Founded by Professors Bonnie Metzgar and Lydia Diamond, the UIC New Play Festival is an annual celebration of new plays and new playwrights at UIC.  Our open submission policy encourages any and all students to submit plays at end of the Fall semester.  Then, selected playwrights will meet one-on-one with faculty directors who mentor them through a rewriting process.  Plays will be rehearsed for two weeks in late February and March, giving actors in our BA and BFA programs the opportunity to get experience in the new play process.  The UIC New Play Festival culminates on March 8-10, when each play receives a staged reading open to the public.  For more info bmetzgar@uic.edu

The performance schedule is as follows:

Thursday, March 7th – 6:00 pm 

Line up Includes:

Us, Again by Kamiya Green

Cinnamon: A Homage to the Black Experience by Dominic Randle

Friday, March 8th – 6:00 pm

Line up Includes:

Mr. President by Mesoma Ukachukwu

A Dybbuk Story by Tim Graves

Saturday, March 9th – 1:00 pm to 9:00 pm

Line up Includes:

1:00 – Punish That by Audrey Bixby

3:00 – Spectrum Girl by Abby Evans

5:00 – The Rebels: The Origin Chronicle by Joaquin Medina

7:30 – Remember Them by Alishiana Uyao

Sunday, March 10th – 11 am to 7:00 pm

Line up Includes:

11:00 – how i get myself killed by Franny Rodriguez

1:00 – Fish in the Barrel by Townes Genoves

3:00 – Cubbies by Omar Vicente Fernandez

5:00 – Yellow Sky in NY by Octavio Montes De Oca

About the plays:

Punish That by Audrey Bixby

Sarah Randall has the life she always dreamed of: a husband, a kid, and a career. But, a series of untimely events forces Sarah to question if her life is as picture-perfect as she thought it was, and how far she’ll go to save it. Inspired by feminist theatre from the early 20th century, Punish That investigates modern marriage and the daily injustices that push women towards desperate acts.

TW: Mentions of Pregnancy, Death, Homophobia, Sexism.

Spectrum Girl by Abby Evans

As a late-diagnosed autistic woman, Miriam’s relationships with the people around her weren’t always easy to navigate. As an adult, she begins to look back upon them and see just how the differences in her impacted her relationships with a former friend.

TW: Mentions of Misogyny.

Cubbies by Omar Vicente Fernandez

After hearing the news that his wife is pregnant, Elias buys a ticket to the Cubs game at Wrigley Field to spiritually connect with his deceased father, Mario and in hopes to gain some clarity before the ninth inning on whether he’s ready to be a dad. Inning through inning they tackle generational trauma, discover what it means to be a good father, and watch the Cubs take on the Milwaukee Brewers.

TW: Talks of death, abortion, addiction, abuse.

Fish in the Barrel by Townes Genoves

A Romantic cruise off the coast of sounds like a relaxing retreat but not for these two American couples. Brynn and Adam are in a rough part of their relationship and as a last-ditch effort to make things work have taken this trip—on Adam’s mom’s dollar. Adam is a man-child seeking happiness who is in over his head and Brynn has checked out a long time ago. The couple crosses paths with the older couple in the connecting cabin, David and Lisa. David and Lisa are madly in love with each other and more importantly madly in love with finding the secret of Jeffery Epstein island which they believe to be near Spain, it isn’t. Both couples are obsessed with the conspiracy that pirates have taken over the ship and a young bellboy named Carlos becomes the victim of their scheme.

TW: Mentions of Kidnapping, Ableism.

A Dybbuk Story by Tim Graves

A grieving family trying to regain their footing after the loss of their child is thrown into disarray when, on top of their grief, a supernatural force possesses one of them and threatens to take away another life. Dealing with doubt, religion, and mortality, A Dybbuk Story looks at these natural questions through a supernatural lens.

TW: Mentions of Child Loss, Blood, Suicide, Addiction.

Us, Again by Kamyia Green

Mia is a ballet dancer who’s at the peak of her career. Jamie, her ex-boyfriend, is a famous musician under pressure from his life in the spotlight. When Jamie falls into a coma and needs a life-saving kidney transplant, Mia finds out that she’s a match for him. Taking place over the course of 48 hours at a hospital, this thought-provoking play follows Mia as she wrestles with the decision to save someone she has a lifelong history with that ended in heartbreak or to leave the past behind over someone who’s no longer her concern.

TW: Mentions of Addiction, Death, Hospitalization.

The Rebels: The Origin Chronicle by Joaquin Medina

In a parallel reality diverging from our own, the resonating echoes of a corrupt politician’s proclamation unleash a cataclysmic force — a menacing team of experiments poised to unravel the very fabric of humanity. That is until a disparate assembly of high school friends unite to do something about it. How will a girl — grappling with the impending divorce of her parents, the son of law enforcement, a love interest haunted by trauma, a boy whose life will turn upside down, and paternal twins find themselves in this situation? Well, I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

TW: Mentions of Death, Drugging.

Yellow Sky in NY by Octavio Montes De Oca

After discovering a meteorology report that does not align with the current forecast, Arlo—New York City’s most pretentious news anchor—begins to question if what he saw was a miscalculation or if he had too much to drink at the holiday staff party. Yellow Sky in NY is a thought-provoking and intimate piece that reflects on how out of touch we are living in the modern world.

TW: Mentions of Suicide, Death, Natural Disasters.

Cinnamon: A Homage to the Black Experience by Dominic Randle

A young African-American girl shares a few stories of a poetry slam. Her expertise in linguistics allows the audience to visualize her words. Almost as if the words on a page were truly alive once upon a time. With a mix of both humor and strife, Cinnamon illustrates the beauty of black life and the impact society has on it.

TW: Mentions of Death, Sexual Assault, Gun Violence.

how i get myself killed by Franny Rodriguez

Hunter is coming back home for the summer. They’d rather do anything else. That’s until they meet Zion, a single dad raising his son Elliot. How I Get Myself Killed is a love letter to growing up. An exploration of who we are, how we bring out the worst and the best of each other, and ice cream.

TW: Mentions of Transphobia.

Mr. President by Mesoma Ukachukwu

The year is 2064. The American political landscape is in disarray, with no one wanting to consider even running for president. The country is left with only one solution: To select a citizen at random in a presidential lottery, who they can only hope is qualified and up for the task. Fortunately, that job has fallen on Landon Davis’s soldiers. The only problem is, he doesn’t remember ever submitting his name into the lottery.

Remember Them by Alishiana Uyao

Loving someone is Max’s specialty. Living in a monogamous society doesn’t really make that easy though. Grappling with the aftermath of a car accident, Max is forced to reconsider her relationship with Jamie and, by extension, Ash. Alternating between the past and the present, Remember Them is a story of love, heartache, and choosing happiness above everything else.

TW: Mentions of Death.