2022 New Play Conference Program and Schedule
GPTC New Play Conference Program
2022 New Play Conference Public Events Schedule
If you are interested in taking a workshop please go to the workshops page for full descriptions and registration information by clicking here.
Sunday, May 29
11:00am – 12:30pm Workshop 1
Hansol Jung
Structuring your Weird FULL
Don Nguyen
Sending Your Play Out Into The World
1:00 pm Panel 1
DRAMATURGS (Bryan Moore moderater)
Monday, May 30
9:30am –11:10am PlayLab 1 Neighbor Jane by Tina Esper (100 minutes)
Respondents: Anne Washburn, Don Nguyen
Dramaturg: Khalid Y. Long
Director: Amy Lane
Synopsis: Margaux and Philip are hoping to spend a quiet weekend on the river when a loud, mysterious bird and a terrified neighbor interrupt their evening and alter the course of their plans—possibly forever.
Cast:
Tony – Jeremy Earl
Philip – Eric Quam
Margaux – Teri Fender
Jane – Mary Kelly
Stage Directions – Eva Quam
11:10am – 11:15am Break
11:15am – 12:00pm Response
1:00pm – 2:30pm PlayLab 2 Coco Queens by LaDarrion Williams (90 minutes)
Respondents: Mfoniso Udofia, Josh Wilder
Dramaturg: Jihye Kim
Director: TammyRa’
Synopsis: Set in a small town called Helena, Alabama, Coco Queens is a riveting play that forms an unbroken bond between four African-American women as they navigate their way through deep seated, sometimes painful challenges of love, forgiveness and black womanhood in the 1970s.
Cast:
Gloria – Kerri Forester
Chanel – Alicia Amadee
Dawn – Zoella Sneed
Tammie – Giovanni Jones
Stage Directions – Brandi Smith
2:30pm – 2:35pm Break
2:35pm – 3:20pm Response
3:20pm – 3:35pm Break
3:35pm – 5:05pm PlayLab 3 oh, to be pure again by Kira Rockwell (90 minutes)
Respondents: Virginia Grise, Anne Washburn
Dramaturg: Alex Vermillion
Director: Anna Jordan
Synopsis: Set during one hot Texas summer at a Charismatic Christian church camp, this earnest drama follows the senior girls’ cabin along their journey to make an authentic connection with something bigger than themselves. A new play about female desire, submission, rebellion, and growing up in a religious culture that’s obsessed with your sexual purity.
Cast:
Autumn – Darlyn Gonzalez
Jean Ruby – Audrey Saucier
Luna – Emily Tran
Rachel – Stella Clark Kaczmarek
Trina – Tatenda Chivero
Becca – Abz Cameron
Adrian – Giovanni Rivera
Rachel’s Dad – Matthew Olsen
Stage Directions – Katie Cameron
5:05pm – 5:10pm Break
5:10pm – 5:55pm Response
Tuesday, May 31
9:30am – 11:20am PlayLab 4 Rx Machina by Caity-Shea Violette (110 minutes)
Respondents: Kate Busselle, Anne Washburn
Dramaturg: Miriam Weiner
Director: Beth Thompson
Synopsis: An ambitious pharmaceutical sales representative’s relentless pursuit of a rigidly principled pain management doctor leads to an intoxicating, forbidden connection that comes with a cost. Ethical boundaries are blurred in a literal manifestation of doctors being in bed with drug reps, forming a love triangle fueled by money, sex, and power. Illuminating the everyday impact of pharmaceutical marketing in the opioid epidemic, Rx Machina searches for humanity in a healthcare system that profits from pain and asks who gets to get better and who gets left behind.
Cast:
Maren Deller – Roni Shelley Perez
Dr. Nina Robinson – Kate Myers Madsen
Stevie Larson – Carrie Beth Stickrod
Hannah Johnston – Abz Cameron
Deb Glasner – Daena Schweiger
Stage Directions – Katie Cameron
11:20am – 11:25am Break
11:25am – 12:10pm Response
1:00pm – 2:30pm PlayLab 5 Acetone Wishes and Plexiglass Dreams by Stephanie Kyung Sun Walters (80-90 minutes)
Respondents: Don Nguyen, Hansol Jung
Dramaturg: Jihye Kim
Director: Wai Yim
Synopsis: Celina has moved home to Philly’s Koreatown to take over the neighborhood beauty salon. DIY reno keeps her busy, but discovering a secret about her high school buddy, Inky, and gossiping chorus of aunties and uncles keeps her busier. However, Celina has a secret of her own; a secret that dragged her across the country, only to return home empty handed. Will Celina prevent the rumors, ghosts, and aunties from chaining her down or will she drag Inky into the dark web she’s brought home?
Cast:
Celina – Roni Shelley Perez
Inky – Adam Bassing
Ajumma – Yoon Cho
Ajusshi and the Koreatown men – David Rhee
Stage Directions – Cecilia Poon
2:30pm – 2:35pm Break
2:35pm – 3:20pm Response
3:20pm –3:25pm Break
3:25pm – 5:05pm PlayLab 6 Culture Shock by Gloria Majule (97 minutes)
Respondents: Josh Wilder, Mfoniso Udofia
Dramaturg: Khalid Y. Long
Director: Bryan Moore
Synopsis: Two African students, Zahra from Tanzania and Hawi from Kenya, start school in an Ivy League institution. They are placed in Salama House, an all-black dorm and affinity space for black students. Faced with cultural, academic and economic challenges, Zahra and Hawi try to make it through Freshman Year, while facing the reality of what it means to be black in America.
Cast:
Zahra: Alicia Amedee
Hawi Mturi: Xena Broaden
Tiffany: Kylah Calloway
Mariela: Brandi Smith
Einstein: Allen Griffen
Osei: Corbin Griffin
Charlene: Katherine (Kat) MacHolmes
Mama: TammyRa’
Mr. Mturi: Levy Lee
5:05pm – 5:10pm Break
5:10pm – 5:55pm Response
7:30pm Young Dramatists Evening Disclosed Articles by Kel Thompson
(at FOC MCC) one act festival – 40 minutes
Dramaturg: Alex Vermillion
Director: Anthony Clark-Kaczmarek
Synopsis/Cast: TBD – 8 actors
Wednesday, June 1
9:00am – 10:30am Workshop Session 2
Vicki Grise
This is a Manifesto!
Mfoniso Udofia
Writing The Autobiographical
Josh Wilder
Being Ruthless
10:30am – 10:45am Break
10:45am – 12:00pm PlayLab 7 Yellow Wallpaper 2.0 2020 by Jennifer Maisel (65-75 minutes)
Respondents: Anne Washburn, Hansol Jung
Dramaturg: Miriam Weiner
Director: Mia Morris
Synopsis: A riff on Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s classic domestic horror story about a woman driven crazy by the rest cure for post-partum depression, YELLOW WALLPAPER 2.0 2020 is about a female adjunct professor trying to thrive in Covid quarantine despite her toddler and demanding husband outside her bedroom and the personal demons she faces within.
Cast: Finalizing
12:00pm – 12:05pm Break
12:05pm – 12:50pm Response
1:30pm – 2:30pm PlayLab 8 Deadass by Nia Akilah Robinson (60 minutes)
Respondents: Mfoniso Udofia, Virginia Grise
Dramaturg: Khalid Y. Long
Director: Breanna Carodine
Synopsis: In February of 2010, a New Jersey Principal was placed on a temporary leave of absence for touching Aisha Wilson’s Afro. A new African Vice Principal arrives a few days before the shortest month of the year expires and requests Drama Chorus with students who are 99% (White) & 1% (Aisha) to perform for their inaugural Black History Month assembly. Between 2019-2020, seven states have dedicated anti-discrimination laws towards hair texture…and it’s 2021 now. Do we see the problem?
Cast:
Aisha – Charity Williams
Teacher (Lisa) – Olivia Howard
Principal Ademide – Eric Jordan
Kevin – Brendan Brown
John – Anthony Holmes
Zoe Olson – Ashari Johnson
Frankie – J. Isaiah Smith
Aisha’s Mother/Shonice – TammyRa’
Stage Directions:
2:30pm – 2:35pm Break
2:35pm – 3:20pm Response
3:20pm – 3:25pm Break
3:25pm – 4:55pm PlayLab 9 In the Canyon by Daniel Hurewitz (90 minutes)
Respondents: Bryan Moore, Don Nguyen
Dramaturg: Miriam Weiner
Director: Daena Schweiger
Synopsis: Lena and her father, Alan, arrive at her grandmother Pat’s Brentwood hills home for dinner just as a fire breaks out at the bottom of the hill. As the fire grows, blocking Lena’s mom from joining them, tensions
seethe between them about Pat’s apparent disdain for Alan and Lena’s impatience with her grandmother. By the time they learn that evacuation orders were issued, it becomes apparent that they won’t all be able to
escape the inferno.
Cast:
Pat – Ruth Rath
Lena – Olivia Wells
Alan – Xavier Carr
Stage Directions – Debbie Krambeck
4:55pm – 5:00pm Break
5:00pm – 5:45pm Response
Thursday, June 2
10:00am – 11:20am PlayLab 10 stains by Sarah Cho (75 – 80 minutes)
Respondents: Don Nguyen, Virginia Grise
Dramaturg: Jihye Kim
Director: Hansol Jung
Synopsis: An impoverished Korean-American teenager struggles through her first period, with the help of an imaginary friend… who happens to resemble a wisecracking witch from a popular ‘90s sitcom. “Stains” is a
coming of age comedy about a Korean American girl whose family sees her first period as a burden. A play about growing up poor, female, and Korean American in Los Angeles.
Cast:
Soo-Hyun Park – Stephanie Kyung Sun Walters
Halmoni Cho – Yoon Cho
Christine Park – Maia Su
Melissa Joan Hart from Sabrina the Teenage Witch – Anna Jordan
Stage Directions:
11:20am – 11:25am Break
11:25am – 12:10pm Response
Panel 2 begins at 12:30pm DESIGN WING (Wyatt Moniz moderator)
1:15pm – 1:30pm Break
1:30pm – 4:15pm PlayLab 11 No Nothing by T. Adamson (165 minutes)
Respondents: Josh Wilder, Anne Washburn
Dramaturg: Miriam Weiner
Director: Roxanne Wach
Synopsis: Middle-aged realtor Gwen lives with her dying mother, Martha, in small home in rural East Texas. Together they must confront the histories of resentment, despair, and racial violence that have brought them
to their painful and codependent present.
Cast:
Martha – Sherry Fletcher
Gwen – D. Laureen Pickle
Willie – D. Kevin Williams
Camila – Veronica Montes
Mort – Jonathan Wilhoft
Gabby (voice) – Carina DuMarce
Ange Baby (voice) – Nathan Dunham
Helpful Voice – Digital
Stage Directions – Dan Wach
4:15pm – 4:20pm Break
4:20pm – 5:05pm Response
Friday, June 3
10:00am – 11:30am Workshop Session 3
Kate Buselle
The Dramaturgy of Intimacy
Kim Louise
Chopped: The Playwright’s Edition
Anne Washburn
Directions, Misdirections, Frisks and Capers… FULL
Panel 3 12:00pm
GATHERING: PROGNOSTICATIONS, HOPES AND PRACTICES FOR MOVING FORWARD IN AMERICAN THEATRE – Seth Gordon moderator
12:45pm – 1:00pm Break
1:00pm – 3:00pm PlayLab 12 Body + Blood by Shannon TL Kearns (120 minutes)
Respondents: Virginia Grise, Hansol Jung
Dramaturg: Alex Vermillion
Director: Barry Carman
Synopsis: As whispers become a roar and threats mount, Joshua stands in front of his congregation plagued by doubts. He knows he is called and yet he can’t help but wonder if it makes a difference. If he can make a difference. If he’s enough. Or if maybe he’s too much of too many things– transgender man, bartender, priest—too fractured to heal the suffering souls of others. But when, in a moment of chaos, he calls out in despair the answer is clear: there is more to this story.
Cast:
Joshua – Alexander Biel
Jude – Brent Spencer
Peter – Ang Bennett
Nate – Tyler Swain
Andrew – Kabin Thomas
James – Mike Leaman
Mary M – Connie Lee
Si – Allen Griffin
Stage Directions – Ashley Spessard
3:00pm – 3:05pm Break
3:05pm – 3:50pm Response
3:50pm – 3:55pm Break
3:55pm – 5:25pm PlayLab 13 Diaspora! by Phaedra Michelle Scott (90 minutes)
Respondents: Mfoniso Udofia, Bryan Moore
Dramaturg: Khalid Y. Long
Director: Kathy Tyree
Synopsis: Sunny, an idealistic Black millennial, is writing a history about the legacy of her family. Her younger sister, Janae wants to reject everything about her ancestry in favor of a created one. Sunny discovers the mystery of her grandparents and decides to confront her past head on in order to put the spirits in her life to rest.
Sunny – Catie Zaleski
Janae – Ashari Williams
Patrick – Mitchell Polley
John – Wai Yim
Robert/Thomas – Matt Karasek
Dorothy – Alicia Amadee
Stage Directions – Dara Hogan
5:25pm – 5:30pm Break
5:30pm – 6:15pm Response
Saturday, June 4
9:30am – 11:50am PlayLab 14 Greater Illinois by Steven Strafford (140 minutes)
Respondents: Hansol Jung, Josh Wilder
Dramaturg: Alex Vermillion
Director: Matt Gutschick
Synopsis: Greater Illinois is the story of Donielle, a Black woman who lives with her husband. She and her husband keep being offered more and more money (and ultimately threats) to move from their apartment in the South Side of Chicago out to a new government sponsored suburban community. When Donielle pushes back against what feels like a sinister government agency, a tragedy is inflicted on her. Donielle seeks to make right what has been wronged. Greater Illinois is also the story of Patrick, a White Gay man who is being moved into the same South Side apartment a year later. The move into this new space is contingent on him signing papers that dissolve his marriage and agreeing to never marry someone of the same sex again. Haunted by memories of his possibly dead husband and caught in a bit of romantic intrigue, Patrick’s world is turned even more upside down when a mysterious person arrives at his door. Greater Illinois is the story of the decisions we make to fight, flee, or freeze. It is the story of the ramifications of those decisions.
Donielle – Dani Cleveland
Evans – Corbin Griffin
Wanda – Tonya Ward
Patrick – Fran Sillau
Mac – Prentiss Matthews III
The Attendant – Mary Carrick
Ben – Isaiah Ruiz
Stage Directions – Doriette Jordan
11:50am – 11:55am Break
11:55am – 12:40pm Response
1:15pm – 1:30pm Design Wing Speech Mule Barn
1:30pm – 2:15pm Design Wing Mule Barn
