Humana Festival of New American Plays is an internationally renowned festival that celebrates the contemporary American playwright. Produced annually in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana borde ...

by Actors Theatre of Louisville, this festival showcases new theatrical works and draws producers, critics, playwrights, and theatre lovers from around the world. The festival was founded in 1976 by

Jon Jory Jon Jory is a theatrical director instrumental in the development of Actors Theatre of Louisville; he is also widely rumored to be the writer behind the pseudonym Jane Martin. Childhood Jory is a child of Hollywood character actors as his father V ...

, who was Producing Director of Actors Theatre of Louisville from 1969 to 2000. Since 1979 The Humana Festival has been sponsored by the Humana Foundation which is the philanthropic arm of

Humana Humana Inc. is a for-profit American health insurance company based in Louisville, Kentucky. In 2021, the company ranked 41 on the Fortune 500 list, which made it the highest ranked (by revenues) company based in Kentucky. It has been the th ...

History

The Actor's Theater of Louisville hosted the first Festival of New American Plays in March 1977. It was founded by the former artistic director of the Actor's Theater,

The Gin Game ''The Gin Game'' is a two-person, two-act play by Donald L. Coburn that premiered at American Theater Arts in Hollywood in September 1976, directed by Kip Niven. It was Coburn's first play, and the theater's first production. The play won the 1 ...

by D.L. Coburn, one of the plays presented that year, went on to open on Broadway later that year and would win the

Pulitzer Prize for Drama The Pulitzer Prize for Drama is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It is one of the original Pulitzers, for the program was inaugurated in 1917 with seven prizes, four of which were ...

in 1978. The 1978 festival line up included Marsha Norman's Getting Out, and in 1979,

Crimes of the Heart ''Crimes of the Heart'' is a play by American playwright Beth Henley. It is set in Hazlehurst, Mississippi in the mid-20th century. The play won the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play. In 1986, th ...

Beth Henley Elizabeth Becker Henley (born May 8, 1952) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and actress. Her play ''Crimes of the Heart'' won the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the 1981 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best American Play, and a ...

. It was also the first year that the festival was sponsored by the Humana Festival. Over the 400 plays (short pieces, ten-minute plays, one-acts, and full-lengths) the festival has produced, many have gone on to win several awards. '' Dinner With Friends'' by

Donald Margulies Donald Margulies (born September 2, 1954) is an American playwright and academic. In 2000, he won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play ''Dinner with Friends''. Background and education Margulies attended John Dewey High School in Brook ...

, ''

'' by D.L. Coburn, and, ''

'' by

have all won the

. ''Keely and Du'' by

Jane Martin Jane Martin is the pen name of a playwright who has been active from 1981 to the present, whose real identity remains unknown. Martin's plays include ''Anton in Show Business'', ''Back Story'', ''Beauty'', ''Coup/Clucks'', ''Cementville'', ''Crim ...

, '' Becky Shaw'' by Gina Gionfriddo, and ''Omnium-Gatherum b''y

Alexandra Gersten-Vassilaros Alexandra I. Gersten-Vassilaros (born 1960) is an American playwright and actress. She is the co-author, with Theresa Rebeck, of Omnium Gatherum which was a finalist for the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Gersten-Vassilaros is a graduate of NYU ...

and

Theresa Rebeck Theresa Rebeck (born February 19, 1958) is an American playwright, television writer, and novelist. Her work has appeared on the Broadway and Off-Broadway stage, in film, and on television. Among her awards are the Mystery Writers of America's ...

have all been finalists for the prize. Lucas Hnath's ''The Christians,'' ''Appropriate'' by

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is an American playwright. He won the 2014 Obie Award for Best New American Play for his plays ''Appropriate'' and ''An Octoroon''. His plays '' Gloria'' and ''Everybody'' were finalists for the 2016 and 2018 Pulitzer Pr ...

, ''

Big Love ''Big Love'' is an American drama television series that aired on HBO from March 12, 2006 to March 20, 2011. It stars Bill Paxton as the patriarch of a fundamentalist Mormon family in contemporary Utah that practices polygamy, with Jeanne T ...

'' by Charles Mee, '' Slavs!'' by

Tony Kushner Anthony Robert Kushner (born July 16, 1956) is an American author, playwright, and screenwriter. Lauded for his work on stage he's most known for his seminal work '' Angels in America'' which earned a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award. At the tu ...

, ''My Left Breast'' by Susan Miller, '' Marisol'' by José Rivera and '' One Flea Spare'' by

Naomi Wallace Naomi Wallace (born 1960) is an American playwright, screenwriter and poet from Kentucky. She is widely known for her plays, and has received several distinguished awards for her work. Biography Naomi Wallace was born in Prospect, Kentucky, to ...

have all won Obie Awards. ''How to Say Goodbye'' by

Mary Gallagher Mary Gallagher is an American playwright, screenwriter, novelist, actress, director and teacher. For six years, she was artistic director of Gypsy, a theatre company in the Hudson Valley, New York, which collaborated with many artists to create ...

, ''My Sister in this House'' by

Wendy Kesselman Wendy Kesselman is an American playwright. Life Wendy Kesselman came to the Actors Theater of Louisville in 1980. She lives in Wellfleet, Massachusetts. Awards She won the 1981 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, for ''My Sister in this House''. Wo ...

, ''A Narrow Bed'' by Ellen McLaughlin, ''My Left Breast'' by Susan Miller and '' One Flea Spare'' by

have won the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, and nine other plays produced at the festival have been finalists. ''2'' by Romulus Linney, '' Dinner with Friends'' by

, '' Getting Out'' by

Marsha Norman Marsha Norman (born September 21, 1947) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. She received the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play night, Mother''. She wrote the book and lyrics for such Broadway musicals as '' The ...

, and Jane Martin's '' Talking With…,'' ''Keely and Du,'' ''Jack and Jill,'' and ''Anton in Show Business'' have won the Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award, and '' Dinner with Friends'' by

, ''

'' by Charles Mee, '' After Ashley'' by Gina Gionfriddo, ''Great Falls'' by

Lee Blessing Lee Knowlton Blessing (born October 4, 1949) is an American playwright best known for his 1988 work, '' A Walk in the Woods''. A lifelong Midwesterner, Blessing continued to work in regional theaters in and around his hometown of Minneapolis thro ...

, ''Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them'' by A.Rey Pamatmat, and Lucas Hnath's ''Death Tax'' and ''The Christians'' have won Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award Citations. Jeff Augustin's and Peter Sinn Nachtrieb’ s plays, ''Cry Old Kingdom'' and ''BOB: A Life in Five Acts'' respectively, have won the Barrie and Bernice Stavis Award, given by the National Theatre Conference to outstanding emerging playwrights.

List of plays produced

;2016 * ''Residence'' by

Laura Jacqmin Laura Jacqmin is a Los Angeles–based television writer, playwright, and video game writer from Shaker Heights, Ohio. She was the winner of the 2008 Wasserstein Prize, a $25,000 award given to recognize an emerging female playwright. Biograp ...

* ''For Peter Pan on Her 70th Birthday'' by

Sarah Ruhl Sarah Ruhl (born January 24, 1974) is an American playwright, professor, and essayist. Among her most popular plays are ''Eurydice'' (2003), ''The Clean House'' (2004), and '' In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play)'' (2009). She has been the rec ...

* ''This Random World'' by

Steven Dietz Steven Dietz (born June 23, 1958) is an American playwright, theatre director, and teacher. Called "the most ubiquitous American playwright whose name you may never have heard", Dietz has long been one of America's most prolific and widely prod ...

* ''Wellesley Girl'' by Brendan Pelsue * '' Cardboard Piano'' by Hansol Jung * ''Wondrous Strange'' by Martyna Majok, Meg Miroshnik, Jiehae Park, and

Jen Silverman Jen Silverman is an American playwright, TV writer, and novelist. Silverman grew up living and traveling in Scandinavia, Asia, and Europe as well as the United States. They completed a BA in comparative literature at Brown University and an MF ...

The Ten-Minute Plays: * ''Coffee Break'' by Tasha Gordon-Solmon * ''This Quintessence of Dust'' by Cory Hinkle * ''Trudy, Carolyn, Martha, and Regina Travel to Outer Space and Have a Pretty Terrible Time There'' by James Kennedy ;2015 * ''The Roommate'' by

* ''Dot'' by

Colman Domingo Colman Jason Domingo (born November 28, 1969) is an American actor, writer, and director widely known for his performance as Mr. Bones in the Broadway musical '' The Scottsboro Boys'' (2011), and for his role as recovering drug addict Ali on HBO ...

* ''I Will Be Gone'' by Erin Courtney * ''The Glory of the World'' by Charles L. Mee * ''I Promised Myself to Live Faster'', conceived and created by Pig Iron Theatre Company, text by Gregory S. Moss and Pig Iron Theatre Company * '' That High Lonesome Sound'', by Jeff Augustin, Diana Grisanti, Cory Hinkle, and Charise Castro The Ten-Minute Plays: * ''Rules of Comedy'' by Patricia Cotter * ''So Unnatural a Level'' by Gary Winter * ''Joshua Consumed an Unfortunate Pear'' by

Steve Yockey Steve Yockey is an American playwright, producer and screenwriter. He is known as the developer of the HBO Max comedy-drama television series '' The Flight Attendant'', which was an adaptation of the 2018 novel of the same name. Yockey began hi ...

;2014 * ''Partners'' by Dorothy Fortenberry * ''The Christians'' by

Lucas Hnath Lucas Hnath ( ) is an American playwright. He won the 2016 Obie Award for excellence in playwriting for his plays ''Red Speedo'' and ''The Christians''. He also won a Whiting Award. Biography Hnath grew up in Orlando, Florida. He moved to New Yo ...

* ''The Grown-Up'' by Jordan Harrison * ''brownsville song (b-side for tray)'' by Kimber Lee * ''Steel Hammer'' created by SITI Company, music and lyrics by Julia Wolfe, original text by

Kia Corthron Kia Corthron (born May 13, 1961) is an American playwright, activist, television writer, and novelist. Early life and education Kia Corthron was born on May 13, 1961, in Cumberland, Maryland. Corthron's father worked at a paper mill in the are ...

Will Power William "Will" Steven Power (born 1 March 1981) is an Australian motorsports driver who currently competes in the IndyCar Series, driving for Team Penske. He is the 2014 and 2022 IndyCar Series champion and the 2018 Indianapolis 500 champi ...

Carl Hancock Rux Carl Hancock Rux () is an American poet, playwright, novelist, essayist, recording artist, journalist, curator and conceptual installation artist working in text, dance, ritualized performance, audio, video, and photography. Described in the NY T ...

and

Regina Taylor Regina Annette Taylor
''Film Reference''. (born August 22, 1960) is an American

* ''Remix 38'' by

Jackie Sibblies Drury Jackie Sibblies Drury is an American playwright. ''The New York Times'' called Drury's 2012 play ''We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as Southwest Africa, From the German Sudwestafrika, Between the ...

, Idris Goodwin, Basil Kreimendahl,

Justin Kuritzkes Justin Kuritzkes is an American playwright and novelist. In 2016 his play ''The Sensuality Party'' toured the university circuit of New York state. He has been the subject of media coverage because of his activities on YouTube, such as the 2011 ...

and Amelia Roper The Ten-Minute Plays: * ''Winter Games'' by Rachel Bonds * ''Some Prepared Remarks (A History in Speech)'' by Jason Gray Platt * ''Poor Shem'' by Gregory Hischak ;2013 * ''The Delling Shore'' by

Sam Marks Sam Marks is an American North American champion bridge player and an American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) Grand Life Master. Bridge accomplishments Wins * North American Bridge Championships (1) ** Grand National Teams (1) 2022 Runners-up ...

* ''Appropriate'' by

* ''Cry Old Kingdom'' by

Jeff Augustin Jeff is a masculine name, often a short form (hypocorism) of the English given name Jefferson or Jeffrey, which comes from a medieval variant of Geoffrey. Music * DJ Jazzy Jeff, American DJ/turntablist record producer Jeffrey Allen Townes * ...

* ''Gnit'' by

Will Eno Will Eno (born 1965) is an American playwright based in Brooklyn, New York. His play, ''Thom Pain (based on nothing)'' was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama in 2005. His play '' The Realistic Joneses'' appeared on Broadway in 2014, whe ...

* ''O Guru Guru Guru, or why I don't want to go to yoga class with you'' by Mallery Avidon * '' Sleep Rock Thy Brain'' by

Rinne Groff Rinne Groff (aka Rinne Becker Groff) is an American playwright and performer. Biography Groff was trained at Yale University and New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where she currently teaches. A founding member of Elevator Repair Se ...

, and Anne Washburn The Ten-Minute Plays: * ''Halfway'' by Emily Schwend * ''27 Ways I Didn't Say "Hi" to Laurence Fishburne'' by Jonathan Josephson * '' Two Conversations Overheard on Airplanes'' by

;2012 * '' Eat Your Heart Out'' by Courtney Baron * '' How We Got On'' by Idris Goodwin * '' Death Tax'' by

* '' Michael von Siebenburg Melts Through the Floorboards'' by

Greg Kotis Greg Kotis (born 1965/1966) is an American playwright, best known for writing the book and co-writing the lyrics for the musical ''Urinetown''. Biography Career Kotis studied political science at the University of Chicago, where he was a membe ...

* '' The Veri**on Play'' by

Lisa Kron Elizabeth S. "Lisa" Kron (born May 20, 1961) is an American actress and playwright. She is best known for writing the lyrics and book to the musical '' Fun Home'' for which she won both the Tony Award for Best Original Score and the Tony Awa ...

* '' The Hour of Feeling'' by Mona Mansour * '' Oh, Gastronomy! by'' Michael Golamco, Carson Kreitzer, Steve Moulds,

Tanya Saracho Tanya Selene Saracho is a Mexican-American actress, playwright, dramaturge and screenwriter. With a background in theater before writing for television, she co-founded in 2000 and was its co-artistic director for ten years. She also co-founded ...

, and Matt Schatz The Ten-Minute Plays: * ''The Dungeons and the Dragons'' by Kyle John Schmidt * ''Hero Dad'' by Laura Jacqmin * ''The Ballad of 423 and 424'' by Nicholas C. Pappas ;2011 * ''Mr. Smitten'' by Laura Eason * ''Maple and Vine'' by Jordan Harrison * ''Hygiene'' by Gregory Hischak * ''Chicago, Sudan'' by Marc Bamuthi Joseph * '' Elemeno Pea'' by Molly Smith Metzler * ''BOB'' by

Peter Sinn Nachtrieb Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

* ''Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them'' by A. Rey Pamatmat * ''The Edge of Our Bodies'' by

Adam Rapp Adam Rapp (born June 15, 1968) is an American novelist, playwright, screenwriter, musician and film director. His play '' Red Light Winter'' was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2006. Early life Rapp was born in Chicago to Mary Lee (née Baird; di ...

* ''A Devil at Noon'' by Anne Washburn * ''The End'' by Dan Dietz,

Jennifer Haley Jennifer Haley is an American playwright. She grew up in San Antonio, Texas and studied acting at the University of Texas at Austin for her undergraduate degree. Haley also received a MFA in playwriting at Brown University in 2005, where she ...

, Allison Moore, A. Rey Pamatmat, and Marco Ramirez. ;2010 * ''Let Bygones Be'' by Gamal Abdel Chasten * ''HEIST!'' conceived and created by Sean Daniels and Deborah Stein, written by Deborah Stein * ''Lobster Boy'' by Dan Dietz * ''Ground'' by Lisa Dillman * ''Fissures (lost and found)'' by Steve Epp, Cory Hinkle, Dominic Orlando, Dominique Serrand, Deborah Stein and Victoria Stewart * ''Post Wave Spectacular'' by Diana Grisanti * ''An Examination of the Whole Playwright/Actor Relationship Presented As Some Kind of Cop Show Parody'' by

* ''Sirens'' by Deborah Zoe Laufer * ''The Method Gun'' created by Rude Mechs, written by

Kirk Lynn Kirk Lynn (born May 8, 1972) is a playwright and novelist who lives in Austin, Texas. He graduated from Douglas MacArthur High School in San Antonio, Texas in 1990. He is one of the founders of Rude Mechanicals theater company and he has been w ...

* ''The Cherry Sisters Revisited'' by

Dan O'Brien Daniel Dion O'Brien (born July 18, 1966) is an American former decathlete and Olympic gold medalist. He won the Olympic title in 1996, three consecutive world championships (1991, 1993, 1995), and set the world record in 1992. Early life O' ...

with original music by Michael Friedman * ''Phoenix'' by Scott Organ. ;2009 * ''Ameriville'' by

UNIVERSES The universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy. The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological description of the development of the universe. Accor ...

( Steven Sapp;

Mildred Ruiz-Sapp Mildred Ruiz-Sapp is an American actress. Born and raised on New York's Lower East Side ( Alphabet City), she co-founded THE POINT Community Development Corporation (Hunts Point) in 1993 and Universes (poetic theatre ensemble) (1996), both in c ...

; Gamal Abdel Chasten;

William Ruiz William Ruiz is a playwright, poet, and actor from the Bronx. Born and raised on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, William (a.k.a. Ninja) is a core member of Universes (poetic theatre ensemble). Theater Credits Include *''Ti-Jean Blues'' *''Wai ...

a.k.a.- NINJA) * ''Slasher'' by Allison Moore * ''Absalom'' by

Zoe Kazan Zoe Swicord Kazan (; born September 9, 1983) is an American actress, playwright, and screenwriter. She made her acting debut in the film ''Swordswallowers and Thin Men'' (2003) and later appeared in films such as '' The Savages'' (2007), '' Revo ...

* ''The Hard Weather Boating Party'' by

* ''Under Construction'' by Charles L. Mee, produced in association with the SITI Company * ''Wild Blessings: A Celebration of Wendell Berry'' adapted for the stage by Marc Masterson and Adrien-Alice Hansel, original music by Malcolm Dalglish * ''Brink!'' by Lydia R. Diamond, Kristoffer Diaz,

, Deborah Zoe Laufer,

and Deborah Stein * ''On the Porch One Crisp Spring Morning'' by Alex Dremann * ''3:59am: a drag race for two actors'' by Marco Ramirez * ''Roanoke'' by Michael Lew, music and lyrics by Matt Schatz

References

External links

*
Humana Festival of New American Plays CD ROM
{dead link, date=November 2017 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes Festivals established in 1976 Theatre festivals in the United States Festivals in Louisville, Kentucky 1976 establishments in Kentucky

History

List of plays produced

See also

References

External links