by dick kerekes dickkerekes@yahoo.com
New play festivals can be found all over county in such cities as Denver, Louisville, Philadelphia, just to name a few but none are more accessible to North Floridians than University of Central Florida’s “PlayFest.” It is a very reasonably priced ten-day theatre event packed with dynamic new plays and new play programming. Like all play festivals, their mission is to cultivate new plays, nurture new playwrights and attract local and national audiences.
Let me be right up front with the costs. You purchase a PlayFest Button for $5.00 and it and a small fee will get you into a variety of events. Workshops are $8.00 and reading is $3.00. On February 26 at 7PM, you can attend “Play in a Day Performance” for only $5.00. The plays are written, cast, rehearsed and performed within a 24-hour period!!
The opening night production on February 23, is a full premier of a new adaptation of Dostoyevsky’s famous novel Crime and Punishment with ticket prices from $ 20.00 to $ 35.00.
Saturday 2/24 is a very special evening. At 7:30 PM playwright Theresa Rebeck will give the keynote address free, with your PlayFest Button, followed by a reading of her new play, Mauritius, a psychological thriller about philately.
Having Ms. Rebeck at this festival is certainly a feather in UCF’s cap, since she is probably one of the hottest playwrights on the theatre scene. Her play The Scene just opened at Second Stage in New York to great reviews. The Scene stars Tony Shaloub (of Monk) and Patricia Heaton (of Everybody Loves Raymond).
Co-author of Omnium Gatherum , done at Limelight last year, Ms. Rebeck is an experienced playwright who spent several years doing scripts for NYPD Blue. It is exciting to have the opportunity to meet this talented playwright.
If you think you have a play in you and have been looking for some guidance to put it on paper, a Master Class in playwriting will be held by Ms. Rebeck on Saturday the 24th at noon at a cost of $l00.00.
One of the sources for new and innovative plays has been the International Fringe Festivals, held all over the world. Orlando’s International Fringe Festival is an annual event that I have attended and covered in the past. Want to take your group and a play and get into a Fringe Festival? Orlando Fringe Festival Artistic Director Beth Marshall will be holding classes on February 25 and March 4. At a cost of $l0.00 each you can learn how to get into a Fringe Festival and perhaps become well known in the theatre world.
Space does not permit me to elaborate on all the readings, plays and workshops, but some of the titles are very intriguing. All the Girls Love Bobby Kennedy, China—the Whole Enchilada, The Stinky Cheese Man, Three Screams, and Playing Alexina are some of the shows available.
All the performances are at The John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center, which is right downtown at 812 E Rollins Street. Choose a motel in the north part of Orlando, like the Lee Road area, and you will avoid all that Disney, Sea World, Universal crowd and traffic.
You can get all the information on the excellent website, www.shakespearefest.org and click on PlayFest 2007. You can check out the entire play list and events, order tickets and even see festival video clips.
I know that Jacksonville area theatre groups are always looking for new plays to bring to their patrons, and their repertory committees do a great job of reading many scripts and selecting interesting new works for local audiences. Here is an opportunity to see the play making process up close and to experience a variety of shows at a reasonable cost.
I will have a review of the Festival and Crime and Punishment in the March 1st issue of Entertaining U. See you in Orlando.
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