Whither Goest Thou America Readings of New American Plays

A Festival of New American Play Readings

 “Whither goest thou, America, in thy shiny car in the night?”
-Jack Kerouac, from On the Road

POSTPONED UNTIL 2021

Undermain presents its third series of readings of new American plays examining the American Landscape. Past festivals have brought the work of writers such as local writers Jonathan Norton and Blake Hackler as well as other American playwrights such as Barbara Hammond, Adrienne Kennedy, and Len Jenkin. In addition to staged readings, Undermain audiences get access to writers featured in the festival in post-show discussions with playwrights, directors and actors. Each week of the series will focus on a different playwright and play with staged readings by an ensemble cast. Audiences will have the opportunity to return each week of the series to experience a new work examining the American experience and asking the question, “Where are we going?”

The Centerpiece Production of the Festival:

He’s Born, He’s Borne
By David Rabe. Author in Attendance

Our workshop, which is being generously supported in part by a grant from TACA’s New Works Fund, will be an opportunity to work with David Rabe to develop his new play, He’s Born, He’s Borne in a workshop environment to be performed for an invited audience free from the pressures of premieres, openings  and critical reviews. The play will remain a work in progress with each performance incorporating the changes made along the way by Mr. Rabe working with director and Undermain company member Blake Hackler. This will be an opportunity for audiences to witness the developmental process of a play by a legendary writer of the American Theater. The play will have a full cast and design team to create the medieval world suggested by Mr. Rabe’s play. A world of agrarian human tribes as well as angels where death, in human form, roams the earth. There will be discussions with Mr. Rabe, director Blake Hackler and the cast, providing audiences with additional points of contact with the artists involved in the production. Through this process we hope to create a transformative pathway for Undermain as a place to workshop new ideas and approaches to the theater outside the demands and pressures of production.

READINGS

Second Hand Conversations With Irene: Remembering Long Enough
By Teresa Marrero. Author in Attendance

Second Hand Conversations with Irene: Remembering Long Enough explores the topic of living with dementia/Alzheimer’s through the story of two creative women who are nearing the end of their lives. Yet, their identities can still be discerned in spite of the fog.

Bright Boys
By Blake Hackler. Author in Attendance

Baptist minister Peter unwittingly exposes his family’s darkest secrets after he welcomes a young drifter into their home. When their teenage son learns the truth about his parents, Peter and his wife Sondra must confront their own shortcomings and keep their lives from going up in flames.

Feeding on Light
By Lenora Champagne. Author in Attendance

Nora is a curious writer who seeks to understand her friend and collaborator Katherine’s obsession with 20th-century French philosopher and activist Simone Weil. As their discussion deepens, Nora and Katherine embody scenes from Simone’s life in an attempt to communicate with her across time and space. Feeding on Light is based on playwright Lenora Champagne’s personal relationship and discussions with Undermain Theatre’s late Founding Artistic Director Katherine Owens, to whom the play is dedicated.