LabWorks 2019 Program 2

Supporting the creation of new work is the heart of the Pittsburgh New Works Festival.  To that end, PNWF has re-invented its staged readings to make them more valuable to playwrights.  We've built a creative laboratory that gives the producing companies the flexibility to explore the scripts in everything from seated reading to full productions.  Pay what you like to join us for an evening with drinks, food and new theatre!

Devotional Blackmail
by Scott Gibson
produced by The South Hills Players

Middle-aged homemaker Edie has come up with a unique plan. She has vowed not to pee until God agrees to a face-to-face meeting with her so that they can discuss her concerns about global warming. To the surprise of Edie's husband Art, God does indeed show up at the front door in a couple of different guises in order to discuss the matter.

Scott Gibson was the recipient of the 2005 Steven Dietz Original Playwriting Award for his full-length play "Someone Else's Life." His black comedy "Cross Words" won first place in Chameleon Stage Circle’s 17th Annual Full-Length Play Competition in St. Paul, MN in 2017. His short play "Ailurophobia" is currently in the midst of a 6th week run at the Red Barn Theatre in Key West. Additional plays have been performed in Dallas, Seattle, Tampa, Napa, Sacramento, Denver, Los Angeles and New York City.

Godwise
by Lisa Bruna
produced by The Pittsburgh New Works Festival

A lonely American housewife on the cusp of the historic women’s movement of the 1960s is dreaming of a better life when she receives divine intervention from an unexpected source.

Lisa Bruna is an American playwright specializing in the short play format. Her plays have been performed in festivals and productions throughout the United States, from California to New York to Florida and have won multiple awards, including a New York Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Short Script. Lisa is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America and has plays published with Smith & Kraus, Applause Theatre & Cinema Books, ArtAge Senior Theatre, Twisted Plays, Junior Drama, and PerformerStuff. For more information or to leave a review of Lisa's works, please visit www.lisabruna.com.

The Gap
by Joseph Krawczyk
produced by The Jesters' Guild

A man, under his wife’s urging, walks into the changing room of The Gap clothing store to try on a new pair of jeans. Unable to exit the changing room, he finds himself trapped in an alternate dimension. The salesman accuses the wife and her husband of theft. The wife balks, demanding that her husband be returned to her. But he is nowhere to be found. He appears a number of times, but they can't see or hear them. After 20 years he returns to her. Everyone is 20 years older, but he hasn't changed at all. In his mind, he believes he's been gone for a half hour.

Joseph P. Krawczyk is an award-winning, published playwright. His latest play, Guns, God and Gomorrah had a reading in April, 2019 at NYC’s Dramatists Guild. It’s All About Lorrie, won for Best Play at the 2016 Thespis Festival. Following that production, the play had a successful Off Off Broadway run at the John Cullum Theater in NYC. A monologue from the play was included in the Best Women’s Stage Monologues of 2016. It is slated for an Off Broadway production in early 2020. He had a staged reading of The Treatment at IATI’s Cimientos 2017 and Release 35.6 at IATI’s Cimientos 2016. In 2014 he had a staged reading of Year’s End at Cape May Stage, a regional, Equity Theater in Cape May, NJ. It was also produced at the Manhattan Repertory Theatre. The play was published by Writers Amuse Me Publishing Company. He is also a member of the Dramatists Guild.