Theater News

Long Wharf Theatre Announces Third Annual Contemporary American Voices Festival

Christopher Chen, Jonathan Payne, and Jen Silverman will be the featured playwrights in this year’s reading series.

Jen Silverman's All the Roads Home will be directed by Lee Sunday Evans as part of Long Wharf Theatre's Contemporary American Voices Festival.
Jen Silverman's All the Roads Home will be directed by Lee Sunday Evans as part of Long Wharf Theatre's Contemporary American Voices Festival.
(© Allison Stock)

Long Wharf Theatre has announced the readings set for the annual Contemporary American Voices Festival, scheduled to run October 20-22 on Stage II.

Currently in its third year, the festival is part of a continued initiative to support new work and give theatergoers a first look at some of the most exciting theatrical voices in the country. "New work is the lifeblood of the theater. It’s what keeps the art form vital and alive," said literary manager Christine Scarfuto, curator of the festival. "And how better to support new work than to give opportunities to today’s most exciting young writers?"

This year’s festival will include plays by Christopher Chen, Jonathan Payne, and Jen Silverman. Passage by Christopher Chen, directed by Saheem Ali, will be presented on Friday, October 20, at 7pm. Jonathan Payne’s Poor Edward, directed by Tyne Rafaeli, will take place on Saturday, October 21, at 7pm. All the Roads Home by Jen Silverman, directed by Lee Sunday Evans, will take place on Sunday, October 22, at 3pm.

Chen’s plays include The Hundred Flowers Project, The Late Wedding, Mutt, Caught, and You Mean To Do Me Harm. Payne's work has been produced and developed at the Tristan Bates Theatre (UK), Ars Nova, Fringe Festival NYC, the Bushwick Star, and the Fire This Time Festival. Silverman’s theater work includes The Moors, The Roommate, and Collective Rage: A Play in 5 Betties.

For tickets to the Contemporary American Voices Festival, click here.