From May 15 through May 31, Live Arts’ third annual Waterworks celebrates new work, while featuring original performances and diverse voices. “When I describe the festival,” says Live Arts Artistic Director Susan E. Evans, “[I say] it’s Charlottesville’s response to the Fringe. It’s not exactly a fringe festival in some ways, but it has that kind of flavor.”
Distilled from roughly 650 submissions from local and national artists—the most yet in the festival’s history—the bonanza boasts more than 20 plays, as well as in-depth conversations with artists, social events, and more. Like a fringe theater festival, Waterworks offers artists the opportunity to showcase new work, often using experimental forms, and portraying subject matter that’s missing from mainstream stages.
“We are honored that [the presentation of the festival plays] continues our effort to center historically erased writers,” states the Waterworks field guide, “with over half of produced works written by an artist who self-identifies as marginalized.”
In addition to the diversity of perspectives presented, the festival also feels a bit fringy in its staging conditions. “You’re going to see things in a variety of staging stages,” says Evans.
During the opening night performance of Locally Sourced, a collection of five plays written by local writers presented by the Live Arts’ Playwrights’ Lab, some plays had two or three set elements and props—total. Black wooden apple boxes did a lot of work to frame audience members’ imaginations. Casts varied from two performers to five or six at the most. The minimalist staging choices are a functional necessity when offering five plays in rapid succession, and they’re also an invitation to focus on the playwrights’ words and the actors’ performances.
Shows in the Conover Studio are essentially readings, with actors performing from scripts on music stands. The intention is to let the playwright and audience experience the words. In the black box Founders’ Theater, work will be presented more fully, with actors moving around the performance area—albeit with scripts still in hand sometimes. Evans says these productions give viewers a greater sense of the play’s shape from a directorial perspective. Plays produced in the Conover Studio and Founders’ Theater will run for two performances.
Waterworks’ spotlight performances occur in the Gibson Theater. Locally Sourced—featuring plays by Sean Michael McCord, Jenny Mead, Kate Monaghan, Scott Dunn, and Sara Hutchinson—had three performances in the festival’s opening weekend. Spotlight shows by Derek J. Snow and Danny Vincent will have three performances each, over the festival’s remaining weekends.
“I’m very excited about having Derek Snow back,” says Evans. The Cincinnati-based actor participated in the inaugural Waterworks festival in 2023 with his play Silas, The Uninvited. “He has a heavily researched play that’s very different called The Ravenside Occurrence. It’s a Victorian ghost story about women escaping Bedlam Prison in London and going into this [haunted] house.”
“The last spotlight is a play we found last year,” says Evans. “Adrienne [Oliver] and I loved this play, and we wanted to make it a spotlight. The playwright is Danny Vincent. This is a family-friendly play called Maria Kent and the Spirit of Adventure. It’s a pirate tale in the wild West.”
The festival also features a comedy night, an additional Community Deep-Dive session, and a wrap party. To get the full effect of the fest, participants may wish to take in multiple shows and events on the same day.
When Waterworks draws to a close, patrons are left with a cerebral souvenir. “I think they take away stories,” says Evans. “It gets the imagination crackling about how many stories there are out there. These are writers from all different backgrounds approaching their work in all different ways. It should have your brain making more connections. I always think that theater is about connecting dots that might not have been connected.”
Waterworks creators will appear on stage and at talks throughout the festival. The full schedule is at livearts.org. Photo: Tristan Williams.
