Theatre 33 brings new plays to life with its summer series
Theatergoers, art lovers, entertainment enthusiasts — rejoice. Theatre 33, Salem’s new play development company, has shifted the start of their season to May and aims to bring a summer of new plays, new experiences and new opportunities to our community.
While Theatre 33 fills a gap for audience entertainment bringing performance to the stage locally, the nonprofit is filling a need for playwrights, too, thanks to their dedication to new play development and first play production.
“There is no other workshop like this festival. What happens at Theatre 33 is a very special development process. The amount of rehearsal time is luxurious. The talented, engaged actors dig into the script. The director has the time to let them go deep and play. There’s a thoughtful dramaturg with whom you can toss around ideas and challenges. And there’s a creative technical team ready to use their skills to evoke the world of the play,” said playwright Evelyn Pine.
“What an incredible 23 days I spent with Theatre 33…I have never felt so well supported, or so productive as a writer. This has truly been one of the best theatre experiences of my life,” said playwright Nora Douglass.
One of the most challenging obstacles a playwright will face, said Executive Director Thomas Nabhan, is getting their new play produced. “…most theaters don’t want to take the financial risk of producing a play no one has heard of. This fear is mostly a Western geographical phenomenon because there are scores of new play festivals and theaters that produce new plays in the East. At least 10 in NYC alone.”
In 2022, the 15 largest theaters in Oregon produced only four new plays outside Theatre 33, added Tom. “In Oregon, there are just a handful of companies who develop and/or produce new work.”
Through 10 seasons, Theatre 33 has produced 45 new plays from 33 different northwest playwrights.
“We choose plays that are not finished, but not too raw — plays that a full production would be of optimal benefit. We hire a professional writer (dramaturg) to work with each playwright, lodge playwrights in Salem so they can attend all production meetings, 60 hours of rehearsals, and all performances. Throughout the whole process, playwright with dramaturg help engage in rewrites. Audiences also help with feedback after each performance,” said Tom.” The goal at the end of the production is to finish the play or get it much closer to completion.”
The company is entering season 11 this year and will be adding three more plays and three pop-ups to its resume.
“What we do is vital because the art depends on the infusion of new work. And since we only produce new plays by northwest playwrights who often feature Oregon and northwest themes, culture, and history, this infusion of new work also infuses the body of art with northwest art,” said Tom.
“We believe the potential demand for new art is as strong in the west as it is in the northeast. It just needs to be developed.”
Here’s what’s ahead —
- May 23-26, 30-31 and June 1-2 | APE (pronounced Apie) by Dano Madden
- June 1-2 | Pop-Up: Or Marlene is Dead by Sophia Mol
- June 20-23 and 27-30 | Grow Learn Play by Sara Jean Accuardi
- June 29-30 | Pop-Up: Red Line by Barbara Hume
- July 25-28 and August 1-4 | Gone by Lolly Ward
- August 3-4 | Pop-Up: Wife of Headless Man Investigates Her Own Disappearance By Yussef El Guindi
In addition to the three plays and three pop-ups, Theatre 33 in collaboration with Northwest Theatre Workshop and Hopewell Hub present Fragments, a series of interactive, site-specific, short plays accompanied by live music, local art exhibits, and wine tastings July 27 and 28.
Plays
APE (pronounced Apie) by Dano Madden — A middle-aged man, struggling to become a parent, finds himself haunted by the spirit of his dead mother, creating even more distance in his already faltering marriage. APE is a play about ghosts, those who have died, those who never existed, and consciousness that lies inside of consciousness. The play explores the effect of memory on our essential sense of being and ultimately asks how it is possible to truly exist in the present moment? | May 23-26, 30-31 and June 1-2
Grow Learn Play by Sara Jean Accuardi — It won’t stop snowing, it’s getting late, Gloria’s parents still haven’t come to pick her up, and these daycare employees just want to get home. A play about the importance, and the limits, of sharing and caring. | June 20-23 and 27-30
Gone by Lolly Ward — A will provides peace of mind as four stepsiblings divide their anticipated inheritance with generosity…with suspicion…with greed. Gamble the night away, but whatever you do, don’t leave the house – your family is watching. | July 25-28 and August 1-4
Pop-ups
Group; or Marlene is Dead by Sofia Molimbi — Not your typical parenthood comedy. Set in modern-day, Portland, Oregon, “Group” follows the lives of five parents and two professors, who are all desperate to salvage their rocky home lives. Professor Marlene’s parenting class becomes an incubator that either kills you or saves you. Structurally, the play moves swiftly from past to present, and back again, creating bitter sweet moments and a deeper level of understanding how we got “here.” This fast-paced tragicomedy is an honest portrayal of the struggles of relationships, divorce, fertility, and motherhood. | June 1 & 2
Red Line by Barbara Hume — Both historic and topical, Red Line takes place from 1938 to 1948 in St. Louis depicting the impact of segregation on two young men, one White and one Black, who share backyards in a segregated neighborhood. Their friendship crosses many boundaries testing their friendship and the status quo of racism in their community. | June 29-30
Wife of Headless Man Investigates Her Own Disappearance By Yussef El — Salwa thinks she may have been drugged during her interview with tech giant Owen – a payback for her take-down articles about him and his company. How else to explain the chunks of missing time and shifting realities that started taking place after meeting him, including returning home and finding her immigrant husband, Bassem, headless, but still miraculously living and talking. Sometimes we have to travel out of what we know to understand who we really are. | August 3-4