New Play Readings Festival
BREAKING GROUND FESTIVAL SCHEDULE • March 18 – 21‚ 2004
Thursday‚ March 18
7:30pm – Stabbing‚ by Stephen Belber*
A heat–of–the–moment argument turns violent one early evening‚ down on Fourth Street‚ somewhere in urban America. One man’s mistake starts a chain–reaction that entangles a most–unlikely group of people. Fox‚ Abe‚ Rachel‚ Mac‚ Farrah‚ and Bud seek some kind of cosmic balance in a world that demands more from them than they are necessarily ready to give. Through them‚ Belber deftly explores the conundrum of the human condition in an age where gender‚ race‚ machismo‚ and nationalism threaten to alienate and divide us from each other.
Friday‚ March 19
7:30pm – The Ice–Breaker‚ by David Rambo
A faltering PhD student seeks out a man once at the top of her chosen field –– formerly a scientific renegade of the great arctic north‚ he is now a recluse‚ ensconced in a desolate desert terrain. An abandoned journal‚ preserved in the tundra‚ has led her here to stake her claim. Like the last two people on earth‚ this mismatched pair find themselves at the mercy of mother nature and human nature‚ looking for the answers they never knew they wanted.
Saturday‚ March 20
12pm – Sonia Flew‚ by Melinda Lopez*
In the early 1960s‚ over 14‚000 unaccompanied Cuban children were sent to the United States by their parents‚ who were fearful of the new government. Lopez’s new play‚ set in 1960 and 2004‚ introduces us to a contemporary family still dealing with the ramifications of this split. How does a parent voluntarily give up a child? What does it mean to sacrifice for a country? These are questions that Sonia‚ mother of two‚ struggles with as she tries to understand her own past in Cuba‚ her relation to her lost parents‚ and her duty to America –– her adopted country.
4pm – Jasper Lake‚ by John Kuntz*
If you dream of jasper‚ it means the truth will soon be revealed. In the exclusive community of Jasper Lake‚ something is corrupt. Someone has been betrayed‚ someone has lied‚ someone may lose her life. In the center of it all‚ the lake seethes like a living thing. Dark echoes and mysterious voices ebb and flow with the waves. They are whispering ... listen ...
8pm – Pathétique‚ by Sinan Unel*
In the fall of 1893‚ Tchaikovsky is in Petersburg to conduct his Symphony no.6 (Pathétique)‚ the darkest and most mysterious of his works‚ with a secret meaning the composer never revealed. He’s staying with his brother Modest‚ an unsuccessful playwright‚ and his nephew Bobyk‚ an aspiring poet and the object of his famous uncle’s unrequited affections. Five days after the premiere of the symphony‚ the troubled Tchaikovsky is dead. Ten years later‚ questions still swirl about the mysteries of Pathétique and the circumstances of its composer’s death.
Sunday‚ March 21
3pm – Lily‚ book by Peter Flynn‚ music and lyrics by Brooks Ashmanskas
This new American musical is an adaptation of Edith Wharton’s classic novel of manners‚ House of Mirth. Based on Wharton’s biting criticism of the monied aristocracy‚ Lily focuses on New York’s high society at the beginning of the 20th century. We follow the fate of the charming Lily Bart‚ her precarious climb up the social ladder‚ and her disastrous downfall.
* Recipient of the Huntington’s Calderwood Commission for New American Plays.