Coming Up - the New Works Festival

Last year's event was a great success and lots of fun, so it's time for this year's edition of the New Works Festival. Here's the info:

Marshall University’s second annual Robert Hinchman New Works Festival will be presented by Marshall University Theatre and the Marshall University College of Fine Arts. The three-night festival will present both staged and unstaged readings of six new plays over three consecutive evenings, June 26-28, 2008. All readings will begin at 8:00 p.m. in the Francis Booth Experimental Theatre of the Joan C. Edwards Playhouse. Each evening’s readings will be followed by a discussion/question and answer session with the playwright, director and cast. Participation is both welcome and encouraged.

The schedule of events is as follows:

On Thursday, June 26, 2008, four new one-act plays will be presented:
Lunch At the Fork n’ Finger by published playwright and Marshall University Theatre alumni Jonathan Joy. It's a one-act comedy about a man who returns to his boyhood home to find that his single mother has fallen in love with his old high school gym coach.

Things Get Done by Louisville, Ky., native Paul Deines. Brooklyn is burning. In the city, three men share drinks, make Molotov cocktails, and await the approaching mob. As the riot draws nearer, they wrestle with the ghosts of their pasts, and the collective past of a country born out of revolution.

Knight-Owl by well-known Huntington personality Clint McElroy. When he stumbles upon the long-lost secret headquarters of Knight-Owl, a costumed crime-fighter from the 1940s, con-man Del Copperthwaite sees a money-making opportunity. Anticipating millions of dollars in endorsements, licensing deals and action figures, Del takes on the super-hero mantle of Knight-Owl, hampered only by his complete lack of talent, experience, morals or honesty. What he does have is a quick wit, an even quicker tongue, and that strong sense of self-preservation that no scoundrel should be without.

Stealing Romance by T. Michael Murdock. Murdock is a Marshall University alumni and a professional actor/director. This is a short play about finding love in the most unexpected of places. On a dark, rainy night, a man robbing a video store reunites with the woman he has loved since grade school, and is immediately locked in the store with her. Throughout the next few hours, he encounters feelings he thought were gone forever, the woman's jealous ex-boyfriend, and must face down not only his fear of lightning, but also of heartbreak.


On Friday, June 27, a new full-length comedy will be premiered: A Sheep Among Wolves by Jonathan Joy. He is the author of 16 plays and has won regional and national awards for his writing. His work has been produced Off-Broadway in New York City and on stages in seven states. A Sheep Among Wolves is a full length comedy. Reverend Donald Daniels attempts to reconcile his brother's fourth broken marriage and save the soul of a young prostitute while his congregation revolts against him. Those familiar with Joy's The Princess of Rome, Ohio will enjoy the further adventures of Dicky Daniels.

On Saturday, June 30 a new full-length comedy closes out the festival: The Three Temptations of Jennifer Pierce, written by Lee Shackleford. He is a writer for stage, screen and radio with over 100 produced scripts to his credit. He is perhaps best-known for his script Holmes & Watson, which enjoyed a successful run off-Broadway with Shackleford in the role of Sherlock Holmes. His adaptation of the classic Czech play R.U.R. has been widely praised and is gaining acceptance as the definitive English version. The Three Temptations of Jennifer Pierce is the story of smart-alecky loner Jennifer Pierce, who makes a wager with her annoyingly square housemate Cindy - a challenge that Jennifer takes only to escape paying several months of rent she already owes to Cindy. The bet involves the atheist Jennifer sequestering herself in her apartment and waiting for God's "still small voice" to make itself heard. But instead of being alone for three days, Jennifer finds herself the focus of nationwide media attention when she apparently starts to undergo the exact temptations presented to Jesus during his forty days in the wilderness. The result is a clash between evidence and faith, prejudice and acceptance, and pride and humility.

Tickets are now on sale. For further information or to purchase tickets, visit the Marshall University Theatre box office in the Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts Center or call 304-696-ARTS (2787). Box Office hours are Monday – Friday 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Tickets are priced at $8 per evening or a full festival pass (all three nights) for $20.