Summer Play Festival at Theatre Row

When producer Ariel Tepper started the Summer Play Festival (SPF) a few years ago, she committed herself to presenting the work of great emerging writers. The plays may not always be as good as Arthur Miller’s masterpieces, but like him, these are writers to whom attention must be paid. This year is no exception. I’ll be seeing a few of the offerings by writers that I particularly admire and sharing why I think they’re important. Don’t look for reviews in the papers because these plays are not up for review. So pony up $10 for a ticket, and head over to Theatre Row on 42nd Street and 9th Ave for a little free air conditioning at SPF; see www.spfnyc.com for a full line-up. And let me know what you’re seeing there or at other summer theatre festivals.

My Wandering Boy by Julie Marie Myatt
Week One offered many plays of note, especially Beau Willimon’s Lower Ninth, but I chose to check out Myatt’s latest. This is a delicate play about those left behind, and though we never meet the lost soul of the title, Myatt’s deliciously detailed dialogue makes us feel like we have. Her characters – from the parents to the girlfriends to the private eye to the bum on the street – fill in one or two parts of the puzzle for us, but never give away the mystery that lies at the heart of the play.
Julie is represented by Brett Adams, Ltd.; also see her short play The Joy of Having a Body and full-length, Alice in the Badlands.

Half of Plenty by Lisa Dillman
Week Two, I saw Half of Plenty, which covers a lot of familiar and disturbing themes in America. In this ultra-relevant play, anti-Arab sentiment, borderline unlawful surveillance and a troubling economy feed the growing discontentment of two 30-somethings who discover that their lives and parents didn’t quite turn out the way they expected. Dillman presents a strong argument against alarmist behavior and prejudice through her pensive protagonist, but the production doesn’t quite help us understand how our protagonist wound up in her tough spot in the first place.
Also see Lisa’s play, Rock Shore; she is represented by Robert Freeman, Ltd.

Week Three: Missed it...

Not Waving by Ellen Melaver
During Week Four of SPF I wanted to go to the beach, not the theatre, but at least I could experience the loud skate kids, controlling mothers in muumuus and even loud snorers (thanks to the guy behind me) without the sunburn and sand flies. In Not Waving, three pairs of beachcombers come to their own personal crises at the sandy site of a recent tragedy; they’re all a bit miserable, and some of them were even having what one character calls “the worst day” of his life, but a pretty solid production keeps this play from drowning in a sea of sentimentality.
Watch for it Off-Broadway next season. Ellen is represented by the Gersh Agency.

Congratulations to the Summer Play Festival for once again giving some great writers and their plays a chance to be seen and heard. After a whirlwind of new work, this industrious crew of creatives is already accepting submissions for next year!