'This Summit Is Really Unique': Colorado New Play Summit Gives New Shows Life
DENVER (CBS4) – For 15 years, The Denver Center Theatre Company has been workshopping new plays at the Colorado New Play Summit.
"You know this…this summit here is really unique," said Bonnie Metzgar, a playwright.
Metzgar's play, 'You Lost Me', was in the Summit last year.
"There's nothing quite like it really, in the world," she told CBS4.
Over two weekends in February, new scripts are read by real actors in front of live audiences. It allows the playwright to get a whole new perspective on his or her work.
"You have to sit through your play not quite hitting people," Metzgar said.
In her case, it showed her what needed to be worked on, and then she did the work.
"You were like, 'That's not quite what we want audiences to experience. We want this sort of redemptive moment, of like, 'Oh my gosh!'.' And so we changed the ending," Metzgar recalled.
"You Lost Me" premiered at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts on January 17th. One of the many plays that The New Play Summit has channeled into a finished theatrical production. A process that starts with the trial and error of a real audience.
"To be able to feel that feeling, 'Yeah, it's not quite working. I've got to do something,'" Metzgar said.
LINK: Tickets & Information for The Colorado New Play Summit
The 2020 Colorado New Play Summit launches on the weekend of February 15 & 16. The Festival weekend is February 21- 23. It will feature new plays by Benjamin Benne, L.M. Feldman, Yussef El Guindi, Jessica Kahkoska, and co-writers Suzan Shown Harjo and Mary Kathryn Nagle. Festival goers can also enjoy fully staged world-premiere productions of "You Lost Me" by Metzgar, and "Twenty50" by Tony Meneses.