New Works Showcase features area playwright

The final New Works Showcase for Placer Repertory Theater season 2024-25 features Sacramento-area playwright JM Lahr and her work, Intervals, on Monday, March 10, at 7 p.m. in the Parkview Event Room in Rocklin. "The story explores the challenges of working while homeless, delves into the emotions felt by people who have this challenge and hopefully is a call for understanding and action," Lahr shared. Three characters share their individual stories and perspectives on being one of the working homeless: Eric, a part-time grocery clerk in his 20s; Lanie, an office worker in her 30s; and Hayley, a high school student who lives with her family in a homeless shelter. Lahr's key works include All That Remains, Three Rivers, Intervals and Real Talk. Lahr's work has been produced and/or developed by The Tesseract Theatre Company, Slightly Askew Theatre Ensemble and MillHill Productions. Awards include: 2018 St. Louis Fringe Festival Fringe-Meister (best production of festival), first place at A Taste of Theatre Festival, and St. Louis Fringe Merit Award. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild, The Tesseract Theatre Company and Resurrection Theatre, as well as a board member for Placer Repertory Theater, where her work in development, I Can Read Your Mind, was featured in July 2024. Lahr earned a Bachelor of Arts Emphasis Playwrighting from Webster University in St. Louis. The cast for Intervals includes professional actors Katie Halls and Stacey Winn. Halls returns to Placer Rep after a long tour with a European performing company and recent roles in area shows, including Elle in Legally Blonde at MainStage UCD. She previously performed with Placer Rep in a stage-reading of Sherlock Holmes: The Sign of the Four in July 2020 and The Jane Austen Soire, featuring Persuasion in December 2021. Winn was the solo performer/playwright featured at the Nov. 18 New Works Showcase, who also starred as Lady MacBeth in Placer Rep's MacBeth a la Ubu, and played several key characters in the interactive melodrama The Corsican Brothers or the Fatal Duel, which opened recently and is currently available for booking. One additional actor is soon to be announced. New Works Showcase host and facilitator T.S. Forsyth will perform narration of the stage directions. Placer Rep's New Works Showcase includes post-performance audience feedback and a reception with nibbles where patrons may meet and network with the actors, playwright and director. New Works Showcase is a public version of the Placer Rep masterclass "The Writers Workshop," which provides opportunities for early career to seasoned playwrights to hone their work with quality actors and directors, facilitated by a professional writer/director with a background in university instruction. "These programs help to fulfill Placer Rep's mission and were conceived to promote professional growth opportunities for area writers, directors and actors to flex their creative muscles," said Forsyth, producing artistic director for Placer Rep. For a $10 ticket via Eventbrite, audiences enjoy a performance, the opportunity to help develop a new work through feedback, free snacks in the room and are eligible for the end-of-the-night giftbag drawing, which includes Starbucks coffee items, tickets to Placer Rep's upcoming Sherlock Holmes show and more ($100 in value). Reserve seats at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/new-works-showcase-tickets-857593604557.