On Saturday, October 7, the White Heron Theatre Company will present two staged readings that are the culmination of Next Step Fest, a development program for promising new plays for the American stage. Next Step Fest continues White Heron’s commitment to new work.
Will Arbery play Evanston Salt Costs Climbing will be presented at 4 pm on Saturday, followed by a reception at 5:30 pm. At 6 pm, A Liberal Tradition written by Mary Elizabeth Hamilton will be presented.
“Next Step Fest is a development reading series to give playwrights an opportunity to take their work to the next level, “said Amanda Charlton, artistic director of the Next Step Fest program for White Heron. “This festival gives playwrights an opportunity to work on their plays with actors and directors, elevating the practice of writing from a solitary process to that of a communal process. ”
“The workshop process is incredibly fruitful for the playwright, as the luxury of 3 to 4 days with directors and actors can change the play and propel the work forward, ” said Sally Horchow, Next Step Fest producer. “Nantucket is the perfect creative environment for this type of work.”
“Each playwright will have a week to rehearse with their actors/directors, rewriting scenes after they explore what works and what doesn’t,” said Lynne Bolton, White Heron Artistic Director. “The gift of actors is very valuable to the process as they often have the best questions or tangible concerns while figuring out both their character and the arch of the play. ”
“White Heron is committed to new work ,” said Michael Kopko, White Heron Executive Director. ” In addition to the two new plays and new adaptations we debuted in the 2017 summer season – SeaWife and Romeo and Juliet — we have had three plays open on world stages in the past year as a result of our collaboration with the Long Wharf Theatre. This Next Step Fest continues our work with playwrights on new plays.”
Tickets are available at whiteherontheatre.org.
