“Ann Marie Shea has the Last Word at this year’s New Works Festival.”
First-time submitter wins Best Full-Length award; ten-minute play also makes the cut.
Cast of "Last Word" - New Works Festival, Firehouse Center for the Arts
The first evening (January 21) of the Firehouse Center for the Arts 9th Annual New Works Festival opens with Last Word, the Festival’s winning full-length play written by Ann Marie Shea (Worcester, MA) a first-time submitter, and directed by Stephanie Voss Nugent (Hampstead, NH). Ann Marie truly gets the last word for this festival as she not only snagged the top prize for a full-length but one of her 10-minute plays, Old Friends, New Benefits, has also been chosen as one of the twelve finalists and will open the second evening (Saturday, January 22) of the Festival’s lineup.
The four-night festival will be produced Friday and Saturday nights, Jan. 21 and 22, and Jan. 28 and 29 at 7:30 p.m. at the Firehouse Center in Newburyport. Tickets are now on sale at the box office 978-462-7336 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 978-462-7336 end_of_the_skype_highlighting or on-line at www.firehouse.org and are $12 for adults per evening. A limited number of festival passes are now available for $36, a savings of $12 over four nights.
Last Word tells the story of a once-famous poet who has suffered a debilitating stroke and will be presented as a staged reading. The man of words is now unable to speak or communicate in any way although he can hear and his mental faculties are intact. Locked in his body and confined to his wheelchair, the poet is tended to his by his much younger wife, a former student and lives out his days perhaps paying for some of his former misdeeds. Thanks to theatrical license, the audience is privy to the poet’s mental life through the asides spoken by him but unheard by the other characters on stage. Last Word stars Edward (Teddy) Speck (Amesbury), the Artistic Director of Theater in the Open, Catherine Colby (Newburyport), Brian Sergent (Newburyport) — who last autumn dazzled theater-goers with his fine performance in Boxed In, and Kate Braun (Exeter, NH).
Ann Marie Shea received her Ph.D. in Theater Education from New York University (1984). In addition to playwriting, she is also an actor and a theater professor. Previously she has performed at the Stoneham Theatre and at Worcester State University.
Director Stephanie Voss Nugent is a professional actor, director and producer who has studied acting at the University of Texas, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts. She has been a part of the professional theatrical company of Theatre by the Sea in Portsmouth and, since 1997, has served as Executive Director of ACT ONE, the Artists Collaborative Theatre of New England which is a non-profit arts and education organization founded by her.
The second evening of the Festival will showcase half of the selected ten-minute plays chosen by the judges’ panel this year. Shea’s Old Friends, New Benefits will be directed by Anna Smulowitz (Newburyport) and stars Pam Battinsach (Portsmouth, NH) and Mike Pingree (Newbury, MA).
Key Party written by Paul Goodwin (Saugus, MA), directed by Arlene Barnard (Georgetown) with Theresa Donahue (Newburyport) and a local favorite: stand-up comic Anthony Moschetto (Salisbury, MA); Tea at Dusk, written by Deirdre Girard (Newbury), directed by Stephen Faria (Newbury) with Anne Smith and Susan Hern (Newburyport) and Mary Shapiro (Georgetown); Joy Forever written by Kathleen Cahill (Willington, CT), directed by Diana Kerry (Newburyport) with Robin Bornstein and Tim Hiltabiddle (Newburyport); A Ballad for Peggy written by Stephen Faria (Newbury), directed by Marc Clopton (Salisbury) of The Actors’ Studio (Newburyport) and starring Gloria Papert (Newburyport), Kim Holliday (Boxford, MA) and Stephen Faria (Newbury) will round out the evening.
The Firehouse Center for the Arts New Works Festival showcases those works submitted by playwrights from all over the New England area which have been selected by a panel of five judges, all well-know theater professionals, who have participated in a blind judging-process. Now in its 9th year, the Festival continues to grow and has become a respected venue for the nurturing of new theatrical works. The 2011 New Works Festival will be presenting full-length plays as staged readings, and memorized ten-minute and one-act plays. Come see for yourself why this event is a sell-out year after year.
Calendar Listing
WHAT: New Works Festival 2011
WHEN: Friday – Saturday, January 21-22 and 28-29 at 7:30pm
WHERE: Firehouse Center for the Arts, Market Square, Newburyport, MA
TICKETS: All Seats: $12. Four Day Festival Pass: $36 (Savings of $12, limited availability.)
For more info please call the Box Office at 978/462-7336 or visit online at
www.firehouse.org)
About The Firehouse Center for the Arts- The Firehouse Center for the Arts is member-based organization located on the waterfront in Newburyport, with a 195-seat theater. The Firehouse offers “arts inspired experiences” including film, dance, theatre, concerts, children’s programming, a new works festival, and an art gallery which exhibits works by local and international artists. The Firehouse is handicap accessible.
