New plays, New voices.
Submissions for The Distillery 2025 are now closed.
We received over 500 full length plays. Please join us in June of 2025 for our 3rd Annual Festival.
The Distillery 2025 Schedule will be Announced in early 2025
2024: The Distillery New Works Festival!
Thursday, June 6 - Sunday, June 9, 2024
Held at Seattle Public Theater in Seattle’s Greenlake Neighborhood
The Distillery 2024 Schedule:
Thursday, June 6, 2024
Skin by Anamaria Guerzon, Directed by Zenaida Rose Smith | 7PM
Friday, June 7, 2024
The Park by Lisa Every and Jenn Ruzumna, Directed by Amy Poisson | 7PM
Saturday, June 8, 2024
Possessed by Gloria Majule, Directed by Helen T Mariam | 11AM
Impossible Theories Of Us by John Mabey, Directed by Willa Barnett | 3PM
Funnie by Jessica Moss, Directed by Adrienne Mackey | 7PM
Sunday, June 9, 2024
Li by Wei He, Directed by Divya Rajan | 11AM
Safe Hands by Alara Magritte and Daniel Rosen, Directed by Grace Edgar | 4PM
SHOW DESCRIPTIONs:
Skin
Written By Anamaria Guerzon, Distillery Alum Director 2023 |
Directed By Zenaida Rose Smith, Distillery Alum Actor 2023
Run Time: 2 hours and an Intermission
Zora is a young, non-binary Filipino artist, aspiring to make their way in the Seattle Tattoo industry. When they find a mentor in Judy, Zora enters the world of tattoo, finding the art form’s deep ties to Filipino culture. Judy teaches Zora how to navigate the tense environment of the white-dominated tattoo industry, while pressures intensify thanks to Carl, the authoritarian shop owner. As the painful history of Filipino colonization begins to crash into the present, Zora finds themself caught at the convergence point of tattoo now and then– discovering what it means to live in a marginalized body.
The Park
Written By Jenn Ruzumna And Lisa Every, Resident Playwrights|
Directed By Amy Poisson, Macha Artistic Director
90 minutes; No Intermission
Bev and Libby meet every week under the same tree, at the same park bench. But they are not the only ones. Over a century--or maybe an eternity--friends, strangers, family, two dogs and some ghosts struggle to make some sense of their lives and search for meaning under the tree. A whimsical journey through the rollercoaster of eternal life.
Possessed
Written By Gloria Majule | Directed By Helen T. Mariam, Macha Directing Associate
90 minutes; No Intermission
When Furaha returns home to Tanzania on a medical leave, her brother Angaza is waiting at the airport to pick her up. Unfortunately for her, he believes her mental illness is in fact a demon possession, and swiftly concocts a plan to sort it out. As the siblings road trip from Dar Es Salaam to Singida, they encounter a variety of colorful characters and testing challenges along the way. They also seize the opportunity to air out their differing opinions…which turn out to be on pretty much everything, from religion, to money, to America. Possessed is a fast-paced dramedy that explores the toll it takes to leave home, and the toll it takes to be back.
Impossible Theories Of Us
Written By John Mabey | Directed By Willa Barnett
80 minutes; No Intermission
Two people unite against a crisis and divide on how to break through, revealing that sometimes fantasy is the perfect reality for impossible futures. Gina, a transgender woman, and Keith, a cisgender man, navigate the joys and complexities of life over the course of their relationship. As emerging technologies offer a chance to connect with those who’ve passed away, both must decide what being alive actually means. Impossible Theories Of Us is a play full of complicated hope, unfolding spirituality, and the dynamic ways one couple navigates mortality. Exploring both the possibilities and responsibilities of artificial intelligence, it challenges our expectations of what truly makes us human.
Funnie
Written By Jessica Moss, Distillery Alum (Writer 2023)
| Directed By Adrienne Mackey
100 minutes; No Intermission
All Jane wants is to perform comedy. But she is struggling even to get stage time in the court of King Henry VIII. Despite the support of her friend Anne Boleyn, Jane can’t break into the boys’ club of Tudor nightly entertainment – King Henry would rather see acts like Carl the Funny One, who makes wry observations about contemporary life, but who also is known to publicly masturbate. But Carl the Funny One has a degree of power, and an interest in Jane: which he uses to put her in a humiliating and upsetting situation. When the event goes public, the court is divided, and as Carl makes half-hearted non-apologies, Jane still can’t get onstage – until she and Anne have finally had enough. Inspired by the very short Wikipedia entry about Jane Foole, or Jane the Foole, the only female court jester ever depicted, and current events.
Li
Written By Wei He | Directed By Divya Rajan
2 hours Including Intermission
Li, a mid-career thief, suddenly finds herself taking on too much responsibility. She breaks into an apartment and ends up emptying her pockets to feed its old, blind and starving resident. She gets a phone call from her estranged brother who tells her that he’s dying from cancer and now it’s her job to take care of their mother. With three mouths to feed, Li has to reconsider her career choice. Can her street smarts help her survive? A play with a radio, a hen, and a really good fart joke.
Safe Hands
Written by Alara Magritte and Daniel Rosen | Directed By Grace Edgar
2 hours, 15 minutes and an Intermission
An original folk rock ensemble musical about five women in 1950s New Jersey who are all bound by the secret of Frankie’s House, a secret abortion clinic on the edge of town. Newlywed Lydia moves to the suburbs, ready to become a perfect happy housewife like her neighbor Bunnie. But when Lydia learns that Bunnie received an abortion at an underground clinic on the far side of town, she is pulled into a secret that threatens to shatter her carefully crafted life. Once the ladies running the clinic ask Lydia for help, she must step outside her prescribed role and see how far she will go to help someone in need. Safe Hands examines the hidden lives of women and the communities they forge behind closed doors.
What is the Distillery series?
The Macha Distillery series is a celebration of emerging theater and an opportunity for playwrights to gain valuable feedback on new work. Each play in the series receives a live reading by a cast of professional actors, allowing it to live and breathe off the page. The readings conclude with a discussion of the play with the playwright, giving writers the chance to receive feedback from Seattle audiences and providing a platform for audiences to help shape new works in process.
Distillery Goals
Traditionally, the distillery process involves heating a liquid, then allowing it to condense into a new product. Here at Macha's play Distillery, we do the same thing with stories, allowing them to rise, change, and settle into something new. This is part of how Macha cultivates new plays that feature strong feminist themes. Whether playwrights are interested in testing out bold new ideas or putting the final touches on a nearly-finished script, the Distillery is here to help.
Get Involved
Do you have a script that might benefit from a workshop? Play submissions can be sent to literary@seattlepublictheater.org. Before submitting, please familiarize yourself with the Macha Test to ensure your script aligns with our criteria to fulfill our mission of producing fearless feminist theatre.
After our script selection process, we enjoy connecting with talented directors and actors to help bring these new scripts to life. If you're interested in getting involved, feel free to contact us at MachaLiterary@gmail.com to learn what openings are available this year.
Support Distillery
The Distillery series makes it possible for writers to take risks and discover their voices. Donate here to support the development of new work!
Banner photo: Amy Poisson and Maggie Lee