The Washington Theater Festival, an annual tradition in D.C. that ended abruptly in 2004 when the theater that hosted it began having financial woes, is being reignited this year as the Source Festival.
For more than 20 years, the festival was a showcase for new talent, and held at the Source Theater on 14th Street. The status of that theater was precarious for years (it almost became a pool hall) until D.C.’s Cultural Development Corp. bought it in 2006. The theater underwent a $1 million renovation, and to kick off its new debut, the festival was reborn, according to Karyn Miller, manager of visual arts and communications for the CDC.
“The festival was famous for showing off stars before they were stars, and we really liked the idea of rekindling that,” said Miller.
During the absence of the Washington Theater Festival, D.C. got a new venue for emerging artists to strut their stuff — the Capital Fringe Fest, which is in its third year this July. When Jeremy Skidmore was brought on to produce the Source Festival, one of the priorities was sculpting an identity unique from the Fringe, he said.
“We decided to make it more about giving a platform for individuals to work with people they normally don’t get to work with,” Skidmore said.
The festival, which begins June 21, will offer three weeks of programming in that vein. In the first week, 24 10-minute plays by new artists chosen out of 900 submissions will be performed with an established director like Shakespeare Theater’s Michael Kahn or Arena Stage’s Molly Smith at the helm. For the second week, Skidmore “mashed up” artists in different disciplines — such as film and poetry — to collaborate on projects. And in the third week, 45-minute one-act plays are being staged to showcase up-and-coming playwrights.
Admission to the plays is $15; Skidmore said he expects all 26 performances to sellout the Source’s 120-seat capacity. The Fringe Festival will follow the next month, but Skidmore isn’t worried that D.C. audiences will tire of so much theater.
“I seriously doubt anyone will choose one festival over another,” he said.
