June 2, 2008 - For many theatre enthusiasts, the beginning of the summer is not in June – it’s July 1st, when the Summer Play Festival (SPF) begins! This year SPF is putting eight new playwrights and their works in the spotlight for the first time at New York's legendary Public Theater. Tickets can be ordered through the Public Theater by internet (www.publictheater.org) or by Phone (212 – 967 – 7555). Phone ticket sales available 10am – 9pm.

For a complete listing of the shows, scroll down!

The Black Suits
music and lyrics by Joe Iconis
book by Joe Iconis and Robert Maddock

With the prospect of a dead end life looming, this rock musical follows a group of Long Island teens in their struggle to make something of their band and of themselves. As they perform to escape, the music can’t drown out what is imminent, and they face decisions that will shape the rest of their lives.

Joe Iconis is the proud recipient of a 2007 Ed Kleban Award and a 2006 Jonathan Larson Award. He is the Composer-In-Residence at Ars Nova and was a Student of the Week in Miss Essner's Class during the fall of 1990. He is the writer of the notorious garage band rock musical The Black Suits (book co-written by Robert Maddock) and TheaterworksUSA's The Plant That Ate Dirty Socks (opening this summer at the Lortel; directed by John Simpkins.) He is in the band The Big Galoots and is a card carrying member of The Bloody Mary Club. He is a huge fan of Dolly Parton, Neck Ties, and Dunkin Donuts, and is greatly inspired by the group of artists he frequently surrounds himself with. www.MrJoeIconis.com

Robert Maddock is a lyricist and book writer. He earned his MFA at NYU’s Tisch Graduate Musical Theater Writing program. Maddock is the recipient of a 2007 Jonathan Larson Award. Current projects include the garage-band rock delinquent known as The Black Suits (music and lyrics by Joe Iconis, book by Iconis & Maddock) and the Daryl Roth Award winning, misfit riot, Plastic!: The Musical (for which Robert wrote the book and lyrics with music by Joe Iconis and Reza Jacobs). Additionally, the concert, Triumphant Baby: The Songs of Iconis & Maddock underwent a four-show run this past summer at The York Theatre. Maddock & Iconis are the proud winners of a 2007 Backstage Bistro Award for their bumpkin ditty “Almost (99 I-Love-You’s)”. Other projects include the soon to be unleashed Hearken to a Pie Hole (Maddock and Iconis). Robert Maddock was recently included in “The Dramatist” magazine’s list of “50 Writers to Watch”. Visit his website at www.robertmaddock.com

Esther Demsack
by Billy Finnegan

Esther Demsack finds herself accidentally employed as young Everette Brewster’s governess. In this over-the-top comedy Everette tries desperately to turn her into his own Auntie Mame. While moving through their world of showtunes and movie stars, Esther digs deeper to find the dark secret haunting Everette and the entire Brewster family.

Billy Finnegan’s plays include At the End (Theater for the New City’s “New City, New Blood” reading); Any Solid Color Other Than Black (MCC Theater reading); Little Boy Lost; The Dander of Female Poplars, or One Queens Parade; Tenth Place; Daisy Chained; and Begin Measured Mile. He assisted Christopher Ashley on readings of Sail Away, adapted by Claudia Shear, and Valhalla, by Paul Rudnick, and wrote and directed the cabaret shows Dayton’s Divine Miss P, and Katie Pees: All Over You! He graduated from Princeton University (Triangle Club). Esther Demsack was first read this January at New York Theatre Workshop.

Future Me
by Stephen Brown

One irreparable mistake propels Peter from successful lawyer to prison inmate as his world gets turned upside down. In this powerful drama, Peter wrestles with his personal desires and societal taboos, as he copes with his choices and tries to re-build relationships.

Stephen Brown scripted Filter Theatre’s sell-out hit Faster (BAC, London / Lyric Studio, London / UK tour / Frankfurt / 59E59 Theater, New York). His play Future Me premiered at Theatre503 in London in June 2007 to wide acclaim and had its US premiere in Berkeley, CA, in April 2008. It will tour the UK in early 2009. The script is published by Oberon Books. He is currently working on two commissions: an original script for the National Theatre in London and an adaptation of Rory Stewart’s bestselling memoir Occupational Hazards (published in the US as The Prince of the Marshes), about being deputy governor of two provinces in post-war Iraq. Other work includes a stage adaptation of Bleak House for Bill Kenwright Ltd, the book for a musical version of The Master and Margarita and scripting Filter Theatre’s Elephant. He has worked as a critic and journalist in print and on radio and as a book editor and translator. He was publisher of the London-based political magazine Prospect. Stephen is represented by Rose Cobbe at United Agents in London.

Green Girl
by Sarah Hammond

A magic gift entwines the fates of two sets of sisters living over a hundred years apart. Each girl must endure the trials of growing up, but only one can master the gift inherited from her ancestors. A provocative, mystical drama where sisterhood is tested and time stands still.

Sarah Hammond grew up in Hong Kong, Belgium, and South Carolina. Honors include Louisville's Heideman Award, a MacDowell Colony fellowship, a commission from South Coast Rep, and an upcoming residency at the Royal National Theatre. Her work has been seen onstage at Trustus Theatre, City Theatre (Miami), Live Girls (Seattle), Tulsa New Works for Women, the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Australia's Interplay Festival, and in print in Ten-Minute Plays for 2 Actors: The Best of 2004. A graduate of the University of South Carolina (BA) and the University of Iowa (MFA), she has taught playwriting at both schools. Now based in Brooklyn, she is a resident playwright at New Dramatists.

Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom
by Jennifer Haley

Welcome to everyday suburbia where teens become completely obsessed with an unusual video game. As they advance to each new level, the lines between reality and virtual reality blur. In this sci-fi thriller, only those with a true ‘killer’ instinct survive.

Jennifer Haley is a Los Angeles-based playwright whose plays include Gingerbreadhouse, Dreampuffs of War and The Butcher's Daughter. Her work has been produced at the Actors Theatre of Louisville Humana Festival of New American Plays, Brown/Trinity Playwrights Theatre in Providence, the Blue Theatre in Austin, and Annex Theatre in Seattle, among other venues. Ms. Haley earned an M.F.A. in playwriting at Brown University, where she won the Weston Award for Drama and the Joelson Prize in Creative Writing. She is a 2008 resident of the MacDowell Colony, and will be developing a new play this summer at PlayPenn in Philadelphia.

The Ones That Flutter
by Sylvia Reed

Roddy learned early in life that he was capable of completing tasks that others could not. Now retired, and with the fate of his family’s home resting in his hands, this evocative drama follows Roddy as he grapples with the ghosts of his past, and seeks peace in a world where the morality of his job defines him.

Sylvia Reed, of Palmetto, Florida, has written four full-length plays – Full Moon Rabbit Dance, Alligators, The Ones That Flutter, and Kingfisher. The first two won the Florida Playwrights’ Process Award and were gold medal finalists for the Pinter Review Prize for Drama. The Ones That Flutter won first prize in Boston Theatre Works’ 2006 BTW Unbound competition, and was part of the 2008 Eudora Welty New Play Series at New Stage Theatre, in Jackson, Mississippi. It was a finalist for the 2008 Eugene O’Neill New Play Conference. Her short plays, American Flag and Works in Progress are published in Smith and Kraus’ Best 10-Minute Plays 2007, 2 Actors and Best 10-Minute Plays 2007, 3 or More Actors.

Tell Out My Soul
by Jacquelyn Honess-Martin

The ultimate test of their relationship transpires when Thomas and his daughter Ruth have a young student with an unusual story enter their lives. Challenged by their own views on religion in a world of suffering, Ruth and her father seek understanding in this timely examination of identity and truth.

Jacquelyn Honess-Martin graduated from Goldsmiths College, London. As Writer her credits include: Electra Complex (Union Theatre) How Things Would Be (Goldsmiths College). She was selected as a Core Writer at Soho Theatre and has taken part in the Royal Court Young Writers’ Programme. As Director: Carve (Tristan Bates) Better Forget (The Lion and the Unicorn). As Assistant Director: Woyzeck (Southwark Playhouse). She is Artistic Director of InSite Performance for whom she adapted and directed Antigone. Jacqui is Assistant Producer at Cheek by Jowl.

Tio Pepe
by Matthew Lopez

Dreaming of a life as Broadway gypsies, The Candelarias refuse to vacate their Manhattan apartment scheduled for demolition. Music, dance, and golden years of the Broadway musical all take center stage in this touching and funny play about the strength of family in the face of impending disaster.

Matthew Lopez’s play The Whipping Man received its world premiere at Luna Stage in April, 2006, after development with Luna, The Lark Theatre Development Company and Breedingground Productions. The New Group presented a staged reading of the play in February 2008. The play is set to be directed by Lou Bellamy in February 2009 at Penumbra Theatre Company in St. Paul, MN. Matthew recently participated in the McCarter Theatre’s “In Their Own Voices” event as part of the theatre’s annual IN-Festival. He also contributed to the Monarch Theatre Company’s recent One-Minute Play Festival. He is currently at work on Reverberation, a play about loneliness and designer dresses. Other plays include Noble Street, Between Us and Phemmi Klompers: Agent to the Stars. Matthew is a graduate of the University of South Florida.