Every two years, NMSU Theatre offers our region a festival of new plays. About twenty established and emerging playwrights from around the country are invited to submit. Two playwrights are selected to develop their new works at NMSU alongside local writers workshopping short plays and excerpts. Originally founded in 2005 by Dr. William Storm and Tom Smith, High Desert is now organized by a committee chaired by Associate Professor Larissa Lury who shares, “The range of work – in both style and content – is extensive, so there is really something for everyone in this festival. It’s our hope that over time, High Desert can not only allow Las Cruces audiences to be among the first for compelling new plays, but that it can also help to support more theater by, for, and about our region, which is currently underrepresented on American stages.” Created to support playwrights’ works-in-progress and to introduce students to the play development process, the successful evolution of the project is now a festival! On March 6, 7, and 8, original one acts, excerpts, monologues, and two full-length plays by award-winning writers in residence will be presented in the form of staged readings for the public. The High Desert New Play Development Festival is made possible in part due to Grant funds awarded by the Devasthali Family Foundation Fund. These funds are awarded with assistance from the Community Foundation of Southern New Mexico.

The festival kicks off on Friday, March 6 at 7pm with the full-length play, A Little Brown Girl Crosses a Silly Little Line by Alexis Elisa Macedo, a published Chicana playwright and Sol Project Fellow, originally from Reedley, California.

Saturday, March 7 begins at 3pm with excerpts and shorts written, and performed by local artists, including students, and directed by students. At 5:30pm, Food Trucks will be on site for a dinner break. At 7pm, the last event of the day kicks off – the second full length play reading: a river, its mouths by Jesús I. Valles, a queer Mexican immigrant, educator, writer-performer, and winner of the 2023 Yale Drama Series, originally from Cd. Juarez/El Paso.

On Sunday, March 8, a celebration for Dr. William Storm will take place at 1:30pm, followed by pieces written by middle school students at 2pm. The festival will finish at 3:30pm with a presentation of original monologues by students in this semester’s playwriting class.

Following the reading series, one of the two full-length scripts may be selected for a fully mounted production in the next season, with the playwright returning for one or two weeks of the rehearsal/performance process. In keeping with NMSU's role as a Land Grant Institution, HSI and MSI, the theatre is particularly excited to showcase work by locals, and to be a part of the development of professional works featuring characters whose experience and culture represent our Southwest borderland region.

Tickets:
For only $10, one general admission ticket will give you access to all presentations during the entire festival!

To purchase tickets, contact the Box Office at 575-646-4515 or visit  https://nmsutheatre.ludus.com/index.php 

Additional Info:
Short Plays and Excerpts:
A Picture of a Woman on an Island by Lucene Drissell
A Simple Boon by Hyacinth Faye Panganiban
Sitting Naked by the Phone by Maria Torres
I Forgot to Hide Daryl by Drea Hurell
Old Friends by Mary A. Rogan
Paper Crutches by James Jerome
Rey De La Luna by Diego Muñoz Holguin
The Book of John by Alycia Herrera
 
​​Descriptions of the plays, and more information on the writers and the High Desert program can be found at:
https://theatre.nmsu.edu/performances-events/high-desert-new-play-development.html