Our annual showcasing of eight new works from The Pear Playwrights’ Guild has a new festival format!

2024 FESTIVAL PLAYWRIGHTS
Paul Braverman
Cherielyn Ferguson
Christine C. Hsu
Greg Lam
Sophia Naylor
Bridgette Dutta Portman
Teresa Veramendi

2024 FESTIVAL DIRECTORS
Arcadia Conrad and Troy Johnson.

2024 FESTIVAL ACTORS
Vanessa Alvarez, Arohan Deshpande, Lizzie Izyumin, Bezachin Jifar, Devansh Manchanda, Jenna Marvet, and Vivienne Truong.

WORLD PREMIERE PRODUCTION

Synopsis

What would it be like to witness two geniuses at work? Silent Comedy legends Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton worked together only once. For the deeply autobiographical Limelight, Chaplin cast the down-on-his-luck Keaton to play a small part in his nostalgic story of an old comedian doing one last performance. This play imagines what it might have been like on that set while exploring the lives of these two titans of cinema.

Greg Lam’s Chaplin and Keaton on the Set of Limelight explores the tension between the desire to entertain and the need to fight for a greater world in politically dangerous times. What responsibilities does an artist have beyond bringing a smile to the face of an audience?

“The audience is faced with a very difficult question: in times of political darkness and uncertainty, what is the job of artists? To simply entertain? Or to reach for something deeper, more profound? This is an important piece for today's political climate.” - New Play Exchange

“Greg Lam's play about film legends Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton is a truly magical experience in the writing, the characterizations, the risks he takes with time and place and movement, and the depth of feeling one is left with for both of these men, genius's in their own right, yet so different in their approach to comedy. Beautifully done.” - New Play Exchange

Cast

Coming soon!

Production Team

Director: Sinohui Hinojosa
Stage & Production Manager: Kelly Weber Barraza
Set Design: Louis Stone-Collonge
Lighting Design: TBA
Costume Design: TBA
Sound Design: TBA

Rating

To be determined.

Runtime

To be determined.

Press

Coming soon!