A festival for the development of new plays by Black playwrights in White River Junction, VT.
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May 13-15 | Briggs Opera House, WRJ
$25 Single Tickets
$50 Pass
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After a slate of radio plays in last season’s JAGfest 5.0, JAG Productions will return to the stage with in-person audiences at the Briggs Opera House, May 13-15 with two new plays and a full musical for JAGfest 6.0. These three works will receive a week of in depth collaborative development prior to the staged readings over the weekend. Tickets are $25 for a single ticket or $50 for a weekend pass.
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For the first time in the workshop’s history, JAGfest playwrights were selected by a panel review. The applicants had to meet the criteria of creating or developing a Black and queer, devised, ensemble piece that contributes to the cultural and aesthetic diveristies of the modern theater with the potential to deepen engagement.
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This year’s lineup will feature the musical Chasing Grace by Elizabeth Addison, Padiddle by Kevin Renn, and Your Maximum Potential by travis tate.
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Of the JAGfest 6.0 cohort, Founder and Producing Artistic Director Jarvis Green says, “We're excited to work with three incredible young talents who personify the best in creativity and imagination. Each of their works explores different facets of what it means to exist in this world, and we're privileged to be part of their journeys."
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Casting By:
Elizabeth Hay & Dora Gordan
travis tate
Elizabeth Addison Castillo
Kevin Renn
JAGfest 6.0 | YOUR MAXIMUM POTENTIAL
Written by travis tate
Friday, May 13, 7:30PM
Briggs Opera House
SYNOPSIS:
At a boozy brunch, Max’s friends try to convince him to join them at a high profile lifestyle Instagram influencer’s lifestyle coaching sessions. Hesitantly, Max joins his friends on a journey to “self-acceptance.” As the gaggle of gays continue on their journey, they begin to learn that self-aceptance is really a journey about how to get what they want, by any means necessary. And to get what they want, they’ll have to make some sacrifices. Sahil and Darren want a baby. Lucas wants a boyfriend. And Max? Who knows what he wants. The group struggles together with their inner desires and their desires to become better people by following the great lifestyle guru, Uriel– as he struggles with a potential health scare.
YOUR MAXIMUM POTENTIAL is a play about the thrall of social media, the examination of queer desires and, most importantly, about how we let the internet change our lives - for better or for worse.
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ABOUT TRAVIS TATE:
travis tate is a queer, black playwright, poet, and performer living in Brooklyn. Their poetry has appeared in Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, Underblong, Southern Humanities Review, Vassar Review, The Boiler, and Cosmonaut Avenue, among other journals. Their debut poetry collection, MAIDEN, was published on Vegetarian Alcoholic Press in June 2020. Queen of The Night premiered at Dorset Theatre Festival in August 2021 and began its second production at Victory Gardens Theatre in January 2022. They earned an MFA from the Michener Center for Writers. You can find more about them at travisltate.com
JAGfest 6.0 | CHASING GRACE
Written by Elizabeth Addison
Saturday, May 14, 7:30PM
Briggs Opera House
SYNOPSIS:
CHASING GRACE, an original new musical inspired by writer Elizabeth Addison’s time in treatment and chasing her own Broadway dreams. It’s an immersive experience taking place in the mind and memory of both The Writer and Grace. The musical explores identity, addiction, recovery, trauma, relationships, the weaponization of our dreams, healing, and how learning to face our past and love ourselves can help us reclaim and rewrite our narrative. The style of music is musical theatre pop rock meets hip hop. This labor of love is for anyone who had to fight to reclaim their narrative; anyone who wonders if recovery is for them; anyone who had a dream and then lost their way; anyone who has struggled but has now found their way.
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ABOUT ELIZABETH ADDISON:
Elizabeth Addison is a multi-hyphenate artist who believes in the power of the arts to heal and change hearts and minds. Her work is inspired by her own lived experience as well as is a reflection of the lens by which she sees the world. She believes that any act of creation is in collaboration with spirit. Recently, her musical This is Treatment had a sold out run at Northeastern University. The production was accompanied by in depth community engagement and a research study and is the beginnings of what Elizabeth hopes will be a new method of theatre making. Currently, she is an Artistic Consultant, Writer and Director for the recovery theatre company, 2nd Act, Inc. She is a Storytelling Coach and is in the midst of getting her Recovery Coach certification. Her musical, Chasing Grace, is the final installment of a trilogy of musicals focused on chasing dreams, healing, and reclaiming one's story.
JAGfest 6.0 | PADIDDLE
Written by Kevin Renn
Sunday, May 15, 2:00PM
Briggs Opera House
SYNOPSIS:
PADIDDLE is a play that jumps through time, following two best friends, Toledo and July, recounting the highs and lows of their close friendship over a fifteen-year period—from 15 to 30 years old, from high school in Indiana all the way to working adults in Portland, Oregon; and everything in between.
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ABOUT KEVIN RENN:
Kevin Renn (he/him) is a New York-based playwright. Some of his work including, BLACKS + PHATS, The Best Worst Holiday Window at Burgdof Goofmans, Jungle Juice, and Mulatto Boy have received various workshops and productions w/ Classical Theatre of Harlem, Out of the Box Theatrics, The Lanford Wilson New American Play Festival, Festival Playhouse, and The Artist Co-op in NYC. Kevin and his writing partner Erin J. Reifler are developing a new musical titled, Showcase: A Rehearsal Musical, about a class of musical theatre students in rehearsal the night before their college Senior showcase. It's been workshopped at Emerson College and Manhattan School of Music. Last year, Kevin's essay "The Manny Diaries", was published in the Modern Love column of The New York Times. Kevin is a graduate of Indiana University. www.kevinrenn.com