American Dreaming - Play Festival

What does the American Dream mean today? 

After receiving over 100 submissions from playwrights across the country, Middlebury Acting Company has selected three vibrant new plays that address the question: What does the American Dream mean today? The festival aims to amplify three exciting new voices in theater, support the chosen playwrights as they continue to develop their plays, and invite the community to engage with the new play development process through staged readings, moderated talkbacks with the playwrights, and playwriting workshops. This is the first festival of its kind in the area – we hope you’ll join us for what is sure to be an exciting weekend!

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Performances will take place under the Swift House Tent on August 19 & 20

*Scroll down to learn more about our playwriting workshop offerings* 

Griswold by Angela J. Davis

Inspired by the forgotten history behind the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that established a right to sexual privacy, and fusing magic realism, docudrama, and comedic truth, "Griswold" mines the spirit and drive of the overlooked 65-year-old woman whose actions set the Griswold case in motion, the extraordinary events leading to establishment of the right of sexual privacy, and the essential link between sexual privacy and personal dignity. 

PLAYWRIGHT BIO: Angela J. Davis is the author of The Spanish Prayer Book (World Premiere: The Road Theatre Company 2019-20 season; L.A. Times Best Bet), AGATHE (New American Voices Award - The Landing Theatre, SETC Getchell Award for Outstanding Full-Length Play); Clara and Serra and The Talking Bear (commissioned and produced for radio in 2020 by Antaeus Theatre Company) and Griswold (2021-22 A is For Playwriting Prize - First Place Winner; 2022 National Women’s Theatre Festival Official Selection), among other plays. Additional playwriting honors include: Playhouse Creatures (NYC) J.R. Rodriguez Award (twice; 2020 and 2022); Jane Chambers Award Top-4 Finalist and Honoree, Marsha A. Croyle Award for Achievement in Playwriting, Woodward/Newman Drama Award Finalist, Eugene O’Neill semi-finalist (three times), FutureFest Official Selection (twice) HRC Showcase Official Selection (twice). Recent / forthcoming work at The Road Theatre Company, Fractured Atlas, The Landing Theatre, Playhouse on the Square, Playwrights Round Table, The Blank Theatre, Antaeus Theatre Company, Sohaya Visions (London), The HRC Showcase, Playhouse Creatures (NYC), and elsewhere. Degrees from Stanford and UCLA. More at AngelaJDavis.com

Natchetochez by Seth McNeill

Preparing to share Easter dinner, the Turpin family discusses the day’s mass shooting in nearby Natchetochez, a small town in the Deep South. After it becomes clear that one of their own might be caught up in the momentous events in town, the family is confronted with questions of how well they know themselves and each other, what it means to be “one of us,” and how to handle history that they’d prefer to be myth.

PLAYWRIGHT BIO: Seth McNeill is a playwright and theatre artist more or less from Mississippi. His plays deal with isolation and social alienation, repressed generational trauma, and whiteness through a darkly comic lens. As a playwright, dramaturg and educator, he has worked with Gingold Theatrical Group, Barrington Stage, Fresh Ground Pepper, Dixon Place, Fault Line Theatre, Amios NYC, and the Hambidge Center. He has been named a semi-finalist for the O’Neill, the Shakespeare’s New Contemporaries Prize, and Primary Stages ESPA Drills. Education: MA, Hunter College. Seth lives with his wife Lori in a very old house in the Hudson Valley, and is re-learning all of that carpentry stuff his dad taught him.

​​www.sethmcneill.com

American Deal by Donna Hoke

Clive Jenkins. A husband. A father. A writer with an MFA. An addict. A man who, sixteen years ago, gunned down a stranger, and still can't say why. Clive’s most successful attempts to examine his life come when he puts pen to paper, pouring out his demons in stories. Now, he’s got a chance at parole, and a six-figure book deal that might help him get it—if he can prove he’s a changed man. This play asks: what do we owe those we purport to rehabilitate and what do we owe their victims?

PLAYWRIGHT BIO: Donna Hoke's work has been seen in 47 states and on five continents, including at Barrington Stage, Barrow Group, Celebration Theatre, Gulfshore Theatre, Lake Dillon Theatre Company, Theatre Aspen, Phoenix Theatre, Atlantic Stage, Purple Rose, New Jersey Rep, Galway Fringe Festival, and Actors Repertory Theatre of Luxembourg. Plays include BRILLIANT WORKS OF ART (Kilroys List), ELEVATOR GIRL (O’Neill, Princess Grace, and Austin Film Festival finalist), SAFE (winner of the Todd McNerney, Naatak, and Great Gay Play and Musical Contests), and TEACH (Gulfshore New Works, O'Neill semifinalist). She has been nominated for the Primus, Blackburn, and Laura Pels prizes, and is a three-time winner of the Emanuel Fried Award for Outstanding New Play (SEEDS, SONS & LOVERS, ONCE IN MY LIFETIME). She has also received an Individual Artist Award from the New York State Council on the Arts to develop HEARTS OF STONE, and, in its final three years, Artvoice named her Buffalo's Best Writer—the only woman to ever receive the designation. Donna also been serving the Dramatists Guild in various capacities since 2012, is an ensemble playwright at Road Less Traveled Productions, advocate, blogger, New York Times-published crossword puzzle constructor; and children's and trivia book author.  donnahoke.com.

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New Play Festival Workshops:

Revision: Taking the Next Steps

Thursday, August 18th from 6-8pm

Led by Karina Jutzi

You have a first draft, now what? Many writers are daunted by the revision process, but good re-writing is the key to good writing. In this workshop we will look at a few different scripts and how they have changed through the editing process, as well as get tips and tricks for tackling your own work. 

The Playwright's Workout

Friday, August 19th from 4-6pm

Led by Eugenie Carabatsos

A generative playwriting workshop containing a series of short writing exercises designed to aid all stages of the writing process. Whether you have a draft of a play or a kernel of an idea, this workshop aims to free playwrights from the confines of what or how you “should” write, as each exercise focuses on a different element of writing including character building, dialogue, writing within constraints, and world building. Think of a HIIT class but for playwriting: you’ll leave feeling challenged, but strong, and connected to your piece in a new way.

Playwriting & Social Justice

Saturday, August 20th from 10am-Noon

Led by Gina Stevensen

What does it mean to write a socially conscious play? How do you begin? What can help you along the way? Through a combination of group discussion and writing exercises, we'll explore practical tools for creating meaningful new work at the intersection of theater and social change. Come with an idea in mind or a completely blank page. All experience levels welcome!

Stick around from 12-12:30pm for a Q&A with our three festival playwrights about their own process creating the plays we're showcasing throughout the weekend. 

Instructor bios:

Karina Jutzi is a playwright, poet, and essayist. Her plays have been produced across the country, and her drama Where All Good Rabbits Go, was published through Original Works Publishing and was named the Best of Equity theater in 2018. She recently moved to Vermont to start a family farm.

Eugenie Carabatsos writes character driven scripts for the stage. Her plays have been published by Concord Theatricals, Heuer Publishing, Brooklyn Publishers, Original Works Publishing, and Stage Partners, and has been produced or developed by places such as Trustus Theatre, Landing Theatre, Great Plains Theatre Conference, Red Theatre, Midtown Direct Rep, and iDiOM Theatre. She is the winner of KCACTF’s Harold and Mimi Steinberg Award, one of the Landing Theatre’s New American Voices Playwright 2021, Seven Devils Finalist, O’Neill Semi-Finalist, and Winner of the BroadwayWorld Award for Best Play in South Carolina 2013. Her work has also been featured in a number of festivals and community theaters throughout the country. She graduated with her BA from Wesleyan University in 2010, and her MFA from Carnegie Mellon University in 2016. When she’s not writing, she teaches at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH.

Gina Stevensen: In addition to developing MACo's American Dreaming New Play Festival, Gina Stevensen is a playwright, dramaturg, performer, and writing instructor. She was the 2021 winner of the Kernodle New Play Award, the 2020 winner of the New Works Initiative at Good Luck Macbeth, and a 2019 winner of the Columbia@Roundabout New Play Reading Series. Gina’s plays have been developed in NYC, London, and across the country with Roundabout Theatre Company, American Stage, Urban Stages, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Hartford Stage, Barter Theatre, Theatre503, and more. As a dramaturg she has supported both classics and new works with LaMama E.T.C, Vermont Shakespeare Festival, and Middlebury Acting Company. She has been a guest lecturer at Hunter College, NYU, and the University of Arkansas. MFA Playwriting: Columbia University. www.ginastevensen.com