Momentum 2016
NEW PLAYS AT DIFFERENT STAGES
SCHEDULE
Thursday, June 2
7:00 PM – Reading of Sing the Body Electric by Michael Hollinger
Directed by Tracy Brigden
Hamburg Studio Theatre
City favorite Michael Hollinger (Hope and Gravity, Opus) returns to Pittsburgh with this exhilarating new drama about growing up and growing wiser at any age. Set in Florida in the summer of 1980, Sing the Body Electric introduces us to two fractured families both looking for a fresh start in the Sunshine State. Lightening might just strike twice in this funny and poignant celebration of desire, longing, and fate.
Friday, June 3
5:00 PM – Momentum Happy Hour and Artists Meet and Greet
Gordon Lounge
A special chance to grab a drink and get to know this year’s festival artists.
7:00 PM – Reading of Feeding the Dragon by Sharon Washington
Directed by Reginald L. Douglas
City Theatre Rehearsal Room
Award-winning stage and screen actress Sharon Washington (String of Pearls) writes and performs in this heartfelt coming-of-age story that will have its world premiere at City Theatre next season. Deep in the bowels of a New York Public Library lies a dragon: the monstrous coal furnace that Sharon’s father, the live-in custodian, must feed every night. A moving examination of family secrets, forgiveness, and the power of language, Feeding the Dragon explores Sharon’s life growing up in the library and the fire she never allowed to fade.
Saturday, June 4
Closed Reading of scrapmetal/scars by Jackson Torii Bart
Directed by Stephen Santa
City Theatre Gordon Lounge
An alumni of City Theatre’s’s nationally-recognized Young Playwrights Festival (High School winner 2010), playwright Jackson Torii Bart return to City with this powerful, poetic play with music exploring the lives of community members living on the margins in the Bronx’s Hunts Point neighborhood.
6:30 – 7:30 PM “CitySpeaks” Playwrights Panel
Hamburg Studio Theatre
An intimate conversation about craft and creativity with featured Momentum writers Sharon Washington, James McManus, and Liza Birkenmeier moderated by City Theatre Director of New Play development, Clare Drobot.
8:00 PM – Reading of Radio Island by Liza Birkenmeier
Directed by Tracy Brigden
Hamburg Studio Theatre
When army vet turned international hostage negotiator Ellen returns home to take care of her ailing mother, it’s the last place she wants to be. But all is not as it seems in the small town of Low Drumlin. Were her mother’s injuries really an accident? Can Ellen balance her high pressure job and new responsibilities? And what exactly happened to her violent, absent father? Don’t miss this wildly creative thriller by City newcomer Liza Birkenmeier.
Sunday, June 5
1:00 PM – Reading of Dry Bones by James McManus
Directed by Sheila McKenna
City Theatre Rehearsal Room
Boo and Half Pint are childhood friends growing up and fighting to get by in a dying factory town in the Mon Valley. In a swirl of love, anger, and lyricism, this time-shifting new play by Pittsburgh native James McManus explores the journey of five intertwined lives and the price survival demands when the world changes around you.
Dry Bones contains strong language and intense scenarios.