DCPA Theatre Company Announces Playwrights For The 14th Annual Colorado New Play Summit

The Theatre Company at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) is proud to announce playwrights, dates and details for the 2019 Colorado New Play Summit. The 14th annual festival will take place over two weekends, 2/16-2/17 and 2/22-2/24, and feature readings of new plays by Beaufield Berry, Isaac Gomez, Bonnie Metzgar, Tony Meneses, and a new musical by Neyla Pekarek and Karen Hartman. The festival will also feature World Premiere productions by Donnetta Lavinia Grays and Itamar Moses.

"Every play we experience was new at one point," said Chris Coleman, Artistic Director for the DCPA Theatre Company. "I don't know if Shakespeare had the opportunity to try Hamlet out before the masses heard it for the first time, but I suspect he'd have jumped at the chance to workshop the play for a full two weeks. Each year, the Colorado New Play Summit allows us to dive deep into the developmental process of new work as we collaborate with some of the country's most exciting writers and keep our eyes and ears on the future. I can't wait to celebrate each of their voices with the Denver community and the industry at large."

Hailed as a "must-see stop for new-play development" by American Theatre, the Colorado New Play Summit is the DCPA's signature festival dedicated to supporting playwrights and developing new work. Participating playwrights, including those commissioned by the Theatre Company, are given two weeks with professional directors, actors, and dramaturgs to workshop new plays. Industry professionals and the public are invited to experience them as non-staged readings.

Since its founding, the Summit has introduced 57 new plays, over half of which returned to the stage as full Theatre Company productions. Recent Summit World Premieres include Lauren Gunderson's The Book of Will, Lauren Yee's The Great Leap, Tanya Saracho's FADE, Matthew Lopez's The Legend of Georgia McBride, Samuel D. Hunter's The Whale, Theresa Rebeck's The Nest, Karen Zacarias's Just Like Us, and Dick Scanlan's reimagined version of The Unsinkable Molly Brown.

THE NEW PLAYS AND PLAYWRIGHTS

In The Upper Room by Beaufield Berry

Reading

MeetIn the Upper Room introduces the Berrys, a multi-generational Black family living under one roof, in the 1970's. The center of the family sphere is a controlling and mysterious matriarch named Rose, who has indoctrinated fear into every member of the house. Whose past and stories don't add up. And who may be hiding dark secrets. Surrounding her core of chaos is her mild-mannered husband, Eddie. Her gregarious...read moreMeetMeeMeklnac the Berrys, a multi-generational black family living under one roof in the 1970s. Their lives orbit around Rose, the controlling matriarch who has indoctrinated fear into every member of the house while hiding dark secrets from her mysterious past. With the exception of her mild-mannered husband, Rose's relatives try to assert themselves and break away from the core of chaos she has created. Colorism, loyalty, and twisted family dynamics are all at play in this dramatic dark comedy about the ties that bind and break us, from playwright, novelist, and activist Beaufield Berry-Fisher.

Wally World by Isaac Gomez

Reading

It's Christmas Eve and a group of Wally World employees are about to lose it. On the one day of the year the mega-department superstore is supposed to close its doors, secrets come to life that may destroy more than their holiday cheer. Their manager Andy is doing everything in her power to keep her store in line and her employees in check. But can hard truths from her past ruin everything she's ever worked for? Inspired by his own mother's experience and infused with his signature "poignant social commentary" (Chicago Reader), Isaac Gomez's Wally World is a hysterical, touching examination of finding magic in the mundane as eleven employees do everything they can to find purpose in a place that has never seen purpose in them.

Last Night and the Night Before by Donnetta Lavinia Grays

World Premiere

Developed at the 2017 Colorado New Play Summit

When Monique and her 10-year-old daughter Samantha show up unexpectedly on her sister's Brooklyn doorstep, it shakes up Rachel and her partner Nadima's orderly New York lifestyle. Monique is on the run from deep trouble and brings their family's Southern roots with her, grabbing hold of Rachel's life more ferociously than she could have ever imagined. Poetic, powerful and remarkably funny, this 2017 Colorado New Play Summit featured play explores the struggle between the responsibilities that are expected of us and the choices we actually end up making.

You Lost Me by Bonnie Metzgar

Reading

In 1824, 17-year-old Ann Harvey saves 160 Irish people from a wreck off of Newfoundland's Shipwreck Coast, making her an instant hero along this remote and rocky shore. Almost 200 years later, the Harvey family homestead has become the Shipwreck Inn, and present-day proprietress Ann Harvey has just started a new blog for the landmark with the support and ridicule of her teenage nephew, Joe-L. A memory house for all those lost at sea, this Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Festival finalist is a poetic drama that maps the responsibility of the survivors to remember their past and to find their way home.

twenty50 by Tony Meneses

Reading

DCPA Theatre Company Commission

In the year 2050, Andres Salazar is running for office. By this time, Latinos have become the majority, but race issues are nowhere near resolved. In this tricky political environment, he must decide whether identifying himself as a Hispanic American will help or hinder him on Election Day. When a mysterious stranger appears at his house, his family rallies around him to save his imperiled campaign in this insightful drama from rising playwright Tony Meneses, "a distinctive voice worthy of attention" (New Jersey Star Ledger).

The Whistleblower by Itamar Moses

World Premiere

Directed by Oliver Butler

For screenwriter Eli, an offer to finally create his own TV show should be the ultimate culmination of his goals, but instead shocks him into wondering why he had those dreams in the first place. Armed with a new sense of spiritual clarity, he sets out on a quest to serve up some hard truths to his coworkers, family, exes and friends. What could possibly go wrong? A lively world premiere about the lies we tell to protect ourselves and how the tiniest gestures can have deep impact on those around us. Written by Itamar Moses, the Tony Award-winning author of The Band¹s Visit, currently on Broadway.

Rattlesnake Kate Music and Lyrics by Neyla Pekarek, Book by Karen Hartman

Concert Reading

DCPA Theatre Company Commission

Around 100 years ago near Greeley, Colorado, Kate Slaughterback came upon a migration of rattlesnakes while on her horse with her young son. To protect her child and herself, she shot as many snakes as she could with the ammo at hand and decapitated the rest of them with a no-trespassing sign. Neyla Pekarek (cellist and vocalist of folk-rock band The Lumineers) has woven Kate's biography - including six husbands and one decades-long romance through letters - into an enthralling song cycle. Playwright Karen Hartman joins forces with Pekarek to transform this material into a fully-fleshed musical that delivers Western lore through a modern lens. Join us for this one-night-only event during the Festival Weekend featuring a performance accompanied by a live band.

The 14th Annual Colorado New Play Summit

Launch Weekend: February 16-17, 2019

Festival Weekend: February 22-24, 2019

All-inclusive Festival Weekend packages including 4 play readings, 1 concert reading, 2 World Premieres, plus meals and special events are on sale now. Launch weekend events will go on sale in January 2019.

Details and packages available at: http://www.denvercenter.org/events/colorado-new-play-summit

The 2019 Colorado New Play Summit is sponsored by AT&T and Daniel L. Ritchie

ABOUT THE DENVER CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

The Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) is the largest non-profit theatre organization in the nation, presenting Broadway tours and producing theatre, cabaret, musicals, and innovative, immersive plays. Last season the DCPA engaged with more than 1.2 million visitors, generating a $150 million economic impact in ticket sales alone. Additionally, DCPA Education serves more than 142,000 students of all ages and skill levels through classes, in-school programs, matinees and audience engagement opportunities.

Programming at the DCPA is made possible through the generous support of the Scientific & Cultural Facilities District; Theatre Company sponsors Larimer Square and Daniel L. Ritchie, and media sponsors The Denver Post and CBS4. Please be advised that the DCPA is the ONLY authorized ticket seller for Broadway tours and shows by DCPA Theatre Company, Cabaret and Off-Center. Tickets bought through secondary ticket vendors may exceed face value or be invalid.