The tenth annual New Play Festival will kick off on Friday, March 21 at 7:30Pm at the City College Black Box Theatre located in AH-320.
The Theatre Department is hosting six original plays written and directed by San Diego City College students. Three are returning playwrights from previous years.
“Where’s Tearance?” is an original play written by David Thornton and directed by Katie Rodda. Costumes were designed by Carmen Freeman. Darren Adam Masarik did the fight choreography.
The play centers around two hitmen whose ability to do their job is in question.
Rodda, a professor of Dramatic Arts, teaches an online play writing class every fall, where students develop their ideas.
The class has helped create several of the productions for the Festival of Plays.
Thornton said he was inspired by “Reservoir Dogs” to write this piece. He wanted a monologue of his own to build on.
The set designer is Dwane Gardella, and the technical designer is Mike McCulloch. McCulloch is also the theatre technician who designs the lights and sounds for all the shows.
Another new play is “Dungeons and Dragons of Love”. It is directed by Danny Sharkey and written by Sean Greff. The costumes are by Andy Cross.
This is Greff’s second time being produced here at City College. The play centers around a love triangle between four nerds playing Dungeons and Dragons.
Sharkey will be acting in “The Lightbox,” a play written by Celeste Smith and directed by Michelle Rodriguez. Costumes are by Andy Cross.
“The Lightbox” is about two sisters who come together after a long period of bad blood between them and their father.
This is Smith’s second time being produced as a writer at City College, and it will be Rodriguez’s first time directing and being a part of production.
“Pu-erh Tea,” written by Phoebe Peng and directed by Celeste Smith with costumes by Carmen Freeman, is about a Chinese tea ceremony and features two characters sorting topics of life and death.
“One of them is sort of between life and death and the other one is sort of helping her get from one place to the other,” Rodda said.
“Tucker vs. Todd” is directed by Lexie Solomon and written by Scott Kraus. Costumes by Carmen Freeman. This is Kraus’ third year having a play produced in the New Play Festival.
“He (Kraus) is a returning student, the play is about two roommates in a comedy where one of the roommates tries taking over the other’s personal life in a funny way,” Rodda said.
This is Solomon’s first time directing a play at City College, and she is playing the role of Avo in “Pu-erh Tea.”
“I thought it would be really fun to try something new and just broaden my horizons. I’ve only ever acted in theater and so I wanted to try to be on the other side of it and see how it felt,” Solomon said. “It’s really been exciting. I’ve really been enjoying it.”
Fortino Aguilar, a fine arts major, plays the character Todd.
“I had read the script of a previous iteration of (the play) about a year prior, and I really liked it,” Aguilar said. “I was hoping to land a role in this show, and I’m really excited that I did.”
“The Versions of U.S.” is written by Carmen Freeman and directed by Presley Cooper. Costumes by Andy Cross.
“It takes place during the summer of 2020, during the height of COVID-19 restrictions and the George Floyd murder,” Rhodda said. “It’s about four friends on zoom discussing where they are and what their lives are like at that moment.”
Teri Monte is a returning playwright from the previous eighth annual Festival of New Plays.
“The plays have evolved. I think they’ve gotten stronger each semester,” Monte said. “I love that it’s student directed now and largely a student design. I’m really happy with the changes and it’s a great annual event for us.”
Show dates and times are Friday, March 21 and 28 at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, March 22 and 29, 2025 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Thursday, March 27, 2025 at 11 a.m.
All performances contain adult themes including guns on stage, fake drugs, adult language and fighting. Tickets are available at the San Diego City College Theatre. All theatre productions are open to the public. Admission is $18 for the general public and $12 for students.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly named Danny Sharkey as the director of the “Lightbox.” Additionally, Lexi Solomon was incorrectly addressed using the pronoun “he.” This story has been updated to correct these mistakes. City Times regrets the error.
