Cygnet Theatre presents The Finish Line Commission
The Fall 2020 and Winter 2021 playwrights include Angelica Chéri and Aurin Squire for Cygnet Theatre’s The Finish Line Commission. Normally free public readings of the plays are held in person at the theatre, but due to COVID-19 gathering restrictions all artist work will be held via Zoom. The process will be shared through behind-the-scenes video content online.
Led by Associate Artistic Director Rob Lutfy, The Finish Line Commission supports the theatre’s commitment to new theatrical works, written by groundbreaking local playwrights as well as nationally recognized playwrights. Rare for a national new play program, all of the plays selected each year have never before been produced.
Director Rob Lutfy states, “The two playwrights this year are not writing to fit into any safe space. They both are poets with transformative ideas. Right now, we need Aurin and Angelica more than ever because they are brave and compassionate playwrights willing to tell the truth of what they see and experience. Theatre is not meant to be comfortable, it’s meant to provoke. These two plays need to be seen, heard, and produced across America. I am honored that Cygnet has some part in shepherding these two brilliant plays into being. I am equally excited for the chance to work with the directors we have brought on, Reginald Douglas and Lamar Perry. The future of American Theatre is alive and well with these artists at the helm. “
“The Wiring and the Switches” is by Angelica Chéri, and is directed by Reginald Douglas (associate artistic director at Studio Theatre in Washington, DC). The workshop will be held in November 2020.
Sienna, a forensic psychologist in the making, gets more than she bargained for when a romantic liaison turns into a murder investigation. But when the suspected “victim” sits down with Sienna for tea, our sleuth’s grip on reality begins to deteriorate. The Wiring and The Switches was conceived in the Geffen Writers Group at the Geffen Playhouse in LA.
“Run/Fire” is by Aurin Squire and is directed by Lamar Perry (artistic associate at The Old Globe). The workshop will be held in January 2021.
When a college student is implicated in a crime spree, his attempt to seek justice sets off a chain reaction that ripples across the entire town. What is real and what is not gets called into question in this timely play that forces us to ask, “Who are we to ourselves and to each other?”
Plays awarded The Finish Line Commission will be given a week-long workshop culminating in a public reading (this year the readings will not be public), a financial reward, and an assurance that the play will have a shot at a world premier production at Cygnet.
The Finish Line Commission is made possible thanks to the contribution of long-time donors Bill and Judy Garrett. “Playwrights are masters of helping us see the world through new and different eyes. 2020 has been an extraordinary year for all of us — with a pandemic, thousands of deaths, school and social upheavals, fear and occasional acts of overwhelming generosity — and it will be refreshing to view it all through the perceptive eyes of some of our most observant playwrights,” explained Judy Garrett.
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