New Visions/New Voices 2008

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announces its tenth New Visions/New Voices festival to be held Friday, April 25 – Sunday, April 27, 2008 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC The biennial festival is an intensive workshop that presents rehearsed readings of plays and musicals to theater professionals, educators and others interested in the field.

This season’s festival will highlight readings of the following new works, listed alphabetically by playwright:

The Happiest Happiness Medicine Show will be presented by Patch Theatre Company from Adelaide, Australia. The play is a collaboratively devised work that includes a flea circus, a sharp shooting act, a cure for baldness and a ventriloquist’s dummy called Danny, all of which takes us to a place where the invisible becomes tangible and happiness can be bottled.

Dani Girl, by playwright Christopher Dimond and composer Michael Kooman will be presented by American Conservatory Theatre from San Francisco, CA. The musical tragicomedy follows a seven-year old leukemia patient on a journey through her imagination.

The Monster Under The Bed was written by Kevin Dyer and will be presented by London’s Polka Theatre. This play brings us Ben, who is in a mess. His best friend Vince has turned against him, his Mum isn’t listening… and there’s a monster under the bed.

Nocturnal, by Ramon Esquival. In an engaging and creative turn of events, four teenagers venture into the night to wage a war of wills. When the dares turn perilous, will anyone have the courage to back down?

The Judgment Of Bett, by playwright R.N. Sandberg, will be presented by American Repertory Theatre from Cambridge, MA. This play tells the true story of Elizabeth Freeman (Mum Bett), whose case challenging Massachusetts’ slavery laws circa 1781 helped change the course of history.

Katrina: The Girl Who Wanted Her Name Back was written by Jason Tremblay and will be presented by Adventure Stage Chicago from Chicago, IL. This work follows Katrina, a young girl from New Orleans forced to face the powerful hurricane that shares her name. As Katrina journeys to safety with ghosts, sweet N’awlins music, and her own bravery as her only companions, she is determined to reclaim her name and recover the magic and fire that lie within the city and herself.

Pobby And Dingan was written by playwright Paula Wing and will be presented by the Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People from Toronto, Canada. We meet Kellyanne and her imaginary friends Pobby and Dingan. When the two friends go missing, no one could be happier than her brother Ashmol. But after Pobby and Dingan vanish, Kellyanne’s health deteriorates and Ashmol must find them in order to save his family.