2021 Cold Read Festival

Credits

Curated by : Kyle Bass

Playwright-in-Residence : Kate Hamill

Solo Artist-in-Residence : Chesney Snow

Write Here Featured Playwright : Evan Starling-Davis

March 23 - March 28, 2021

Description

Description

The 2021 Cold Read Festival promises seven exciting virtual events that feature new work hot from the imaginations of some of the freshest voices writing for theatre today.

A full Festival pass is $15 and gives you access to all pre-recorded readings and live Zoom discussions with Festival artists.

NOTE TO SUBSCRIBERS:
The Cold Read Festival is a subscription benefit. There is no need to purchase or register. Additional information will be emailed to all subscribers.

Please note: Craft Q&A: The Art of Playwriting with Kate Hamill on March 28 is a free event that does not need a Festival Pass, but you must register in advance to receive a Zoom link. If you do purchase a Festival pass, you will automatically receive the link and do not need to register separately.

Content Warning: The readings contain adult language that may not be suitable for all audiences. Viewer discretion is advised.

READ THE PROGRAM HERE

PLAYWRIGHT-IN-RESIDENCE

Kate Hamill is an actor/playwright. Wall Street Journal Playwright of the Year, 2017, and one of the most-produced playwrights nationwide for 3 seasons running (2017-2020). Her plays include Pride & Prejudice; Sense & Sensibility; Vanity Fair; Mansfield Park; Little Women; Dracula; and Emma and Scarlet Letter (both upcoming; scheduled world premieres were postponed due to COVID-19). She is currently developing a new adaptation of The Odyssey for A.R.T., a Christmas play called Scrooge for Senate; several original plays (Prostitute Play –O’Neill NPC Semi-Finalist, The Party, The Piper -O’Neill NPC Finalist, PlayPenn Fellowship); and In the Mines (a folk musical). Her made-for-Zoom play BadAss GalBoss PowerHour (MANDATORY MEETING) will premiere with Primary Stages in the spring. www.kate-hamill.com

SOLO ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE

Chesney Snow is a Drama Desk winner and 3 time Artist in Residence at Harvard University. Most recently he wrote and appeared in Soil Beneath: An Empirical Decay for Primary Stages Off Broadway and Two River Theater’s production of Oo Bla Dee. Composer/lyricist for the McCarter Theatre and Long Wharf Theater's 2018 Crowns. His critically acclaimed choreopoem The Unwritten Law premiered at Dixon Place (NY) in 2017. A pioneering figure in American beatbox culture he originated the role of Boxman at Primary Stages and on Broadway in In Transit at Circle In The Square. Snow headlined Carnegie Hall twice with Distinguished Concerts International. Produced and starred in the music documentary American Beatboxer which was placed in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and numerous other archives throughout the United States.

FEATURED LOCAL PLAYWRIGHT

Evan Starling-Davis is a New York-based narrative artist, producer, and curator, excavating the everyday stories pushed beneath the margins of our society. As a digital-age, Black, and queer Afro-diasporic griot, Evan’s work breaches the hard facts, personal truths, and surreal realities we bury ourselves in and his interdisciplinary projects have been featured in numerous galleries, museums, and theaters internationally.

FESTIVAL CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Tuesday, March 23
ON THE FUTURE OF NEW PLAYS. Part of the Syracuse Symposium, this virtual panel of Cold Read artists offers a rare opportunity to witness how creative artists envision a future and develop new work. How do these writers generate new ideas? What will playwriting look like in post-Covid-19 America? How will their work impact the future of playwriting? Watch the recorded conversation.

Panelists include:

Kyle Bass, Syracuse Stage Associate Artistic Director and Cold Read Festival Curator

Kate Hamill, Festival Playwright-in-Residence

Chesney Snow, Festival Solo-Artist-in-Residence

Evan Starling-Davis, Write Here Featured Playwright

Robert Hupp, Syracuse Stage Artistic Director

Wednesday, March 24
COLD OPEN. A festival preview event that will feature conversations with Festival artists about their plans and goals for their work during the Festival. Watch a recording of the live discussion.

Thursday, March 25
UNDER CONSIDERATION. Join us for a reading of a new play by a cast of professional actors that is under consideration to be included in an upcoming season. Queen by Madhuri Shekar will be directed by Kareem Fahmy. Watch a recording of the live discussion with Bob Hupp, Kyle Bass, and Kareem Fahmy.

Friday, March 26
WRITE HERE. Featuring the work of a promising regional playwright, Madness, In The Clearing of Blue, by Evan Starling-Davis. Directed by Rufus Bonds Jr. Pre-Recorded Reading: Available to view 12:00 AM – 11:59 PM. Live Discussion: 8:30 PM, with Kyle Bass, Evan Starling-Davis, and Rufus Bonds Jr.

Saturday, March 27
SOLO ACT. A workshop production of a new piece, Upstream (aka Aquaplane) (working title), by performing artist Chesney Snow (with collaborator Faye Chiao). Pre-Recorded Performance Available to view 12:00 AM – 11:59 PM. Live Discussion: 8:30 PM, with Kyle Bass and Chesney Snow.

Sunday, March 28
CRAFT Q&A: THE ART OF PLAYWRITING WITH KATE HAMILL. Join Cold Read Festival's Playwright-in-Residence Kate Hamill for a virtual Q&A session on the craft of playwriting. This discussion will be moderated by Syracuse Stage associate artistic director and Cold Read Festival curator Kyle Bass. Live Discussion: 2:00 - 3:00 PM.

Please note: This is a free event that does not need a Festival Pass, but you must register in advance to receive a Zoom link. If you do purchase a Festival pass, you will automatically receive the link and do not need to register separately.

Sunday, March 28
DRAFT/PAGES. A reading of The Piper, a brand new play in progress by Kate Hamill, directed by Meredith McDonough. Pre-Recorded Reading: Available to view 12:00 AM – 11:59 PM. Live Discussion: 8:30 PM, with Kyle Bass, Bob Hupp, Kate Hamill, and Meredith McDonough.

The Piper was developed with the support of PlayPenn with the author as a Haas Fellow.

COLD READ BONUS

March 23 - 28
THE CUTANEOUS RABBIT ILLUSION. Available throughout the week will be a video recorded reading of a new play by Kyle Bass. Directed by Robert Hupp, the 30-minute one-act play stars Kate Hamill and Jason O’Connell as estranged lifelong friends who reunite at a wedding and confront the wounds, losses, and resentments of the past, testing the resilience, dependability, and adult emotional complexities of friendships forged in childhood. This special event is a fundraiser for the Cold Read Festival. It may be accessed free of charge with a donation suggested.

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