Harriett Lake Festival of New Plays is a nationally recognized program and represents one of the strongest commitments to new plays nationally. Over the years, Orlando Shakes has nurtured and developed over 100 new plays – many of which have received subsequent productions in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Washington D.C.

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Now celebrating its 23rd season, Orlando Shakespeare Theater in Partnership with UCF has grown into one of the region’s most acclaimed Equity theaters producing bold professional theater in Central Florida. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Jim Helsinger and Managing Director Shannon Lacek, Orlando Shakespeare Theater continues to achieve the highest standards, while preserving its artistic and cultural legacy. Through PlayFest! The Harriett Lake Festival of New Plays, Orlando Shakespeare Theater is nationally recognized for its contribution to the development of new plays. Orlando Shakes also provides innovative educational experiences through its youth education programming, serving over 25,000 young people, families, and schools annually.