The Bonfire Series, our annual play reading festival, is the culminating event of our PlayLab playwrights’ group. Through the PlayLab, we endeavor to support playwrights in turning their biggest, wildest ideas into finished scripts.
This year’s series features talking ducks, a fantasy king, Icelandic elves, singing taxidermy, furies, and, of course, magical chickens. View the full line-up below!
June 20 – 25, 7:30PM
Jefferson Market Library | 425 6th Ave, NYC
Suggested Donation: $10
HEART OF DUCKNESS
by A.J. Ditty | directed by Kevin Hourigan
Tuesday, June 20, 7:30PM
It’s the Berlin Conference of 1884 and the world stands on the brink of war as delegates from every European nation gather to find a peaceful solution to the monstrous scramble for Africa. But every character is a duck. And we’re all corkscrewed.
THE TROLL KING
by Aeneas Sagar Hemphill | directed by Emily Moler
Wednesday, June 21, 7:30PM
For many, the internet is a safe haven—but it can also be something more sinister. When a young gamer’s love goes unrequited, a breach of trust rocks the student body and fantasy and reality collide.
THE HOLDFOLK
by Taylor Edelhart | directed by Jaki Bradley
Thursday, June 22, 7:30PM
Deep underneath the earth, a family of elves has pieced together something like a peaceful life. Then a Human shows up. A broken fairy story about learning how to live underground.
WUNDERKAMMER
by Francesca Pazniokas | directed by Felicia Lobo
Friday, June 23, 7:30PM
A lonely taxidermist trains a mysterious child with terrifying talents to be his assistant in Wunderkammer—a play that blurs the line between human and animal, and life and death. It asks: how do we determine who is an “us” and who is “them”?
TRICK OF THE LIGHT
by Charly Evon Simpson | directed by Dina Vovsi
Saturday, June 24, 7:30PM
Aurora returns to her childhood home for some quiet, but soon realizes something is amiss. Her mother spends nights yelling on the porch and her aunt pulls the same tarot card every day. Not to mention the three mysterious, banshee figures she sees.
BRUISE & THORN
by J. Julian Christopher | directed by Lou Moreno
Sunday, June 25, 7:30PM
Bruise and Thorn work at a laundromat in Jamaica, Queens. Bruise dreams of becoming a chef and Thorn of changing the face of Hip Hop. When finances become strained, they get caught up in illegal activities sending them on a magical ride to make their dreams come true and get the hell out of Jamaica.
