PlayFest Santa Barbara

04/23/2023

We had a very successful Reading last evening of Honoree Playwright Jon Klein’s FAITHLESS. We also held a very engaged audience talkback with the playwright and cast.

Our host & partner, the Santa Barbara Central Library, was again completely supportive in our fourth iteration. Many thanks to Jace Turner, our library liaison. One could not have a more supportive partner.

In addition to the evening Reading, we held a playwriting workshop earlier in the day with Jon Klein sharing his experience as a working playwright, and guiding participants in writing exercises.

Great thanks goes out to the cast who, after only three rehearsals, gave a very impressive performance. We say bravo/brava to Leesa Beck, Joan Chaem, Peter Crawford, Justin Davanzo, and Felicia Stehmeier Hall.

Lastly, as was noted in conversation with the audience, it was pointed out that two former Honoree Playwrights, E.M. Lewis and Jerry Slaff, had professional productions in performance that night of plays that were supported through their development by PlayFest.

04/10/2023

April 10, 2023

Santa Barbara Public Library and PlayFest Santa Barbara Announce 2023 Reading and Workshop

PlayFest Santa Barbara, under the Artistic Direction of R. Michael Gros, in partnership with the Santa Barbara Public Library presents the Tenth Annual Festival of New Plays. The staged reading of Jon Klein’s Honoree Play, FAITHLESS, will take place at the Santa Barbara Central Library on Saturday, APRIL 22, at 6 p.m. FAITHLESS was selected as the 2022 Honoree play following an international competition.

This is the fourth year that PlayFest has partnered with the Santa Barbara Public Library, which offers free, all-ages programming to the Santa Barbara community. “Partnering with the Santa Barbara Public Library, and hosting the event at the Central Library, enables PlayFest to reach the greater Santa Barbara community and offers participants a unique opportunity to learn about the playwriting process,” stated Artistic Director, Michael Gros.

FAITHLESS, a comedy/drama takes place in the present. FAITHLESS is about an aging atheist named Gus, recovering from cancer, who is forced to deal with two grown stepchildren: a Presbyterian minister who is suffering from a crisis of faith, and a young woman who seems to have had a glimpse of the afterlife after a head injury. Gus is also dismayed by his adopted child, a teenager who suddenly decides she’d like to be a nun.

A post reading talkback between the audience and the playwright will immediately follow the reading. The reading is free and open to the public, and will be held in the Faulkner Gallery at the Santa Barbara Central Library, located at 40 East Anapamu Street.

The 2023 Festival also incorporates a free playwriting workshop on Saturday, April 22. The workshop will be taught by the Honoree playwright, Jon Klein, and is open to the general public ages 16 and up. Through a series of short individual and group writing exercises, workshop participants will explore and deepen their playwriting skills and begin to create a short written theatrical work. Jon will also share aspects of his professional playwriting career. No experience is necessary, however, an interest in playwriting is a plus. The workshop will also take place at the Santa Barbara Central Library in the Faulkner Gallery (East) from 10:00 a.m. until 11:30 a.m.

The workshop is free, however, reservations are required as capacity in the workshop is limited in order to assure more individualized coaching. Reserve your spot in the Library’s calendar.

Honoree Playwright and Workshop Leader biography:

Jon Klein is the author of over thirty produced plays, produced Off-Broadway and at many prestigious regional theatres, including Actors Theatre of Louisville, Arena Stage in D.C., Arden Theatre in Philadelphia, Center Stage in Baltimore, South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Alley Theatre in Houston, A Contemporary Theatre in Seattle, Seattle Children's Theatre, and many others.

For a complete bio go to Jon Klein’s website: www.jon-klein.com/about

For more information contact:

R. Michael Gros
[email protected]
805-710-0537

Jace Turner, Adult Education & Information Services Librarian
Santa Barbara Public Library
[email protected]
805-564-5653

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Jon Klein is the author of over thirty produced plays, produced Off-Broadway and at many prestigious regional theatres, including Actors Theatre of Louisville, Arena Stage in D.C., Arden Theatre in Philadelphia, Center Stage in Baltimore, South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, Alliance Theatre in Atla...

03/15/2023

As the cliche goes, the competition this year was extremely competitive. In fact we wish to recognize a few more playwrights than we would normally. We had submittals from as far away as New Zealand and Canada, with many states also being represented. The themes and theatrical structures were as expansive as the imaginations of our playwrights.

The play selected as our Honoree Play for 2023 is FAITHLESS, by Jon Klein. There will be a reading of his play held at the Santa Barbara Main Library on the evening of April 22nd. Time is TBD.

We are recognizing the following as Finalists:

LIKE MONEY IN THE BANK, by Jerry Polnar
THE DOCENT, by Donna Kaz
THE BOLD AND BOB, by Jean Ciampi

We are also recognizing as an Honorable Mention, A LOVELY DAY TO GET RID OF A BODY.

On a more difficult note, this is the last year that we will have an open competition. The environment in which we created PlayFest Santa Barbara has become too difficult to maintain at this time at the level to which we have always held ourselves. We may, in the future, consider plays for consideration by invitation. We will shift next year, to support the development of local high school playwrights. They are the future of theatre and need support and encouragement.

To all the playwrights who have submitted plays over the previous ten years, we thank you.

Please keep writing!

10/18/2022

We are accepting scripts for the 2023 Festival until the end of October. Please mail them to PO Box 1097, Santa Barbara, CA, 93116. Best of luck. And keep writing!

09/14/2022

Playwriting workshop 2022 led by Honoree Playwright Jerry Slaff. Hosted by the Santa Barbara Main Public Library, PlayFest partner.

04/13/2022

Coming up April 30th!

04/11/2022

Santa Barbara Public Library and PlayFest Santa Barbara Announce 2022 Reading and Workshop

PlayFest Santa Barbara, under the Artistic Direction of R. Michael Gros, in partnership with the Santa Barbara Public Library presents the (covid-delayed) Ninth Annual Festival of New Plays. The staged reading of Jerry Slaff's Honoree Play, LIES, will take place at the Santa Barbara Central Library on Saturday, APRIL 30th, at 6 p.m. LIES was selected as the 2021 Honoree play following an international competition. The Readers for this event are seasoned local actors Leesa Beck, Brian Harwell, and E. Bonnie Lewis

This is the third year that PlayFest has partnered with the Santa Barbara Public Library, which offers free, all-ages programming to the Santa Barbara community. “Partnering with the Santa Barbara Public Library, and hosting the event at the Central Library, enables PlayFest to reach the greater Santa Barbara community and offers participants a unique opportunity to learn about the playwriting process,” stated Artistic Director, Michael Gros.

LIES takes place in 1950 as an inexperienced public defender tries to win the parole of a notorious German World War II radio propagandist who has a hard time telling the truth. Or does she? Are her truths all lies? Or are her lies really the truth? And what happens when you can no longer tell the two apart? Though set in 1950, LIES is as timely as today’s Washington tweets and television and radio talk shows. LIES is an allegory about lying in government, and a meditation on what is actually the truth.

A post reading talkback between the audience and the playwright will immediately follow the reading. The reading is free and open to the public, and will be held in the Fireplace Room at the Santa Barbara Central Library, located at 40 East Anapamu Street.

The 2022 Festival also incorporates a free playwriting workshop on Saturday, April 30th. The workshop will be taught by the Honoree playwright, Jerry Slaff, and is open to the general public and writers of all ages. With the lively guidance of Jerry Slaff, the workshop participants, through a series of individual and group writing experiments, will explore and deepen their playwriting skills and begin to create a short written theatrical work. No experience is necessary, however, an interest in playwriting is a plus. The workshop will also take place at the Santa Barbara Central Library in the Technology Lab from 10:30 a.m. until 12:00 p.m.

The workshop is free, however, reservations are required as capacity in the workshop is limited in order to assure more individualized coaching. Follow the links to reserve a workshop slot.

Workshop registration: https://santabarbaraca.evanced.info/signup/EventDetails?EventId=36024

Honoree Playwright and Workshop Leader biography:

Jerry Slaff, an award-winning playwright, has written numerous plays, some of which have been produced off-Broadway and in multiple regional theatres. His major plays include CASA NEUROTICA (off-Broadway), PEANUTS AND CRACKERJACKS (multiple regional theatre productions), GRAND UNION, PERSONAL HISTORIES, PETEY’S PARADE, LOST SOULS, and STANISLAVSKI’S METHODS.

LIES is the Honoree Play for PlayFest Santa Barbara 2021. It was a Semifinalist, O’Neill Theatre Conference; Winner, Grand Prize, 88th annual Writers’ Digest Writing Competition, 2019; Finalist, SigWorks reading series, Signature Theater, Arlington, Va.; staged Reading, Baltimore Playwrights Festival, December 2019; staged Reading at Scripted Brussels theater festival, Belgium, May 2020; staged Reading, HRC Showcase Theater, Hudson, N.Y., Sept. 2021; Production, Attic Salt Theater, Asheville, N.C., 2022 (scheduled).

Additional recognition for Jerry Slaff includes being a Semifinalist, 2020 Austin Film Festival playwriting competition. Semi-finalist, Garry Marshall Theatre, Burbank, Calif., 2018; Honorable Mention, 87th annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competition, July 2018; Second Round, Austin Film Festival, Aug. 2018; Second Round, Phoenix Theater, Nov. 2018; Finalist, Playwrights First competition, 2019.
For more information contact:

R. Michael Gros
[email protected]

Jace Turner, Adult Education & Information Services Librarian
Santa Barbara Public Library
[email protected]
805-564-5653

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04/05/2022

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11/17/2021

PlayFest is pleased to announce that LIES, by Jerry Slaff has been selected as the 2021 Festival Honoree.

SYNOPSIS
Fresh out of law school, Benny, an inexperienced public defender, is facing the case of his life - trying to win the parole of a notorious German World War II radio propagandist who has a hard time telling the truth. Or does she? Are her truths all lies, or are her lies really the truth? And what happens when you can no longer tell the two apart?

Set in 1950 but as timely as today’s Washington tweets, LIES is an allegory about lying in government, and a meditation on what truth actually is.

Bio:

Born in Brooklyn before Brooklyn was hip, Jerry Slaff’s play Lies was a semifinalist for the O’Neill Theater Center’s National Playwrights Conference this year, a finalist for Signature Theater’s Sigworks series, and was the grand prize winner of the 2019 Writer's Digest Writing Competition, over 7,000 entries in 9 genres. His most recent play, Grand Union, was a finalist for the Austin Film Festival’s playwriting competition in 2020. His first play, Peanuts and Cracker Jack, was produced at the Cleveland Playhouse, with follow up productions at the Arkansas Repertory and Mint Theater in New York. Other plays include Casa Neurotica (New York Theater Festival), Heaven (Sandy Spring Theater Festival), Lost Souls (Baltimore Playwrights Festival), Stanislavski's Methods (Interrobang Theater Company, Baltimore), Petey’s Parade (Baltimore Playwrights Festival), and Personal Histories (Theater on the Lake, Md.). He is a member of the Dramatists Guild and is represented by the Susan F. Schulman Literary Agency in New York. All his plays are available on the New Play Exchange and his website, readermeetauthor.org.

10/15/2021

I am pleased to share with you that the three finalists selected for the 2021 Festival are:

"I and the Emperor" Collin Speer Crowley, Connecticut, Drama

"Lies" Jerry Slaff, Maryland, Drama

"Bridal Shop Confessions" Lindsey Brown, New Zealand, Comedy

Given the limitations of the remaining time for this year, we do expect a final decision shortly.

Regards,

Michael

R Michael Gros
Artistic Director

08/31/2021

After much delay due primarily to the many challenges faced by theatre and its practitioners from the ravages of Covid, PlayFest is looking forward to presenting our 2021 Honoree play before the end of 2021. Given the upsurge in Covid, just as we were starting to reopen a bit here on the Central California Coast, it is highly unlikely that we will be able to present the reading of our Honoree play, live, before an audience. However, we shall persevere and present the reading on-line if we must.

In order to move forward we have (finally) reviewed all of our Festival 2021 submissions and are pleased to announce the semi-finalists. These scripts will have another round of review this month as we determine the three finalists, followed quickly by the determination of our 2021 Honoree play.

THE HUMAN COMEDY by Thom Babbes, California
BRIDAL SHOP CONFESSIONS by Lindsey Brown, New Zealand
I AND THE EMPEROR by Colin Speer Crowley, California
WORDS by Tony Muscio, California
BIRTHDAY CLUB by Phil Olson, California
LIES by Jerry Slaff, Maryland

We thank the many playwrights, lyricists, and composers who submitted their work to us many, many months ago. Please continue to create new work as the world needs theatre now, more than ever.

Warm regards and stay safe out there.

R. Michael Gros
Artistic Director

01/15/2021

It has been a very trying time for all of us in the arts during the pandemic. If you submitted a play for consideration for the 2021 Festival, know we are moving at a very glacial pace and that we will announce the Festival Honoree in late winter or early spring. Given the expected delays in vaccine administration and opening of public spaces for live performance, we are not likely to present the Honoree play until the end of summer or early fall. Stay safe out there and keep writing brilliant plays.