UC San Diego’s 2024 Wagner New Play Festival Premieres Five World-Class Works
From a musical about the messy realities of lost innocence to a coming-of-age murder mystery and a comedy on the fickleness of fame, UC San Diego’s Department of Theatre and Dance graduate student playwrights present bold stories that will have audience members on the edge of their seats. Each of their five original plays will be world premiered at the 2024 Wagner New Play Festival between Apr. 26 to May 18.
Named in recognition of the generosity of Molli and Arthur Wagner, the festival is an opportunity for the community to experience the distinctive voices of the university’s latest MFA cohort. The productions are highly collaborative, with Ph.D. and undergraduate directors, actors, designers, stage managers and dramaturgs partnering with the MFA playwrights to create a series of unforgettable shows.
“The Wagner New Play Festival is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate new stories and voices, and represents some of the most exciting new plays in American theater,” said Head of UC San Diego’s MFA Playwriting Program Naomi Iizuka. “The festival gives San Diego audiences a first look at cutting-edge work by our world-class MFA playwrights, many of whom—such as Lauren Yee, Jeff Augustin, Dave Harris and many others—have gone on to become some of the most well-known and highly produced playwrights in American theater.”
The Wagner New Play Festival has grown to become a nationally recognized showcase. The festival is regularly attended by local theatergoers as well as artistic directors, literary managers, agents and producers from across the country. Plays featured in the festival have flourished, with productions off-Broadway and in major theaters across the country.
This year’s five full productions are “No Singing in the Navy” by Milo Cramer; “The Half-Sibling Play” by Agyeiwaa Asante; “809 Almond” by Mylan Gray; “Cancelina” by Beth Hyland; and “Dead Girl’s Quinceñera” by Phanésia Pharel. Further details can be found below.
Tickets and complete information can be found on the Department of Theatre and Dance website. Discounted tickets are available for UC San Diego students.
“The Wagner New Play Festival is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate new stories and voices, and represents some of the most exciting new plays in American theater.”
“The Half-Sibling Play” | Agyeiwaa Asante
Growing up in separate households, half-siblings Kweku and Amoaa have never been close. But when their father dies unexpectedly, they travel together from Brooklyn to Ghana to pay their respects and claim their birthright. A play about sisters, brothers, and absent fathers, “The Half-Sibling Play” delves into the mystery of family and what it means to come home. Directed by second-year MFA student Ludmila Cardoso de Brito.
Preview: Apr. 29
Show dates: May 8, 11, 14, 16 and 17
Theater: Theodore and Adele Shank Theatre, UC San Diego
Purchase tickets for “The Half-Sibling Play”
“No Singing in the Navy” | Milo Cramer
Three silly sailors have $100 and 24 hours in San Diego before they’re shipped off to war and certain death. A loving and sardonic riff on the golden (problematic) age of musical theater, “No Singing in the Navy” looks at what happens when American ideas of innocence and nostalgia collide with messy political realities and uncomfortable truths. Directed by UC San Diego Professor Aysan Celik.
Preview: May 10
Show dates: May 11, 14, 16 and 18
Theater: Arthur Wagner Theatre, UC San Diego
Purchase tickets for “No Singing in the Navy”
“809 Almond” | Mylan Gray
“809 Almond” is a Berkeley co-op founded during the Sixties, but things have changed a lot since the Sixties. Instead of marching in the streets, the co-op’s residents are starting tech start-ups. In an effort to get back to their progressive roots, they recruit a Black roommate, except their new Black roommate has plans of her own. A dark comedy about race, sex and late-stage capitalism, “809 Almond” explores the blind spots and hypocrisies of well-intentioned liberalism. Directed by UC San Diego Professor Stephen Buescher.
Preview: May 3
Show dates: May 9, 11, 14, 15 and 17
Theater: Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre, UC San Diego
Purchase tickets for “809 Almond”
“Cancelina” | Beth Hyland
Alina Jay is a former tween star turned singer-slash-actress (an actress who sings). When she’s caught kissing her much-older married co-star, the Internet turns on her. Now Alina’s team—led by her best friend and assistant, Meg—must do whatever it takes to get Alina back on top. A comedy about fame, cancel culture and the lengths we’ll go for redemption, “Canceling” asks who we really are when everything is stripped away. Directed by second-year MFA student Allie Moss.
Preview: Apr. 26
Show dates: May 7, 10, 11, 16 and 18
Theater: Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre, UC San Diego
Purchase tickets for “Cancelina”
“Dead Girl’s Quinceañera” | Phanésia Pharel
Being 15 is even more complicated when your best friend goes missing. Maria’s besties are in a race against the clock to find out what happened to her and bring her home alive. A dark comedy about secrets, female friendship and crime solving, “Dead Girl’s Quinceañera” asks what it means to come of age in a messed-up world and what you need to do to survive. Directed by UC San Diego Professor Lamar Perry.
Preview: Apr. 26
Show dates: May 6, 9, 10, 11, 15 and 18
Theater: Theodore and Adele Shank Theatre, UC San Diego
Purchase tickets for “Dead Girl’s Quinceañera”
The UC San Diego Playwriting Program trains writers with bold, distinctive voices who tell compelling stories. Only one or two writers are admitted each