ESPA Drills is a new play development program providing extensive workshopping, a public presentation, and advocacy within the theater community for four new plays written at least in part at Primary Stages ESPA. Each July, these plays are selected from dozens of blind submissions for their ambition, voice, imagination, and energy. Over the course of multiple months, ESPA actors and outside guests lend their talent to these workshops and readings, which are then presented before an audience of industry peers on an Off-Broadway stage. ESPA Drills provides an exclusive opportunity for students to receive professional attention through the resources and support of Primary Stages.
All writing students of ESPA, past and present, are invited to apply.
These amazing playwrights will be guided through the ESPA Drills process by playwright, director, and ESPA faculty member Melisa Annis, our ESPA Drills advisor.
All readings will be held at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, located at 121 Christopher Street. Free and open to the public! RSVP below.
ESPA Drills is made possible, in part, by a generous donation from the Axe-Houghton Foundation.
Kevin and Dezba need to escape before the toxic, post-industrial Southside literally poisons them. With nowhere to turn but the darknet, they try to profit from a nightmare inspired by their own lives. But as their creation becomes a reality, can they save themselves before the monster keeps them in the Southside for good?
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Four years after illness shattered their family, Richard Kemper has dragged his two daughters on a camping trip to Moab, Utah. Surrounded by nothing but desert, they can choose to stay isolated or step forward. When confronted with uncertainty, can you go it alone?
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It’s junior year and Harper’s moved back to her aunt’s house. Her aunt thinks she should pick everything up where she left off – high school, youth ministry, her best friend Hannah. But her relationship with Hannah has changed, and Hannah seems to feel it too. As they join their church Bible Quiz team and spend more and more time together, they learn more about themselves and the Bible than they ever thought they would.
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PAST ESPA DRILLS PLAYS
2017
Moonshine by Liz Appel
Another Revolution by Jacqueline Bircher
All My Love, Kate by Joe Breen
Carl's Not Here by Daniel Loeser
2016
Surfacing by Mike Poblete
Rapture 2K by Daniel McCoy
The Call Center by Joshua Strauch
Montgomery by Stephen Brown
2015
DannyKrisDonnaVeronica by Lawrence Dial
Graduation Day by Emily Daly
This Sweet Affliction by Blake Hackler
Round She Goes by Karina Richardson
2014
Any Day Now by Nat Cassidy
Mexico by Rachael Jenison
A Small History of Amal by Amal, Age 7 by Lindsay Joelle
The Amelia Episodes by Kat Ramsburg
2013
Keep Calm and Carry On by Melisa Annis
Unknowing Grace by Alyssa Biber Colman
Drown by David Hilder
Do Not Leave Unattended by Jan Rosenberg
2012
Honey by Siobhan Antonioli
Dairyland by Heidi Armbruster
Welcome Home by Stephen Brown
The Horse and Carriage by Karin Shook
2011
The Feminism of a Soft Merlot (Or How the Donkey Got Punched) by Micheline Auger
Verano Place by Katie Atcheson
23.5 Hours by Carey Crim
Next Time on Spring Valley by Louise Schwarz
2010
In Ways Both Frivolous and Deep by Marin Gazzaniga
Jersey Intersections by Tina Esper Kolomatsky
American Drum Circle by Vanessa Shealy
The Green by Kate Tarker