by Niki Acton '16

Seventeen new plays premiered in Knox College's Studio Theatre during Spring Term 2016. Written by students, faculty, and alumni of Knox College, these plays were performed as staged and rehearsed readings.

"It's about celebrating the playwrights' work and seeing it as it could be onstage," said Madison Mondeaux '15, whose plays Waiting and Red Wolf were included in the festival.

The plays were selected by a reading committee, which included professor of theatre Neil Blackadder, writer-in-residence Sherwood Kiraly '72, Alison Diamond 14, Oakton Reynolds '15, Michelle Secunda '16, and Karli Shields '16.

The New Plays Festival, which the theatre department will present every three years, was first produced in 2013.

"I was delighted with the level of dedication that all the directors and actors brought to what they were doing," said Kiraly. "Most of the playwrights have seen their work. As far as I know, they've been uniformly delighted."

Kiraly's full-length play Hug It Out was the final production of the festival. Hug It Out featured Kiraly himself; Elizabeth Carlin Metz, Smith V. Brand Endowed Chair in Theatre Arts; Lillie Chamberlin '19; and McLeod Sumner '15.