University of Iowa Theatre Department: New Play Festival
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University of Iowa Theatre Department: New Play Festival
April 29 @ 8:00 am - May 4 @ 7:30 pm
$5The first week of May is a special time for us, as we mount our annual Iowa New Play Festival (NPF). The 2024 Iowa New Play Festival will be presented in the Theatre Building and will include four full productions and daily readings. All readings and productions will take place during the first week of May.
Productions: $5.00 general admission
Reading Series: Free, but you must obtain a ticket
Available at the Theatre Building box office window. In-person, cash sales only.
Welcome Reception and Guest Panel
Forgottonia
Anti-Hero: Revenge of the Swifties
Guest Roundtable | Anti-Hero: Revenge of the Swifties
Leeches
Iowa New Play Festival – Reading Series Leeches By Adrian Enzastiga Directed by Natalie Villamonte Zito Leeches is a full-length play that takes place at an eviction court in an ambiguously Midwest post-pandemic U.S. city. The play explores the process of an eviction, the cycle of poverty, and the corrupt oppression of the American capitalist system: Eviction court is a no man’s land; tenants’ rights are crushed under landlord’s command, and social workers (can) do little to offer a hand, but there are some who refuse to idly stand.Guest Roundtable to follow.
Spells for Going Forth by Daylight
Iowa New Play Festival – Production Series Spells for Going Forth by Daylight By Leigh M. Marshall Directed by Josh Turner In a world where the Roman Empire meets the 24-hour news cycle, Cleo wakes up in the Egyptian Realm of the Dead without a Book of Life to guide her to Paradise. As she tries to navigate her way through a treacherous afterlife filled with traps and predators, she finds she’s able to tap into broadcasts from the living world that indicate her empire is on the brink of being conquered – and her greatest enemy is positioning himself to take control of it.Spells for Going Forth by Daylight grapples with the intimate consequences of conquest, the absurd ways history repeats itself, and the action that can be taken to change the future for the better.
Please be advised this production contains loud sounds mimicking gunshots, explosives, and staged violence; depictions of murder and discussions of war, murder, suicide, sexual themes, genocide; the use of haze and strong language.
Guest Roundtable | Spells for Going Forth by Daylight
And the Past Remains
Iowa New Play Festival – Reading Series And the Past Remains By Poonam Dhir Directed by Johanna Kasimow An exploration of kinship, commitment and recollection. Using non-linear etches in time and a series of shared moments, the story of a family and a childhood unfolds. A dramatic event grounds this vulnerable account. Through memory, witnessing and intimate encounters, And the Past Remains explores ideas of duty, devotion and belief. Please be advised this reading includes mentions of death, suicidal ideations, alcoholism, needles, sex, and nudity.Guest Roundtable to follow.