Lanford Wilson was originally from Lebanon, Missouri and achieved commercial success that saw his work produced worldwide. His most famous play, “Talley’s Folly,” won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1980. Southeast sought to bring attention to the Missouri native and received permission to posthumously name a play festival after him in 2021. 

“We are incredibly honored that Lanford Wilson’s estate has given us permission to name the festival in his honor,” said Kitt Lavoie, artistic director for the Lanford New American Play Festival. “Lanford Wilson was truly one of the most important playwrights of the 20th century. Having his name attached to the event has certainly given it a great deal of credibility among playwrights and other people in the theatre industry, which I’m sure has contributed to how rapidly the festival has developed a national reputation.”

In the spirit of Wilson, the Dobbin’s Conservatory of Theatre and Dance has invited a prestigious group of guest speakers to this year’s festival. Their diverse backgrounds in theater provide valuable insight for students and the community:

• Molly Smith is a leader in the field of New Play Development. Smith has been the artistic director of Arena Stage, a Tony Award Winning venue located in Washington, D.C. since 1998. She has been instrumental in the development of new plays including Paula Vogel’s “How I Learned to Drive,” which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1998 and Pasek & Paul’s “Dear Evan Hansen” which won six of the nine Tony Awards it was nominated for.
• Adam Szymkowic holds a Playwrights diploma from Julliard and an MFA from Columbia University. Szymkowic has enjoyed a great deal of success in the theatre industry with numerous plays being produced across the U.S. and worldwide in 20 other countries. In addition to his success as a playwright, Szymkowic hosts a blog on playwrighting widely renowned in the theater industry.
• Laura Alcalá Baker is a director based in Chicago who focuses on unearthing missing canon and reimagining existing cannon. Her work has been seen at prestigious venues such as the Goodman, Steppenwolf, and Paramount theaters. She previously worked at Victory Gardens Theater where she served as casting director and artistic programs manager. While there, Alcalá Baker led the Access Project and Directors Inclusion Initiative, whose missions were to involve disabled and marginalized peoples in all aspects of theatre.

“We’ve been incredibly fortunate to have some outstanding guest speakers at the festival the last three years – Tony nominees, Emmy winners, and the leaders of some of the most important theaters in the country,” said Lavoie. “Our students benefit professionally not only with hearing their wisdom, but they also get to spend time and connect with them.”

The festival receives play submissions from both new playwrights and professionals from all across the United States. As part of the festival, a number of short plays will be performed.

Full-length plays will be read each evening May 29 – June 2 at 7 p.m. in Bedell Performance Hall at Southeast’s River Campus. These readings are free and open to the public. Final awards and a panel discussion with the playwrights will take place on June 3 at 4:30 p.m. in Bedell Performance Hall and is also open for the public to attend.

The plays chosen as finalists for the festival are almost entirely made of characters in their late teens and early twenties. This allows for college-aged casts to be used for production. Allowing college students to perform in roles they would hold in a professional setting is a cornerstone of the Lanford Wilson New Play Festival.

Five full length plays in total will be read a with one being selected and considered for publication by Concord Theatricals. Concord Theatricals is the world’s most significant theatrical company. It comprises the catalogues of R&H Theatricals, Samuel French, Tams-Witmark, and the Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection.

“I think it speaks to the value of the mission of the festival – to support plays with robust roles for college-aged actors – that Concord Theatricals pretty immediately said yes,” said Lavoie.

The five full-length plays being considered deal with varying themes from navigating high school theatre and student loans to reconnecting with loved ones who have passed on to body positivity. The diversity of the plays being considered represents the mission of honoring new American plays and providing dynamic performance opportunities for college-aged actors.