Memphis' Professional Resident Theatre Company Announces Finalists for NewWorks@TheWorks Playwriting Competition

Memphis' Professional Resident Theatre company announces the finalists to the 2019 NewWorks@TheWorks Playwriting competition finalists.

Playhouse on the Square, in partnership with Sue and Frank Guarino and super sponsor Dr. Thomas Ratliff, are proud to announce the staged readings for this year's competition finalists.

The NewWorks@TheWorks Playwriting Competition provides an outlet for new playwrights to showcase their work and have a chance to see their play produced on a professional level. A panel of local directors, actors, and designers will review all submitted scripts and select six to receive staged readings. After the six readings have been presented, Playhouse on the Square will select two that will receive full productions. The playwright(s) of each play will be flown to Memphis to take part in the rehearsals and the development of the new work. Along with these fully mounted productions, the two winning works will each be awarded a prize of $750. They will receive world premieres in the upcoming season at Playhouse on the Square's third performance space, TheatreWorks.

The 2019 finalists are as follows:

IVANKA VS REALITY by Lucy Wright & William Downs

November 24, 7:00 pm

Sylvia, a divorced Hollywood Screenwriter is losing her grip as her career slides into middle-aged female oblivion. Desperate for work she takes a job writing a movie "based on a true story" only to learn that Ivanka Trump was right, "If someone perceives something to be true, it is more important that if it is in fact true. "

A STORY ABOUT A GIRL by Jacquelyn Reingold

November 25, 7:00 pm

Once upon a time there was a girl who had no words. She met a boy who had no friends. They make their own language of love, friendship and ultimate betrayal as they journey through life with and without each other.

SEEING EYE by Nick Malakhow

November 26, 7:00 pm

Overwhelmed by the world of hook up apps and dating profiles, Jason Ramirez, who is blind, goes looking for love in person at a gay bar. While smoking outside, he strikes up a conversation with the charming and self-deprecating Robbie. Despite the protestations of his overprotective and anxious sister, Jordan, Jason initiates a whirlwind romance with Robbie that tests whether both men are ready to be fully seen by someone else.

THE GOODBYE LEVEE by Mike Solomonson

December 1, 7:00 pm

A devastating diagnosis compels Celeste Banks to invite the audience into her confidence as she hosts a "Goodbye Party." The audience in turn assists Celeste as she strives to make order out of confusion. Due to her erratic memory and hallucinatory interruptions, her party turns into a chaotic and sometimes comic careening through events that threaten to upend her family and the control she so desperately desires to retain as she prepares for the inevitable.

STACKS by Anthony Toohey

December 2, 7:00 pm

The last time Allie saw her mother, Mona, was at her father's funeral six years earlier. Upon her arrival with her husband, Seth, they find that Mona has become a chronic hoarder, filling up her entire house with six-foot-tall stacks of everything under the sun. Allie's already difficult relationship with her mother is pushed to the breaking point as she and Seth struggle to intervene.

TWEET by Charles Zito

December 3, 7:00

Lily's funny little tweet goes viral, but no one's laughing. Suddenly she's struggling to keep her family and her life together as she tries to convince everyone she's no racist, but can she convince herself?

The six finalists for the 2019 New Works @ the Works Reading Series have been selected! The following plays will receive staged readings at

The Circuit Playhouse

51 South Cooper Street

Memphis, TN 38104.

Tickets are $10 for each reading or purchase all six for $50 at the door.

For more information, please contact our Box Office at (901) 726-4656 or visit our website: www.playhouseonthesquare.org.