LANDING LOCAL
2020 Developmental Reading Series
- Supporting Local Playwriting -
Plays in our Developmental Reading Series are works in progress. Through these readings, The Landing strives to help the playwrights get the feedback they need to take their work to the next level.
Eric Moore
cyber/sex
by Eric Moore
Directed by Sophia Watt
Tuesday, April 21, 2020 @ 7pm
Synopsis:
"A high school senior forms a cyber-sexual relationship with an older woman. At the same time, his best friend begins having actual sex with a girl from school. As the two couples navigate this new world of intimacy, both physical and otherwise, they are forced to confront the consequences. This play explores the murky nature of sex, love, and web-camming."
Biography:
Eric Moore is a theatrical artist based in Houston, TX and an advocate for new work. His plays have received productions in Houston and around the country. His full-length play, THE DEBASERS, had a workshop production at the University of Houston under the guidance of Theresa Rebeck and won the Edward Albee Playwriting Award. He's had multiple plays selected as finalists for both regional and national awards through the Last Frontier Theatre Conference, Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, and Texas Educational Theatre Association. He's developed new plays with Rec Room Arts, PlayPenn, and Curious Theatre Company. You can access his (presentable) work on his New Play Exchange profile. In addition to being a play reader for multiple festivals, he is the Resident Dramaturg for Rec Room Arts, where he helped to start the Rec Room Writers group, and works as a Literary Consultant for MonologueBank.com.
He graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BFA in Playwriting and Dramaturgy from the University of Houston in 2019.
Jelisa Jay Robinson
Circle
by Jelisa Jay Robinson
Directed by Rhett Martinez
Thursday, June 4, 2020 @ 7pm
Synopsis:
"Hakeem is a recent college graduate who doesn't drive, has no job and is nowhere close to achieving his dream of being a famous writer. After reconnecting with a high school sweetheart, Hakeem goes on a journey of self-discovery and gratitude, realizing that your path might not be a straight line; sometimes life is like a circle."
Biography:
Jelisa Jay Robinson is a Black American playwright from Houston, Texas. Her plays include The Stories of Us, Fae and Paciencia and Delivery. Her work has been read/developed/ produced at Fade to Black (Houston), Teatrx (Houston), 14/48 Theatre Festival (Austin), Austin One Minute Play Festival (Austin), the Austin Latino New Play Festival, Teatro Vivo (Austin), Now Africa Festival (New York), The Black and Brown Theatre (Detroit), The Rec Room (Houston), the Echame Un Ojo Festival (commission), Fornes Playwriting Workshop (Chicago), The Black and Latino Playwrights Celebration (San Marcos), and Vision Latino (Chicago). She is a finalist for the La Mansion Baldwin Writers Residency in France (2020), a finalist for the Seattle Public Theatre New Play Prize (2017), a writer in the Rec Room Writers Group (2020) and an alumni of the Fornes Playwrighting Workshop (2017) where she worked under the tutelage of Migdalia Cruz. Jelisa has held residencies with Vision Latino Theatre Company (Chicago), the National Playwrights Retreat (Colorado) and Texas State’s Black and Latino Playwrights Celebration.
Christian Gill
Legs
by Christian Gill
Directed by Laura Moreno
Monday, August 31, 2020 @ 7pm
Synopsis:
"Renee and Davy are siblings with a shitload of issues. Davy enjoys solitude, cleanliness and order, but his quiet life is shattered when Renee suddenly moves in with him. She's dirty, impolite, and loves him to an uncomfortable degree..... and she claims to not have the ability to walk... but Davy doesn't quite believe it. While she tries to break through Davy's closed off attitude, he tries to convince her that all of her problems, including her disability, are in her mind."
Biography:
Christian Gill recently graduated from the University of Houston with a Bachelor's of Fine Arts in Playwriting and Dramaturgy. After college he worked as a Literary Intern during the Alley Theatre's 2019-2020 Season. In 2018 Christian joined the Dramatists Guild of America. In January Christian collaborated with Theatre 66 to produce the Neos Play Festival in the Alley Theatre's Louisiana Room. He also assisted the Alley's Director of New Work and Literary Manager with the Alley All New Festival. Christian is a member of Rec Room Writers, a Bi-Monthly gathering of writer's at Rec Room Theatre that will culminate in ten staged readings later on in the year. Shows Christian has worked on include Caucasian Chalk Circle, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, The Winter's Tale, Enemies, Vietgone, Camp David, 1984, Winners, Space Bucket, Quixote Nuevo, Fully Committed and more. Christian is very excited to have his play read at Landing Theatre.
Mik Moats
The Seed Becomes
by Mik Moats
Directed by Bree Bridger
Monday, August 24, 2020 @ 7pm
Synopsis:
"It begins in the ground, taking root but slowly, the seed becomes. Ninhursag, a young woman in her tribe, learns this, for perhaps the first time in history. Before the land is cultivated, before there was agriculture, there was a young woman, a seed and a story. Between two rivers in the Fertile Crescent, Ninhursag makes it her mission to change the lives of her tribe, especially one of the youngest orphans, Aya. However, not all of the tribe is willing; the Elder Ishtar is haunted by the past and cannot find herself (or her tribe) in one place for too long. Stuck between raiders and starvation, the tribe must choose who to turn to in desperate times. The Seed Becomes focuses on the gaps between generations, and what it means to change the world as a young and old woman, set during one of the biggest cultural shifts of history, the Agricultural Revolution."
Biography:
Mik C. Moats (they/them) is a nonbinary playwright who graduated from the University of Houston's Playwriting and Dramaturgy program in 2019. Mik's work has recently been seen with Theatre 66's NEOS Showcase 2020 at the Alley Theatre (Roll for Length), in University of Houston's 2019 Ten Minute Play Festival (Pliny is Wrong With Me), as well as a finalist at The Kennedy Center for the Arts College Theatre Festival's Ten Minute Play Contest (Revival).