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For 35 years we have presented new plays, showcasing the works of beginner and seasoned playwrights and enlisting the talents of local theatre companies, directors, actors, stage managers, and crew. These photos show just a few of this year's terrific plays!

Every play a world premiere. Every play a story never before told.

Your generosity has made that possible! We sincerely thank you and ask that you help us bring more new stories to life. Any donation, no matter the amount, is greatly appreciated!

Mark your calendar - put us on your list for Give Big Pittsburgh! On Tuesday, Dec. 2, CLICK HERE:
https://www.givebigpittsburgh.com/organizations/pittsburgh-new-works-festival

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Sanctified Explores Through Music How Diverse Attitudes are Transformed into an Inspired Unity

Marissa Lily, Mils James, Manny Walker, Emir Hardy, Chuck Timbers, Cheryl El Walker, Katy Cotten & Brenda Marks Set by Mark Clayton Southers Credit all Photos: Kim El One of the many things live theater does well is taking its audience to different places, times and moods through the power of story-telling. While this is a fairly obvious observation, this thought became especially poignant when, over a period of less than 24 hours, when I found myself on board a battleship in late 18 th century Portsmouth, England, then, 17 hours later, walking into a small Black church in rural South Carolina in the present day. The vehicles for this geographic time travel to places and times worlds apart were Gilbert and Sullivan’s comic opera, “H.M. S. Pinafore” and playwright Javon Johnson’s “Sanctified.” Both works, while musical comedies with morals to the story, came from diverse and rich cultural backgrounds. I’ve already published my review of Pinafore on my arts and enterta...

Review of The First Lady- An Autocrat Gets Her Comeuppance

Elizabeth Elias Huffman as First Lady and Doren Elias as Elish Photo Credit PICT Theatre PICT Theatre’s U.S. premiere staging of Turkish/French playwright, Sedef Ecer’s, political satire The First Lady opens on a government ministers meeting in a hypothetical country somewhere in Mesopotamia. Seen on video on a pair of screens on either side of the stage, the trio of officials (Art DeConsillis, Ricardo Vila-Roger and John Dolphin) scramble for a solution to the large-scale demonstrations taking place in the capital streets against their authoritarian regime, The president has fled the country, and the crisis seems to be growing larger with every passing hour. “What do we do?” they ask one another in desperation. They decide to enlist the help of the countr...

Merrily We Roll Along - A Children’s Ditty No More

Marnie Quick as Beth, Dan Mayhak as Frank, Catherine Kolos as Mary, NathanielYost as Charley and David leong as Joe Credit: Deana Muro Judging by the full and rich sound of the first notes music director, Douglas Levine gets from his eight-piece orchestra, you have to assume Front Porch Theatricals is giving its audience a exemplary production of Merrily We Roll Along. And you’d be right. Off to a good start musically, the show goes on to feature some fine vocal and acting skills from its cast of, would you believe, 19. Talk about a challenge. In her directorial debut no less, actor and educator, Daina Michelle Griffith, corrals this expansive cast with the skill a Catholic nun herding a group of grade schoolers to daily mass. Only this is no throng of pre-teenagers but a horde of professionals with talent galore up to the task of bringing Broadway‘s legendary Stephen Sondheim‘s work to life. The musical...

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--- Give Big Pittsburgh is Tuesday, December 2 ---