Play-by-Play
Play-by-Play is Pioneer Theatre Company’s new play reading series. Since 2014, the series has provided developmental rehearsal periods for three new plays each season.
This season, Play-by-Play has been reimagined to include four readings, performed “festival” style, over two consecutive weekends in June 2022. The playwright works alongside a professional director and cast for a weeklong residency, culminating in three public readings of each play available to theatregoers at a very modest cost.
2022 Play-by-Play titles and dates are:
All readings will be held on Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 pm and on Saturdays at 2:00 and 7:30 pm.
Three plays from Play-by-Play readings have reached our mainstage: Alabama Story by Kenneth Jones in 2015, “i” by Jeff Talbott in 2018, and Ass by Ellen Simon will receive its premiere in October 2021. The Messenger, also by Jeff Talbott, will be performed in January 2022. The Ice Front, by local playwright Eric Samuelsen, enjoyed its World Premiere at Plan-B Theatre in 2017. Speculator Spirits (renamed Lone Star Spirits), Slow Food, and A Public Education have all received world premieres at theatres around the country.
“Nothing is more important to the long-term vitality of American theatre as an art form than the nurturing of new voices and new work.” — PTC Artistic Director Karen Azenberg, shown here with Kalyn West (L) and Abdul-Khaliq “A.K.” Murtadha (R), rehearsing Play-by-Play’s reading of Ass, by Ellen Simon.
We will schedule four public readings—Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday afternoon, and Saturday evening—so that the playwright can try new or different material with each audience if she chooses. It might be a tweaked punchline, a new scene, or a new ending. It’s up to the playwright.
Together, we will bring Utah to the forefront of play development and continue to develop exciting new works on our stage. It’s friends like you who make great theatre in Utah possible.
We accept submissions for Play-By-Play either by agent or with a letter of recommendation. Submissions accepted year-round. Follow this link for more information.