1st Stage Festival

John Guare, Steven Dietz, Melvin Bernhardt, Liz Engelman and Polly Carl are among the participating theatrical luminaries for Florida Stage’s first annual new play festival, 1st Stage. The two day festival includes staged readings of six new American plays and panel discussions featuring prominent directors & playwrights from across the country. An opening reception follows the final performance of the Florida Stage production of A House With No Walls by Thomas Gibbons, a National New Play Network world premiere.

1st Stage begins in earnest on Monday March 5, with a directors panel discussion followed by the reading of three new plays and continues Tuesday, March 6 with a writers panel discussion, a keynote address delivered by the legendary John Guare, the reading of three additional new plays and a closing reception and gathering.

The featured plays to be read during 1st Stage include:

Up, Up, Down, Down
By Barton Bishop
Tuesday, March 6 at 7:00pm
Joy works in a local video arcade, far from her days as a championship video gamer, but her world is turned upside down when her mother brings her a game encrypted with top-secret government information that can only be revealed by playing the game to the very end.

Mustardseed
By Doug Cooney
Tuesday, March 6 at 11:00am
Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Moth, and Mustardseed may get overlooked among all the memorable characters from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but in this charming new one-act, these four fairies take center stage. Four teenage actresses playing the fairies in a regional production spend their time offstage gossiping, arguing, bonding, and growing up against the backdrop of Shakespeare’s most beloved romantic comedy.

City of Ghosts
By Stephen Dietz
Monday, March 5 at 7:00pm
A drama of suspense set in a crumbling tavern in New York. A young couple is caught in a web of conspiracy theories surrounding the 9/11 attacks. Adam and Janet agree to accompany a woman on an international trip and unknowingly place themselves in the midst of a scenario both dangerous and outlandish.

The Count
By Roger Hedden
Tuesday, March 6 at 2:00pm
Having been estranged from her family for some years, Jane returns home to celebrate her parent’s anniversary. Once there, her father’s friendship with a mysterious count becomes the catalyst for a familial showdown that forces the question of responsibility.

End Days
By Deborah Zoe Laufer
Monday, March 5 at 4:00pm
Arthur Stein, a survivor of 9/11, has moved his family out of the city and into small town American. When his wife begins to have premonitions of the end of the world, it is left to their earnest, straight-forward, 16-year-old, Elvis-garb wearing neighbor to help pull the family back from the brink of chaos and disaster.

The Breach
By Catherine Filloux, Tarell McCraney & Joe Sutton
Monday, March 5 at 2:00pm
These three writers weave together the stories and voices of victims of Hurricane Katrina, creating a tapestry of devastation and hope.

Additional Ticket Information:

$100.00 Full Pass – admission to all festival events
$50.00 Plus Pass – does not include opening or closing reception
$35.00 Play Pass – admission to all six readings
$25.00 Receptions – price per reception
$10.00 Single Event – price per reading, keynote speech, or panel discussion

Students may receive a discounted ticket price of $5.00 for admission to readings, the keynote address, or panel discussions.

For a complete schedule of events, please click here.