AACT NewPlayFest 2024 World Premieres AACT NewPlayFest continues its success with producing original plays as world premieres across the country. All winning plays are available for production through Dramatic Publishing Company, following each play’s NewPlayFest premiere. Here are the winning plays of the 2024 cycle. Criminal Mischief, by William Cameron Freddy’s in love with Angie and she’s in love with him. The problem? Angie’s married to Spencer, Freddy’s older brother. This sets off a series of comical yet criminal misadventures, putting the whole family in the sights of Detective Lieutenant Alice Ford, who’s got issues of her own. Criminal Mischief takes a humorous look at love and sex, family and forgiveness, crime and punishment. William Cameron is a playwright, director, actor, and educator. His plays have been performed around the country, including Theatre 40 in Los Angeles, the Harold Clurman Theatre in New York City, and the Curious Theatre Company in Denver. Bill’s plays include Violet Sharp, a prize-winning drama of the Lindbergh kidnapping (Concord Theatricals); Truth Be Told (Stanley Drama Award, 2020), a drama confronting the mass shooting epidemic; and Every Livin’ Soul (Winner, Dayton Playhouse FutureFest 2022), a tale of Depression-era crime and punishment. In his 31-year tenure as Professor of Theatre and Communication Arts at Washington & Jefferson College, he founded the Pennsylvania school’s first academic theatre program and directed over 40 student productions. The Sauk, Jonesville, Michigan February 2-11, 2024 The Red Flags, by Catherine Castellani Happily married Philip and Chloe want all their friends and family to be as well-coupled as they are, especially Phil’s psychotic little brother Ric and Chloe’s commitment-shy best friend Gabrielle. The match begins on a breezy note, but the darker reasons that Ric and Gabrielle have resisted coupledom won’t be going away. Despite Philip and Chloe’s belated horror that they started this at all, Ric and Gabrielle go down a road of mutual fascination, culminating in a proposal that courts all kinds of bad luck. Catherine Castellani’s plays include Level Up, Possession, 2Y20M, In Search of Lost Time, The Red Flags, The Mongoose and the Cobra, Windsor Terrace, and The Bigsley Project. Her work has been developed by HB Studios, The Valdez/ Last Frontier Theatre Conference, Dixon Place, Naked Angels Tuesdays@9, The Nora Salon, Bloom, and Centenary Stage. Her 10-minute plays have been produced nationwide, including at Actors Theatre of Louisville, City Theatre (Miami), The ArtsCenter (Carrboro, NC), and The Public Theater (New York City). Catherine is a two-time Fellow of the MacDowell Colony, and one-time Ucross Foundation resident. catherinecastellani.com Verona Area Community Theater, Verona, Wisconsin February 8-17, 2024 I Thought I Knew You, by Philip Kaplan Cody has exploded a van in Louisville, killing himself and five other people. Jen, his sister, returns to the family home to comfort her devastated parents, and encounters Cody’s ghost— or is it only a delusion? What happened to Cody? Who’s to blame, and does it matter? How does a family move forward from tragedy? continued on page 32 30 AACT SPOTLIGHT
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