How to Go
What: FutureFest 2014, the 24th annual festival of new plays.
When: July 25-27. One play is staged on Friday night at 8 p.m., three on Saturday at 10 a.m., 3 p.m. and 8 p.m., and two on Sunday at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Sunday night picnic dinner followed by award ceremony.
Where: Dayton Playhouse, 1301 E. Siebenthaler Ave., Dayton
Tickets: Individual play tickets are $18 and can be purchased in advance or at the door as space permits.
Weekend passes are $95 and include admission to six plays, adjudication sessions, receptions and a Sunday night dinner. They must be purchased through the box office. Box lunches can be ordered for Saturday and Sunday.
For tickets and passes: www.daytonplayhouse.org or through the box office, (937) 424-8477. The box office is staffed Mondays and Wednesdays from 1:30-4:30 p.m., however messages may be left at any time.
Those who love theater often plan their summers around FutureFest, the annual festival of new plays produced by the Dayton Playhouse.
This year’s festival, which will introduce six new dramas to the world, is slated to take place July 25-27 at the Playhouse, located next to Wegerzyn Gardens MetroPark on Siebenthaler Avenue.
During the three-day event, audience members join the playwrights and experienced judges in viewing and reviewing the new scripts. Three of the shows are fully-staged, while the others are presented as staged readings.
Other popular weekend activities range from a kick-off Friday evening reception to coffee and pastries in the lobby each morning. Theater-goers look forward to walks in the gardens before and after shows. A chicken dinner on Sunday night — donated by festival co-founder John Riley who owns Benjamin’s Restaurant — offers time to socialize.
Show intermissions always include lobby chats with playwrights, actors and audience members.
Focus on playwrights
“I have no idea what to expect, but I am very much looking forward to it,” said playwright Linda Ramsay-Detherage of Michigan, who will come to Dayton for the first time. She said she already has been impressed with the kindness and warmth she’s experienced from those involved in planning the weekend.
“As a writer, it is reassuring to know that those involved with my script are the type of people who will treat my words with the same care they have treated me,” Ramsay-Detherage said.
One of this year’s playwrights — Michael Feely — has written two of the plays that are being produced this year. Feely, who grew up in Dayton and now lives in California, has quite a track record with FutureFest. His play “Bookends”was a finalist in FutureFest in 2006, and his “Night and Fog” won FutureFest 2009. “Roosevelt’s Ghost” was a finalist in 2011 and “On The Road To Kingdom Come” was a finalist last summer.
Kuros Charney, author of “The Humanist,” can’t wait to see his play brought to life.
“I admire the emphasis Dayton places on the themes and ideas of a play, as much as on plot or premise,” said Charney, who will be coming to FutureFest for the first time. “From what I can tell, the festival celebrates theater not just as entertainment but as a platform for civic engagement and social awareness, which is the reason I started writing plays in the first place.”
Charney, who lives in New York, said he’s most looking forward to meeting talented and interesting people including actors, directors, production teams and other playwrights.
“I’m also looking forward to spending a weekend in lovely Dayton, Ohio,” he added.
Meet the judges
FutureFest regulars — some have been coming since the festival’s inception in 1991— will tell you that the judges play a significant role in keeping the weekend enlightening and entertaining. Many come back year after year.
This year’s impressive lineup includes Roger Danforth, artistic director of the Drama League Directors Project; David Finkle, freelance reporter and reviewer for the “Village Voice” and the “Huffington Post”; Faye Sholiton, a Cleveland playwright and teacher whose play ‘The Interview’ won the 1997 FutureFest; Helen Sneed, whose career includes work in Theatre Professional Rights at Dramatists Play Service and Music Theatre International; and Eleanore Speert, founder and president of Speert Publishing and former publications director for Dramatists Play Service.
The committee received 151 eligible scripts this year that came from across the nation, said Fran Pesch, FutureFest program director. The plays are read by two committees. The first committee narrows the plays down to 10-12 semi-finalists. The second committee selects the six finalists.
________________________________________
Here’s a rundown of this year’s plays:
“The Paymaster” by M.J. Feely of Woodland Hills, Calif.
(Fully Staged - Friday, July 25, 8 p.m.)
Directed by Saul Caplan
This is the tale of the brothers Gallagher — Michael and Padraig — and Michael’s wife. The three of them are gunmen for the Irish Republican Brotherhood, who come to test and, ultimately, accept their fates on the South Side of Chicago. Michael has been on the run for nearly 10 years. In that time, he’s built a successful fund-raising and gunrunning operation for the Brotherhood. He’s also built a successful contracting business and a marriage to Nellie, who has given him two sons. On this night in December 1917, his brother Padraig appears at his house. The reunion is not what either expects, and turns out in a way neither could have foreseen.
“The Killing Jar” by Jennifer Lynne Roberts of Alameda, Calif.
(Staged Reading - Saturday, July 26, 10 a.m.)
Directed by Kathy Mola
Ava, a painter and curator, arrives in the Philippines to convince artist Jefford Huso to exhibit at the 1964 New York World’s Fair. A great admirer of his work, she also is hoping for an apprenticeship during her time at his studio outside Manila. But her desire for a mentor and his addiction to alcohol and women jeopardize the show and Ava’s career, which hinges on this rare opportunity in a male-dominated field.
“Wash, Dry, Fold” by Nedra Pezold Roberts of Atlanta, Ga.
(Staged Reading - Saturday, July 26, 3 p.m.)
Directed by Teresa High
In a New Orleans laundromat, bickering sisters Trudy and Enola are stuck with each other and with a failing business — and also with Uncle Slackjaw, a damaged Vietnam vet. Enola is a religious fanatic hiding a dark secret; Trudy has served time for killing her no-account husband. When guilt threatens to explode, can their mysterious tattoo-artist neighbor, Arlene, help them find resolution, even redemption?
“The Humanist” by Kuros Charney of New York, N.Y.
(Fully Staged - Saturday, July 26, 8 p.m.)
Directed by Jim Lockwood
Ted Freedman, a complacent classics professor at an unnoted public university, has never taken his job too seriously. But when his one true love, Sarah, re-enters his life as university president, Ted starts to unravel. An activist-turned-executive, Sarah must rescue the school from financial ruin, but her efforts could mean the end of the humanities departments, including Ted’s. Now, with his job and his heart on the line, Ted must stand up for what he believes in a confrontation over capitalism, social justice and two vital questions: What things are worth teaching? And on what values does our democracy depend?
“Masterwork” by M.J. Feely of Woodland Hills, Calif.
(Staged Reading - Sunday, July 27, 10 a.m.)
Directed by Fran Pesch
James Michael McHugh is a playwright. One day, a few weeks after his 16th birthday, he learns two things. First, the idea for his best play. Second, he’s dying. And, thus, the race is on.
“Sugarhill” by Linda Ramsay-Detherage of Commerce, Mich.
(Fully Staged - Sunday, July 27, 3 p.m.)
Directed by Debra Kent
The action of the play takes place Dec. 5th and 6th, 1941, in the fictional town of Sugarhill, La. Marietta Trudeau has cut her wrists, and is returning home from receiving electro-shock therapy. She has been coping with the death of her son, Ethan — as well as a sudden, cerebral accident that has left her husband, Tom, wheelchair-bound, and unresponsive. Marietta lives with her grandfather, Captain John Youngblood, a Civil War veteran, and the family’s nurse, Yvette. After reading a composition written by her late son about time travel, Marietta believes the sudden appearance of the dark-skinned Mr. Franklin has the power to undo tragedy. Her family is intent on humoring her, and they defy the racist Jim Crow laws of the state to protect the man that has given Marietta hope.
About the Author
