Proteus New Plays Festival

About this event

6:30PM: Joy! by Elaine Chandler Directed by: Isis Marne & Trey DelPo Inspired by true events, JOY! takes place in 1965 in a small town, with a young woman named Joy, who is coming of age in a world determined to silence her voice. Rooted in history, JOY! captures the cultural shockwaves of the emerging women’s movement, The Feminine Mystique, the Vietnam War, and the Beatles. With flashes of humor, raw confrontation, and a beautiful love story, JOY! explores themes of female agency, changing family roles, and the power of connection. About the Playwright: Elaine Chandler is an educator, author, playwright, and poet whose work explores themes of resilience and transformation. After teaching at the elementary and college levels, she became a teacher trainer for Houghton Mifflin and McGraw-Hill. Elaine later founded her own educational brand, authoring award-winning teacher guides and children’s values series. Her play, JOY!, was inspired by events in her early life, while her book, 50 Ways to Create Miracles in Life, grew from deep reflection. Across her educational and creative work, Elaine seeks to help others grow with greater clarity, confidence and purpose. Visit Elaine at: elainechandler.com 8:30PM: Victory’s School by Lawrence (Larry) Brown Jr. Directed by: Isis Marne & Trey DelPo Victory’s School tells how one Rosenwald school was built in central Virginia between 1920 to 1922. The creation of Rosenwald Schools was a monumental early-20th-century initiative that built over 5,000 schools for African American children across the segregated rural South. Conceived through a partnership between Tuskegee Institute’s founder and principal, Booker T. Washington, and Sears, Roebuck and Company president, Julius Rosenwald, the program fundamentally transformed Black literacy, community infrastructure, and educational access during the Jim Crow era. The Proteus New Plays Festival showcases rehearsed readings of new scripts by Z Playwrights Lab and Z Artist…