Be the first to see new plays Be the first to see new plays (April 16, 2004)

Five new works on Mountain View stage

By Julie O'Shea

A posse of local actors will have just eight hours to run through the script of "Coyote Creek Flat" before it hits TheatreWorks' New Works Festival this weekend.

And playwright David Ford is nervous.

"I'm a wreck as a playwright," Ford said. "I feel really exposed."

He's heard readings of "Coyote Creek Flat" before, changing the ending after one read-through and gutting 10 percent of the lines after the second. But there is more at stake this time around -- a possible spot on a future season lineup at TheatreWorks.

Since the New Works Festival began three years ago, a few of the shows appearing there have gone on to become full-fledged TheatreWorks productions. Both "Memphis" and "My Antonia," the current show at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, were once considered in the festival.

Ford said he is anxious to see how audiences will react to the revised script but he is well aware that "you are auditioning the play, too."

Besides Ford, three other playwrights will get a chance to showcase their works in this year's festival, which started Wednesday and runs through Sunday at the performing arts center.

TheatreWorks has built a reputation around producing and staging new plays and musicals. The theater company further cemented its interest in budding playwrights when it started the New Works Initiative, with a $300,000 multi-year grant from the Irvine Foundation, four years ago.

Kent Nicholson, the former artistic director for The Magic Theatre in San Francisco, was hired a year later to oversee the project and help it grow.

"A play isn't a play until it is performed in front of an audience," Nicholson said.

With that principle, he debuted the New Works Festival in 2002. The festival, Nicholson said, is as much about helping playwrights spot flaws and perfect their work as it is about educating theatergoers about the different steps a play or musical must go through. For example, the festival will help clear up the differences between a read-through (actors generally sitting in chairs, reading the script) and a workshop (a staging of the show with minimal props and costumes).

"This helps them understand the process," Nicholson said. "The audience needs to take a leap of imagination."

TheatreWorks is one of the few playhouses in the U.S. that offers an annual festival dedicated to new works. The model used by South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa -- a festival of new plays that is anchored by one large production -- interested Nicholson the most.

This is the setup that has been offered to TheatreWorks patrons for the last few years. The anchor play this spring is "My Antonia," a story about young love and life on the Nebraska frontier.

The four other shows in this year's festival include: "The Water," a musical about a torrential rainstorm; "Party Come Here," a musical about a honeymoon gone awry in Rio de Janeiro; "Malaya," a political drama that explores colonialism and the human spirit; and "Coyote Creek Flat," a tale about a woman who needs to sell off a piece of her past before she remarries.

E-mail Julie O'Shea at joshea@mv-voice.com

Information

What:TheatreWorks 2004 New Works Festival

Where: Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St., all shows will be at Second Stage, with the exception of "My Antonia," which is booked for the Main Stage until April 25.

When: "My Antonia," Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m.; "The Water," Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday at 8:30 p.m.; "Party Come Here," Friday at 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 2:30 p.m., "Coyote Creek Flat," Saturday at 12 p.m. and Sunday at 6 p.m.; "Malaya," Saturday at 4 p.m.

Cost: Free for "Coyote Creek Flat" and "Malaya;" $10-$15 for "The Water" and "Party Come Here;" and $46.50-$49.50 for "My Antonia"

Call: 903-6000 or visit theatreworks.org

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