Humana Festival of New American Plays
The Humana Festival of New American Plays was an internationally renowned festival which celebrated the contemporary American playwright. Produced annually in Louisville, Kentucky by Actors Theatre of Louisville, the festival showcased new theatrical works and drew producers, critics, playwrights, and theatre lovers from around the world. The festival was founded in 1976 by Jon Jory, who was Producing Director of Actors Theatre of Louisville from 1969 to 2000. Since 1979 The Humana Festival was sponsored by the Humana Foundation which is the philanthropic arm of Humana.
The Humana Festival was shut down permanently in 2022 after holding its final festival in 2021.
History
The Actor's Theater of Louisville hosted the first Festival of New American Plays in March 1977. It was founded by the former artistic director of the Actor's Theater, Jon Jory. The Gin Game by D.L. Coburn, one of the plays presented that year, went on to open on Broadway later that year and would win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1978. The 1978 festival line up included Marsha Norman's Getting Out, and in 1979, Crimes of the Heart by Beth Henley. It was also the first year that the festival was sponsored by the Humana Festival.Over the 400 plays the festival has produced, many have gone on to win several awards. Dinner With Friends by Donald Margulies, The Gin Game by D.L. Coburn, and, Crimes of the Heart by Beth Henley have all won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Keely and Du by Jane Martin, Becky Shaw by Gina Gionfriddo, and Omnium-Gatherum by Alexandra Gersten-Vassilaros and Theresa Rebeck have all been finalists for the prize.
Lucas Hnath's The Christians, ''Appropriate by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Big Love by Charles Mee, Slavs! by Tony Kushner, My Left Breast by Susan Miller, Marisol by José Rivera and One Flea Spare by Naomi Wallace have all won Obie Awards.
How to Say Goodbye by Mary Gallagher, My Sister in this House by Wendy Kesselman, A Narrow Bed by Ellen McLaughlin, My Left Breast by Susan Miller and One Flea Spare by Naomi Wallace have won the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, and nine other plays produced at the festival have been finalists.
2'' by Romulus Linney, Dinner with Friends by Donald Margulies, Getting Out by Marsha Norman, and Jane Martin's Talking With…, ''Keely and Du, Jack and Jill, and Anton in Show Business have won the Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award, and Dinner with Friends by Donald Margulies, Big Love by Charles Mee, After Ashley by Gina Gionfriddo, Great Falls by Lee Blessing, Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them by A.Rey Pamatmat, and Lucas Hnath's Death Tax and The Christians have won Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award Citations.
Jeff Augustin's and Peter Sinn Nachtrieb' s plays, Cry Old Kingdom and BOB: A Life in Five Acts'' respectively, have won the Barrie and Bernice Stavis Award, given by the National Theatre Conference to outstanding emerging playwrights.
List of plays produced
Source:;2009Ameriville by UNIVERSES Slasher by Allison MooreAbsalom by Zoe KazanThe Hard Weather Boating Party by Naomi WallaceUnder Construction by Charles L. Mee, produced in association with the SITI CompanyWild Blessings: A Celebration of Wendell Berry adapted for the stage by Marc Masterson and Adrien-Alice Hansel, original music by Malcolm DalglishBrink! by Lydia R. Diamond, Kristoffer Diaz, Greg Kotis, Deborah Zoe Laufer, Peter Sinn Nachtrieb and Deborah SteinOn the Porch One Crisp Spring Morning by Alex Dremann3:59am: a drag race for two actors by Marco RamirezRoanoke by Michael Lew, music and lyrics by Matt Schatz
;2010Let Bygones Be by Gamal Abdel ChastenHEIST! conceived and created by Sean Daniels and Deborah Stein, written by Deborah SteinLobster Boy by Dan DietzGround by Lisa DillmanFissures by Steve Epp, Cory Hinkle, Dominic Orlando, Dominique Serrand, Deborah Stein and Victoria StewartPost Wave Spectacular by Diana GrisantiAn Examination of the Whole Playwright/Actor Relationship Presented As Some Kind of Cop Show Parody by Greg KotisSirens by Deborah Zoe LauferThe Method Gun created by Rude Mechs, written by Kirk LynnThe Cherry Sisters Revisited by Dan O'Brien with original music by Michael FriedmanPhoenix by Scott Organ.
;2011Mr. Smitten by Laura EasonMaple and Vine by Jordan HarrisonHygiene by Gregory HischakChicago, Sudan by Marc Bamuthi JosephElemeno Pea by Molly Smith MetzlerBOB by Peter Sinn NachtriebEdith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them by A. Rey PamatmatThe Edge of Our Bodies by Adam RappA Devil at Noon by Anne WashburnThe End by Dan Dietz, Jennifer Haley, Allison Moore, A. Rey Pamatmat, and Marco Ramirez.
;2012Eat Your Heart Out by Courtney BaronHow We Got On by Idris GoodwinDeath Tax by Lucas HnathMichael von Siebenburg Melts Through the Floorboards by Greg KotisThe Veri**on Play by Lisa KronThe Hour of Feeling by Mona MansourOh, Gastronomy! by Michael Golamco, Carson Kreitzer, Steve Moulds, Tanya Saracho, and Matt Schatz
The Ten-Minute Plays:The Dungeons and the Dragons by Kyle John SchmidtHero Dad by Laura JacqminThe Ballad of 423 and 424 by Nicholas C. Pappas
;2013The Delling Shore by Sam MarksAppropriate by Branden Jacobs-JenkinsCry Old Kingdom by Jeff AugustinGnit by Will EnoO Guru Guru Guru, or why I don't want to go to yoga class with you by Mallery Avidon Sleep Rock Thy Brain by Rinne Groff, Lucas Hnath, and Anne Washburn
The Ten-Minute Plays:Halfway by Emily Schwend27 Ways I Didn't Say "Hi" to Laurence Fishburne by Jonathan JosephsonTwo Conversations Overheard on Airplanes by Sarah Ruhl
;2014 Partners by Dorothy FortenberryThe Christians by Lucas HnathThe Grown-Up by Jordan Harrisonbrownsville song by Kimber LeeSteel Hammer created by SITI Company, music and lyrics by Julia Wolfe, original text by Kia Corthron, Will Power, Carl Hancock Rux and Regina Taylor Remix 38 by Jackie Sibblies Drury, Idris Goodwin, Basil Kreimendahl, Justin Kuritzkes and Amelia Roper
The Ten-Minute Plays:Winter Games by Rachel BondsSome Prepared Remarks by Jason Gray PlattPoor Shem by Gregory Hischak
;2015The Roommate by Jen SilvermanDot by Colman DomingoI Will Be Gone by Erin CourtneyThe Glory of the World by Charles L. MeeI Promised Myself to Live Faster, conceived and created by Pig Iron Theatre Company, text by Gregory S. Moss and Pig Iron Theatre CompanyThat High Lonesome Sound, by Jeff Augustin, Diana Grisanti, Cory Hinkle, and Charise Castro
The Ten-Minute Plays:Rules of Comedy by Patricia CotterSo Unnatural a Level by Gary WinterJoshua Consumed an Unfortunate Pear by Steve Yockey
;2016Residence by Laura JacqminFor Peter Pan on Her 70th Birthday by Sarah RuhlThis Random World by Steven DietzWellesley Girl by Brendan PelsueCardboard Piano by Hansol JungWondrous Strange by Martyna Majok, Meg Miroshnik, Jiehae Park, and Jen Silverman
The Ten-Minute Plays:Coffee Break by Tasha Gordon-SolmonThis Quintessence of Dust by Cory HinkleTrudy, Carolyn, Martha, and Regina Travel to Outer Space and Have a Pretty Terrible Time There by James Kennedy