Festival of New American Plays

Austin Playhouse is thrilled to announce the three winning plays chosen to be performed during its inaugural 2017 Festival of New American Plays from May 5 – 7, 2017. Low Hanging Stars by local playwright Sarah Saltwick will kick off the festival on Friday, May 5 at 8 pm, Capital Crime! by Carson Kreitzer will follow up on Saturday, May 6 at 8 pm, and Flying by Sheila Cowley will conclude the lineup on Sunday, May 7 at 7 pm.

Each of the three playwrights will receive a $500 prize along with a staged reading that features professional Austin Playhouse directors and performers, including Babs George, Huck Huckaby, Jess Hughes, Samuel Knowlton, Stephen Mercantel, Andrea Osborn Ginder, Tom Parker, Lara Toner Haddock, and Laura Walberg.

Low Hanging Stars

Directed by Cyndi Williams

This intimate new play by Austinite Sarah Saltwick uses a supernatural twist to reveal the devastating cracks in a mother-daughter relationship. Young starlet Gillian Rhodes has been taken to a small town in Massachusetts where her mother spent a summer as a young girl. Ostensibly to take time off from a hectic schedule, the real reason for Gillian’s isolation is exposed through a chance encounter with the ghost of a troubled young man.

Capital Crime!

Directed by Lara Toner Haddock

In 1906, model and actress Evelyn Nesbit’s husband killed her wealthy benefactor, launching a tabloid sensation. The event was branded the “Show Girl Murder” and Evelyn became known as “The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing.” This whimsical, rock and roll-inspired play takes on the aftermath of the murder when a movie company produces a film about the event. Connecting the exploitation of Nesbit to contemporary exploitation of young women, Carson Kreitzer’s Capital Crime! is an original, irreverent, and very fun look at the dark side of America’s obsession with youth.

Flying

Directed by Ben Wolfe

During World War II women aviators supported the war effort by flying training missions and taking on the dangerous job of flying planes in need of repairs or on their way to the junkyard. After the war, these women were often grounded as jobs were reclaimed by men. Flying introduces us to Susan, a former WASP now working to keep her husband’s airfield and repair shop operational until her husband, Bob, returns home. When a former colleague of Bob’s arrives at the airfield looking for work, it exposes all the vulnerabilities of Susan’s current position and the hypocrisy from her past. Sheila Cowley’s beautiful new play looks at the contributions of women to the war effort and the difficulties of getting back to “normal” life.