WP Theater has announced their 2023-2024 season, which will include two world premiere productions, as well as the WP Pipeline Festival in the spring, which will feature five new plays written, directed, and produced by the 2022-2024 WP Lab.
The season will kick off in the fall with the world premiere of Bite Me by Eliana Pipes, directed by WP Lab alum Rebecca Martinez. Bite Me follows the unexpected bond between two high school students: a young white boy with family money and dangerous habits and an academically overachieving Black girl reconciling with the isolation she's experiencing on campus. The play will run from September 23 through October 22.
Next comes the world premiere of munich medea: Happy Family by Corinne Jaber, directed by two-time Obie Award and Lortel Award winner Lee Sunday Evans (Oratorio for Living Things). Two childhood friends, Caroline and Alice, reconnect after more than 20 years apart, but as they begin to sort through shared memories, they realize the role Caroline's father played in both of their young lives. The play will run from January 27 through February 25.
Closing out the season will be the theatre company's in-house play festival, the WP Pipeline Festival. It will debut five new plays created over the past two years by WP's early-career artist residency through collaborative Lab writer-director-producer teams, ranging from staged readings to full-length workshop productions. Previous Festival works have included Martyna Majok’s queens, Sarah Burgess’ Kings, and Zoe Sarnak and Emily Kaczmarek’s Afloat.
Details on which plays will premiere will be announced at a later date, but for now, the names of the collaborating playwrights, directors, and producers have been released. The playwrights are Amara Janae Brady, Christin Eve Cato, Queen Esther, Amina Henry, and Else Went. The directors are Jordana De La Cruz, Oneyekachi Iwu, Julia Sirna-Frest, Dina Vovsi, and Ran Xia. Lastly, the producers are Alverneq Lindsay, Emma Orme, Sami Pyne, Barbara Samuels, and Praycious Wilson-Gay. They have been led throughout the residency by Lab Leaders Sally Cade Holmes, Rebecca Martinez, Nidia Medina, Cori Thomas, and Nicole A. Watson.
For season passes and more information, visit WPTheater.org.
