The Planet Earth Arts New Play Festival

Jan 29 & 31, 2017

In collaboration with Stanford University’s National Center for New Plays and Planet Earth Arts, and in partnership with DC’s Department of Energy & Environment

Theater Alliance presents The Planet Earth Arts New Play Festival. The first of its kind in DC, the festival centers on generating new theater that poses questions and engages audiences in a dialogue about our human relationship to the natural environment.

Through its New Play Festival, Planet Earth Arts is bringing together a community of artists from all disciplines in a bold new collaborative partnership with scientists, public policy leaders, communities, universities, and nonprofit organizations. Planet Earth Arts is dedicated to inspiring artists and audiences to claim planetary sustainability and social justice as the most critical issues of our time.

Local actors will present readings of 10-minute plays for two performances only, on January 29 and January 31 at the Anacostia Playhouse and the Kennedy Center, respectively. These new plays by local playwrights will center around the prompt:

Specifically thinking about the Anacostia Watershed, how does the presence of and relationship to water divide or unite communities? Write one ten-minute play, with no more than four characters, about this relationship and these communities.

The January 29th performance will be followed by an open discussion, moderated by Department of Energy and Environment Director Tommy Wells, focused on our relationship to the watershed and the actions we can each take to restore its health – and ours – for future generations.

National Center for New Plays

In 2004, David Goldman founded the National Center for New Plays at Stanford. The Stanford University’s National Center for New Plays mission is to create an artistically rich environment in which diverse theater artists from the Bay Area can interact with one another, and with artists from around the country, to develop and present brand new works of theater.

Planet Earth Arts

The arts are a powerful catalyst for the awakening of the new human society we know is possible – one based on caring for others and for the natural world that sustains us. Founded in 2014 Planet Earth Arts is bringing together a community of artists from all disciplines in a collaborative partnership with scientists, public policy leaders, universities and non-profit organizations. The mission of Planet Earth Arts is to harness the universal language and transformative power of the arts and human creativity – inspiring and moving artists and audiences to claim planetary sustainability and social justice as the most critical and urgent issues of our time.

DC’s Department of Energy & Environment

An agency of the Government of the District of Columbia, the Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) is the leading authority on energy and environmental issues affecting the District. DOEE’s mission is to improve the quality of life for the residents and natural inhabitants of the nation’s capital by protecting and restoring the environment, conserving our natural resources, mitigating pollution, increasing access to clean and renewable energy, and educating the public on ways to secure a sustainable future. The agency’s core responsibilities include, but are not limited to, enforcing environmental regulations; monitoring and assessing environmental risks; developing energy and environmental policies; issuing permits; and providing residents and local businesses with funding, technical assistance, and information on initiatives designed to ensure a more resilient and sustainable city.

* At the Sunday public reading, all six plays will be followed by a moderated open discussion by Department of Energy and Environment Director Tommy Wells.

The Planet Earth Arts New Play Festival is part of the Hothouse and is made possible through the generous support of the Reva & David Logan Foundation.