Abingdon Theatre Company continues its mission in creating opportunities for all voices to be heard. With this in mind, the company will produce a Fall Festival of Short Plays, a two-week virtual festival shedding light on stories by people of color. A diverse panel of judges, theatre professionals who are Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC), will select 6 new short pieces created and performed by people of color. At the conclusion of the Festival, the panel will select a winner who will receive a stipend to be used to support further exploration of their piece and will be invited to become an “Artist-in-Residence.” The Abingdon Theatre Company has committed to producing the winning piece as part of their “Around the Table” free reading series. Through the outreach, online readings, and finally the staged reading of the winning piece, the hope is to engage around 1,500 people of color and to create a more diverse environment at the Abingdon. The festival is a benefit for the Educational Theatre Fund’s Pathway Grant program. The program honors the late Craig Zadan, a visionary with a lifelong commitment to addressing issues of diversity. For more information go to educationaltheatrefoundation.org/donate or text Zadan 76278 The festival runs from October 19th – 30th at 7PM EST on Abingdon’s YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE The Festival schedule is as follows: ATACAMA Written by Augusto Federico AmadorDirected by Sara Guerrero Monday, October 19th – 7pm EST EMPRESS MEI LI LOTUS BLOSSOM Written and Directed by Christine Toy Johnson Wednesday, October 21st – 7pm EST THE INVITATION Written by Alberto BonillaDirected by Adrian Alea Friday, October 23rd – 7pm EST SUNDOWN TOWN Written by Marcus ScottDirected by Rebecca Clark Monday, October 26th – 7pm EST COIN TOSS Written by Alexis SimsDirected by Chari Arespacochaga Wednesday, October 28th – 7pm EST A PICTURE OF TWO BOYS Written by Nick MalakhowDirected by Justin Lucero Friday, October 30th – 7pm EST