Victory Gardens Theater has announced its lineup for the annual Ignition Festival of New Plays. The festival will feature staged readings of six new plays with direction by Chicago-based artists including: Mikael Burke, Monty Cole, Devon de Mayo, Lili-Anne Brown, Elly Green and artistic director Chay Yew.
Ignition will kick off with “#NEWSLAVES” by Keelay Gipson with direction under Burke (Aug. 2, 7:30 pm). Gipson’s new play follows three black men from slavery until now, using the National Football League as a launching point.
Up next is “They Could Give No Name” by Exal Iraheta, Yewwill direct (Aug. 3, 11:00 am). In southern Arizona, medical examiner Nellie is forced to make a life-altering decision after her fiancé, a border patrol agent, accidentally kills a young immigrant girl.
The third staged reading will be Geraldine Inoa’s “Reckoning: Furies from a New Queer Nation” which will be directed by Cole (Aug. 3, 2:00pm). Drawing from the 2015 Supreme Court marriage equality ruling, Inoa’s play raises the questions: what was really accomplished and who was left behind?
Then, de Mayo will direct “The Tasters” by Meghan Brown (Aug. 3, 7:30 pm). This staged reading follows a group of foodies with one crucial job, devouring delicious foods and then seeing if they die.
The fifth new play will be “[hieroglyph]” by Erika Dickerson-Despenza (Aug. 4, 11:00 am). Lili-Anne Brown will direct this play that examines environmental racism, sexual violence, and displacement post-Katrina through the lens of 13 year-old Davis.
The festival of new plays will conclude with “The Gradient” by Steph Del Rosso with direction by Green (Aug. 4, 3:00 pm). The play imagines a not so distant future where men accused of sexual misconduct are sent to The Gradient for rehabilitation.
The Ignition Festival of New Plays will run August 2-4 at Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave. All readings are free and open to the public, though a reservation is strongly encouraged. www.victorygardens.org/ignition, 773-871-3000
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