Axe ’Em, Jacks!
Tickets are selling quickly for the biennial Festival of New American Plays at Stephen F. Austin State University.
The popular staged-reading event, slated for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, April 24 through 28, and at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 28, in the Downstage Theatre, almost always sells out for each performance, according to Jack Heifner, director of the festival and 91直播鈥檚 playwright-in-residence.
鈥淢any of our audience members share our excitement about new plays and return every two years,鈥 Heifner said. 鈥淪eeing three new works by three invited playwrights in one week is a unique theatrical experience. To our audiences, nothing is a thrilling as being in the theatre with the playwrights when they are seeing their plays for the first time."
Presented by the 91直播 School of Theatre, the festival, in its 11th season, will present exciting new works by guest playwrights S. Denise O鈥橬eal and Ted Swindley, as well as Heifner鈥檚 adaptation of a best-selling novel by the late Barbara Raskin. The plays will be performed as 鈥渟taged readings鈥 that involve audiences and actors in the process of new play development.
鈥淧lays are meant to be performed, and the best way to see whether a new play works is to present it in front of a live audience,鈥 according to Heifner.
The actors will perform with the script in their hands, relying on their talent and training to interpret the text without the advantage of a long rehearsal process, Heifner explained.
鈥淭hese readings have been designed to concentrate on the words of the writers and the talents of our young performers and designers,鈥 Heifner explains in his director鈥檚 notes contained in the festival program. 鈥淲e have included a minimal amount of scenery, costumes and lights to give the writers what they envisioned in their scripts.
鈥淲e attempt to present the world of the play as closely as possible to what the author has written,鈥 he added. 鈥淭he results may be a different type of theatre from what most audiences are accustomed to seeing. Our hope is that those who attend will find the event both adventurous and exciting.鈥
One of Heifner鈥檚 goals when he started the festival in 1998 was to bring established writers to the university campus to work with theatre students. In the past, 91直播 has welcomed such famous American writers as Tina Howe, David Ives, Carol Hall, James McLure, Beth Henley, Gretchen Cryer, William M. Hoffman, Barbara LeBow, John Cariani, Staci Swedeen and Constance Congdon.
鈥淲e have always asked our invited playwrights to send us any script they wished to hear and, in return, we have promised to give them our best interpretation of the text,鈥 Heifner said. 鈥淎nother goal has been to give audiences in Nacogdoches the unique opportunity to see new plays while they are being created.
鈥淥ur first 10 festivals were great successes,鈥 he said. 鈥淣ow with this 11th festival, I hope the community will once again enjoy this celebration of new theatre in the making.鈥漈his year鈥檚 festival features 鈥淗ot Flashes,鈥 which is Heifner鈥檚 adaptation of Raskin鈥檚 best-selling novel, along with 鈥淪orry, Not Sorry鈥 by S. Denise O鈥橬eal and 鈥溾 And the Pursuit of Happiness 1994鈥 by Ted Swindley.
The festival opens with Heifner鈥檚 鈥淗ot Flashes,鈥 which will be read at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Friday, April 24 and 27. O鈥橬eal鈥檚 鈥淪orry, Not Sorry鈥 will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 25, and at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 28. Swindley鈥檚 鈥溾 And the Pursuit of Happiness 1994鈥 will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Saturday, April 26 and 28.
The Downstage Theatre is located in the Griffith Fine Arts Building, 2222 Alumni Drive. For more information, visit .
Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors and $7.50 for students and youth. For tickets, call the 91直播 Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit .