Syracuse Stage is pleased to announce that the inaugural Julie Lutz New Play Festival will be held at the theatre this June. Formerly known as the Cold Read Festival of New Plays, the festival will feature a work-in-progress reading and talkbacks, allowing audiences to peek behind the curtain of the playwriting process.
Curated by Associate Artistic Director Melissa Crespo, the festival features Playwright-in-Residence Esperanza Rosales Balcárcel and Central New York’s own Zizi Majid. Due to scheduling changes, Rosales Balcárcel replaces previously announced Playwright-in-Residence Christine Quintana.
“Ever since Kyle Bass founded the Cold Read Festival, Syracuse Stage has proudly upheld our commitment to the development of new work,” says Crespo. “It’s an honor to continue that legacy with the Julie Lutz New Play Festival and provide an essential pipeline for play development.”
Majid, community engagement and education coordinator at Syracuse Stage and instructor with the Syracuse University Department of Drama, will present a reading of her play “Milk” on Saturday, June 14, at 5:30 p.m., with a talkback immediately following. Directed by Crespo, the reading will feature Awni Abai-Bahri, Hend Ayoub, Salma Mahmoud and Neagheen Homaifar. Tickets for the reading of “Milk” are free of charge but must be reserved in advance at SyracuseStage.org or by calling the Box Office at 315.443.3275.
Rosales Balcárcel will begin writing a brand-new piece during her residency at the theatre, with support from Syracuse Stage artistic staff. The cast includes Armando Gutierrez, Karis Wiggins and Samora La Perdida. Because the play will be in such early stages of development, there will be no public presentation during the festival.
The Julie Lutz New Play Festival surrounds a fully staged world premiere production, Rogelio Martinez’s “The National Pastime” (June 11-29), which was commissioned and incubated as part of the Cold Read Festival in 2022. Martinez will be joined by Crespo and Syracuse Stage Resident Playwright Kyle Bass for a talkback immediately following the 7:30 p.m. performance of “The National Pastime” on Thursday, June 12. The talkback is included in the purchase of a ticket to the June 12 performance of “The National Pastime.”
The Julie Lutz New Play Festival continues Cold Read’s commitment to supporting and developing new work at Syracuse Stage, including six recent world premieres: Bass’ “Possessing Harriet,” “Salt City Blues” and “Tender Rain,” and the world premiere productions of “Thoughts of a Colored Man,” “Somewhere Over the Border” and “How to Dance in Ohio.” Next season, Syracuse Stage will produce the world premiere of Rae Binstock’s boxing drama “Relentless.”
“In this time of aggressive cuts to longstanding government funding for the arts, audience support of new work for the theatre is more vital than ever,” says Bass.
The festival’s new name is in honor of Julie Lutz, a ground-breaking astronomer and professor who also loved traveling, the outdoors, music, food and theatre. She was a champion of the arts and deeply committed to issues around diversity and inclusion. In 2023, The Julie Lutz New Play Development Fund was established with a $1 million gift from the estate of Lutz’s husband George Wallerstein to specifically support new play activity, developing and producing exciting new work for the theatre.
Audiences are invited to spend the day enjoying new work at Syracuse Stage by pairing the reading of “Milk” on June 14 with tickets to “The National Pastime” at 2 p.m. Boxed lunches may be purchased in advance and will be available immediately following “The National Pastime” performance. Tickets for “The National Pastime” and boxed lunch add-on are available at SyracuseStage.org. (Must be reserved by June 3.)
FESTIVAL EVENTS SCHEDULE
“The National Pastime” Talkback
Thursday, June 12, immediately following the 7:30 p.m. performance
Presented in the Archbold Theatre
Playwright Rogelio Martinez will be joined by Associate Artistic Director Melissa Crespo and Resident Playwright Kyle Bass to discuss the play’s journey from the 2022 Cold Read Festival to this fully realized production.
“Milk”
By Zizi Majid
Directed by Melissa Crespo
Dramaturgy by Kristin Leahy
Saturday, June 14, 5:30 p.m., with a talkback immediately following
Presented in the Storch Theatre
Sofia, a Syrian woman who whilst on a makeshift iron vessel on the Mediterranean Sea, meets Sarah, a woman from South Sudan who’s similarly seeking a better life. Sofia confides her deepest wishes as she considers returning to her home in Syria and a future life with a partner of her own choosing. “Milk” is a play written as an empathetic response to the global migration crisis.
