West Palm Beach, FL – The political, societal, and familial issues that currently dominate our national conversation will be at the heart and center of Palm Beach Dramaworks’ 2023-24 season. PBD’s 24th season will feature Arthur Miller’s seminal Death of a Salesman, Kenneth Lonergan’s Lobby Hero, Joanna McClelland Glass’ Trying, and the world premieres of two commissioned works: Jenny Connell Davis’ The Messenger and Christopher Demos-Brown’s The Cancellation of Lauren Fein.
The season opens on October 13 with Lobby Hero, a seriocomic exploration of ethics and moral relativism. Up next, beginning December 8, is the world premiere of The Messenger, which is inspired by the life of Holocaust survivor Georgia Gabor and connects the dots between Holocaust denialism, free speech in schools, and racial discrimination in present-day America. That’s followed, on February 2, by the world premiere of The Cancellation of Lauren Fein, which, as the title suggests, examines the minefield of cancel culture. The fourth production, opening on March 29, is the shattering Death of a Salesman, the story of Willy Loman’s reckless pursuit of a misguided American Dream. The season concludes with Trying, a memory play based on the playwright’s stint as secretary to Francis Biddle, who served as FDR’s attorney general and later was a judge at the Nuremberg trials.
The sixth annual new plays festival takes place from Friday, January 5 through Sunday, January 7. The festival was launched in 2019 under the auspices of The Dramaworkshop, PBD’s lab for developing new plays. Each year, The Dramaworkshop accepts submissions of new play scripts that are considered for further development. A select number are chosen for assessment through in-house readings and the top five scripts are chosen for the festival, where they receive staged readings on PBD’s mainstage by professional actors and directors. The playwrights collaborate throughout the process. In addition to having the invaluable opportunity to hear their words presented aloud in front of a live audience, the playwrights also receive feedback from audiences – all with the aim of cultivating significant new work for PBD and theatres across the country. The names of the plays and playwrights selected for the 2024 festival will be announced in the fall.
Submissions to The Dramaworkshop are accepted through established literary agents only, though PBD also find scripts on NPX or through other NNPN member theatres. Playwrights who maintain full time residency in South Florida may submit without representation. Unsolicited materials will not be considered.
Palm Beach Dramaworks is a professional, nonprofit theatre company founded in 2000 and located in the heart of downtown West Palm Beach. Each season, the award-winning company produces five mainstage shows and offers a wide variety of programs for students at the theatre and in schools. Committed to fostering the future of theatre, PBD has become a hub for playwrights in Florida and around the country to nurture their work through initiatives including The Dramaworkshop and the New Plays Festival. PBD is a member of Theatre Communications Group, Florida Professional Theatres Association, the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, and NNPN.
For more information about PBD and The Dramaworkshop, visit www.palmbeachdramaworks.org.
2023-24 Season
Lobby Hero
By Kenneth Lonergan
October 13-29, 2023
The Messenger (World Premiere)
By Jenny Connell Davis
December 8-24, 2023
The Cancellation of Lauren Fein (World Premiere)
By Christopher Demos-Brown
February 2-18, 2024
Death of a Salesman
By Arthur Miller
March 29-April 14, 2024
Trying
By Joanna McClelland Glass
May 24-June 9, 2024