WHAT: On the Boards New Play Fest
WHEN: 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
CONTACT: info@thelavacenter.org or 413-376-8118 (voicemail/text)
GREENFIELD, MA — The LAVA Center’s festival of new play readings by local playwrights continues!
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.
Tickets are offered on a sliding scale between $8-$30, Card-to-Culture $2 and no one is turned away for lack of funds. To inquire about reserving a free seat, please contact LAVA at least 24 hours in advance, and please provide your name and the date you wish to attend. Note: The final event, “The Birth/Death Project” is free of charge (donations accepted).
Tickets are now available for every night of the play festival through the LAVA Center website; link here: https://www.tixtree.com/o/lava
The schedule:
Friday, June 12, 7 p.m. (6:30 p.m. doors)
“Sidney Truant” written by Vanessa Query, directed by Tracy Grammer and starring Helen Woods-Blake, Becca Mandel, Joanna Nix, Andrea CK, Ken von Geldern and Lara Terounzo
Sidney is a teenager who knows this typical suburban existence isn’t for her, but doesn’t quite know what IS for her. Jacky is a reclusive homesteader whose social life consists of selling their wares (wild edibles) to local farms. A mysterious young child brings these two misfits together. A buddy story that is also a philosophical look at our education, economic, and food systems.
Saturday, June 13, 7 p.m. (6:30 p.m. doors)
“Come Slowly — Emily!” written by Allison Reding, directed by Jesse Fair and starring Helen Woods-Blake, Soe Noire, Eileen Ruby, Maya Quiñones and Bart Bales
Audrey, a senior at Mount Holyoke College, is desperate for artistic success as a poet and thinks that an MFA acceptance will be the validation she needs. She’ll try anything to add a creative edge to her application, including conducting a seance to contact her favorite poet, Emily Dickinson. With the help of her roommate Jax and a witch named Olivija, the three young women successfully summon the ghost of America’s beloved poet – but she won’t return to the afterlife. High jinks abound in this supernatural comedy as the women try to lay Emily’s wayward soul to rest, and along the way Audrey learns the true importance of art.
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 and starring Holly Sroka, Joseph Wright, Gavin Mariani
This is a 3 character immersive spectacle-play. It is an emergent experiential work focused on presence within a collective body of individuals engaging with an embodied practice. How do we embody and understand the impact of our (white) assimilation as a cultural phenomenon of removal, erasure, and denial – as a living construct within our peculiar yet exceptional american institutions? with the inclusion of our own human BEing selves? This spectacle (specter) play is an immersive full-body interconnection with all members of the production performance. The ceremony ritual rite is located within the action, movement, and music and is fundamental to the structure of the performance and production.
Saturday, June 20, 7 p.m. (6:30 p.m. doors)
“Calling” written by Patricia Crosby, directed by Penney Hulten and starring Ryn Griffin, John Reese, Nick de Ruiter, Sibley Herzog, Katie Hertel, Meg Riordan, Joanna Nix
A family struggles with a father’s allegiance to a cause as the world comes apart around them.
Friday, June 26, 7 p.m. (6:30 p.m. doors)
“The Birth/Death Project” presented by Real Live Theatre
This is a free event with an optional donation, and masks are required.
The only thing all humans share is that we are all born and we all die. Yet we often feel disconnected, lonely, or isolated in our journeys through these experiences.
The Birth/Death Project seeks to change that, one story at a time, weaving our truths together.
For more information, updates and tickets, please visit https://thelavacenter.org/on-
On the Boards is made possible by grants from the local cultural councils of Amherst, Bernardston, Buckland, Conway, Deerfield, Gill, Greenfield, Leyden, Northfield, Shelburne, and Sunderland.
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