The winning plays were selected from unproduced plays submitted by playwrights from throughout the United States, according to Sara Jayne Steen, chair of the English Department at MSU and one of the conference coordinators. All three Festival plays will be staged for a reading by professional directors and read by actors pulled from the rich pool of talent in the Bozeman and Livingston areas. There will be a discussion following each reading with the cast, director, playwright and the audience.
All readings are free and open to the public.
The festival begins at 7 p.m. Friday, April 20 with a lecture by writer Tom McGuane at the Museum of the Rockies. The reading, which is free, is sponsored by the MSU Department of English's Writer's Series. The play readings will begin at 10 a.m. The reading will be directed by Jim Thomas, artistic director of the Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre. This year marks the fourth time that a play written by McAndrew has been selected for the Northwest Regional New Play Conference.