HOUSTON – Alley Theatre announced the line-up for its 2023 Alley All New Festival, June 16 - June 25.
Free and open to the public, the festival will feature new plays including readings, workshop performances, and an early draft preview. The festival offers audiences a first look at plays that may appear in full productions at the Alley, as well as at theatres around the country.
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“In the past four years, we have done seven world premiere productions that came directly out of either the Alley All New Festival, an Alley All New Reading, or our Alley at Ucross residency,” Artistic Director Rob Melrose said in a statement. “If you want to get a sense of what we will be doing in our season in the coming years, the Alley All New Festival is the place to experience these plays first.”
Festival programming is recommended for mature audiences. Each performance will be followed by a post-show chat with the artists.
Programming (descriptions provided by Alley Theatre):
- “Instructions for a Séance” (June 16 at 8 p.m., June 17 at 2:30 p.m., June 22 at 7:30 p.m., June 24 at 8 p.m.) - This DIY séance hosted by Texas writer/performer Katie Bender (”Survivors: An Alamo Play”; Alley All New Festival 2020) invites an audience to conjure escape artist Harry Houdini and learn how to escape their own lives. But another presence haunts the edges of the séance — a figure overlooked for far too long, who has things she still wants to say, and dammit, she’s going to get her say. Part magic show and a playful look at one of history’s greatest illusionists, “Instructions for a Séance” explores the gauntlet that is motherhood, artistic ambition, and escapism.
- “Untitled Horse Play” (June 17 at 8 p.m., June 18 at 7:30 p.m., June 23 at 8 p.m., June 25 at 6:30 p.m.) - A love letter to rural girls who are so often invisible. A love letter to the horses who saved our lives and taught us to be women. A love letter to my mom who always did her best, even though I couldn’t see it. A new play by Hilary Bettis (”72 miles to go…,” 2019 Alley All New Festival and 2021 production).
- “The Bleeding Class” (June 23 at 4 p.m., June 25 at 2 p.m.) - Chisa Hutchinson (”Amerikin,” 2019 Alley All New Festival and 2022 world premiere) returns with another prescient play. There’s a deadly plague out there yet Sugar, a Dominican-American escort from the Bronx, seems immune. When she goes to see Dr. Wesley Pennington, a Black doctor who tries to stay above it all, she is floored to find that her blood might be the key to saving the world. The two move into the hastily built research compound of a pharmaceutical giant and power dynamics change in this timely socio-political thriller written prior to the Covid pandemic.
- “December” (June 24 at 11 a.m.) - An unlikely attraction blossoms between poetry professor Carolina and her talented student Benjamin, but Carolina can’t overlook the age difference in good conscience. Spanning 20 years, “December” tells the story of two Texans connecting over literature and music in Minnesota. This lyrical meditation on love, poetry, and timing is written by Texas playwright Marisela Trevino Orta, best known for “The River Bride.”
- “The Janeiad” (June 24 at 3 p.m.) - In “The Odyssey,” Penelope’s long wait is eventually rewarded when Odysseus returns to Ithaca 20 years after leaving to fight the Trojan War. Will the same be true for Jane in Brooklyn, 20 years after her husband left for work one fateful September morning? A play about longing and hope as well as the myths we tell ourselves in order to get through the day, “The Janeiad” is a wry contemplation of the power, and slipperiness, of storytelling.
- Early Draft Preview (June 25 at 11 a.m.) - Get to know Afsaneh Aayani, Iranian-born, Houston-based scenic designer, puppet maker, and theater maker as she gives a window into the unique creative process behind “The Painter and the Wild Swans.” And meet writer/director Mark Shanahan and get a taste of what’s coming to the Alley next: Mark’s new adaptation of Agatha Christie’s “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd,” which was voted the “Best Crime Novel of all Time” by the British Crime Writers’ Association.
In addition to the festival workshops and readings, guests may choose to add on a ticket to Rob Melrose’s world premiere adaptation of “The Servant of Two Masters,” which runs concurrently.
- “The Servant of Two Masters” (June 9 – July 2) - Identities are mistaken, engagements are broken, and lovers are reunited in this world premiere adaptation of Carlo Goldoni’s commedia dell’arte masterpiece. Set in Venice, mayhem erupts when the wily—and chronically hungry—servant Truffaldino hatches a zany scheme to double his wages (and his meals) by serving two masters at once. Directed by Rob Melrose, this physical comedy classic will have you laughing at and loving our hapless hero.
Weekend packages for June 23-25 are available for purchase and include seating at all presentations, complimentary beverage coupons, admission to an after hours party, and festival lounge access with coffee and snack service. Packages cost $99. Free single ticket reservations can be made beginning May 10.
For more information, visit alleytheatre.org/alley-all-new/alley-all-new-festival/alley-all-new-festival-2023/.