Celebrate the excitement of new plays developed in the heart of Indianapolis!
From September 13-15, join The New Harmony Project for our inaugural PlayFest Indy, an exciting weekend of new plays! We’ve partnered with Indianapolis theatre companies to bring you eight concert-style readings of plays written by some of the most innovative voices in the theatre today. Audiences aren’t usually invited into the process of developing new ideas into what you see produced onstage, but that’s our invitation to you: join us to hear stories no one’s ever heard before, and be part of bringing these plays to life!
All readings are free, but reservations are strongly encouraged. Each reading will be followed by an optional post-performance conversation.
PLEASE NOTE: Due to these works still being in-process and under development, the individual plays are not open to public review or printed critique.
Port Isabel, Texas by Lucy Thurber
SYNPOSIS: In an emergency, Mary beckons her two favorite people to visit her quiet, tropical paradise. But when Jimmy and Dani reunite, the conversation is... complicated. Can they escape their nostalgic past in order to say a sad, but sweet goodbye?
DATE: September 13
TIME: 7:30 PM
LOCATION: Phoenix Theatre Cultural Center (Get Directions)
ARTISTIC PARTNER: American Lives Theatre
AUDUBON by Erika Dickerson-Despenza
SYNOPSIS: Immediately before his assassination, a frustrated Malcolm X reshuffles a rapidly collapsing program of the Organization of Afro-American Unity. AUDUBON reimagines the final conversations in the life of this man-turned-icon struggling to forge international solidarities with a bounty on his head.
DATE: September 14
TIME: 11:00 AM
LOCATION: Phoenix Theatre Cultural Center (Get Directions)
ARTISTIC PARTNER: Indy Shakes
Noa by a.k. payne
SYNOPSIS: Noa’s Ark is a diner in Greenwood District where folks come to remake the world. A queer Black woman named Noa stands at the helm and in May of 1921, no one else can see what’s coming to threaten the streets of Greenwood. Against the backdrop of one of the largest race riots in American history, pairs of lovers try to imagine a world where they can breathe.
DATE: September 14
TIME: 2:00 PM
LOCATION: Phoenix Theatre Cultural Center (Get Directions)
ARTISTIC PARTNER: Naptown African American Theatre Collective
Sick Girl, or don't hate me cuz I’m pretty by Lina Patel
SYNOPSIS: Immigrant parents, a misdiagnosis, and a journey toward healing. Sick Girl, or don't hate me cuz I'm pretty is a multi-faceted investigation of disability, desire, and the value of broken things.
DATE: September 14
TIME: 5:00 PM
LOCATION: Phoenix Theatre Cultural Center (Get Directions)
ARTISTIC PARTNER: Summit Performance
Wet by Aurora Real de Asua
SYNOPSIS: One of the only places where the teachers, staff, and students of a prestigious all-girl school can intermingle is the changing room of the school pool. But when a sex scandal rocks the community, everyone must reevaluate the true meaning of safe space.
DATE: September 14
TIME: 8:00 PM
LOCATION: Phoenix Theatre Cultural Center (Get Directions)
ARTISTIC PARTNER: Phoenix Theatre
The Birth of the Pill by Jessica Huang
SYNPOSIS: Katharine McCormick and Margaret Sanger schemed for decades about a pill that would grant women autonomy over their fertility. Based on the book by Jonathan Eig, The Birth of the Pill explores their work to transform science, society, and women's lives, as well as the pill’s troubling links to the Eugenics movement.
DATE: September 15
TIME: 11:00 AM
LOCATION: Indiana Repertory Theatre (Get Directions)
ARTISTIC PARTNER: Indiana Repertory Theatre
WAD by Keiko Green
SYNPOSIS: True-Crime-obsessed Nyce becomes pen pals with Jim, a man on death row. As Jim’s execution date nears, he and Nyce live out alternate realities, fantasize about death and dying, tell a bunch of lies, and eventually get to something close to the truth.
DATE: September 15
TIME: 2:00 PM
LOCATION: Phoenix Theatre Cultural Center (Get Directions)
ARTISTIC PARTNER: Storefront Theatre
Huelga by Jordan Ramirez Puckett
SYNOPSIS: Living and working on a lemon-picking labor camp in Southern California during the 1920s, two Mexican baseball prodigies fight to be seen by pro scouts, their plantation bosses, and each other. Huelga is a queer love story about two friends who dare to dream of more.
DATE: September 15
TIME: 8:00 PM
LOCATION: Fonseca Theatre (Get Directions)
ARTISTIC PARTNER: Fonseca Theatre