Humana Festival of New American Plays

Humana Festival of New American Plays is an internationally renowned festival that celebrates the contemporary American playwright. Produced annually in Louisville, Kentucky by Actors Theatre of Louisville, this prestigious event showcases new theatrical works and draws producers, critics, playwrights and theatre lovers from around the world. The Humana Festival is made possible by the generosity of The Humana Foundation. The festival was founded in 1976 by Jon Jory, Actors Theatre Producing Director from 1969 to 2000.

History of festival

*Actors Theatre has produced over 300 Humana Festival plays (short pieces, ten-minute plays, one-acts, and full-lengths), representing the works of more than 200 playwrights.
*Over three-fourths of the Humana Festival plays have been published in twenty-eight Actors Theatre anthologies as well as individual acting editions, making a visible and vital contribution to American dramatic literature.
*Three Humana Festival plays have won the Pulitzer Prize: "The Gin Game" by D.L. Coburn, "Crimes of the Heart" by Beth Henley and "Dinner With Friends" by Donald Margulies. "Keely and Du" by Jane Martin was a finalist.
*In addition to the Pulitzer Prize, Humana Festival plays have won many prestigious awards including the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, the Pen Center USA West Award, The Kesselring Prize, the Obie Award and the American Theatre Critics/Steinberg New Play Award.
*More than 2,000 scripts are received annually for consideration in the New Play Program. Nearly 75,000 scripts have been submitted since 1976.
*The Humana Foundation first sponsored the Humana Festival during the 1979–80 season. During the 1981–82 season, the festival was renamed the Humana Festival of New American Plays in honor of the Louisville-based company's ongoing and generous support. As the philanthropic arm of Humana, Inc., The Humana Foundation identifies, funds and nurtures projects and organizations in three fields: domestic and international health, education and arts, and civic developments where the company has a meaningful presence.
*Over 30 foreign countries are represented in the audience at the festival each year.
*Over 90 million Americans have seen additional productions of the many plays originated in the Humana Festival, not including film and television audiences who have seen Humana plays adapted for the screen.
*Actors' New Play Program encompasses the Humana Festival of New American Plays, the National Ten-Minute Play Contest and ongoing contact with hundreds of playwrights.
*The Heideman Award was established in 1979. Made possible by the late Louisvillian Ted Heideman, the $1,000 cash prize is bestowed annually upon the winners of the National Ten-Minute Play Contest (1989–2005), which evolved from the national One-Act Play Contest (1979–1989).
*Each year of the Humana Festival's first decade (1976–1986), The Great American Play Contest awarded cash prizes for two full-length scripts produced in the Humana Festival.

=List of plays [cite web
title = Plays / Chronology
publisher = Actors Theatre of Louisville
url = http://actorstheatre.org/HUMANA%20FESTIVAL%20CDROM/date.htm
accessdate = 2007-02-08] =

1976-1977:
*"The Gin Game" by D.L. Coburn
*"Indulgences in the Louisville Harem" by John Orlock 1977-1978:
*"The Louisville Zoo" by Anonymous Authors
*"An Independent Woman" by Daniel Stein
*"Getting Out" by Marsha Norman
*"Does Anybody Here Do the Peabody?] by Enid Rudd
*"The Bridgehead" by Frederick Bailey 1978-1979:
*"Crimes of the Heart" by Beth Henley
*"Circus Valentine" by Marsha Norman
*"Find Me" by Olwen Wymark
*"Holidays": a compendium of short plays:
**"Bar Play" by Lanford Wilson
**"Fireworks" by Megan Terry
**"The Great Labor Day Classic" by Israel Horovitz
**"I Can't Find it Anywhere" by Oliver Hailey
**"Independence Day" by Tom Eyen
**"In Fireworks Lie Secret Codes" by John Guare
**"Juneteenth" by Preston Jones
**"Merry Christmas" by Marsha Norman
**"New Year's" by Ray Aranha
**"Redeemer" by Douglas Turner Ward
**"Lone Star" by James McLure
**"Matrimonium" by Peter Ekstrom 1979-1980:
*"Agnes of God" by John Pielmeier
*"Doctors and Diseases" by Peter Ekstrom
*"The Coal Diamond" by Shirley Lauro
*"Nothing Immediate" by Shirley Lauro
*"Remington" by Ray Aranha
*"Sunset/Sunrise" by Adele Edling Shank
*"They're Coming to Make it Brighter" by Kent Broadhurst
*"Today a Little Extra" by Michael Kassin
*"Weekends Like Other People" by David Blomquist
*"The American Project": a compendium of short plays:
**"American Welcome" by Brian Friel
**"The Drummer" by Athol Fugard
**"The Golden Accord" by Wole Soyinka
**"Hooray for Hollywood" by John Byrne
**"San Salvador" by Keith Dewhurst:
**"The Side of the Road" by Gordon Dryland
**"Star Quality" by Carol Bolt
**"Switching" by Brian Clark
**"Tall Girls Have Everything" by Stewart Parker
**"Vicki Madison Clocks Out" by Alexander Buzo 1980-1981:
*"The Autobiography of a Pearl Diver" by Martin Epstein
*"Extremities" by William Mastrosimone
*"A Full Length Portrait of America" by Paul D’Andrea
*"My Sister in this House" by Wendy Kesselman
*"Future Tense" by David Kranes
*"Swop" by Ken Jenkins
*"Early Times": a compendium of short plays:
**"The A**hole Murder Case" by Stuart Hample
**"Chapter Twelve-The Frog" by John Pielmeier
**"Propinquity" by Claudia Johnson
**"Quadrangle" by Jon Jory
**"Spades" by Jim Beaver
**"Twirler" by Jane Martin
**"Watermelon Boats" by Wendy MacLaughlin Shorts:
*"Chocolate Cake" by Mary Gallagher
*"Chug" by Ken Jenkins
*"Final Placement" by Ara Watson 1981-1982:
*"Clara's Play" by John Olive
*"A Different Moon" by Ara Watson
*"Full Hookup" by Conrad Bishop and Elizabeth Fuller
*"The Grapes of Wrath" by Terrence Shank
*"The Informer" by Thomas Murphy
*"Oldtimers Game" by Lee Blessing
*"Talking With" by Jane Martin Shorts:
*"The Eye of the Beholder" by Kent Broadhurst
*"The New Girl" by Vaughn McBride
*"The Groves of Academe" by Mark Stein

"Solo": a compendium of one-person plays:
*"Sidekick" by Jim Beaver
*"The Survivalist" by Robert Schenkkan
*"The Subject Animal" by Larry Atlas
*"Rupert's Birthday" by Ken Jenkins
*"Slow Drag Mama" by Isabel Monk and Dare Clubb
*"Butterfly, Marguerite, Norma ... and Irma Jean" by Trish Johnson

1982-1983:
*"Courage" by John Pielmeier
*"Eden Court" by Murphy Guyer
*"Food From Trash" by Gary Leon Hill
*"In a Northern Landscape" by Timothy Mason
*"Neutral Countries" by Barbara Field
*"Sandcastles" by Adele Edling Shank
*"Thanksgiving" by James McLure
*"A Weekend Near Madison" by Kathleen Tolan
*"Fathers and Daughters": two one-act plays:
**"A Tantalizing" by William Mastrosimone
**"The Value of Names" by Jeffrey Sweet Shorts:
*"Bartok as Dog" by Patrick Tovatt
*"The Habitual Acceptance of the Near Enough" by Kent Broadhurst
*"Partners" by Dave Higgins 1983-1984:
*"007 Crossfire" by Ken Jenkins
*"Courtship" by Horton Foote
*"Danny and the Deep Blue Sea" by John Patrick Shanley
*"Execution of Justice" by Emily Mann
*"Husbandry" by Patrick Tovatt
*"Independence" by Lee Blessing
*"Lemons" by Kent Broadhurst
*"The Octette Bridge Club" by P.J. Barry
*"The Undoing" by William Mastrosimone 1984-1985:
*"Available Light" by Heather McDonald
*"Days and Nights Within" by Ellen McLaughlin
*"Ride the Dark Horse" by J.F. O’Keefe
*"Tent Meeting" by Larry Larson, Levi Lee & Rebecca Wackler
*"Two Masters" by Frank Manley
*"The Very Last Lover of the River Cane" by James McLure
*"War of the Roses" (now titled "Riches") by Lee Blessing Shorts:
*"Advice to the Players" by Bruce Bonafede
*"The American Century" by Murphy Guyer
*"The Black Branch" by Gary Leon Hill with Jo Hill
*"The Root of Chaos" by Douglas Soderberg 1985-1986:
*"Astronauts" by Claudia Reilly
*"How to Say Goodbye" by Mary Gallagher
*"No Mercy" by Constance Congdon
*"The Shaper" by John Steppling
*"Smitty's News" by Conrad Bishop and Elizabeth Fuller
*"Some Things You Need to Know Before the World Ends: A Final Evening with the Illuminati" by Larry Larson and Levi Lee
*"To Culebra" by Jonathan Bolt
*"Transports": two one-act plays:
**"21A" by Kevin Kling
**"How Gertrude Stormed the Philosopher's Club" by Martin Epstein 1986-1987:
*"Deadfall" by Grace McKeaney
*"Digging In"by Julie Crutcher and Vaughn McBride
*"Elaine's Daughter" by Mayo Simon
*"Glimmerglass" by Jonathan Bolt
*"Gringo Planet" by Frederick Bailey
*"T Bone N Weasel" by Jon Klein
*"Water Hole" by Kendrew Lascelles Shorts:
*"Chemical Reactions" by Andy Foster
*"Fun" by Howard Korder
*"The Love Talker" by Deborah Pryor 1987-1988:
*"Alone at the Beach" by Richard Dresser
*"Channels" by Judith Fein
*"Lloyd's Prayer" by Kevin Kling
*"The Metaphor" by Murphy Guyer
*"The Queen of the Leaky Roof Circuit" by Jimmy Breslin
*"Sarah and Abraham" by Marsha Norman
*"Whereabouts Unknown" by Barbara Damashek 1988-1989:
*"Autumn Elegy" by Charlene Redick
*"Blood Issue" by Harry Crews
*"Bone-the-Fish" by Arthur Kopit
*"The Bug" by Richard Strand
*"God's Country" by Steven Dietz
*"Incident at San Bajo" by Brad Korbesmeyer
*"Stained Glass" by William F. Buckley, Jr.
*"Tales of the Lost Formicans" by Constance Congdon 1989-1990:
*"2" by Romulus Linney
*"Infinity's House" by Ellen McLaughlin
*"The Pink Studio" by Jane Anderson
*"The Swan" by Elizabeth Egloff
*"Vital Signs" by Jane Martin
*"Zara Spook and Other Lures" by Joan Ackermann
*"In Darkest America" by Joyce Carol Oates 1990-1991:
*"Cementville" by Jane Martin
*"The Death of Zukasky" by Richard Strand
*"Down the Road" by Lee Blessing
*"In the Eye of the Hurricane" by Eduardo Machado
*"Night-Side" by Shem Bitterman
*"Out the Window" by Neal Bell
*"A Passenger Train of Sixty-One Coaches" by Paul Walker
*"A Piece of My Heart" by Shirley Lauro
*"What She Found There" by John Glore 1991-1992:
*"Bondage" by David Henry Hwang
*"The Carving of Mount Rushmore" by John Conklin
*"D. Boone" (retitled: "Loving Daniel Boone") by Marsha Norman
*"Devotees in the Garden of Love" by Suzan-Lori Parks
*"Eukiah" by Lanford Wilson
*"Evelyn and the Polka King" by John Olive
*"Hyaena" by Ross MacLean
*"Lynette at 3 A.M." by Jane Anderson
*"Marisol" by José Rivera
*"Old Lady's Guide to Survival" by Mayo Simon
*"Procedure" by Joyce Carol Oates 1992-1993:
*"Deadly Virtues" by Brian Jucha
*"The ice Fishing Play" by Kevin Kling
*"Keely and Du" by Jane Martin
*"Poof!" by Lynn Nottage
*"Shooting Simone" by Lynne Kaufman
*"Stanton's Garage" by Joan Ackermann
*"Tape" by José Rivera
*"What We Do With it" by Bruce MacDonald
*"Various Small Fires" by Regina Taylor 1993-1994:
*"1969" by Tina Landau
*"Betty the Yeti" by Jon Klein
*"Julie Johnson" by Wendy Hammond
*"The Last Time We Saw Her" by Jane Anderson
*"My Left Breast" by Susan Miller
*"Slavs! (Thinking About the Longstanding Problems of Virtue and Happiness)" by Tony Kushner
*"Shotgun" by Romulus Linney
*"Stones and Bones" by Marion McClinton
*"The Survivor: A Cambodian Odyssey" by Jon Lipsky
*"Trip's Cinch" by Phyllis Nagy 1994-1995:
*"Below the Belt" by Richard Dresser
*"Beast on the Moon" by Richard Kalinoski
*"Between the Lines" by Regina Taylor
*"Cloud Tectonics" by José Rivera
*"Head On" by Elizabeth Dewberry
*"Helen at Risk" by Dana Yeaton
*"July 7, 1994" by Donald Margulies
*"Middle-Aged White Guys" by Jane Martin
*"Tough Choices for the New Century: A Seminar for Responsible Living" by Jane Anderson
*"Trudy Blue" by Marsha Norman
*"Your Obituary is a Dance" by Benard Cummings 1995-1996:
*"The Batting Cage" by Joan Ackermann
*"Chilean Holiday" by Guillermo Reyes
*"Contract With Jackie" by Jimmy Breslin
*"Flesh and Blood" by Elizabeth Dewberry
*"Going, Going, Gone" by Anne Bogart & the Saratoga International Theater Company
*"Jack and Jill" by Jane Martin
*"Missing/Kissing by John Patrick Shanley
*"One Flea Spare" by Naomi Wallace
*"Reverse Transcription: Six Playwrights Bury a Seventh" by Tony Kushner
*"Trying to Find Chinatown" by David Henry Hwang
*"What I Meant Was" by Craig Lucas 1996-1997:
*"Gun-Shy" by Richard Dresser
*"Icarus" by Edwin Sanchez
*"In Her Sight" by Carol K. Mack
*"Lighting Up the Two-Year Old" by Benjie Aerenson
*"Misreadings" by Neena Beber
*"Polaroid Stories" by Naomi Iizuka
*"Private Eyes" by Steven Dietz
*"Stars" by Romulus Linney
*"Waterbabies" by Adam LeFevre 1997-1998:
*"Acorn" by David Graziano
*"Dinner With Friends" by Donald Margulies
*"Let the Big Dog Eat" by Elizabeth Wong
*"Like Totally Weird" by William Mastrosimone
*"Meow" by Val Smith
*"Mr. Bundy" by Jane Martin
*"Resident Alien" by Stuart Spencer
*"Ti Jean Blues", adapted from the works of Jack Kerouac by JoAnne Akalaitis
*"The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek" by Naomi Wallace 1998-1999:
*"Aloha, Say the Pretty Girls" by Naomi Iizuka
*"Cabin Pressure" by Anne Bogart & The SITI Company
*"What Are You Afraid Of?" by Richard Dresser
*"The Cockfighter" by Frank Manley, adapted by Vincent Murphy
*"God's Man in Texas" by David Rambo
*"The T(ext) Shirt Project"
*"Y2K" (retitled: BecauseHeCan) by Arthur Kopit
*Life Under 30 - A Bill of 10-Minute Plays:
**Slop-Culture" by Robb Badlam
**"The Blue Room" by Courtney Baron
**"Dancing With a Devil" by Brooke Berman
**"Forty Minute Finish" by Jerome Hairston
**"Mpls., St. Paul" by Julia Jordan
**"Drive Angry" by Matt Pelfrey
**"Labor Day" by Sheri Wilner
**"Just Be Frank" by Caroline Williams 1999-2000:
*"Anton in Show Business" by Jane Martin
*"Arabian Nights" by David Ives
*"Big Love" by Charles L. Mee
*"The Divine Fallacy" by Tina Howe
*"No. 11 (Blue and White)" by Alexandra Cunningham
*"Standard Time" by Naomi Wallace
*"TAPE" by Stephen Belber
*"Touch" by Toni Press-Coffman
*"War of the Worlds" by Naomi Iizuka Phone Plays:
*"Beside Every Good Man" by Regina Taylor
*"Lovers of Long Red Hair" by José Rivera
*"The Reprimand" by Jane Anderson
*"Show Business" by Jeffrey Hatcher
*"Trespassion" by Mark O’Donnell 2000-2001:
*"bobrauschenbergamerica" by Charles L. Mee
*"Description Beggared; or the Allegory of WHITENESS" by Mac Wellman, music by Michael Roth
*"Flaming Guins of the Purple Sage" by Jane Martin
*"Quake" by Melanie Marnich
*"Heaven and Hell (On Earth): A Divine Comedy" by Robert Alexander, Jenny Lyn Bader, Elizabeth Dewberry, Deborah Lynn Frockt, Rebecca Gilman, Keith Glover, Hilly Hicks, Jr., Karen Hines, Michael Kassin, Jane Martin, William Mastrosimone, Guillermo Reyes, Sarah Schulman, Richard Strand, Alice Tuan & Elizabeth Wong
*"When The Sea Drowns in Sand" (retitled: "Havana is Waiting") by Eduardo Machado
*"Wonderful World" by Richard Dresser
*"Chad Curtiss, Lost Again" by Arthur Kopit The Phone Plays:
*"Subliminable" by Greg Allen (The Neo-Futurists, Chicago)
*"Hype-R-Connectivity" by Andy Bayiates (The Neo-Futurists, Chicago)
*"Call Waiting" by Rachel Claff (The Neo-Futurists, Chicago)
*"Owls" By Erin Courtney (Clubbed Thumb, New York)
*"Message Sent" by Sterling Houston (Jump-Start Performance Co., San Antonio)
*"Click" by Brighde Mullins (Thick Description, San Francisco)
*"Somebody Call 911" by Jennifer L. Nelson (African Continuum Theatre Company, Washington, D.C.) 2001-2002:
*"A.M. Sunday" by Jerome Hairston
*"Bake Off" by Sheri Wilner
*"Classyass" by Caleen Sinnette Jennings
*"Finer Noble Gases" by Adam Rapp
*"Limonade Tous Les Jours" by Charles L. Mee
*"The Mystery of Attraction" by Marlane Meyer
*"Nightswim" by Julia Jordan
*"Rembrandt's Gift" by Tina Howe
*"Score" conceived and directed by Anne Bogart, adapted by Jocelyn Clarke
*"Snapshot: A Dramatic Anthology" by Tanya Barfield, Lee Blessing, Julie Jensen, Honour Kane, Sunil Kuruvilla, David Lindsay-Abaire, Michael Bigelow Dixon & Val Smith, Victor Lodato, Quincy Long, Deb Margolin, Allison Moore, Lynn Nottage, Dan O’Brien, Annie Weisman, Craig Wright, and Chay Yew
*"The Technology Project"
*"Voice Properties (On A First Date After a Full Year of Februarys)" by John Belluso
*"F.E.T.C.H." by Alice Tuan
*"Virtual Mediation #1" by Sarah Ruhl 2002-2003:
*"The Faculty Room" by Bridget Carpenter
*"Fit for Feet" by Jordan Harrison
*"The Lively Lad" songs by Quincy Long, music by Michael Silversher
*"Omnium-Gatherum" by Alexandra Gersten-Vassilaros and Theresa Rebeck
*"Orange Lemon Egg Canary: A Trick In Four Acts" by Rinne Groff
*"The Roads That Lead Here" by Lee Blessing
*"The Second Death of Priscilla" by Russell Davis
*"Slide Glide the Slippery Slope" by Kia Corthron
*"Trash Anthem" by Dan Dietz
*"Trepidation Nation: A Phobic Anthology" by Keith Josef Adkins, Stephen Belber, Hilary Bell, Glen Berger, Sheila Callaghan, Bridget Carpenter, Cusi Cram, Richard Dresser, Erik Ehn, Gina Gionfriddo, Kirsten Greenidge, Michael Hollinger, Warren Leight, Julie Marie Myatt, Victoria Stewart, and James Still
*"Rhythmcity" by Mildred Ruiz and Steven Sapp 2003-2004:
*"After Ashley" by Gina Gionfriddo
*"At the Vanishing Point" by Naomi Iizuka
*"A Bone Close to My Brain" by Dan Dietz
*"Foul Territory" by Craig Wright
*"Kid-Simple" by Jordan Harrison
*"Kuwait" by Vincent Delaney
*"The Ruby Sunrise" by Rinne Groff
*"Sans-Culottes in the Promised Land" by Kirsten Greenidge
*"The Spot" by Steven Dietz
*"Tallgrass Gothic" by Melanie Marnich
*"Fast and Loose: An Ethical Collaboration" by José Cruz González, Kirsten Greenidge, Julie Marie Myatt and John Walch 2004-2005:
*"Dream of Jeanie-by-the-Door" by David Valdes Greenwood
*"Goody Fucking Two Shoes" by Jennifer Maisel
*"Hazzard County" by Allison Moore
*"Johannes, Pyotr & Marge" by Jeffrey Essmann
*"Long Dream in Summer" by Saïd Sayrafiezadeh
*"Memory House" by Kathleen Tolan
*"Moot the Messenger" by Kia Corthron
*"A Nervous Smile" by John Belluso
*"Pure Confidence" by Carlyle Brown
*"The Shaker Chair" by Adam Bock
*"Uncle Sam's Satiric Spectacular: On Democracy and Other Fictions, Featuring Patriotism Acts and Blue Songs from a Red State" by Greg Allen, Sheila Callaghan, Bridget Carpenter, Eric Coble, Richard Dresser, Michael Friedman and Hilly Hicks 2005-2006:
*"Act a Lady" by Jordan Harrison
*"Hotel Cassiopeia" by Charles L. Mee, Produced in association with the SITI Company
*"Listeners" by Jane Martin
*"Low's Journey: Mediations Trilogy, pt. I" by Rha Goddess, a co-production of Divine Dime, Ltd. and Made in da Shade
*"Natural Selection" by Eric Coble
*"Neon Mirage" by Liz Duffy Adams, Dan Dietz, Rick Hip-Flores, Julie Jensen, Lisa Kron, Tracey Scott Wilson & Chay Yew
*"Six Years" by Sharr White
*"The Scene" by Theresa Rebeck
*"Sovereignty" by Rolin Jones
*"Three Guys and a Brenda" by Adam Bock 2006-2007:
*"365 Days/365 Plays" by Suzan-Lori Parks
*"The As If Body Loop" by Ken Weitzman
*"Batch: An American Bachelor/Ette Party Spectacle", conceived by Whit MacLaughlin & Alice Tuan With Text by Alice Tuan Created by New Paradise Laboratories
*"Clarisse and Larmon" by Deb Margolin
*"Dark Play or Stories for Boys" by Carlos Murillo
*"I Am Not Batman" by Marco Ramirez
*"Mr. and Mrs." by Julie Marie Myatt
*"The Open Road Anthology" by Constance Congdon, Kia Corthron, Michael John Garcés, Rolin Jones, A. Rey Pamatmat, Kathryn Walat with music by GrooveLily
*"Strike-Slip" by Naomi Iizuka
*"The Unseen" by Craig Wright
*"When Something Wonderful Ends" by Sherry Kramer [cite web
title = Plays / Chronology
publisher = Actors Theatre of Louisville
url = http://actorstheatre.org/HUMANA%20FESTIVAL%20CDROM/date.htm
accessdate = 2007-02-08 ] 2007-2008:
*"Great Falls" by Lee Blessing
*"Becky Shaw" by Gina Gionfriddo
*"This Beautiful City" by Steven Cosson and Jim Lewis, with music and lyrics by Michael Friedman
*"the break/s" by Marc Bamuthi Joseph
*"All Hail Hurricane Gordo" by Carly Mensch
*"Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom" by Jennifer Haley
*"Game On" by Zakiyyah Alexander, Rolin Jones, Alice Tuan, Daryl Watson, Marisa Wegrzyn and Ken Weitzman, with music and lyrics by Jon Spurney
*"Tongue, Tied" by M. Thomas Cooper
*"Dead Right" by Elaine Jarvik
*"In Paris You Will Find Many Baguettes but Only One True Love" by Michael Lew
*"One Short Sleepe" by Naomi Wallace

References

ee also

*List of attractions and events in Louisville, Kentucky
*Theater in Kentucky
*Theatre festival
*Humana

External links

* [http://www.actorstheatre.org/humana.htm Official website]
* [http://www.actorstheatre.org/HUMANA%20FESTIVAL%20CDROM/ Humana Festival of New American Plays CD ROM]