Clubbed Thumb has revealed the lineup for its 23rd season of SummerWorks, the five-time Obie Award-winning theatre company's annual series of new plays. The festival will run May 19–June 30 at The Wild Project.
The 2018 SummerWorks will feature three new plays: Tin Cat Shoes by Trish Harnetiaux and directed by Knud Adams; Wilder Gone by Angela Hanks; and Plano by Will Arbery and directed by Taylor Reynolds. Full casting will be announced soon.
SummerWorks is known for unearthing and nurturing new playwriting talent. Previous festivals have featured the likes of Pulitzer Prize finalists Gina Gionfriddo, Sarah Ruhl, and Jordan Harrison, and have marked the professional debuts of Rinne Groff, Sylvan Oswald, Clare Barron, Susan Stanton, and Ariel Stess. Other SummerWorks alums include Anne Washburn, Adam Bock, Gregory Moss, Jenny Schwartz, Ethan Lipton, Erin Courtney, Sheila Callaghan, Tanya Saracho, Jaclyn Backhaus, and Heidi Schreck.
Schreck's acclaimed 2017 production of What the Constitution Means to Me will go on to have a production at Berkeley Repertory Theatre this spring.
See below for a list of show descriptions and dates for the 2018 lineup:
Tin Cat Shoes
May 19–29
Blessed with the can-do American spirit, a troop of dedicated shoe store workers embark on a madcap odyssey of personal (employer-mandated) expansion. But when "work is your life" and systems break down, all that remains is you, nachos, and the truth.
Wilder Gone
June 4–14
Thalia wants to build a farmhouse in the middle of the great big city. Mabel is on a quest to become its first female preacher (although her rampant sexual thoughts are having a real impact on her sermonizing). And little Peanut Brittle is digging around in the past. It is only 20 years into the new century, and these ladies are going a bit wild.
Plano
June 20–30
Tonight, and later, and earlier, three sisters (no, not those ones) are stricken with a series of strange plagues: Isabel’s got pains. Anne’s got slugs. And Genevieve doesn't want to talk about hers. She just wants you to eat the damn hummus (she made it!). Let's talk about family nightmares. I mean, uh, memories.
Festival passes are on sale now for $60 here.
