Ivoryton Playhouse’s 6th Annual Women Playwrights Festival: Unleashing the Power of Women’s Stories!

Join us for an extraordinary celebration of creativity, inspiration, and the power of Women’s voices in the world of theatre. For six years, Ivoryton Playhouse has proudly hosted the Women Playwright’s Festival, showcasing the immense talent and ingenuity of female identifying playwrights from across the country in a series of staged readings, talkbacks and insightful round table discussions. We are thrilled to invite you to our most exciting and empowering festival yet, as we continue to support gender equity and diversity onstage.

In a historically male-dominated industry, the Women Playwrights Festival aims to highlight the importance of supporting and uplifting women in theater. We believe that by providing a platform exclusively dedicated to showcasing their work, we can help create an inclusive and equitable artistic landscape that reflects a more diverse human experience.

This year’s festival promises to be an unforgettable experience. From over 200 submissions, we have carefully curated a lineup of four trailblazing playwrights whose stories will challenge your perspectives and ignite your imagination. Every year, we are astounded by the depth and breadth of talent displayed by the brave playwrights we feature. Their stories explore the complexities of human emotions, tackle social issues, challenge stereotypes, and illuminate perspectives often overlooked. The plays featured in this year’s festival are:

Holidays
By Romney S. Humphrey

An impromptu gathering of a grown brother and sister and their parents with new spouses develops into a competition for designated holidays. A comedy, the play reveals the challenges of blended families while exploring the collective desire for perfect gatherings in an imperfect world.

Romney Humphrey is a nationally produced playwright and former media writer/producer with most recent play productions in Florida, Maryland, and Colorado. Her humor/memoir, “How I Learned I’m Old” has sold over 6,000 copies in the US. She received numerous national awards for her television and screenplay writing in 2022 and 2023.

Like the Last
By D.L Siegel

Women in Kokoro’s family don’t make it to their 30th birthdays. So, at 29 and counting, she is on a mission to make every moment count while leaving as few grieving hearts behind as possible. But as the countdown nears, Kokoro must reimagine what it really means to live every moment like your last.

D.L. Siegel received her BA in English and Theater from Princeton University and her MFA in Playwrighting from The New School for Drama. She was a member of The Amoralists’ inaugural playwrighting residency, ‘Wright Club’, and is currently a Program Consultant and Mentor for the Staten Island Shakespearean Theatre Company’s Women’s Playwright Collective. Plays include: Heartbeat Ophelia, The Principles of Magic, Members Only, Untouched, Atalanta K.O., Like the Last, but where would they live, and Chosen. A born and raised New Yorker, D.L. currently resides in Brooklyn with her playwright husband and their beloved corgi, Sancho Panza.

Organic
By Jenna Jane

In a future where everyone is enhancing their bodies with the latest tech, 81-year-old Donna Goldman is an anomaly, she is 100% organic. But now there’s a problem: she’s dying. Will cyborg Dr. Flores persuade her to abandon her sense of self to survive?

Jenna Jane is a Floridian playwright and performer whose plays have been produced across the country. Her writing explores the topics of authenticity and gender expectations. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild. Jenna is the playwright of one-act sci-fi drama “Organic,” one-act farce “Cuckoo Clock,” one-act comedy “A Socially Distanced Farce in One Act,” 10-minute comedy “The Fairy Queen’s Campaign,” 10-minute farce “Pumpkin Spice MILFs,” 15-minute comedy “Full Frontal Transparency,” and 10-minute spoof “Why Did You Bother Killing the Sea Witch?” For script requests, production rights, commissions, and other inquiries: jennajanewrites.wordpress.com

Swiped
By Samara Siskind

A young black man strikes up a conversation with a young white woman while dining in the food court of a suburban shopping mall. What she initially believes to be just a random pick-up attempt becomes much more complicated. It turns out they’re not complete strangers after all.

Samara Siskind is a Florida based playwright. Her plays have been produced across the US as well as internationally in eight countries. Her plays have been featured in various anthologies including Shorter, Faster, Funnier: Comic Plays and Monologues (Vintage), Great Short Comedies Volume 1 and Great Short Comedies Volume 2 (Playscripts), Young Women’s Monologues from Contemporary Plays Vol. 2 (Meriwether), and soon to be published in The Best Ten-Minute Plays of 2023 (Smith & Kraus). Honors include Carbonell and Curtain Up nominations for Best New Work, Runner Up – International Centre for Women / Playscripts’ Are Women Funny? Contest, Winner – Lakeshore Players Theatre’s 19th and 18th Annual 10 Minute Play Festivals, Winner – 2023 Stageit! 10 Minute Play Festival – Center for the Arts Bonita Springs, Finalist – Morgan-Wixson New Works Festival 2023, Finalist – EDP’s 12th Annual Festival of Shorts, Selected – Forward Theatre’s 2023 Out in This World Monologue Festival, Finalist – LaBute New Theatre Festival 2023, Semi-Finalist – Little Fish Theatre’s 2023 Pick of the Vine Play Festival, Semi-Finalist – The Garry Garrison Award for 10-Minute Plays. Ms. Siskind holds a BFA in Regional Theatre from Webster University’s Conservatory of Theatre Arts and is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild.

Event Details:

2:00 pm – Staged Readings, followed by a talkback with the cast, writers and directors

4:00 pm – An Insightful Round Table Discussion

5:00 pm – Break

7:00 pm – Staged Readings, followed by a talkback with the cast, writers and directors

Ticket Prices: $30 adult / $25 senior / $20 LPTW / $10 student

Call the box office to secure your seats: 860.767.7318

Tickets on sale now – buy online here

Our festival is made possible by the generous support of the Connecticut Chapter of the League of Professional Theatre Women, the Community Foundation of Middlesex County, Sari A. Rosenbaum Fund for Women & Girls, as well as individual donations from: Anonymous, Jacqueline Hubbard, Al and Kathleen Jaffe, David and Linda May. Thank you for your support!

We’d also like to extend a special thanks to our team of discerning play readers. This special group of volunteer community members and theatre professionals helped us curate our festival’s selections and we are truly grateful!