9th Annual ‘Title Wave: 2023 New Works Festival’

Bay Street Theater has announced the schedule of plays for the upcoming 9th annual “Title Wave: 2023 New Works Festival,” scheduled to take place Friday, May 5, through Sunday, May 7.

This year, the festival will introduce four new plays to the Bay Street stage over the course of the weekend, all written by female playwrights. The festival is a unique showcase of cutting-edge theater, complete with staged readings, talkbacks and critical discussion, providing a rare opportunity for directors and actors to work on their play in-person.

Selected from 300 submissions, the four plays selected are “Another Lovely Day” by Leslie Ayvazian, starring John Slattery (“Mad Men,” “Marvel Cinematic Universe,” “Spotlight”) and Talia Balsam (“Mad Men,” “Homeland,” “Divorce”); “Come Again” by Lisa Feriend; “What I Know, Now” by and starring Julia Motyka; and “You Have to Promise” by Audrey Lang.

“What a great lineup of new plays we have this year for Title Wave,” says Bay Street Artistic Director Scott Schwartz. “As always, they will showcase the broad spectrum of what American theater can be. I’m particularly excited that this festival will feature all plays written by women. We’ve always made it a priority to support female-identifying writers at Bay Street, and this year continues that commitment in a robust way.”

In addition to the staged readings, the presentation of winners of the 2023 Writing the Wave Creative Writing Competition will be held Sunday, May 7, at 7 p.m.

Tickets for each reading are available for a $10 fee that goes to supporting New Works initiatives at Bay Street Theater, or a Festival Pass with tickets to each performance can be purchased for $25. Visit baystreet.org or call 631-725-9500 for details.

Friday, May 5, at 8 p.m. — “Another Lovely Day”

In Leslie Ayvazian’s “Another Lovely Day,” a couple’s marriage is challenged by a change in politics and the aftershock has a troubling impact on their teenage son. The play asks: What happens when quiet ideas are revealed for the first time? What makes us decide to test the foundation of what we thought we trusted and shared? One family. Three members. One day.

Saturday, May 6, at 2 p.m. — “Come Again”

Lisa Feriend’s play “Come Again” tells the story of Miami hospice nurse, Marina Johnson, who wakes one day to find a stranger in her apartment claiming to be Jesus Christ and telling her that she has been tapped to be God’s climate change prophet. Despite her protestations, Marina finds herself pulled further and further into the mission she’s been assigned, as she and Jesus set out to try to save humanity from itself.

Saturday, May 6, at 8 p.m. — “What I Know, Now”

In Julia Motyka’s “What I Know, Now,” as she awaits the answer to one of life’s big questions, a woman explores the nature of faith and her own complicated family history. The play asks: Does the answer lie in faith and prayer; probabilities and numbers; or is it something else entirely?

Sunday, May 7, at 2 p.m. — “You Have To Promise”

In Audrey Lang’s “You Have To Promise,” 17-year-olds Maeve and Nessa have been best friends their entire lives. Three months ago, they discovered what they had was more than a friendship. When they decide to come out to their families together, Nessa’s father kicks her out and the girls scramble to come up with a solution, all the while lying to Maeve’s stepmother, Rachael, and trying to dream their way to being grown-up.