The University of New Mexico  Department of Theatre and Dance, UNM Fine Arts, and graduate student/teaching assistant Amy Yourd will present new theatrical work in the 2021 Linnell Festival of New Plays. The event is the centerpiece of UNM’s award-winning Dramatic Writing Program for MFA and undergraduate writers, led by artistic director Gregory Moss.

The Linnell Festival of New Plays at UNM provides audiences the opportunity to play a vital role in the continuing development of these exciting new voices, as they step from their academic program towards the professional stage, supported by an outstanding team of directors, actors, designers, and technicians.

“I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being.” ― Oscar Wilde

The series starts online Friday, April 30, and runs through Friday, May 7. Times vary. The series is free and open to the public. The festival features the premiere of The Bat, a full-length feature film scripted by graduating writer Shannon Flynn (2021) and directed by Erik Ehn. The film will be made available for streaming starting Friday, April 30.

Register here.  Tickets are free. Donations are accepted and will go to the UNM Theatre Program fund to support student success.

Friday, April 30, 6:30 p.m.

The film of Shannon Flynn’s MFA Thesis Project, The Bat, will be available for streaming starting at 6:30 p.m. Closed captioning will be available.

Two con artists arrive at the bedside of the demonically possessed Doña Aimar to “perform” an exorcism to rid her of her demons and her money. During the performance, one of the exorcists sees something and becomes convinced a real demon plagues Doña Aimar. Is their work just an elaborate hoax, or are they confronting something truly demonic?

Saturday, May 1, 2 p.m.

Mick the Mapmaker by Amy Yourd

Registration here.

Mick makes maps, a rare and useful skill in a city where the streets have changed their shape and where nobody can remember their name. Content Notice: This play contains body horror.

Saturday, May 1, 7 p.m.

SunDate by Steve Blacksmith

Registration here.

Fred and Gayle have been talking online for weeks. They finally agree to meet in person and spend all Sunday getting to know each other.

Sunday, May 2

MFA One-Acts: Registration here.

2 p.m.

Transmission by Maria Hughes

Separated by deep space, a couple struggles with solitude and madness as their worlds collapse. Content Notice: Language and mature themes.

3 p.m.

The Ländler by Adam Bradley

A 5-year-old girl tries to save her father's life in a mysterious, time-jumping play about a fractured family from a bygone Brooklyn.

4 p.m.

A/N by Julia Storch

A young woman explores her identity through the world of fan fiction, but her life becomes complicated as the real and the fictional begin to cross their respective boundaries.

Undergraduate Independent Study Projects: Registration here.

5 p.m.

Nathan Squared by Charlie Dearing

Directed by Spenser Willden

Something terrible has happened to Nathan, and he needs to think. Thankfully, the Zoom Call of his mind is open, and his Ego, Id, and the hemispheres of his brain are ready to… try… and help. Should he write a comedy about a girl from Europa? Should he figure out how many Kool-Aid packets it would take to fill the ocean? Should he write an interpretive dance by a telephone? Only time (and available internet bandwidth) will tell, in this heavy comedy about isolation in the squares that surround us all. Content Notice: Suicidal Themes, Discussion of Violence.

The Ruin of George by Spenser Willden

Directed by Charlie Dearing

A hacky standup comedian takes a deal with a powerful entity for one final chance to achieve all he could ever want. Content Notice: Drugs, Religion, and Violence.