Email: info@penobscottheatre.org

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Northern Writes 2008

After receiveing close to 500 submissions for this year's festival, we are thrilled to present the following 23 scripts this year. Visit our on-line ticketing page to order your new play festival passes today! All performances are held at the Bangor Opera House and are followed by discussions about the play, with the playwright, when in attendance.

 

TUESDAY, MAY 27 @ 7:00 PM
QUEEN OF THE MIST by Kate McLeod (New York, NY)

Annie Taylor is going over Niagara Falls in a barrel, despite numerous obstacles standing in her way. However, her plans don’t quite work out how she wanted.

Ms. McLeod's plays have been performed in London at the Lost Theatre Festival, at Wings Theatre as part of the first annual Noor Festival, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Center Stage, Looking Glass Theatre, Midtown International Theatre Festival and in upstate New York. In 2004, Dad's Arrival was a featured full length at Edward Albee's Last Frontier Theatre Conference in Valdez AK. She was playwright in residence at Jentel Artist Residency in Sheridan, WY and completed a residency at Ledig House in Ghent, NY. Member: Dramatists' Guild.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 28 @ 7:00 PM
THE JUNGLE FUN ROOM by Brian Hampton (New York, NY)

It’s just another day at the zoo for the struggling actors of “Jungle Fun Birthday Parties,” until they meet the birthday girl’s Oscar-winner mom.

Brian Hampton is thrilled to have The Jungle Fun Room a part of this year's festival.   He is also very excited to be back in New England, where he just finished serving as resident playwright at Vermont’s Northern Stage Theatre Company for their third annual Project Playwright program.  Brian’s first play, Checking In, received its Equity Reading at the Manhattan Theatre Club Studios, was a finalist for the Arthur Stone Playwriting Award, and world premiered at The Actors Guild of Lexington.  Other writings include his ten-minute play Phone A Friend, his murder mystery Kentucky-Call Me Dead, and his recently completed book—an adaptation of Checking In.   Brian received his Masters of Fine Arts in creative writing from Spalding University and his BA in Theatre from Christopher Newport University. He is a member of the Dramatist Guild of America as well as Actor’s Equity Association.  Thanks to Scott Levy for this great opportunity.  www.brianhampton.net

THURSDAY, MAY 29 @ 7:00 PM
NAME GAME by Shirley King (Benicia, CA)
HEELS IN THE SAND by Joshua A. Kashinsky (Yonkers, NY)

Beth and Jane prepare for the descent of their entire respective families on Christmas and try to figure out what their new adopted daughter is going to call everyone.

Shirley King's award-winning plays have been produced by theater companies around the country and in Canada. Her first play won a 2001 California Arts Council competition for best new play. This year her plays have been staged by Riverside Theatre, Love Creek Theatre, Universal Theatre, AgeQuake Theatre, Ohio State's Lawrence and Lee Theatre Research Institute Limbo Project, and the University of Maryland, along with newly commissioned work by Naomi Wallace and Tina Howe. A member of Dramatists Guild and International Center for Women Playwrights, she lives in Benicia, California.

* * *

A fashion designer’s trip to Israel results in a new understanding of just who her mother is, due in large part to the actions of her mother’s tour guide.

Joshua A. Kashinsky is currently pursuing a MFA in Theatre at Sarah Lawrence College in NY.  Originally from California, Josh has worked in higher education and the nonprofit sector.  In addition to theatre, he serves on the Board of Directors for youthnetwork.org, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people find youth programs and services in their communities.  Josh is a graduate of UC Santa Barbara and a member of The Dramatists Guild of America, Inc.

FRIDAY, MAY 30 @ 8:00 PM
NADIA'S WISH by Clare Melley Smith (Cape Elizabeth, ME)
VOODOO TODAY HERE NOW 5 by Joe Musso (Birmingham, AL)

She wants to be with him, to live with him. He wants to clean the house and be left alone. Left alone by her, at any rate.

CLARE MELLEY SMITH’s plays have been performed in Chicago (A Christmas in Kerry—Gaelic Park Players), Portland, Maine (A Christmas in Kerry—Portland Performing Arts Center), Milwaukee’s Playwrights Studio Theatre, and New York City (Neighborhood Playhouse, Baruch Performing Arts Center). The Writing Room, a full-length play, won the 2006 VERMONT PLAYWRIGHTS AWARD and was read at Ensemble Studio Theatre, NYC. Staged readings of Clare’s plays have been done at Opera House Arts/Deer Isle, the Freeport Community Players, and Schoodic Arts/Meetinghouse Theatre Lab, Winter Harbor. Clare is a member of the Charles Maryan Playwrights Workshop  in NYC, Actors’Equity, AFTRA, SAG, and The Dramatists Guild.

* * *

After Katrina, Sylvia and Etienne return to a French Quarter marked by graffiti reading “Voodoo Today Here Now 5.” They search for the phrase’s meaning with the help of another couple that never evacuated.

Joe Musso lives in Birmingham, AL, and New Orleans, LA. His plays have been produced or have received readings in sixteen states and in Canada. “Voodoo Today Here Now 5” has received staged readings at Amarillo Repertory Theatre in Amarillo, TX; at Nicu’s Spoon Theatre Company in New York City; at Rep Stage in Columbia, MD; and at the Deland Theatre Festival in Deland FL. From May 8-10, 2008, his short play “The Gardener” will be produced at the 3rd Annual Toronto Ten Minute Play Festival in Canada. On June 23, 2008, his full-length play “Herod” will receive a reading at White Horse Theatre Company in New York City. All of Joe’s plays are available for on-line reading at www.joemusso.com.

SATURDAY, MAY 31 @ 2:00 PM
THE OATH by Jacqueline Goldfinger (San Diego, CA)

In the midst of the Great Depression, a wandering preacher is trapped in the political and social games of a rural Southern town ruled by a pair of rival families.

Jacqueline Goldfinger is a dramaturge and award-winning playwright from Tallahassee, Florida. Her work has been developed and produced in plaxes as varied as Alaska, Australia, California, Florida and Georgia. Her adaptation of A CHRISTMAS CAROL will be published by Playscripts in 2008. Her work has garnered numerous recognition including the winner of Playwrights Theatre's Plays for the 21st century competition. She is published in the LMDA Review, Southern Theatre Magazine, Beacon Street Review, and La Jolla Playhouse Spotlight. For more information, go to www.jacquelinegoldfinger.com

SATURDAY, MAY 31 @ 8:00 PM
PIER PRESSURE by Henry W. Kimmel (Atlanta, GA)
POTATO by Leigh Allan (Dayton, OH)

Frank Meyer, arm in a sling, asks a stranger for help with his boat. The resulting conversation explores the breaking of boundaries with unexpected intimacy.

* * *

A series of scenes devoted to finding the ordinary in unexpected places. You’ve never experienced the potato quite like this.

It took Boston-born Leigh Allan only six decades to figure out that if (a) he’s a writer and (b) he has always loved theatre, maybe he ought to try to put the two together. So he left his role as metro columnist for the Dayton Daily News in 2006 to try to become The World’s Oldest Hot New Young Playwright. Potato is the second work of that effort. The first, Traffic Jam, involved God, Helven’s revised admission policies, driving habits, baseball and snickerdoodles. He is currently co-writing an adaptation of A Christmas Carol for Dayton’s Human Race Theatre Company, where he is Marketing Director. Much thanks to Kathy, Leslie and Will for putting up with all that. Leigh prefers his potatoes mashed.

SUNDAY, JUNE 1 @ 2:00 PM
ELEMENTARY by Nicholas Willette (Dover-Foxcroft, ME)
MT. PLEASANT FARM by Cheever Tyler (New Haven, CT)

A tale set in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s London shortly after the (supposed) demise of Sherlock Holmes. A new look at the nature of some classic characters.

A lifetime native of Maine, Nick has been passionate about writing since early childhood, and has recently finished his first novel.  The geography and people of his home state have greatly influenced his work, and he is in considerable debt to those who have fueled his imagination.  Theatre has been his hobby and vocation since well before the present administration, and he is excited for this to be his first professionally staged play.  He would like to thank his parents for their love and constant encouragement.  He is left-handed.

* * *

A woman reunites with her mother and sister on the family farm during World War II. True feelings are revealed as the women agonize over their men who have gone to battle.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4 @ 7:00 PM
CRISIS OF FAITH by Jay Hanagan (Geneva, NY)

Matt and Faith have just spent a passionate night together. But he's married to her sister.

Jay Hanagan's plays have either won competitions or been featured in scores of festivals from Alaska to Florida, Hollywood to Boston and New York City, Illinois, Virginia, Colorado, Kansas and Texas. He has been internationally produced as well, having works presented in Canada, the United Kingdom and even Hong Kong. Jay is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America, Inc.

THURSDAY, JUNE 5 @ 7:00 PM
SAMANTHA by Michael Busby (Cotati, CA)

A man and a woman deal with their respective desires to, and inability to have, children, as well as the feelings of their friends and family.

Michael is an award winning playwright and former New Englander now living in California. His plays have been produced at the Sonoma County Repertory Theatre, Napa Valley Theatre, and the Louis M. Martini Winery (where he was commissioned by the Louis M. Martini winery to write a play about the founder). Michael has studied playwrighting with Will Dunne (three-time O’Neill Conference participant) and Michelle Linfante. He is also a published poet. Michael is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild, Inc.

FRIDAY, JUNE 6 @ 8:00 PM
LESSONS AND CAROLS by Demetra Kareman (Brooklyn, NY)
FILLING by Krista Knight (Portola Valley, CA)

Two girls in a Catholic boarding school share secrets, disappointments and redemptions while discovering an ally in an unexpected place.

* * *

A postmodern fantasy about evolution, intelligent design, and adapting to a foreign (American) culture. The kicker? Everybody is an insect.

SATURDAY, JUNE 7 @ 2:00 PM
BACKSEAT DRIVER by Laura K. Emack (Prospect, ME)
REACH by Ryan Sprague (Astoria, NY)

Two former high school classmates reunite for a snowy drive to Lookout Point, a drive full of confessions and reminiscence.

Laura K. Emack is a certified public accountant as well as a writer of fiction and scripts. Her short play "Vilification" was featured in the 2007 "Bad Plays Festival" in Greenwich Village. Her full-length play "The Deconstruction of George Quimby" was presented in May 2007 at Penobscot Theatre during its "Northern Writes" new play festival, and in March 2008 by Belfast Maskers. "The Piazza" based on a Melville short story was presented at the Wonderland One-Act Play Festival in Manhattan in May 2007 and at the Great Plains Theatre Conference in Omaha several days later. She has also authored several novels and screenplays, plus an array of short stories and stage plays.

* * *

A story of struggle, redemption and unappealing truths revealed to a couple with a past amidst the devastation of post-Katrina New Orleans.

SATURDAY, JUNE 7 @ 5:00 PM
SKIN DEEP by Rich Orloff (New York, NY)

Mayhem and misadventures at the Godiva Inn, a clothing-optional resort. Warning: contains rampant off-stage nudity!

Rich Orloff is one of the most popular unknown playwrights in the country.  His ten full-length plays (mostly comedies) have been presented at such theaters as Arizona Theatre Company, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Charlotte Rep, Dayton Playhouse, Florida Studio Theatre, New Jersey Rep, West Coast Ensemble, and three times at the Key West Theatre Festival.  The plays have won such contests as the Festival of Emerging American Theatre, the Playwrights First Award, the InterPlay International Play Festival, the Theatre Conspiracy New Play Contest, the Pickering Award for Playwriting Excellence, the Abeles Foundation Playwrights Award, and the Tennessee Williams Playwriting Competition. Rich’s short plays have received over 400 productions on six of the seven continents (and a staged reading in Antarctica).  His short comedies have been published in The Art of the One-Act Play, An Anthology of American Short Plays (published in China), The Bedford Introduction to Literature, Best Ten-Minute Plays 2007, Take Ten II and four times in the annual Best American Short Plays anthology series.  Playscripts (www.playscripts.com) has published fifty of his short plays in seven collections. 
He lives in New York City but loves getting out of town.  www.richorloff.com. 

SATURDAY, JUNE 7 @ 8:00 PM
ELECTROLYSIS by Bruce Pratt (Eddington, ME)
STATE OF THE ART by Deborah Savadge (New York,NY)

A man makes the mistake of giving a business card to the woman he loves. The business? His mom’s electrolysis service.

* * *

The loves and losses of a touring company of actors, both young up-and-comers and cynical older veterans of the stage.

DEBORAH SAVADGE (playwright, State of the Art) wrote Dark at the Center which won the John Golden prize for playwriting and the TheatreFest Regional Playwriting Contest. In April, a short play, Not Really, was seen in the new play festival at the Hackley School in Tarrytown, NY. A comedy, Love and Work, debuted at the Woodstock Theatre Co. A thriller, Death's Door,  had a staged reading at GeVa, in Rochester, NY. Member: Dramatists Guild, League of Professional Theatre Women. Director: Playwrights Gallery. Representation: Graham Agency. Thanks to Melissa Hurst, Kathryn Long and Maxine Kern.

SUNDAY, JUNE 8 @ 2:00 PM
LOVE AMONG THE RAVIOLI by Michael Burgan (Chicago, IL)
SOLDIER, COME HOME by Frank Wicks(Orr's Island, ME)
PRINDERELLA AND THE SINCE by Pat McGeever (Phila., PA)

A pair of blind-date misfires leads to two people discovering one another in a Chicago sports bar.

As a freelance writer, Michael Burgan has written more than 100 non-fiction books for kids. He is currently a network playwright with Chicago Dramatists and a member of the Dramatists Guild of America.

* * *

A dramatization of the Civil War letters of Mary Luke Pringle, her husband Philip, and assorted family members and friends, from 1859 to 1865.

Pat McGeever is a professor emeritus of political science from Indiana University, a fitness instructor, and a playwright.  He has written somewhere between 15 and 20 plays since 2002, most of which have been produced.   “Prinderella” is one of his favorites.  Pat has benefited from being a member of Indy Playmakers in his former home of Indianapolis, and of the Philadelphia Dramatists’ Center in Philadelphia, where he now lives.  And he advises young ladies who wish to marry a handsome prince: “Slop your drippper.”