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The Long Beach Shakespeare Company is ushering in what it describes as “bold new voices” in its New Works Festival beginning this weekend at the Helen Borgers Theatre in Bixby Knolls.
Three of the festival’s 12 new plays will debut this weekend, with the rest on weekends in June and September.
“Each weekend invites audiences into an intimate theatrical experience where new scripts are brought to life through staged readings and workshop-style presentations — offering a rare glimpse into the creative process as it unfolds in real time,” the theater says.
Holly Leveque, artistic director of Long Beach Shakespeare Company, said the purpose of the festival is to provide a platform for both emerging and established playwrights to develop original work.
“By championing new work, we honor the legacy of theater as a living, evolving art form — where today’s creations become tomorrow’s unforgettable stories,” she said.
The New Works Festival will be the theater’s fourth annual since 2023, when Leveque became the theater’s artistic director and wanted to add the festival and a poetry series to the theater’s regular season of Shakespeare plays and radio shows.
Courtesy photo
This weekend’s new festival plays feature a high school reunion, a futuristic brain rewiring and a true story of a bloody clash between labor and big business.
“Hold On” by Robert Weibezahl is about long-buried truths emerging as two long-estranged friends reconnect in a classroom down the hall from their 25th high school reunion. Directed by Cameron Kauffman, the show runs Friday, May 15 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, May 17 at 1 p.m.
“A Wire in Mind” by Michael J.M. Canas and directed by Rose Kim is set in the future, about a family installing a home-recording device to help with their father’s progressing Alzheimer’s disease. But then a daughter begins to rewire her father’s memories to keep him alive… The show runs Saturday, May 16 at 2 p.m. and Sunday, May 17 at 8 p.m.
“Ludlow Massacre” by Darren Andrew Nash is based on a true story of “one of the bloodiest clashes between labor and big business in North American history,” the theater says. A reporter embeds with striking miners and becomes involved in a dangerous dispute with the rich and powerful, including John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Directed by Benjamin Pohlmeier, the show will run Saturday, May 16 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, May 17 at 4 p.m.
The New Works Festival will then continue June 5-7 and September 18-20, with four or more new plays on each of those weekends.
“Audiences can expect a diverse lineup of original plays spanning genres, styles and perspectives—from intimate character studies to bold, imaginative storytelling,” the theater says. “The festival offers a unique opportunity to witness the birth of future productions, connecting audiences directly with the artists shaping the future of theater.”
Long Beach Shakespeare Company’s New Works Festival shows will run at the Helen Borgers Theatre, 4250 Atlantic Ave. Tickets are $30 or $20 for students. For tickets and information, call the box office at 562-997-1494 or visit LBShakespeare.org.