Theatre News Wire

American Blues Theater, under the continued leadership of Executive Artistic Director Gwendolyn Whiteside, presents the 2023 Blue Ink Festival of new plays, featuring four staged readings of works by the 2023 Blue Ink Award winner and featured finalists. The line-up includes award winner Kristoffer Diaz's Things With Friends, Trouble (at the Vista View Mobile Home Estates) by Audrey Cefaly, Cold Spring by Victor Lesniewski, and Uhuru by Gloria Majule. The Blue Ink Festival runs August 12 - 13 at 4809 N Ravenswood, Suite #221, in Chicago.

Tickets for the Blue Ink Festival, priced at $20 general admission per day or $25 for an all-access Festival pass, are available by contacting (773) 654-3103 or SamanthaM@AmericanBluesTheater.com. Reservations are recommended as seating is limited.

The schedule for the 2023 Blue Ink Festival is as follows:

Saturday, August 12 at 1:00pm
Things with Friends
by Kristoffer Diaz
directed by Dexter Bullard
Manhattan. Burt and Adele are hosting a dinner party. Steak is on the stove. The George Washington Bridge has collapsed into the Hudson. Kristoffer Diaz has written a play about it. I've already said too much.

2023 Blue Ink Award winner Kristoffer Diaz notes, "It's truly an honor to receive this year's Blue Ink Award. Wendy Whiteside and American Blues have been an important part of my career dating back to before I even really had a career to speak of. It's fantastic to come full circle. Even though my life and work are based on the east coast these days, I'm proud to consider myself a Chicago playwright."

"We are thrilled to announce Kristoffer Diaz as the 2023 Blue Ink Award winner," notes Executive Artistic Director Gwendolyn Whiteside. "Diaz's voice resonates through every page. He has the ability to surprise through character descriptions and actions, word choice, punctuation, and reveals details only as needed."

Saturday, August 12 at 4:00pm
Cold Spring
by Victor Lesniewski
directed by Marti Lyons
After a teenager accuses his baseball coach of sexual assault, four parents attempt to deal with the response of their close-knit community while the ramifications resound through their own relationships.

Sunday, August 13 at 1:00pm
Uhuru
by Gloria Majule
directed by Ensemble member Manny Buckley
Mshale, a Mount Kilimanjaro tour guide, dreams of marrying a white woman and moving to the West. Sprite doesn't like white people and sets out to decolonize what he deems "his mountain". Henry and Frannie are white missionaries who claim to be Tanzanian. As the four journey up to the roof of Africa, the looming ghost of colonialism dictates who gets to reach the peak, and who gets left behind.

Sunday, August 13 at 4:00pm
Trouble (at the Vista View Mobile Home Estates)
by Audrey Cefaly
directed by Ensemble member Elyse Dolan
Trouble is a portrait of fierce women in the small (fictional) mill town of Litman, Alabama. The play centers around struggling ex-mill worker Euba on the eve of her "unwanted" birthday party, which her mother Bernie (against Euba's express wishes) is intent on hosting. Also in the mix are mill workers Lila (8-months pregnant) and Fin (Euba's best friend), along with YoYo, a local security officer. As the birthday hour approaches, Euba is visited by a raven, sending her spiraling in search for answers to the untimely death of her father. This all-female drama traverses the landscape of family ties, mental illness, addiction, and the trials and tribulations of motherhood.

About the Blue Ink Award for playwriting
The nationally-renowned Blue Ink Award was created in 2010 to support new work. Since inception, American Blues Theater has named 13 Blue Ink Award winners, 129 finalists, and 203 semi-finalists. Nearly $10,000 in cash and prizes has been distributed to playwrights in 2023.

Each year American Blues Theater accepts worldwide submissions of original, unpublished full-length plays. The winning play will be selected by Executive Artistic Director Gwendolyn Whiteside and the theater's Ensemble. The 2023 winning playwright received a monetary prize of $2,500. Cash prizes are awarded to finalists and semi-finalists too. All proceeds of the administrative fee are distributed for playwrights' cash prizes.

Submissions for the 2024 Blue Ink Playwriting Award open August 1, 2023. All submissions must be received by American Blues Theater by August 31, 2023 at 11:59pm. Playwrights may only submit one (1) manuscript each year for consideration.