Abingdon Theatre Company (Chad Austin, Artistic Director) announces the finalists for their second annual “Virtual Festival of Short Plays”. The company continues to be committed to creating opportunities for all voices to be heard so with this in mind the one-week virtual festival will once again shed light on stories by people of color. Three new short pieces have been selected which were created and to be performed and directed by people of color. At the conclusion of the festival, a diverse panel of judges will select a winner who will receive a $500 stipend to be used to support further exploration of their work. The festival is set to take place November 15 – 19, 2021 via Abingdon’s YouTube channel which can be found HERE. It is free of charge to viewers.
The finalists for the festival are Carol Carter, Brandy Victoria Durham and Quinn D. Eli.
The cast for the plays will feature Charles Everett, Ronald Kuang, Deborah Lew, Liz Mikel, Katie Sexton, Aaron Smallwood Jr, Kimberly Michelle Thomas and Jason Williams.
The Jury Panel is comprised of Tony Award winning producer, Rashad V. Chambers (The Inheritance, Betrayal, Ain’t Too Proud), actor and director Deidre Goodwin (A Chorus Line, Nine, Chicago), and last year’s festival winner, actor and writer, Christine Toy Johnson (Come From Away, Bombay Dreams, The Music Man).
Artistic Director Chad Austin shared, ‘I am grateful to be able to shed light on brave, new, emerging playwrights through our festival of shorts plays. We selected three incredible pieces out of hundreds of submissions. Thank you to all who submitted their plays to us. It was a great privilege to read so many divergent stories.’
The three selected pieces will premiere on Abingdon’s YouTube channel as detailed below:
Monday, November 15th at 7pm EST
SCRAPS
Written by Quinn D. Eli
Directed by Alberto Bonilla
Cast: Charles Everett, Deborah Lew and Ronald Kuang
WILD HORSES
Written by Brandy Victoria Durham
Directed by Nakeisha Daniel
Cast: Katie Sexton, Kimberly Michelle Thomas and Jason Williams
Tuesday, November 16th at 7pm EST
THAT SUMMER EVENING IN MILWAUKEE
Written by Carol Carter
Directed by Chari Arespacochaga
Cast: Liz Mikel and Aaron Smallwood Jr
All three pieces will be available to view until Friday, November 19th.
Abingdon Theatre Company was formed in 1993 by a group of theatre artists, eager for ongoing collaboration and greater control over their creative lives. Now, over 25 years later Abingdon has collaborated with over 200 playwrights including Tony Award Winner, V (Formerly Eve Ensler), Philip Dawkins, David Greenspan, Anne Bogart, James Lecesne, Michael Weller, Dominique Fishback, Charles Mee and many more. In recent years their annual galas have honored artists such as Bebe Neuwirth, Donna Murphy and Andrew Lippa. Recent productions include the New York Premieres of both Fruit Trilogy and The Gentleman Caller and the critically acclaimed Drama Desk Nominee, Get On Your Knees. The company provides a safe home where playwrights, directors and actors can collaborate within a supportive and nurturing environment. They search for stories about the human experience that reflect our social, political, historical and cultural diversity. They are acutely aware of the theatre’s power to unite disparate population groups through stories about common human interests and strive to shed light on a variety of perspectives.