In Partnership with the UCSD MFA Playwriting Program, Cygnet’s New Play Commission Returns with Three New Playwrights
SAN DIEGO, Calif. – (October 16, 2024) – Cygnet Theatre announces its lineup of playwrights for the 2024 Bill and Judy Garrett Finish Line Commission. In partnership with the UCSD MFA Playwriting Program, the commission supports Cygnet’s commitment to new theatrical works, written by groundbreaking local and nationally recognized playwrights. The 2024 artists include MFA Playwrights Mylan Gray and Beth Hyland as well as established playwright Phanesia Pharel. The Finish Line Festival Producer is Kian Kline-Chilton. Free public readings of all three plays will take place November 9 – 10, 2024 at Cygnet Theatre.
“For almost a decade, The Bill and Judy Garrett Finish Line Commission has embraced, celebrated and worked to elevate the performance of well-composed pieces,” says Sean Murray, Cygnet Theatre Artistic Director. “This festival extends the commitment to the world of theatre and to the talented playwrights whose words ought to be heard by the public.”
Launched in 2020, the UCSD MFA Playwriting Program partnership features a new class each year, comprised of two to three playwrights, who will be given a commission to participate. Playwrights awarded The Finish Line Commission will be given a week-long workshop culminating in a public reading, a financial reward, and an opportunity for a world premiere production at Cygnet.
“We are thrilled to further expand Cygnet’s mission of championing storytellers and preparing
them for the stage,” says festival producer Kian Kline-Chilton. “Cygnet Theatre along with The
Bill and Judy Garrett Finish Line Commission will continue to be a launch pad for the development and premiere of works by well-known and up-and-coming playwrights and directly supporting living artists who are in the prime of their creative years.”
The Finish Line Commission is made possible thanks to the contribution of long-time donors Bill and Judy Garrett. “We happily support the nurturing of new playwrights who are exploring provocative, entertaining, contemporary stories and topics to add to the vast lexicon of theatrical works currently available to performers and audiences. We’re delighted to be able to help create new works for today’s world,” explained Judy Garrett.
The Bill and Judy Garrett Finish Line Commission provides:
- Financial support to the playwright, actors, and director.
- A Finish Line Commission grant for a local playwright and right of first refusal.
- Rehearsal space and production support
- Public in-person readings of all plays.
- A series of public talk-backs and playwright reception.
The readings and surrounding events are FREE to the public. Seats may be reserved in person at the box office located at 4040 Twiggs Street in San Diego Old Town Historic State Park, by calling 619-337-1525 or online at https://www.cygnettheatre.com/connect/finish-line/
PLAYS AND PLAYWRIGHTS
LONNIE’S LAMENT
By Mylan Gray
Directed by Lamar Perry
Reading: November 9 at 2:00 PM
After having his marriage proposal turned down by his long-term girlfriend, Marvin leaves Chicago for New York City to pursue his dream of becoming a saxophone legend. While reveling in the freedom of 1920’s Harlem at its peak, he falls in love with a man for the first time. When his ex-fiancé comes back into his life, he is forced to choose between the two loves of his life. What does it mean to fashion new ways of being both/and through the notes of your horn? Is it possible to love two people fully at once? Should you?
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT:
Mylan Gray is an Eagle Scout and Kansas State debate champion turned playwright. He is a descendant of black educators and soldiers and is preoccupied with transforming Black suffering into Black joy, laughter and peace. He has received the Lorraine Hansberry Award from the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival for his play, Buried in Blood. He is a graduate of Stanford University, where he received the Kennell Jackson Jr. Award. Mylan’s work draws on his deep reverence for Brazil and a penchant for spiritual journeying. He is currently a third-year MFA student in Playwriting at UC San Diego.
UNTITLED RAGE PLAY
By Phanésia Pharel
Directed by Delicia Turner Sonnenberg
Reading: November 9 at 7:00 PM
A string of mysteries that uncover the violent, isolating, experience of present day black women – a revolt of a play asking us: what do you do when no one is listening?
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT:
Phanésia Pharel is a Haitian-American playwright from a dragon fruit farm in Miami.
Her honors include the Kennedy Center Lorraine Hansberry Award, Kilroys List, Bay Area Playwrights Festival Finalist/Honorable Mention, Jane Chambers Finalist, A is For Playwriting award, Kennedy Center Latinx Playwriting Award, and the Frank Moffett Mosier Fellowship for Works in Heightened Finalist Prize.
Phanésia is a member of the Obie-winning EST/Youngblood group and The Wish Collective, whose play the wish has been performed in over 20 states since the fall of Roe v. Wade. Her commissions include the Atlantic Theater and the Miranda Family Fund.
BABY SHOWER KATIE
By Beth Hyland
Directed by Jill Jones
Reading: November 10 at 7:00 PM
Rebecca desperately wants to have a child; her lifelong best friend Hannah has no idea if she can, if she should or if she even wants to. Will their friendship survive their diverging lives, or will their choices tear them apart? BABY SHOWER KATIE is a comedy told in four baby showers (for three different women named Katie) about friendship, new motherhood, and the insanity of the baby shower industrial complex.
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT:
Beth Hyland is a playwright and screenwriter based in Southern California. Her plays and musicals include SYLVIA SYLVIA SYLVIA, FIRES, OHIO, CANCELINA, SEAGULLS, and KILLED A MAN (JOKING). Her plays have been produced and developed regionally at the Geffen Playhouse, Portland Center Stage, Steppenwolf’s LookOut Series, Goodman Theatre’s New Stages, Know Theatre, Provincetown Theatre, B Street Theatre, Oak Park Festival Theatre, and Octagon Theatre Bolton; in New York at Manhattan Theatre Club and The Hearth; and around Chicago at Jackalope Theatre, First Floor Theater, The Story Theatre, Bramble Theatre, The Sound in collaboration with Joe Swanberg, and others. Her play SYLVIA SYLVIA SYLVIA was the 2024 recipient of Williamstown Theatre Festival’s Weissberger Prize and Jay Harris Commission, as well as the Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Award for Comic Playwriting. Her play FIRES, OHIO was the 2023 recipient of the Kennedy Center’s Paula Vogel Prize and the Mark Twain Award for Comic Playwriting. She co-founded The Sound, an itinerant Chicago storefront theatre, with artistic director Rebeca Willingham. Her short film CLAMBAKE, directed by Sammy Zeisel, was an official selection of the Art of Brooklyn Film Festival and the Santa Monica Film Festival. She is a rising third-year MFA candidate at UC San Diego under the mentorship of Naomi Iizuka and Deborah Stein. BA: Kenyon College. Representation: Jamie Kaye-Phillips, Paradigm. bethhyland.com
ABOUT CYGNET THEATRE
Cygnet Theatre Company produces a year-round season of professional Off-Broadway-style theatre as well as thought-provoking and engaging educational programming. Cygnet is committed to maintaining high standards of artistic and fiscal integrity, and serves more than 50,000 patrons annually from San Diego and beyond. Cygnet performs its mainstage productions at the theatre in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park. An active member of the San Diego community, Cygnet has outreach programs serving tens of thousands of students and community members annually. For more information, visit www.cygnettheatre.com.
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