WHAT: On the Boards: New Play Fest
WHEN: Thursday, June 4, 6 p.m.; Friday, June 5, 7 p.m.; Saturday, June 6, 7 p.m.; Friday, June 12, 7 p.m.; Saturday, June 13, 7 p.m.; Friday, June 19, 7 p.m.; Saturday, June 20, 7 p.m.; Friday, June 26, 7 p.m.
WHERE: The LAVA Center, 324 Main St., Greenfield
GREENFIELD, MA — The LAVA Center is excited to announce its fourth annual new play reading festival, On the Boards! These readings offer a unique focus on a play’s script, as they will be free of technical elements.
This year’s festival will include new and developmental works by thirteen Massachusetts-based playwrights.
Explore the world of theater by experiencing new works coming to life every night in this festival of readings of new works in several stages of development. This year, a different play is performed every evening, ensuring a variety of captivating experiences for audiences, actors and creatives.
On four weekends in June there will be readings of plays that will culminate in a talkback session with the playwright. We welcome our audience to be part of the playwriting process by offering helpful, targeted feedback. Food and refreshments from local restaurants will be offered every evening after the talkback sessions.
There’s a different play performed every evening, so come out to them all! Get a taste of the wonderful developmental theater creatives we have right here in our state.
Our kickoff event takes place on Thursday, June 4, 6 p.m. with a program of table reads, more casual presentations of shorter selections from six plays in development, also followed by talkback sessions.
Our last evening of the festival on Friday, June 26, 7 p.m. includes a performance by Real Live Theatre’s Birth/Death Project. Real Live Theatre is developing a new community-based performance and oral history project exploring human experiences of birth and death. Stories from people across our Valley’s many communities will inspire an original performance piece offering us all deeper connection to our shared humanity. On June 26 The Birth/Death Project will present a sharing of the work-in-progress, which will become a full production in 2027. Check out Real Live Theatre’s Birth/Death page to learn more and to sign up for an interview to add your story to the project! www.reallivetheatre.net/birth-death-project
Co-producers Ash Goverman and Clara Witty are very excited for audiences to experience these plays. Ash Goverman is Managing Director of the LAVA Center and Clara Witty is Programming Director. Both have worked with the playwrights, directors, and actors this year and are ready for the festival to open in June.
Ash Goverman remarks, “I’m so happy to be participating in LAVA’s On The Boards festival for the third year. This festival holds such an important place in the artistic ecosystem of the Pioneer Valley. When I first moved here in 2024, this festival welcomed me as a director with open arms, connecting me quickly to fellow artists who I’m still working with today. Already in our pool of talented, dedicated directors, we have some folks who have just moved here and I am so excited to be facilitating their introduction to fellow theatremakers. Over the years we have been expanding opportunities for more plays, playwrights, actors and directors to participate. This year’s plays are trying new things, casting the audience as active participants in unconventional but impactful ways, exploring new concepts that we haven’t seen on a stage before.”
Clara Witty says, “I’m excited to participate and co-produce the On the Boards festival for the fourth year. I’m pleased with the many submissions of plays we received and am excited to start seeing the plays come to life through the work of the directors and actors. I’ve participated in On the Boards for the past three years as an actor and have thoroughly enjoyed acting and working with my directors and playwrights. Seeing the playwright light up during the performance and receiving fruitful suggestions during the talkback session always makes it worth it. I hope the festival is just as enriching this year for all participants and audiences.”
The schedule (more details to come!):
Thursday, June 4, 6 p.m. (5:30 p.m. doors): Table Read Festival Kickoff — Playwrights presenting 15-minute slices of their work as table reads for targeted feedback; directed by Ash Goverman.
“Dawn and Dorothy in the Afterlife” by Eva Schegulla
“Lone Wolf” by Dan Takacs
“Death by Chocolate” by Jane Denitz Smith
“more like you” by Foster Finch Schrader
“The Walk” by Lionel Audette
“Over My Dead Body” by Richard Carmelo Ballon
Friday, June 5, 7 p.m. (6:30 p.m. doors)
“A Rare Sight” written by Jem O’Hara & directed by Lauren Stock
“Phoenix” written by Jan Maher & directed by Liam Castellan
Saturday, June 6, 7 p.m. (6:30 p.m. doors)
“After the Whales Spoke” written & directed by Molly Brennan
Friday, June 12, 7 p.m. (6:30 p.m. doors)
“Sidney Truant” written by Vanessa Query & directed by Tracy Grammer
Saturday, June 13, 7 p.m. (6:30 p.m. doors)
“Come Slowly — Emily!” written by Allison Reding & directed by Jesse Fair
Friday, June 19, 7 p.m. (6:30 p.m. doors)
“The Hungry Ghosts in the WhiteWash(er) Machine … A (W)hole ReStor(e)ative Practice in ReHears(e)al … A Both/And/Or/With Paradox ReFrame” written by CL Dukes & directed by Lauren Stock
Saturday, June 20, 7 p.m. (6:30 p.m. doors)
“Calling” written by Patricia Crosby & directed by Penney Hulten
Friday, June 26, 7 p.m. (6:30 p.m. doors)
“The Birth/Death Project” presented by Real Live Theatre
For more information, updates and advance tickets when they are announced, please visit https://thelavacenter.org/on-the-boards/
The LAVA Center is a community arts space in Greenfield, MA whose mission is to create opportunities and build inclusive community in and through the arts and humanities. We are focused on making The LAVA Center a space where all artists, including marginalized communities and individuals, can have their voices heard. The LAVA Center is located at 324 Main St., in downtown Greenfield, MA. https://thelavacenter.org