KAYENTA NEW PLAY LAB
Persuasion, a modern romance
by Lisa Quoresimo (Cedar City, UT)
Saturday, August 16, 7:30pm
Sunday, August 17, 3:00pm
The Lorraine Boccardo Theater
Los Angeles, 2014. Nearly 20 years ago, Anne was persuaded to give up the love of her life. When Celia Wentworth suddenly walks into her house, will she be able to forgive Anne? Will Anne have the courage, this time, to stand up for what she wants? Will Anne’s family, full of faded television stars, ever tolerate a transition to moderately-priced moisturizers and out-of-season Birkin bags?
About Lisa Quoresimo
Lisa Quoresimo’s plays have been seen internationally (Siddahartha the Bright Path, Cloudy with a Chance of Contempt), Off-off Broadway (Not My Heart’s Desire, Endlessly Rocking, Antigone: a Fable Without Walls), in regional theaters in the San Francisco Bay Area (Discharge, Between Dirt and Sky, Ciribiribin) the Sacramento area (Charlie and Nell, Charlotte Charke/Mr. Brown), and across the country. Their work as performer, director, composer, music director and dramaturg has been seen at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Shotgun Players, Brava Theatre, The Marsh and the Utah Shakespeare Festival. Lisa has served as the artistic director of the Kairos Theatre in NYC, and on the faculties of NYU and the Manhattan School of Music. She is currently Associate Professor of Theatre at a university in Southern Utah and is the co-founder/director of Catalyst: A Theatre Think Tank. A specialist in voice and gender, Lisa’s scholarly work has been published widely, including Theatre Topics, Global Performance Studies, and Voice and Speech Review. She has chapters in the books Voice and Identity, Hamilton, History and Hip-Hop, and Analog Game Studies. Her book, The Feminist Journey of Stephen Sondheim, will soon be published by Routledge. Lisa holds a Ph.D. in Performance Studies from UC Davis and an M.A. from Carnegie Mellon University. Lisa is a proud member of Actor’s Equity Association and of the Dramatist’s Guild.
KAYENTA NEW PLAY LAB
Now in its third year, the Kayenta New Play Lab is where bold new voices in American theater come to life. Over three exhilarating weeks, six visionary playwrights—chosen by a panel of esteemed local and national theatermakers—dive into an intensive creative residency, shaping fresh, original works for the stage.
Audiences are invited to witness the magic unfold through staged readings of these brand-new plays—raw, real, and alive with possibility. Stay after each reading for an engaging dialogue with the artists, where your feedback helps shape the evolution of each piece.
Whether you’re a dedicated theatergoer, a curious creative, or someone who simply loves the thrill of live performance, the New Play Lab is your front-row seat to the next wave of theatrical storytelling. Come be part of the process. Come be inspired.
The 2025 Kayenta New Play Lab is generously sponsored by Douglas Caputo and Desert Dweller Real Estate.
