2024 Judith Champion New Work Series
October 21, 28, 29, 2024
The inaugural Judith Champion New Work Series will feature plays by Shayok Misha Chowdhury, James Ijames, and Else Went and will take place on October 21, October 28, and October 29 in the LuEsther Hall, with matinee and evening readings each day.
The Judith Champion New Work Series features public readings of exciting new plays from a dynamic group of visionary playwrights. Through the Series, playwrights are invited to develop a play early in its generative process with a team of professional collaborators and The Public Theater’s New Work Development staff.
Learn more about the program here.
CALENDAR.
Reserve Your Seat
The readings are free and seating is first-come, first-served. Reserve your seat now!
PROXY
Written by James Ijames
Directed by Saheem Ali
Dramaturgy by Jack Phillips Moore
Monday, October 21 at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Janese, a psychotherapist welcomes a new client, Clint, who claims to have committed a grisly crime. Janese’s son Grover is visiting and has noted an uptick in police presence in their little Black enclave while the whole city searches for two small boys gone missing. With each session, Janese discovers the truth about her client and the missing boys, and things that seemed black and white become very grey.
DEGENERATES
Written by Else Went
Directed by Emma Went
Dramaturgy by Sarah Lunnie
Monday, October 28 at 1:00 p.m. and Tuesday, October 29 at 7:30 p.m.
The boys are not doing so hot. In an obscure corner of the internet, they form a community on the bedrock of their shared and infinite miseries, offering each other proof that the game is rigged against men; it was over before it began, they will never be loved, better just to lay down and rot. When an unexpected relationship begins to unravel their dismal fraternity, the consequences of their fatalism are revealed—some may get out, and some may not. How much would it hurt to come alive again?
RONNIE AND KRIPA
Written and Directed by Shayok Misha Chowdhury
Dramaturgy by Sarah Lunnie
Monday, October 28 at 7:30 p.m. and Tuesday, October 29 at 2:30 p.m.
Ronnie just turned 30, and his dad is dying. Kripa just turned 40, and she’s getting a divorce. Ronnie’s an eternally single gay man. Kripa’s biological clock is ticking. When a mutual friend introduces them, they decide to try having a kid together. Follow them on their unlikely IVF journey. It’s a new kind of rom-com about making music, making the best of things, and making a new kind of Indian American family.
Creative.
SPONSORS.
The Judith Champion New Work Series is made possible through generous support from the Judith Champion New Work Development Fund and Mel Litoff. Judith Champion was a fierce arts advocate, who left a legacy of support for new voices in the American Theater.