Kennedy Center's New Visions/New Voices
An Innovative Kennedy Center Festival Dedicated to
The Development of New Plays & Musicals for Young Audiences
Six New Works from American Playwrights
Translation Project workshop of a new English version
of a play from Marsaxlokk, Malta
Partnership with Theater For Young Audiences/USA
to co-host the 2020 TYA/USA National Festival and Conference
May 15-17, 2020 at the Kennedy Center
(WASHINGTON)—The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announces the biennial festival New Visions/New Voices from May 15-17, 2020, marking the 16th showcase of this industry workshop. Dedicated to the development of new plays and musicals for young people and their families, this innovative series pioneers a unique and vital forum for the field of Theater for Young Audiences (TYA).
New Visions/New Voices 2020 will present six new works by American playwrights, selected from theater companies based in Chicago, IL; Kansas City, MO; Oakland, CA; Omaha, NE; Seattle, WA; and Tempe, AZ:
• The Boy Who Kissed the Sky by Idris Goodwin, directed by Tim Bond—Seattle Children’s Theatre; Seattle, WA
• Farewell Opportunity by Georgette Kelly, directed by Julie Ritchey—Filament Theatre; Chicago, IL
• Only One Day a Year by Michelle Tyrene Johnson, directed by Nedra Dixon—The Coterie Theatre; Kansas City, MO
• Selena Maria Sings by Miriam Gonzales with music by Daniel French, directed by Melissa Crespo—Childsplay; Tempe, AZ
• this is what I chose no I'm not sorry and yes if you'd ask I'd do it again by Daria Miyeko Marinelli, directed by Will Kiley—Jackalope Theatre Company; Chicago, IL
• What Do You Do With An Idea, the Musical with book and lyrics by Adam Tobin and music by Deborah Wicks La Puma, directed by Nina Meehan, and adapted from the book by Kobi Yamada—Bay Area Children’s Theatre; Oakland, CA
The festival will also include Project Pride Players’ United We Shout: Queer Youth Revolution!, a collaboration between queer youth theater troupes in Omaha, NE and Kansas City, MO, directed by Brian Guehring/Carina DuMarce (Omaha) and Amanda Kibler/Aniseto Herrera (Kansas City).
For the fourth time, the festival’s Translation Project will workshop an unproduced English version of a previously successful script originally written and produced in another language. The New Visions/New Voices 2020 play will be Ineż Was Perf(ect) by Simone Spiteri of Marsaxlokk, Malta.
This year, New Visions/New Voices will partner with Theatre for Young Audiences/USA, the national organization for TYA in the United States, amplifying the impact of the event by co-hosting the 2020 TYA/USA National Festival and Conference. This landmark event, which will begin on May 14, will add full performances, keynote speakers, breakout sessions, and other special events to the New Visions/New Voices programming (details to be announced in the coming months). The partnership marks the 20-year anniversary of the joint festival presented at the Kennedy Center in 2000, which was arguably the most significant gathering of the TYA field in a generation.