Plays will be performed Live and Outdoors and in front of an audience, over the last two weekends in August. These are off-book, full productions, held in the Courtyard of St. Paul’s Church, 166 High Street, Newburyport, MA, 01951.  Our actors are very excited to get back on the boards.  So bring your chair or blanket and a snack.

Inclement weather is always a risk with outdoor performances. In the event of rain, a decision will be made 30 minutes prior to curtain to cancel a show and that performance will be rescheduled to a later date. All patrons will be refunded in the event of a rain-out.

The Actors Studio of Newburyport, MA is dedicated to New Play Development and 2021 marks the fourth annual Short Play Festival. The submission window opened on January 1, 2021 and was to close March 1, 2021, or until 200 plays have been received, whichever occurred first.  Due to the overwhelming response, more than 300 plays were accepted and the submissions window was closed before the end of January.

After an extensive process of reading and re-reading the submissions, 24 Semi-Finalists were selected. We held our All Day Selection Sunday Extravaganza June 27, 2021.  All 24 Semi-Finalist plays were performed as cold-readings, with 35 theater-makers in attendance who voted on each play after it was presented.

The results:  Ten plays were selected and are to be performed over two weekends in August, five each weekend.

Here’s the list for the first weekend – Act One (August 20-22)

When: Act Two –  August 27-29, Friday/Saturday 6:30p.m. Sunday 6:00p.m.

Where: The Courtyard of St. Paul’s Church, 166 High Street, Newburyport, MA, 01951

Register here for the performance