St. Louis, Missouri • July 5 - 28, 2013

Labute New Theater Festival

The St. Louis Actors’ Studio is proud to announce the finalists for the LaBute New Theater Festival. The Festival is open to both professional playwrights and high school students and will run yearly at the Gaslight Theater, with plays debuting from July 5- 28, 2013.

THE SUBMISSION PERIOD HAS ENDED. WE ARE OVERWHELMED BY THE NUMBER OF QUALITY PLAYS FROM SO MANY GREAT PLAYWRIGHTS.

The following is a list of finalists for the Festival

Playwright/ Play/ City-State

Alexis Clements/The Elephant In The Room/ Brooklyn, NY
Carlos Perez /Cleansing Acts/ Kansas City, MO
Daniel Damiano /Cut/ New York, NY
GD Kimble /Two Irishmen Are Digging A Ditch/ Bronx, NY
Joshua Thomas/Kink / St. Louis, MO
Peter Grandbois-Nancy Bell/ Present Tense/ KY
Rachel Fenton /Blood Brothers/ St. Louis, MO
Tyler Vickers /Pinky Swear/ Los Angeles, CA

High School Finalists

The Summit of the Gods by Aidan Murphy, Adlai E. Stevenson High School, Lincolnshire,IL
Imagination by Laura Townsend, Clayton High School, St. Louis, MO
Stand Up to Bullying by Annie Kopp, Ladue High School, St. Louis, MO
Little Star in the Sky by Laurel Button, Mary Institute, Country Day School, St. Louis, MO
Wordless by Amanda Ehrmann, Adlai E. Stevenson High School, Lincolnshire,IL

Neil Labute

Neil Labute (Playwright) received his Master of Fine Arts degree in dramatic writing from New York University and was the recipient of a literary fellowship to study at the Royal Court Theatre, London and also attended the Sundance Institute’s Playwrights Lab.
His films include: In the Company of Men (New York Critics’ Circle Award for Best First Feature and the Filmmaker Trophy at the Sundance Film Festival), Your Friends and Neighbors, Nurse Betty, Possession, The Shape of Things, a film adaptation of his play by the same title, The Wicker Man, Lakeview Terrace, and Death at a Funeral.

LaBute’s plays include: bash: latter-day plays, The Shape of Things, The Mercy Seat, The Distance From Here, Autobahn, Fat Pig (Olivier Award Nominated for Best Comedy), Some Girl(s), This Is How It Goes, Wrecks, Filthy Talk for Troubled Times, In a Dark Dark House, reasons to be pretty (Tony Award Nominated for Best Play) and The Break of Noon. This spring, his play In A Forest, Dark And Deep will premiere on the West End. LaBute is also the author of Seconds of Pleasure, a collection of short fiction which was published by Grove Atlantic.

"We are thrilled that Neil will be working with us again. Lending his name and talents to foster new works in the theater is just another example of his generosity and commitment to the arts, and we could not be more proud to host this ongoing event," says, William Roth, Founder and Producing Director of St. Louis Actors' Studio.

The creative team for the festival includes:

Neil LaBute - Film Director, Screenwriter and Playwright

Milt Zoth - Artistic Director St Louis Actors' Studio

Wayne Salomon – Chair, Theatre Department at John Burroughs College Prep (Theater Project Co)

Bobby Miller - Actor, Writer, Editor, Director (Theater Project Co)

Edward Scott Ibur - Middle School English Teacher (Webster Groves), Novelist and Co-Founder of the Gifted Writers & Artist Project for Middle School & High School (http://www.giftedarts.org)

John Pierson - Actor, Teacher English and Theatre Departments John Burroughs School

Nancy Bell - Actor, Director, Playwright, Asst Professor of Theater and Voice and Speech St. Louis University Performing Arts Department

Linda Kennedy - Actor, Artistic Associate, Education and Community Programs, The Black Rep

Elizabeth Helman - Actor, Writer, Director, Professor of Theatre Arts -Oregon State University

Patrick Huber - Associate Director, St. Louis Actors' Studio-Set Design and Lighting, Teacher Theater, Design and Architecture Mary Institute, Country Day Prep School

William Roth - Actor, Founder, Producing Director St. Louis Actors' Studio

Submissions

Submissions will be accepted October 1 through December 31, 2012. Professional Submissions: Successful entries will have no more than four characters and be crafted specifically to exploit our intimate performance space. (18' x 18' stage) Changes in scenery or setting should be achievable quickly and with few major set moves. Our focus is on fundamental dramaturgy: plot, character and theme.

Professional Submissions

Professional, new and previously unproduced one-act play submissions should include a letter of inquiry, a synopsis and a 10-page sample from the script. Running time for each performance should not exceed 45 minutes. Eight plays will be chosen: four to be performed in the first two weeks, four in the second two weeks. In addition, a new piece from Mr. LaBute will be performed every night for the run of the festival. Mr. LaBute is scheduled to participate in the opening weekend activities.

High School Submissions

Winning plays by high school students will be presented in readings. The guidelines are straightforward: The one act should include no more than four characters featuring a clearly developed plot and distinctive characters. No longer than 15 minutes in length. Non-Professional, new and previously unproduced one-act play submissions should include a letter of inquiry and complete script.

Submissions should be sent to:
LaBute New Theater Festival, St. Louis Actors’ Studio, 360 N Boyle Ave, St. Louis, MO 63108
For more information: 314-458-2978 or help@stlas.org

Press

St. Louis Post Dispatch: August 6, 2012:
"St. Louis Actors' Studio to celebrate LaBute"

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Press Release

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