January 12 – 14, 2024

Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre
Conrad Prebys Theatre Center

The 11th annual Powers New Voices Festival, a three-day event of readings of 10 new American plays by some of the most exciting playwrights writing for the American theatre today, including new works by San Diegans. The free festival opens on January 12, 2024 and closes on January 14 in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, part of the Globe’s Conrad Prebys Theatre Center.

Celebrating Community Voices, an evening of short works created by San Diego playwrights through the Globe’s arts engagement programs Community Voices and coLAB, is scheduled on January 12, 2024. The evening will feature readings of six 10-minute plays by local artists MG Green, Marie Vasari Hislop, Eliza Hugee, Brian T. Josten, and Ric Scales.

The first of four full-length new American play readings continues on January 13 with Emerson Loses Her “Miand” by Laura Winters, followed by Globe-commissioned Pleasant by Inda Craig-Galván, The Hispanic/Latino/Latina/Latinx/Latine Vote byBernardo Cubría, and Globe-commissioned Empty Ride by Keiko Green.

Press Release

CELEBRATING COMMUNITY VOICES

FRIDAY, JANUARY 12, 2024
7:30 p.m.

Celebrating Community Voices, an evening of short works created by San Diego playwrights through the Globe’s arts engagement programs Community Voices and coLAB, will feature readings of 10-minute plays by six local artists.

Love Song for Pru
By Marie Vasari Hislop
Pru, an eccentric aspiring social media influencer, tries to craft the perfect series of posts to impress her boyfriend’s rich family—before they realize she might be a complete fraud.

True School
By Ric Scales
Two fundamentally different rappers—one young and trending, the other a legend on his way out—must find a way to collaborate on a once-in-a-lifetime project without destroying their careers… or each other.

Take Care
By Eliza Hugee
Anna and her new husband try everything they can think of to get his ex-fiancée Gladys to finally move out of their house. But her drinking, unpredictability, stubbornness, and unexpected condition make her both the rock and the hard place.

Spectrum
By MG Green
To survive the big road trip to meet their partner’s parents, Basil, a trans, gender non-conforming, queer person must learn to bring all that they are into a new relationship where they are not exactly upfront with their partner about all that is truly at stake.

Proper Provider
By Brian T. Josten
Set right after World War II, culture, dark history, and generations clash when an American father demands that his young daughter spend less time at the German neighbor’s house, the only place that gives her solace after her brother’s tragic death.

FESTIVAL SERIES OF NEW AMERICAN PLAY READINGS

SATURDAY, JANUARY 13, 2024
4:00 p.m.

Emerson Loses Her “Miand”
By Laura Winters

Emerson Greenblatt just got engaged! And you’re invited to join her and her five friends as they complete a sacred rite of bridal party passage: a beer trolley tour through Nashville. The memories are flowing. The rosé is flowing. The debate over every single aspect of this interfaith wedding is, unfortunately, also flowing. Emerson Loses Her “Miand” is a nonstop comedic send up of the absurdity of bridesmaid culture. Cheers!

SATURDAY, JANUARY 13, 2024
7:30 p.m.

Pleasant
By Inda Craig-Galván

Mary Ellen Pleasant was a 19th-century abolitionist, an entrepreneur, a real estate tycoon, and the first African American millionaire... and you’ve probably never heard of her. Pleasant uses contemporary music, humor, and unconventional storytelling to explore the life of this self-described “capitalist by profession” who used her role as a humble domestic worker to cloak her badassery. Scandals, rumors, and one angry Karen threatened to bury her legacy, but Pleasant seeks to unearth her invaluable and lasting accomplishments.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 14, 2024
4:00 p.m.

The Hispanic/Latino/Latinx/Latine Vote
By Bernardo Cubría

University professor Paola Aguilar desperately needs money for... well, she’ll tell you. So when the Political Party offers her a substantial paycheck to help them understand the Hispanic/Latino/Latina/Latinx/Latine vote, she reluctantly takes the job. Can she help these political strategists understand all of the nuances of her community to save the election? Or will her own journey ultimately be more important than who controls the White House?

SUNDAY, JANUARY 14, 2024
7:30 p.m.

Empty Ride
By Keiko Green

Kisa, a Japanese painter in Paris, returns to her small hometown of Ishinomaki, taking over her father’s taxi cab as he grows increasingly ill. Ishinomaki was left devastated after the 2011 tsunami, which took Kisa’s mom in addition to over 3,000 other locals in the sleepy, coastal town full of fascinating characters. In this funny, tragically warm, supernatural story of those left behind, Kisa navigates finding her place in the world by rediscovering where she comes from, and where she’s been.

Major funding for the Powers New Voices Festival is provided by the Powers New Works Fund. The Old Globe’s Community Voices Program is supported by the Ann Davies Fund for Teaching Artists. Financial support of The Old Globe is provided by The City of San Diego. The Theodor and Audrey Geisel Fund provides leadership support for The Old Globe’s year-round activities.