Buffalo Theater: Nine staged readings over two weekends, with two plays to be selected for production

By Elmer Ploetz

Creating a play involves more than just writing a script. It’s a process that goes beyond simply doing rewrites and word-smithing.

That’s where the New Play Reading Festival comes in. Presented by First Look Buffalo, the festival gives staged readings of new plays by professional actors.

In a preview for last year’s festival, First Look founder Bob Rusch described what the audience can expect:

“The scripts will be in hands and on music stands,” Rusch said. “Obviously there will be no sets except for chairs. Some people get a little creative. They stack chairs or make a table or something.

“But it’s just an open, well-lit stage, and sometimes they’ll be sitting down most of it. Sometimes they get up and are reading and have some blocking going on … Someone does read all the stage directions out loud to make sure that the story is being told correctly, and the audience can follow along that way. Normally, in a real play, you would just see it.”

After the play, there is a talkback with the audience about it. For some of the plays, the playwrights will be there. The shows are recorded for the playwrights and for First Look’s literary committee (which will decide which plays are picked for production, since not every committee member can make every show). 

Each year two plays are selected for full-scale productions the following year. The two that were selected last year were Bella Poynton’s “The Girl in the Washroom” (produced this fall in conjunction with Buffalo United Artists) and Deborah Yarchun’s “Preservation” (which will be produced in January).

First Look has a stable of playwrights and directors it works with. There is one addition this year:

“We brought in ArLynn Parker, an up-and-coming very talented playwright from Virginia, who, like many of our playwrights, received her MFA in playwrighting from Hollins University,” Rusch said.

“What’s exciting is that four of our out-of-town playwrights are coming to Buffalo this weekend for the festival and their readings. ArLynn Parker, Wendy-Marie Martin (who also lives in Virginia), Samantha Macher (who lives near Detroit) and Deborah Yarchun (who lives in New York City).

SOME OF THIS YEAR’S PLAYWRIGHTS:

“We’re also featuring two Buffalo playwrights, Bella Poynton and Donna Hoke, whose play will open the festival this Friday.

“The plays will cover a wide spectrum of topics from AI to Bigfoot. Yes! You heard that right! Jeff Goode is giving us a play about Bigfoot.  Sadly, it’s not a love story.”

Admission to each play is $10 and a pass for the entire festival is $20.

Here is the lineup for the series:

• “The Lazarus Club,” by Donna Hoke, directed by Drew Fornarola
  Friday, Nov. 21, 7:30 p.m.
• “Tea and Eschatology,” by Deborah Yarchun, directed by Lara D. Haberberger
  Saturday, Nov. 22, 2 p.m.
• “The Safety Committee,” by Wendy-Marie Martin, directed by Drew Fornarola
  Saturday, Nov. 22, 7p.m.
• “Big Mad,” by Samantha Macher, directed by Jason Francey
  Sunday, Nov. 23, 2 p.m.
• “Waiting Room,” by ArLynn Parker, directed by Annette Daniels Taylor
  Sunday, Nov. 23, 7p.m.
• “2191,” by Bella Poynton, directed by Lana Sugarman
  Friday, Nov. 28, 7:30p.m.
• “Squatch,” by Jeff Goode, directed by Drew McCabe
  Saturday, Nov. 29, 2p.m.
• “The Quest(ion),” by Michelle Tyrene Johnson, directed by Thembi Duncan
  Saturday, Nov. 29, 7 p.m.
• “Grapes,” by Adam Hahn, directed by Lara D. Haberberger
  Sunday, Nov. 30, at 7 p.m.

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Elmer Ploetz is editor-in-chief and executive director of The Buffalo Hive