New Works Festival

Presented on Apr. 25-29, Barnelle Theatre

The LMU Theater Arts Department's New Works Festival is a theatrical surprise package of original short plays written, directed, acted, designed and produced by students. A series of eight plays will be performed five times over the course of four days.

With eight plays in production at the same time, the New Works Festival brings together multiple talents of the theater department in one presentation. Plays are selected from a campus-wide competition and represent a wide range of styles and genres from comedy, tragedy and horror to the experimental, the political, and the purely ridiculous. Come and be surprised. Doris Baizley serves at the dramaturg for the festival.

Act 1

Death by Lean Cuisine

Written by Dierdre Durken
Directed by Isabelle Gremillion

Cast

Ry Gaffney (Larry), Maleah Goldberg (Gabby), Lillian O’Brien (Melissa)

Basically Married

Written by Isabel Ngo
Directed by Conner Correria

Cast

Dan Britton (Jude), Sebastian Segura (Ralph), Cecille Forsyth (Lina), Anna Mueller (Kit)

Stalling

Written by Amanda Nahin
Directed by Maren English

Cast

Lillian O’Brien (Emma), Callie Yahyavi (Cara)

In The Land of Dreams

Written by Leilani Reyes
Directed by Lara Goncalves

Cast

Mallory Higgins (Eleanor), Blake Weise (Magician), Garrett Alvord (Ben), Olivia Sikora (Carson), Ketino Christopher (Cecelia)

Act 2

Fireworks Without Dynamite

Written by Christopher Perpich
Directed by Conner Correria

Cast

Bridger Caicedo (Richard), Sierra Hitchcock (Elenor)

Stop Calling Me Deborah

Written by Eden Rousso
Directed by Tiffani Williams

Cast

Ketino Christopher (Rina), Cassidy Kepp (DJ), Sebastian Segura (Waiter)

Grudges And Dragons

Written by Sasha Dmitrieva
Directed by Kat Connell

Cast

Jessica Hadley (Holly), Aaishat Kehlani (Emma), Lillian O’Brien (Jamie), Garrett Alvord (Kendall)

You Could Be In Love With Brandon Wilbert

Written by Caroline Reilly
Directed by Kate Bianco

Cast

Ry Gaffney (Brandon), Meighan LaRocca (Carol)

Production Team

Kevin Wetmore (Academic Advisor), Lawrence Azara (Producer/Production Manager), Doris Baizley (Dramaturg), Maureen Weiss (Design Mentor), Jason Sheppard (Technical Director), Patricia McMahon (Costume Shop Manager), John Burton (Prop Master), Robert Hillig (Master Electrician/Lighting Design Mentor), Giselle Durand (Lighting Designer, You Could Be In Love With Brandon Wilbert), Olivia Twiford (Lighting Designer, Stop Calling Me Deborah), Quinn Williams (Lighting Designer, Basically Married), Niall Sulcer (Lighting Designer, Grudges And Dragons), Preston Simpson (Lighting Designer, Fireworks Without Dynamite), Mateo Rudich (Lighting Designer, Death By Lean Cuisine), Maje Adams (Lighting Designer, In The Land Of Dreams), Derby Reeves (Lighting Designer, Stalling), Matt Mangione (Set Designer, You Could Be In Love With Brandon Wilbert, Stalling), Jesse Yu (Set Designer, Stop Calling Me Deborah, Basically Married), Sofia Cassidy (Set Designer, Grudges And Dragons, Fireworks Without Dynamite), Juliet Shelton (Set Designer, Death By Lean Cuisine, In The Land Of Dreams), Alan Corvaia (Costume Designer, You Could Be In Love With Brandon Wilbert, Fireworks Without Dynamite), Lisa Lawrence (Costume Designer, Stop Calling Me Deborah, Death By Lean Cuisine, In The Land Of Dreams), Sylvia Yang (Costume Designer, Basically Married, Grudges And Dragons, Stalling), Preston Simpson (Sound Designer), Tal Ovadya (Light Board Operator), Dan Levy (Sound Board Operator), Brendan Flynn, Juliet Shelton, Rett Canon, Cameron Allen, Chris Lorey, Juan Bernal, Elijah Scott, Mikail Simmons (Running Crew), Priscilla Moreno, Emily Bader, Kali Victor, Gabriel Kennedy (Wardrobe Crew), Alexandra Irby (Stage Manager, Death By Lean Cuisine), Shannon O’Kane (Stage Manager, Basically Married), Lindsey Gartner (Stage Manager, Stalling), Colette Mendoza (Stage Manager, In The Land Of Dreams), Alexander Dalton (Stage Manager, Fireworks Without Dynamite), Natalie Robertson (Stage Manager, Stop Calling Me Deborah), Derby Reeves (Stage Manager, Grudges And Dragons), Olivia Twiford (Stage Manager, You Could Be In Love With Brandon Wilbert), Sarah Sawyer (Assistant Stage Manager, You Could Be In Love With Brandon Wilbert, Stalling), Tyler Faison (Assistant Stage Manager, Stop Calling Me Deborah, In The Land Of Dreams), Rigel Blatt (Assistant Stage Manager, Basically Married, Death By Lean Cuisine), Sofia Cassidy (Assistant Stage Manager, Grudges And Dragons, Fireworks Without Dynamite)