For Immediate Release

Janice Christensen – April 19, 2004

SFA to present playreading festival

            Theatre students at Stephen F. Austin State University will have the rare opportunity of assisting professional playwrights with their most recent works as the Department of Theatre presents its fourth biennial New American Play Festival Tuesday, April 27, through Saturday, May 1.

            Plays included are "Lucky" by Jack Heifner, "Women in Flames" by Tina Howe, "The Secret of Our Success" by Staci Swedeen, "A Fallen Man" by Carol Hall and Benjamin Greeley, and "The Gulf" by Hall and Heifner.

            During the five-day festival, each of the five plays will be presented two different times for an audience and its playwright in the Downstage Theater of the Griffith Building. The emphasis is on the author's words, so students will still be using scripts, and there will be minimal scenery, props and costumes, explained Heifner, playwright-in-residence at SFA and coordinator of the festival.

            "These types of readings are used by professional theatres and producers to involve audiences and actors directly in the process of new play development. Plays are meant to be performed, and the best way to see whether a play works or not is to present it in front of a live audience," Heifner said.

            The theatre students, too, are benefiting from the festival, according to Heifner.

"This is a different type of theatrical experience for them. With only 10 rehearsals for each play, they have had to rely on their talent and training to interpret the text," he said.

            Heifner's "Lucky" will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 27, and Friday, April 30. This newest play by the author of "Vanities" focuses on a teenage boy who takes off in search of a new existence and the effects of his actions on those he leaves behind.

            Howe's "Women in Flames" will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 28, and Saturday, May 1.

            "This hilarious comedy by an internationally acclaimed playwright explores the unexpected love affairs and backstage madness that occur when a frustrated Broadway playwright premieres her latest work in a small California theatre," Heifner said.

            The three one-act plays will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 29, and at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 1. "The Secret of Our Success" by award-winning playwright Sweeden concerns a couple who tries to move into a new apartment but finds that the last tenant has not moved out. Clues point to a murder.

            The two other plays are both mini-musicals co-authored by Carol Hall, composer and lyricist of "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas." She and SFA theatre student Benjamin Greeley have collaborated on "A Fallen Man," a new look at the Icarus legend. Hall and Heifner's "The Gulf" centers on a vacation trip in the 1950s during which a Texas woman wakes up to a world she's never seen.

            The festival is a joint presentation of the SFA College of Fine Arts and Department of Theatre and is sponsored in part by Tipton Ford.

Due to adult language and themes, the plays are recommended for adult audiences only.

Tickets to each performance are $10 for adults and $5 for seniors and students. Advance ticket purchases are recommended since seating is limited in the Downstage Theater.

For more information, please call (936) 468-6407 or 1-888-240-ARTS or log on to www.finearts.sfasu.edu.

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