Hollins 2023 Events
Winter Festival 2023 New Works Events through our partnership with the Hollins Playwright’s Lab
For more than four decades, Mill Mountain Theatre has had the development of new plays as part of our core mission. We have been home to a prominent national playwriting contest, premieres of new plays on both the Trinkle and Waldron stages, the Norfolk Southern Festival of New Works, CenterPieces and our ongoing partnership with the Playwright’s Lab at Hollins University has helped Roanoke gain an international reputation as an artistic home for new work since that program launched in 2007. Each year, Hollins brings dozens of professional theatre artists from all over the globe to our city as faculty, guest speakers and visiting artists mounting productions.
We are proud to provide our theatre spaces and resources so that Playwright’s Lab events can be off-campus, downtown, and open to the general public. We invite you to take advantage of this unique opportunity to share in these events. A complete listing can be found on the Playwright’s Lab Facebook Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/hollinsplaywrights/events.
A brief description of the free Playwright’s Lab events hosted at Mill Mountain Theatre follows. All events take place at Hollins Theatre Main Stage unless otherwise noted.
January 12th – 29th Hollins Winter Festival of New Works
Each winter throughout January, we present an event showcasing readings of student work from the Playwright’s Lab. Normally, these eight readings are minimally staged at Mill Mountain Theatre’s Waldron Stage for the general public and close to a dozen guest professional responders from all over the globe. On Sunday at 8 pm (Eastern) there will be a panel discussion when our guest respondents will introduce themselves, talk briefly about their own background, and then give a moderated response to the festival as a whole. Get acquainted with these plays and playwrights before they are famous, and engage in a conversation about theatre with our students, faculty, and some established theatre professionals. This event is always free, but due to limited seating, advance tickets are required. Tickets available online at https://www.brownpapertickets.com (search by play title). Please note: Due to Hollins University’s Culture of Care protocols regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, Masks are not required unless guests are showing any symptoms related to COVID-19, the flu, RSV, or a cold.
January 12th – 14th
7:30 p.m.: I Live to Tell, Written by Sarah Cosgrove. Directed by John Bergman.
January 15th
2:00 p.m.: I Live to Tell, Written by Sarah Cosgrove. Directed by John Bergman.
January 19th – 21st
7:30 p.m.: Grave Mistakes: A Haunted Rom-Com, Written by Ben Abbott. Directed by Amy Lytle.
January 22nd
2:00 p.m.: Grave Mistakes: A Haunted Rom-Com, Written by Ben Abbott. Directed by Amy Lytle.
January 26th – 28th
7:30 p.m.: The Dragon Butcher, Written by Ritchie Cannaday. Directed by Todd Ristau.
January 29th
2:00 p.m.: The Dragon Butcher, Written by Ritchie Cannaday. Directed by Todd Ristau.
Hollins/Mill Mountain Theatre Partnership
A Dynamic Academic/Professional Partnership
Mill Mountain Theatre has a longstanding relationship with Hollins University, and the Hollins Theatre Institute. Among the exciting collaborations currently on the boards are:
Hollins-Mill Mountain Winter Festival of New Works. Each year new works from HTI are given world-premiere and workshop productions on MMT’s professional stages, fulfilling Roanoke’s long-standing enthusiasm and support for the development of new works.
M.F.A. Playwright’s Lab summer residency at MMT. For six weeks every summer, the M.F.A. program in playwriting (also known as Playwright’s Lab) splits its time between the Hollins campus and MMT’s various stages, hosting guest speakers of national renown, the annual Summer Festival of Play Readings, and Overnight Sensations, a micro-brewed new play festival of freshly baked plays.
Faculty and guest artists. Working professional artists from MMT serve as adjunct faculty and guest artists at the Hollins Theatre Institute throughout the year.
Musical Theatre training at Hollins is directly connected to the excellent artistic staff at MMT, with professional artists providing classroom instruction at Hollins and at MMT. Audition and performance opportunities are available, and performance internships give Hollins students the chance to work with professional performers while earning academic credit.
Undergraduate Internships. Hollins students have the opportunity to complete internships throughout the year, while obtaining academic credit.
Post-graduate apprenticeships. Upon graduation, Hollins students can apply for a paid professional apprenticeship at MMT, allowing them to begin their careers in the city where they trained.
The CenterPieces Reading Series is a showcase for minimally produced staged readings that happen over the lunch hour on the Waldron Stage of Mill Mountain Theatre on the 2nd Wednesday of every month. Grab some friends, bring a lunch, see a play!
Winter 2019 New Works Events through our partnership with the Hollins Playwright’s Lab
For more than four decades, Mill Mountain Theatre has had the development of new plays as part of our core mission. We have been home to a prominent national playwriting contest, premieres of new plays on both the Trinkle and Waldron stages, the Norfolk Southern Festival of New Works, CenterPieces and our ongoing partnership with the Playwright’s Lab at Hollins University has helped Roanoke gain an international reputation as an artistic home for new work since that program launched in 2007. Each year, Hollins brings dozens of professional theatre artists from all over the globe to our city as faculty, guest speakers and visiting artists mounting productions.
We are proud to provide our theatre spaces and resources so that Playwright’s Lab events can be off-campus, downtown, and open to the general public. We invite you to take advantage of this unique opportunity to share in these events. A complete listing can be found on the Playwright’s Lab Facebook Event Page.
A brief description of the free Playwright’s Lab events hosted at Mill Mountain Theatre follows. All events take place at MMT’s Waldron Stage (20 Church Avenue SE) unless otherwise noted.