CPH Announces 2019 New Ground Theatre Festival

Cleveland Play House is proud to announce the inspiring works for the 14th Annual New Ground Theatre Festival (NGTF). NGTF provides the opportunity for playwrights to develop and showcase their work, while offering Cleveland audiences the opportunity to see these remarkable new plays come to life. The Festival will run May 9th - May 19th.

This year's festival will feature readings of Cleveland playwright Eric Coble, who's play The Hatbox offers a new comedic look at family lore. Coble's work will also be featured in a production of Feed based on the novel by M.T. Anderson, commissioned by CPH and performed by the talented students of the CPH Theatre Academy. Wildfire and the Bird Scouts will also be presented by the CPH Academy. NGTF will include the hilarious production written and performed by Mark Kendall entitled The Magic Negro and Other Blackness, which takes a look at the representation of black males in the media. An additional workshop production, Egress, and reading of Christina, penned by the 2019 Roe Green Award winners, round out this fantastic lineup of shows.

Literary Manager & Resident Dramaturg Rachel Lerner-Ley, states, "The 2019 New Ground Theatre Festival will be a celebration of contemporary theatrical work. Over the course of the festival, audiences will be able to experience every stage of a new play's journey from a script being read aloud for the very first time in public to the Northeast Ohio premiere of a comedy taking America by storm." She adds, "The festival features the work of multiple playwrights who hail from all across the US, as far as Austin TX and as close as Cleveland Heights! We're thrilled to be welcoming these exciting voices in American theatre to Cleveland. This year's festival includes a hot button comedy, a provocative psychological drama, a hilarious one man show that combines theatre and stand-up, a twisty comedy about family, and a cheeky yet joyous coming of age story. Be sure to stick around after select performances for conversation with members of the cast and creative team-we'll be digging into their creative process, their journey to becoming an artist, and more!"

NGTF is made possible through the generous support of Honorary Producer Roe Green. Ms. Green is an arts patron, community activist and chief executive officer of the Roe Green Foundation. She is the first recipient of the CPH Super Nova Award (2015) in recognition of her leadership and generosity which has been instrumental in elevating CPH's presentation of new works through the New Ground Theatre Festival. NGTF will include the eighth annual Roe Green Award. Winners receive a cash prize; a week-long residency with Cleveland Play House, including rehearsals, and a public reading of a new play. NGTF is also sponsored in part by Ohio Savings Bank, a Division of New York Community Bank.

CPH is proud to name Melissa Crespo & Sarah Saltwick, and Alexis Scheer as the recipients of the 2019 Roe Green Award. Each year, the Roe Green Award is given for outstanding achievement in playwriting. Ms. Crespo and Ms. Saltwick's play Egress, will be presented in several workshop performances beginning on Friday, May 10th at 7:30 p.m., and again the weekend of May 17 - 19th. Ms. Scheer's play Christina will be offered with a reading on Saturday May 18th at 1:30 p.m.

Melissa Crespo received her MFA in Directing from The New School for Drama, and is most known as a director of theater, opera and film. She has developed new works at a large variety of theatres including Atlantic Theatre Company, Ensemble Studio Theatre, LAByrinth Theatre Company, and more. Her production of Native Gardens by Karen Zacarías was recently co-produced at Syracuse Stage and Geva Theatre Center. She is most known for her hybrid musical/opera production of ¡Figaro! (90210) by Vid Guerrerio at LA Opera and Off-Broadway.

Sarah Saltwick is a playwright based in Austin, TX, a graduate of the Michener Center for Writers at UT Austin and was a Jerome Fellow at the Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis. Recent productions/workshops include Tender Rough Rough Tender at Northpark University in Chicago, Limits are For Suckers by Scriptworks at Hyde Park Theater in Austin, TX, and The Girl Who Became Legend at Zach Scott Theater in Austin, TX. Egress was previously developed as part of the Hyde Park Theater New Play Development Workshop. Egress, written in conjunction with Melissa Crespo, explores a woman struggling to face her fears in a provocative psychological drama.

Alexis Scheer was named Rising Theatre Star by the Improper Bostonian in the 2018 Boston's Best Issue. She is a proud Miami native and New World School of the Arts alum, and holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from The Boston Conservatory. The World Premiere of her show Our Dear Dead Drug Lord will make its Off Broadway debut this fall at WP Theare/Second Stage. Alexis is in her final year of the MFA Playwriting program at Boston University, and moonlights as the Producing Artistic Director of the award-winning fringe company, Off the Grid Theatre. Her play Christina offers a unique look at exploring how a typical Good Girl sheds her stereotype on an overnight trip that opens her eyes to so much more than she expected.

Ticket prices range from $10-20 and will be available at www.clevelandplayhouse.com or 216-241-6000 for purchase. Groups of 10+ save up to 30% off single ticket prices, or by calling 216-400-7027.