New home, new works

What better way to inaugurate a new home than with bright, shiny new plays?

At least, that’s what New Helvetia Theatre decided to do. The company has been around since its early 2009 production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch at the Artisan Theatre on Del Paso Boulevard, and is now bringing original plays to Sacramento for audiences to see with a free weekend of theater dubbed the Sacramento New Works Festival, which will run July 26, 27, and 28.

New Helvetia is moving into The Studio Theatre at R and 10th streets, which has been home to a number of different companies over the years. And artistic director Connor Mickiewicz is being joined by associate producer Matthew Schneider. They hope that the Sacramento Festival of New Works—which will offer productions of two new plays by New York writers—will become an annual event.

Schooled, written by Lisa Lewis, is a drama about the triangle formed by two graduate students and their professor. The new musical, One Good Day, with book and lyrics by Liz Suggs and music by Rona Siddiqui, is a romantic comedy set in Manhattan.

The New Works Festival also brings the Eureka Project to R Street. Playwrights will have the opportunity to come to Sacramento for this “developmental theater lab” and spend two weeks honing their plays for eventual production. This year’s New Works Festival does not include any Eureka material, but future festivals will.

At the NHT 2.0 Benefit Bash, a fundraiser on Sunday, July 29, the 2012-2013 season will be announced for supporters, and they’ll have an opportunity to see vignettes from upcoming shows, as well as more original material.