SHAKE IT UP. The New Works works have been announced for the 2024 Wisconsin Shakespeare Festival at the Pablo Center. (Photo via Pablo Center website)

As a part of the New Works series of the Wisconsin Shakespeare Festival, three playwrights will have their one-act plays produced and performed at the festival this July at the Pablo Center at the Confluence.

The three plays were submitted under different categories: Young Voices (writers ages 16-24), Diverse Perspectives (writers who identify as LGBTQIA+), and Shakes-pired (works paying homage to Shakespeare). Out of more than 170 submissions, the three winning playwrights will receive honorariums for their work, a year’s membership to The Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis, and the honor of seeing their worksbrought to life on stage at the festival.

The “Young Voices” awardee is Anthony Roytman (Illinois) for his play Filthy Animals, about nature losing patience with its peskiest species and furiously deciding to teach them a lesson. The chosen “Diverse Perspectives” play is Female Nude Seated by Carolyn Gage (Maine). The play follows two young artists who meet and alter their lives through revolution. Lastly, the “Shakes-pired” category winner is Mark Evan Chimsky (Maine) for the play The Secret Muse, where three historical figures attempt to set the record straight on an event that happened 425 years ago.

The performances will be held at the Pablo Center on Wednesday, July 24, starting at 7:30pm. Tickets will be $9 for adults and $3 for youth and students and will be available for purchase starting April 23.

Learn more about the Wisconsin Shakespeare Festival at pablocenter.org/wishakespearefest.