NewFest 2008 Readings
WONDER by Lindsay Soson
Monday April 7th at 7pm Greene Theater
A Note from the Playwright:
I began work on Wonder in May 2007, building on ideas that began to emerge in my writing several years before. I had never tried to write a play based on a myth or story, and the structure of "The Homeric Hymn to Demeter" seemed to lend itself well to exploring mother/daughter relationships, the boundaries of acceptability, and loss of innocence- the discovery of how much is truly at stake for each of us. I found the structure of the myth both inspiring and freeing. Even though my play offers significantly re-imagined characterizations and story details from the original text, I knew exactly where the story ended even at the beginning of my writing process, which made the work seem much more achievable. I enjoyed rethinking the myth within a contemporary context and unraveling how each character's desires manifest in a world where every action has a price. The original myth focuses on the heartbreak and loss of the mother, Demeter, with her daughter Persephone lacking any agency in her own life; she is merely a pawn of the whims of Demeter, Hades, and Zeus. I became interested in Persephone's story, and began by questioning the assumptions of the original myth. What if Hades didn't kidnap Persephone, but she went willingly? What if Persephone was kept in such a tight grip by her mother, that she never learned the normal childhood lessons that teach us that life has consequences and danger can appear from unexpected sources? I was also inspired by the work of Mary Zimmerman, Anne Carson's book of poetry The Beauty of the Husband, and Sarah Ruhl's play Eurydice. Through the reading process I hope that hearing actors and a director engage with the text will help me get more specific with character details and language choices, and that this collaboration will open my eyes to new meanings in the work.
HAROLD'S FALL by George Watsky
Tuesday April 8th at 7pm Greene Theater
A Note from the Playwright:
Harold's Fall or King Will is a play about power. Set in a park in Manhattan, the piece focuses on William and Harold, two chess players. Loosely based on King William's Norman invasion of England, (and the subsequent fall of the Anglo-Saxon King Harold), the play uses chess as both the immediate medium and extended metaphor for conflict. The piece examines racial implications of the Black vs. White game of chess and whether one should prioritize winning or playing a good game. In Harold's Fall the ultimate prize is Harold's piece of (seemingly) magical chalk. Although he uses the chalk much like the more famous Harold's purple crayon, altering the stage, and his very world, it ultimately undoes him. With shades of Gollum, the chalk becomes a symbol of privilege and addiction, used to beautify the neighborhood, and destroy it from the inside.
The piece that will be read for NewFest is my second full draft of the project. I began thinking about the piece in late 2005 after seeing a friend of mine stage a short play in which the audience sees the characters' faces only in a large mirror. I found the device extremely powerful, and wanted to achieve something similar. Starting with the idea of chalk as a way to create a new world, I decided to use Harold and the Purple Crayon as a jumping off point. The name Harold stuck, and as I have always been fascinated by historical conflicts, I decided to transplant the history of eleventh century England onto twenty-first century America. I am interested in cyclical histories, the evolution of power, and using drama to provide insight into healing. I wanted to create a piece that was visually powerful, complex, and walking a line between the surreal and the familiar. I look forward to hearing my piece read at NewFest and strengthening it further in subsequent drafts.
BETTER HOME AWAITING by Adam Patterson
Wednesday April 9th at 7pm Greene Theater
A Note from the Playwright:
Better Home Awaiting is loosely based on a true story about my mother’s family’s tragic experiences following the Vietnam War. The story has always haunted me, and I began writing about it as a means of sorting out my feelings about how the war in Iraq was affecting the lives of my friends and family. I was most interested in exploring the ways in which the war comes home with the soldiers and the various ways in which we all contribute to the continuing cycle of altercation that our country goes through.
