Victory Gardens Theater

Victory Gardens Theater has announced the six plays selected for Ignition: Emerging Writers of Color, a summer festival with a goal to introduce exceptional new writers under the age of 40 to Victory Gardens and to jump start future productions of the winning plays around the country.  The six plays were selected out of 120 submissions from throughout the U.S. and internationally. The festival will be held August 7-10, 2008 at the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue.

Following the festival weekend, two of the plays will be selected for intensive workshops during Victory Gardens' 2008-2009 season.  "Victory Gardens' goal is to produce one, if not both, of the final scripts in a subsequent season," said Sandy Shinner, Associate Artistic Director, Victory Gardens Theater.  "We're also involving directors from around the country to set up an ongoing network of interested theaters to jumpstart future productions of these important new works around the country."

Victory Gardens began accepting submissions for Ignition in February 2008. The festival was open to all playwrights of color under 40 years old. Submitted plays weren't required to deal specifically with race issues, but did need to include a diversity of perspectives. Submissions had to be previously unproduced, and in English or primarily in English.  Victory Gardens defined "emerging writer" as a writer who had not yet had a full production at a major regional theater.   Shinner, Victory Gardens Artistic Director Dennis Zacek, and Literary Manager Aaron Carter led a team of four script readers who collectively reviewed all submissions, to help narrow the final number down to six winning plays.

The six plays chosen for Ignition and their performance times are:

The Imagine Man
by Christopher De Paola (Chicago)
Thursday August 7th, 7:30p

In an unnamed country, it is illegal to buy and sell real estate. That doesn't stop Daniel from brokering dangerous deals for people desperate to fulfill their dream of home ownership.

A Better Babylon
by Michael Lew (New York)
Friday August 8th, 7:30p

In 1960s UC Berkeley, a wave of student radicalism engulfs a young Chinese couple, a black protester, and a Chicana biologist. Personal dreams collide with political conscience, testing the limits of mentorship, friendship, and love.
The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity
by Kristoffer Diaz (New York)
Saturday August 9th, 3:00p

Macedonio Guerra is a pro wrestler who has discovered the next big thing: an impossibly charismatic hip-hop-influenced Indian kid from Brooklyn.  His boss has the perfect idea for their characters: terrorists. An in-depth comic look at pro wrestling, geopolitics, and refrigerator crispers.
Bathing Van Gogh
by Brian Tucker (New York)
Saturday August 9th, 7:30p

Bathing Van Gogh is a generational glance at four friends negotiating a dying friendship and coping the best they can-with drugs, booze, sketchpads, and jazz.
Year Zero
by Michael Golamco (Los Angeles)
Sunday August 10th, 12:00p

Year Zero is a comedic drama about young Cambodian Americans in Long Beach, California - about reincarnation, redemption, and everything that we try to leave in the past... but we can't leave behind.
Fati's Last Dance
by France-Luce Benson (Pittsburgh)
Sunday August 10th, 3:00p

Can an aging Ballet diva, a princely break dancer, a reality show reject, and a Brazilian Guru move a sleeping beauty off the couch and into the spotlight? Fati's Last Dance, a touching, off-beat comedy tells the story of a young Haitian woman's journey from self-loathing to self-acceptance, and her family's gracefully awkward steps towards overcoming grief.

An Ignition Festival Pass, offering entry to every reading and special event, is only $20. Single tickets to individual readings and select special events are $5.  For tickets, information, and the complete Ignition schedule of events, call the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater box office, 773-871-3000, or purchase tickets online at http://www.VictoryGardens.org