15 Plays Announced for Third Annual Summer Play Festival (SPF) Running July 5th to July 30th, 2006, 0n Theatre Row, New York City

After two successful seasons the Summer Play Festival (SPF) announces 15 shows to play at Theatre Row from July 5th to July 30th as part of the third annual event.

The plays to be showcased include: The Butcherhouse Chronicles Michael Hidalgo, Father Joy by Sheri Wilner, The Fearless by Etan Frankel, Gardening Leave by Joanna Pinto, Hardball by Victoria Stewart, Hitting the Wall by Barbara Blumenthal- Ehrlich, Marge by Peter Morris, Millicent Scowlworthy by Rob Handel, Sonia Flew by Melinda Lopez, Spain by Jim Knable, Splitting Infinity by Jamie Pachino, The Squirrel by Alex Moggridge, Swansong by Patrick Page, Training Wisteria by Molly Smith Metzler, A Wive’s Tale by Christina Ham

Submissions came from playwrights all over the world including the UK, Australia, Japan, South Africa, and Brazil marking an increase in international interest. Scripts were also sent in from almost all 50 States.

The final plays were selected by the following elite theater professionals. They were: Walter Bilderback, David Binder, Jo Bonney, Polly K. Carl, Jeremy Dobrish, David Dower, Gordon Edelstein, Todd London, Eduardo Machado, Lisa McNulty, Richard Nelson, Leigh Silverman, John Weidman.

"Playwrights need productions to become better playwrights.” said Richard Nelson, final selector, playwright, and Yale Department Chair, “The Summer Play Festival is built upon this vision; it has become for young playwrights a significant and necessary part of our theatrical landscape. This is a vital and really important event." Of this year’s selections, West End Producer and selection committee member Matthew Byam Shaw said, “To anyone looking for an original and genuinely entertaining new play this summer, I think the SPF will have it."

Under founder Arielle Tepper (a producer of Broadway’s Monty Python's Spamalot, The Pillowman, A Raisin in The Sun, and Freak), The non-profit organization The Living Room for Artists Inc./Summer Play Festival provides emerging writers, directors, designers and producers an opportunity to work on their material and their craft in a protected environment, guided by established professionals at no cost to them. The festival takes place throughout the month of July at Theatre Row on 42nd Street. Tickets to all SPF shows are $10 each.

Directors and creative teams will be announced shortly.

About the plays for the Third Annual Summer Play Festival:

The Butcherhouse Chronicles by Michael Hidalgo is about four high school students looking for their missing history teacher. Hidalgo’s other work has been featured in “Peeling”—a New York City-based Asian American performance group.

Father Joy by Sheri Wilner is a fantastical comedy about a girl whose father is actually disappearing before her very eyes. The play has been seen at the O’Neill Playwrights Conference, Rattlestick Theater, and The Old Vic Theatre in London.

The Fearless by Etan Frankel follows the decade-long journey of three friends who formed a rock band in college. Frankel’s other work has been presented at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Primary Stages (a reading starring Cynthia Nixon), Rattlestick, Ensemble Studio Theatre, and the Huntington Theatre Company.

Gardening Leave by Joanna Pinto finds a lonely older British man whose life is turned around when a pretty young Iranian woman comes to help with his rooftop garden. The British playwright has had plays read around London, including the Union Theatre, UPSTART, and Chelsea Theatre.

Hardball by Victoria Stewart is a comedy about a rising female Republican political pundit. Stewart’s plays have been developed at the Public Theater, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, and South Coast Repertory.

Hitting the Wall by Barbara Blumenthal-Ehrlich is a dark comedy about a pair of neighbors putting their lives together after the death of one of their children. Blumenthal-Ehrlich’s work has been read at Playwright’s Horizons, Trinity Rep, Second Stage, Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, and Chicago’s Victory Gardens.

Marge by Peter Morris is a comedy about a man who hires a prostitute to help murder his wife. The play was presented at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and workshopped at Soho Rep. Morris’ other plays have been workshopped at Manhattan Theatre Club, HERE, and Steppenwolf as well as London’s Gate Theatre, Latchmere Theatre, and Bush Theatre.

Millicent Scowlworthy by Rob Handel is a “ripped from the headlines” story that finds teenagers reenacting a murder that took place in their community. The play was supported at the O’Neill, Rattlestick, and The Flea. Handel’s other plays have been read at Soho Rep., PS 122, Long Wharf, and London’s Royal Court.

Sonia Flew by Melinda Lopez follows a Cuban exile haunted by the memories of her past when her son announces his intention to join the Marines. The play has been seen at the Huntington Theatre Company and the Contemporary American Theater Festival.

Spain by Jim Knable is a comedy about a woman, recently separated from her husband, who encounters a sixteenth-century conquistador in her twenty-first century living room. Knable’s work has been seen at the Old Globe in San Diego, Woolly Mammoth in D.C., The Hanger in Ithaca, Soho Rep., and The Public Theater.

Splitting Infinity by Jamie Pachino is about two old friends, a Rabbi and an astrophysicist who wants to prove that God does not exist. The play has been developed at Steppenwolf, Hartford Stage, American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, and ACT Seattle.

The Squirrel by Alex Moggridge is a comedy that follows a woman and her oversensitive husband, overbearing sister, and a man she just hit with her car. Moggridge’s other plays have been seen at the PlayGround Emerging Playwrights Festival in San Francisco, and the Fringe NYC.

Swansong by Patrick Page is a fictitious story about real life playwright Ben Johnson putting together the first Folio of William Shakespeare’s work after the Bard’s death. The play was nominated in 2002 for Best Play by the American Theatre Critics Association, and has seen readings as Arizona Theatre Co., and The Producer’s Club, among others.

Training Wisteria by Molly Smith Metzler combines a dysfunctional family with a dirty yard and home improvement on the evening of the son’s graduation party. Metzler’s other plays have been seen at Boston’s Playwrights’ Theatre, Fringe NYC, and Sundance Theatre Lab.

A Wive's Tale by Christina Ham is a futuristic drama about a group of barren women in the future conspiring to create the perfect society. Ham’s work has been recognized at the Ensemble Studio Theatre, the Guthrie Theater, the Tribeca Theater Festival, and South Coast Rep.

For more information please visit SPF’s website www.spfnyc.com or contact Michael Gravison at 212-279-4040 or Michael@spfnyc.com.