Red Eye Theatre Festival at WTA’s Gateway

Hollins Playwright’s Lab grad students will kick off their second annual Red Eye 10s Coast to Coast Play Festival at WTA’s Gateway.  On Saturday, September 28th at 8 pm in each USA time zone, six 10-minute plays written by Hollins Playwright’s Lab graduate students will be produced at five theaters across the United States for the New Works Initiative at Hollins University.  Hosting the Red Eye Festival event will be The Earl Hamner Jr. Theater and the Wayne Theatre Alliance.  The Festival is a unique experience for actors, directors, playwrights and the audience at WTA’s Gateway at 329 West Main in downtown Waynesboro.

The Red Eye Festival is student-initiated and produced fundraising event and involves theaters in Virginia, Tennessee, Colorado, Montana and California.  It features the work of Hollins Playwright’s Lab grad students.  “Last year’s festival was such a success that it was unanimous it should become an annual fundraiser for the New Works Initiative,” said festival creator and co-Executive Producer, Wendy-Marie Martin “Michael Gilboe and Byron Harris have joined me as Executive Producers and we are committed to growing the festival host by host and spreading the word about the phenomenal MFA Playwriting program at Hollins University as we do.”

Each host theater is recruiting six directors and 24 actors as well as providing rehearsal and performance space for the event. Red Eye Executive Directors are pleased to have Hamner Theater and WTA’s Gateway in Virginia and UGF Theater in Montana return as hosts for the festival and are excited to welcome three new host sites, Austin Peay State University in Tennessee, Cherry Creek High School Theater Department in Colorado, and Nipomo High School Drama Department in California.

“Our site hosts are extremely excited,” Martin stated. “We’ve made a few changes to the format of the festival this year, morphing it into a classic 10-minute play festival which is rehearsed and produced in a 12 hour period.”

Sound crazy? That’s because it IS crazy! But these passionate grad students are determined to success and turn this nation-wide festival into a signature student-initiated event for Hollins Playwrights Lab.

You can follow the event on Facebook:  www.facebook.com/RedEye10s.

Tickets for the Red Eye Festival are $10 in advance and $12 at the door on the evening of the performance. Please call 540-943-9999 for advance tickets, or go online to www.wtagateway.com.