FutureFest 2019: July 19 - 21
The Dayton Playhouse's 29th annual festival of new dramatic works takes the stage starting Friday, July 19, 2019 at 8:00 PM. Six never before staged play all performed in three amazing days of live theatre. This year's six finalist plays are:
The Princess at Midnight by Linda Ramsay-Detherage
Directed by Dorothy Michalski
Performance: Friday, July 19 @ 8:00 PM
Jacob Simon, a tailor in Detroit in 1851, is about to open a factory when he and his wife Rachel are approached by abolitionist friends to help in a dangerous rescue. They are asked to help a mute runaway slave—known as the Princess—across the Detroit river to Canada. Because of a misjudgment by Jacob’s brother, the well-meaning tailor is put in an ethical dilemma as he considers the choice between helping a slave or turning her in. Based on a true story.
Drone by Norman Mathews
Directed by Craig Smith
Performance: Saturday July 20 @ 10:00 AM
Former fighter pilot, Mike Powell, gives up his wings to be with his family. He becomes a drone pilot near Las Vegas. He never imagined the toll this would take on him, his wife, a physician’s assistant, and his 16-year-old soccer-playing son. His first assignment is to surveil Salar Khan, who’s suspected of being a Taliban insurgent, and his family-which includes a similar soccer-playing son-in northern Pakistan. In the process, Mike watches members of the family having tea, dancing, praying, and even making love. The daily observation leads to a voyeuristic identification and admiration of the Khans, despite the warnings of his trigger-happy, gung-ho co-pilot, Tonya. The daily surveillance and Mike’s participation in bombing a school and a hospital have devastating moral and psychological effects on both families. The eventual order to strike down Salar leads to an unprecedented crisis.
Which Way the Wind Blows by Robert Weibezahl
Directed by Abe Bassett
Performance: Saturday July 20 @ 3:00 PM
Marty O’Neill is a good cop with an ordinary life. A captain with some thirty years on the force, he is content in his job and his marriage. But, O’Neill’s contentment is shattered when he is faced with a decision that challenges everything he has always believed.
On the Horizon by Shelli Pentimall Bookler
Directed by Annie Pesch
Performance: Saturday, July 20 @ 8:00 PM
In 1912 the British steamship the SS Californian set out from London to cross the Atlantic Ocean toward Boston. In the midst of their journey they encountered a loose ice field and stopped for the night, thinking it would be a quiet evening. But then in the not so far distance, the crew saw eight distress rockets fire from a ship within ten miles from them. The crew tried to rouse Captain Stanley Lord from sleep to heed the call, but he refused to believe there was imminent danger. Even after the crew watched the lights of the ship flicker and then go black, Captain Lord refused to engage. It was in the early moments of dawn when the wireless operator started his shift that they realized they were the ship that watched Titanic sink.
Fall With Me by Jared Eberlein
Directed by Dawn Roth Smith
Performance: Sunday July 21 @ 10:00 AM
J.J. and Bithiah Johnston are quietly surviving the Great Depression, while doing what they can for their neighbors. When J.J.’s brothers—other veterans from The Great War—arrive in search of a leader for their latest fight, one that hold the U.S. government accountable to for what’s owed them after their sacrifice, the smell of former glory intoxicates J.J and threatens to derail what little his family actually has. Bithiah pleads with J.J. to stay home and continue to work at the mill; a luxury few can claim. J.J. insists his service to his country and his commitment to those he fought alongside is incomplete, if he doesn’t join the frontlines again. In the end, he must decide what fight is truly his to win and which one is worth the risk, should he lose.
Men Overboard by Rich Orloff
Directed by Janet Powell
Performance: Sunday July 21 @ 3:00 PM
A Bar Mitzvah in New York City brings together three Jewish brothers (a politician, a therapist, and a Buddhist monk), their fading but forceful father, the politician’s 13-year-old son (who doubts he’s ready to become a man), and the boy’s Bar Mitzvah tutor (a woman who loves the boy and possibly one of his uncles). As the boy is torn between obedience and defiance of his father, tensions grow and affect everyone in the family, until anger becomes abuse and it becomes clear that the family’s status quo is no longer an option.
Click Here for tickets to the FutureFest performances. A weekend pass (all six plays is $100. Individual shows are $20.