Greenville, South Carolina – The third annual South Carolina New Play Festival opens next week, featuring not yet launched productions with a hope to reshape the Broadway landscape. West Hyler, a Kentucky native with years of directing and producing experience in renowned festivals and Broadway shows, will host this event that will take place across various theaters in downtown Greenville from August 8 to 11.

A Potential Opportunity For The Next Broadway Hits

This distinctive event offers a platform for new and exciting musicals, providing locals with a chance to experience these live performances before they potentially make it to New York City or London’s vast and competitive stages. As well as participating in educational sessions held by industry professionals, the festival-goers can also attend circus shows taking place in Falls Park over the weekend, with everything from yo-yo acts and breakdancing to juggling feats and international stunt comedy.

For this extravagant weekend, the town of Greenville will welcome major theater stars to join the festival. Among those expected to attend are Adam Gwon, the creator of the Broadway musical “Ordinary Days”, and Andy Mientus, known for his performances in “Smash” and “The Flash”. Furthermore, the festival will conclude with a unique Sunday night cabaret performance by Phillip Boykin, a Tony-nominated actor and a Greenville native.

Reviving Underutilized Spaces

After the hit of the Covid-19 pandemic that shuttered many theaters across the country, from Louisville to Los Angeles, and halted their theater programs, West Hyler saw an opportunity to begin a unique and captivating festival in Greenville. He noticed an absence of opportunities for established and emerging writers alike to develop their work, leading him to fill this void.

“All of these opportunities for established writers and greater writers to develop their work ceased to exist post-COVID,” said Hyler. “Every week there was another one of these developmental places closing. I knew there was a void.”

This year, the festival will feature six original scripts. Among them are a dark comedy about a group of Jimmy Buffett fans and another concerning Greenville blues musician Josh White, authored by the Columbia-native Donnetta Lavinia Grays.

What To Expect

During the festival, audience members will have the opportunity to provide feedback after the read-aloud performances of new scripts, thereby contributing to shaping the final versions of the productions. One of the plays from its first iteration, “Dodi & Diana,” managed to make its way to Off-Broadway.