The 2026 Sue Winge New Play Program Reading
RED MAYOR excavates a largely forgotten piece of radical history: Karl Emil Nygard, the first Communist mayor in the United States, and his turbulent single year in office in the small town of Crosby, Minneapolis in 1932. Minneapolis-born playwright Savannah Reich explores Nygard's story as evidence of the deep rooted radicalism in rural Minnesota, as a rollercoaster of hope gained and lost, and as a reflection of the rising common-sense revolutionary spirit in the Twin Cities today.
About the Playwright
Savannah Reich is a playwright and screenwriter working at the intersection of performance art and scripted writing. Her plays have been produced at theaters and universities across the country; commissioned by Walking Shadow Theater Company, the University of Minnesota, SuperGroup, and the Lucille Lortel Theater; developed by the Playwrights Center, The Flea, and Seven Devils New Play Foundry; and supported by residencies at Tofte Lake Art Center, MassMoCA, Stillwright and Millay Arts. She was a 2020/21 McKnight Fellow at the Playwrights Center, and her play “Oedipus in Seattle” was the winner of the audience choice award at the 2022 Philadelphia Fringe Festival. She holds an MFA from Carnegie Mellon, and is currently an Assistant Professor of Playwriting & Screenwriting at Drexel University.
About The Sue Winge New Play Program
Villanova Theatre's Sue Winge New Play Program (SWNPP) has supported the creation, development and production of 15 new plays on campus since 2013. These programs were established in memory of beloved Villanova University employee Sue Winge, who served the University for many years in the Theatre Department and the President’s Office.
Previous winners of the Sue Winge Playwriting Competition — which is open only to Villanova students, alumni, staff and faculty – include Alison Scaramella Baker ‘22 MA, Aly Gonzalez ’22 MA, Megan Schumacher ’18 MA, Kevin Esmond ’17 MA, Patrick Walsh ’16 CLAS, Brie Knight ’14 MA, Jessica Bedford ’10 MA and Mark Costello ’10 MA.