Since 2009, Nashville Repertory Theatre has served as the sponsoring arm of the prestigious Ingram New Works Project, an annual residency program that fosters playwrights and has supported the development of 62 plays that have gone on to win awards and receive productions in New York and at regional theaters nationwide. This year’s lineup showcases four original and uniquely topical scripts, here receiving their first formally staged public readings, performed by professional casts. Ingram alumna Tori Keenan-Zelt returns to the festival with How the Baby Died, concerning a young actress who serves as a live-in nanny for gay friends while also striving to audition for a French horror theater company. James Anthony Tyler’s Pranayama focuses on neighbors struggling to connect in a gentrifying corner of Harlem during the 2016 presidential election. Cristina Florencia Castro’s The Very Last Wishes of Grandpa Joe, or Mia & Hector Go Sightseeing profiles an acclaimed artist traveling overseas while grappling with her loss of vision. And program director Nate Eppler’s This Red Planet finds a former POTUS from Texas enrolled in private painting lessons — with a teacher hired specifically to discourage his efforts. For the event schedule (note the fest’s new venue at Nashville State) visit nashvillerep.org. MARTIN BRADY
Ingram New Works Festival
