The University of New Mexico Department of Theatre and Dance presents three works by graduating playwrights of the MFA Dramatic Writing Program. Linnell Festival of New Plays, under artistic director, Gregory S. Moss, takes place February 9-13 at The Experimental Theatre “X”, located in the UNM College of Fine Arts building. Ticket prices are $15 for general admission, $12 for faculty and seniors, and $10 for staff and students. Seating is limited, COVID guidelines apply. Please visit unmtickets.com to purchase.

The three plays by graduating playwrights are Remain in Light written by A. Yourd, directed by Leonard Madrid, The Eccentrics, written by Steve Blacksmith, directed by RayRey Griego, and Blood Vessel written by Penelope Hawkins and directed by Juli Hendren. The plays will be performed in a rotating repertory (two performances each) over the course of five days. The bi-annual festival is named in honor of Jim Linnell, a former dean of the College of Fine Arts at the University of New Mexico, and a founding faculty of the Dramatic Writing Program.

The MFA in Dramatic Writing seeks to create cutting-edge theatre that is both distinctively New Mexican and reaches beyond borderlines to engage in the national and international theatre conversation,” said festival artistic director Gregory S. Moss. Moss, the director of the MFA in Dramatic Writing program and head of Theatre and Associate Professor of Theatre and Dance, added that the three plays receiving full productions this spring represent the culmination of three years of collective hard work and attention to craft. “Each playwright brings something unique to the table,” Moss said.

 

Linnell Festival of Plays, Spring 2022:
Remain in Light (A Yourd/Leonard Madrid, dir.) February 9 and 12, 2022 at 7:30 pm

A starship road trip for sad verbose creatures, Remain in Light is the story of five aliens who work aboard a space station, venturing out on interplanetary assignments to gather information about other worlds and report what they’ve learned back to their employers (a mysterious entity called “Management”). After a night of partying, the team awakes on a dilapidated starship

crashing towards the planet Earth. However, the recently-promoted Captain seems more interested in doing hallucinatory space drugs and listening to Talking Heads cassette tapes than preparing for the team’s assignment. As the ship approaches the planet, relationships are tested, hierarchies are toppled, and secrets are revealed about Management’s true intentions for the planets they visit.

The Eccentrics (Steve Blacksmith/RayRey Griego, dir.) February 10 at 7:30 pm and February 13 at 6:00 pm.

It’s the tail end of 1999, and in the hearts and minds of Christians everywhere, Jesus Christ IS coming back at the turn of the Millennium. Four teens, each demonized for their “eccentricities,” join together to form a band in order to greet Jesus back in style. When a smooth-talking con man takes over their congregation, The Eccentrics must find a way to stop him before he bankrupts the church and all of its members. In this musical comedy, the supremely strange atmosphere of End Times Evangelical fervor comes to life as we teach you a new way to party like it’s 1999.

Blood Vessel (Penelope Hawkins/Juli Hendren, dir.) February 11 at 7:30 pm and February 12 at 3:00 pm.

Madam Carte Blanc welcomes you aboard The Blood Vessel. The ship will embark on its virginal voyage through the dark & mysterious waters of vodka, sweat, servitude, and cuttlefish stew. Come settle yourself on the main deck with a beverage in hand and watch the comedy unfold. Masks have never been this fun. 

Linnell Festival of New Plays also includes second- and first-year MFA student work in the form of staged readings, on February 12 from 11:00 am to 1:30 pm, and February 13 from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm, respectively.

Tickets for individual Linnell Festival of New Plays at The Experimental Theatre “X” are $15 for general admission, $12 for faculty and seniors, and $10 for staff and students, please visit unmtickets.com to purchase. Seating is limited, COVID guidelines apply. The Experimental Theatre “X” is located on the first floor of the Center for the Arts, directly north of the UNM Bookstore (one block north of Central) at Cornell and Redondo Drive.

For more information about the plays, please visit The Department of Theatre and Dance webpage.

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