SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – This weekend is the unforgettable WordWave experience at Valhalla Tahoe, where storytelling and talent take center stage.

On Saturday, November 2, the doors open at 6:30 p.m. with the show starting at 7 p.m. Following the performance, join the organizers for an exclusive reception in the Grand Hall, where you can meet the playwrights, cast, and fellow theatre lovers!

Then on Sunday, November 3, the matinee starts at 2 p.m.

Each year, over 100 plays are submitted to the WordWave Playwright Competition from across the nation. The top three are chosen to be performed live on the historic Boathouse Theatre stage. This year, three exceptional plays featuring both national and local talent in direction, acting, and production will be presented.

Tickets – $30 for adults, $20 for students and children under 12. Purchase tickets here.

Don’t miss this chance to support up-and-coming playwrights and enjoy an evening of exceptional storytelling and local talent!

The three plays:

“Cash Flow,” written by Marjorie Williamson and directed by Zach Thomas. The cast: Tessa Dixon and Darrell Miller.

“The Tea Test,” written by Seth Freeman and directed by Erik Baker. The cast: Joanie San Agustin and April Foiles.

“The Trouble with Peaches,” written by Johanna Beale Keller and directed by
Georgianna Shea. Cast: Rahul Nagpal, Mannix Behrendt, Dean Kallas, Matthew Ault, Lisa Dokken Patterson, and Molly Slemp. Stage Manager: Chandrashekar Rao.

Playwright biographies:

Marjorie Williamson has been involved in St. Louis theater for many decades as a scenic painter and graphic designer. Prior to her seventieth birthday, she had never written anything more creative than a grocery list, but in the last few years, she has churned out a dozen or so short comedies that have been produced all over the country. Her one and only full-length play, Elephants’ Graveyard is currently being produced by First Run Theater in St. Louis. She is enjoying herself immensely.

Seth Freeman is a playwright, a writer/producer for television, a journalist, and an educator. His short plays have been presented at over two hundred eighty theaters and festivals in the United States and around the world. In television, he created the series Lincoln Heights, and his work in television has received multiple Emmys, Golden Globes, Writers Guild, and other awards. His articles have appeared in The New York Times, Southern Theatre Magazine, YaleGlobal, The Wall Street Journal, Stars and Stripes, The Hill, The Los Angeles Times, The Huffington Post, California Magazine, and other periodicals. He serves as a community representative to the UCLA Health System, and in 2019 he earned a Master’s degree from UCLA’s Fielding School of Public Health. He contributes time to initiatives involving education, healthcare, the empowerment of women, and human rights.

Johanna Beale Keller believes in trying new things at any and every age! After retiring from her journalism teaching job, the pandemic upended her plans to travel and review operas worldwide. So, she started writing plays that have now been seen in Houston, New York, San Diego, and elsewhere. She also wrote and produced her first film and radio drama, both of which played at festivals and won prizes; and she co-wrote a hyper-local comedy cabaret that returns this fall after a sold-out run last year. The play you see tonight, The Trouble with Peaches, premiered in January at The Gallery Players in Brooklyn and was a winner of the 2023 Central PA Playwriting Competition. Johanna taught at Syracuse University where she founded the Goldring Arts Journalism graduate program to teach journalists to write about the arts. She is an award-winning music critic and has judged the Pulitzer Prizes four times. She is married to her muse, poet and translator Charles Martin, and they garden together in the creative community of Syracuse, NY.