AzukaFest!
Join us for Azuka’s inaugural celebration of fresh plays being written by members of our New Pages and Rising Writers playwright cohorts. It’s going to be Philly AF!
More than a play reading series, AzukaFest is a 3-day opportunity to mingle, discuss, enjoy a selection of food and drinks from area restaurants, and experience new play joy in the middle of winter! Get one of our festival packages for full-day or full-festival options, or go a-la-carte with Pay What You Decide or our new Quick Pay option!
Thank you to our Honorary Producers Dr. Joel & Mrs Roberta Porter.
Please note: Individual concessions vouchers are now available during the checkout process!
Day 1 Events: February 28
Rabbits in Hats by Noah Mannix & Tell-Tale Heart of Jackson Street by Genne Murphy
February 28 @ 6:30pm
Proscenium Theatre at The Drake
302 S. Hicks Street
Rabbits in Hats
Rabbits in Hats is a play about failure, and desperation, and capture, and the cost of freedom. Rabbits in Hats is a sketch of a comic strip of a play, or maybe the other way around.
Tell-tale Heart of Jackson Street
"It’s hard not to be nervous, the world we live in. My body aches. I sit in my chair, by the window. On Jackson Street. I listen at this window, every day. And I feel it, hear it: The world. The world is – beating. Pulsing. Groaning."
So begins Cora's dark tale, as she grapples with stark changes in the world and the intruding thoughts of her neighbors. A gripping modern-day reimagining of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart."
Onboarding Testimonial by Bruce Walsh
February 28 @ 7:30pm
Proscenium Theatre at The Drake
302 S. Hicks Street
Bored by milquetoast upbeat employee testimonials, a 2065 corporate HR department looks to “plus their workers’ personal histories with depth and authenticity.” When they discover that none of the current staff is capable of creating personal statements without AI assistance, they decide to hire an elderly millennial – one of the last people on earth to think about their lives in unruly, dark, unpredictable ways -- which they hope will make for “plus lean-in moments.”
*We invite package-holders and attendees of Onboarding Testimonial to join us afterward for an informal opening reception in the lobby!
Day 2 Events: March 1
Class C by Chaz T. Martin
March 1 @ 11:00am
Proscenium Theatre at The Drake
302 S. Hicks Street
Mr. Warren "fixes" cars deep in the woods. Unfortunately, he's out hunting right now. So Agent Bliss of Homeland Security will have to wait around the campfire with Allie before anyone takes a look at his car. Allie says she's Mr. Warren's wife, but Bliss suspects that may not be the whole truth. A violent interruption thrusts their careful interrogations into hyper speed, and both realize they're in more danger than they thought.
Are We Free Yet? by TS Hawkins
March 1 @ 1:00pm
Proscenium Theatre at The Drake
302 S. Hicks Street
The Are We Free yet? project by TS Hawkins is a choreopoem based on the book by Tina Strawn: "Through sound and verse, we sojourn in an afro-future encapsulated within a Sunday dinner unpacking decades and dynasties of epigenetic memories. Will the future ever progress against the past? Sauté and serenade with ANTIQUITY and DESTINEÉ as they prepare a table of life, love, and a longing to still be free."
Hit The Pavement by Imani Alyse Redman
March 1 @ 2:30pm
Proscenium Theatre at The Drake
302 S. Hicks Street
Dive into the world of homeless street crew The Mysfits. As tensions run high and the mystery of a members disappearance looms, each Mysfit must figure out what they want to fight for. Through a fusion of music, dance, and poetry Hit the Pavement explores survival and stories about what keeps us alive when we are at the highest of lows.
Tangled Antlers by Mackenzie Raine Kirkman
March 1 @ 4:00pm
Proscenium Theatre at The Drake
302 S. Hicks Street
Told in a wandering fever dream Tangled Antlers follows one Southern family: Daddy, Momma, Bubba, and Sissy. Pressed upon by their parents and the adults at school Bubba and Sissy realize competition is sometimes the only choice.
Homeridae by AZ Espinoza
March 1 @ 6:00pm
Proscenium Theatre at The Drake
302 S. Hicks Street
Mac, an adjunct lecturer, and Nessa, a freshman, have a lot in common. They’re slightly awkward, deeply passionate about Homer’s The Odyssey, and are Black folx in a very white department at a very white school. They stumble upon the discovery that Homer himself came from Africa, and must figure out how best to honor this truth in the face of university administrators, overbearing older siblings, the Internet, and Homer himself. HOMERIDAE is a play about who controls the narrative, and about finding your voice when it seems like no one is listening.
Las Mujeras by Erlina Ortiz
March 1 @ 8:00pm
Proscenium Theatre at The Drake
302 S. Hicks Street
Las Mujeres, is a journey through time as we meet the famous Latinas of herstory's past. Marlene, a workaholic engineer who wouldn’t call herself a feminist, has just been the only woman at her firm promoted to a managerial position. After a devastating encounter, Marlene finds reality has faded away and her kitchen becomes... a party. The guests? Frida Kahlo, Rita Hayworth, Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, and Minerva Mirabal. Don’t know them? You will. These remarkable women share their stories of art, and Revolucion! with the comfortable and complacent Marlene, but will she wake up?
Day 3 Events: March 2
Making It by Sarah Stryker
March 2 @ 11:00am
Proscenium Theatre at The Drake
302 S. Hicks Street
IFYOULIKEITILOVEIT! by Rayne
March 2 @ 1:00pm
Proscenium Theatre at The Drake
302 S. Hicks Street
Girl, who the hell do you think you are? Journey through a story about people asking themselves who they are, who they've been, and who they're going to be.
Marjorie is Dead by Priyanka Shetty
March 2 @ 3:00pm
Proscenium Theatre at The Drake
302 S. Hicks Street
Step back in time to 1900s Britain in this infectiously funny farce, MARJORIE IS DEAD. Inspired by Fry & Laurie and the works of P.G. Wodehouse, this play follows the outbreak of a deadly "coroner's virus" in the unsuspecting Tilbury family, whose lives are as convoluted as they are in peril. Watch as the doctor, the Colonel, the solicitor, and a roguish ne’er-do-well run circles around each other in a hilarious whirlwind of mixed-up identities, flaming passions, overheard conversations, and misunderstandings.
*We invite package-holders and attendees of Marjorie is Dead to join us afterward for an informal closing reception in the lobby!