GFTF Features New Works
From The Davis Enterprise
The third annual Ground and Field Theatre Festival, “Play on the Brink,” spotlights new plays and musicals written by local, national and international playwrights and composers, including Broadway veterans. The main performances take place Thursdays through Saturdays, Sept. 26-28 and Oct. 3-5, on the UC Davis campus and in community venues. All are free.
The UC Davis College of Letters and Science’s department of theater and dance produces the festival with the Theatre and Dance Ensemble and a new collaboration with Bike City Theatre Company.
During a month-long intensive, artists develop new works under the guidance of the festival’s co-artistic directors: Broadway veteran Mindy Cooper and award-winning director-producers Tom Burmester, Lisa Quoresimo and Danika Sudik. A unique collaboration among scholars, guest artists and a student-led ensemble, the festival nurtures the playwrights’ vision while developing narratives around environmental, social and economic sustainability.
The performance festival begins with the punk rock musical, “Fat Kid Rules the World,” conceived and directed by Marc Eardly, book and lyrics by Jay Falzone and additional music and lyrics by Matt Gumley and Evan Jay Newman.
The piece is based on the award-winning young-adult novel by K.L. Going. Troubled, overweight Troy is about to throw himself under an oncoming subway train, when punk rock guitarist, Curt, stops him. The duo begins their unlikely kinship by forming a punk rock band. In spite of their personal problems, including grief, bullying, an abusive home life and addiction, Curt is desperate to keep his band together and won’t let their issues stop him.
“Ranked, A New Musical” features an original book by Kyle Holmes with music and lyrics by David Taylor Gomes and is directed and choreographed by Cooper. In a dystopian high school world, brutal academic competition defines each student’s worth. In this intense culture of performance, Lily must come to grips with her place in the status quo as she watches friends and enemies alike destroy themselves and each other to score their way to excellence.
The cast includes guest artist Shelby Wulfert, best known for her role as Maddie 2 in the Disney Channel’s sitcom “Liv and Maddie.”
“Burst,” by award-winning playwright Rachel Bublitz and directed by Burmester and Sudik, opens Week 2. The play centers on Sarah Boyd who has built a fast-growing tech company with the goal of saving the planet. While pursuing new funding, Sarah must persevere through a late-night interview with a tough reporter, a lawsuit aimed at a person from her past and the waffling of her CTO.
“Sustain Me,” by Washington Post journalist and playwright Sarah M. Vander Schaaff, is directed by Burmester and Sudik. In the play, Jacey has embarked on the yoga path and Michael is working on an organic farm. Both are desperate to sustain faith in humanity as rudeness and waste overtake what they thought were pristine oases.
Facing their worst fears, they find a connection within themselves and each other. Is it enough to sustain them — or the world?
GFTF’s reading series, “Off the Page,” offers works read by actors in a simple setting with playwrights present. The series begins with a reading of “Shining,” an exploration of myth and parenting, by Aidaa Peerzada and directed by Quoresimo.
Shining and Spark are the son and daughter of Greek gods Helios and Clymene and they have a lot of questions. Are their parents really who they say they are? Why do boys have to go to school and why isn’t Spark allowed to spark?
A reading of “Over There Outside,” by screenwriter and playwright Janine DeMaria, is directed by Bike City Theatre Company’s artistic director J.R. Yancher. Abby, a first-time mother at 40, feels trapped by her new role and begins living vicariously through the young couple across the street, until tragedy strikes, propelling her back into her own reality.
For updates on the shows, creatives and company members and to reserve seats, visit the Ground and Field Field Theater Festival website at www.groundandfield.com.