Dialogues with Lars

“In darkness, we hear a small, electronic keyboard begin to play chords. A tenor voice, rich and soothing, begins to sing “Ave Maria" by Schubert. The lights reveal a young woman, early twenties, dressed mildly in a large trench coat, which is obviously too big for her and which she never takes off. This is Lars.”


In “Dialogues with Lars,” Phillip Cross is a “perpetually emerging” playwright living alone in New York City. His girlfriend, Susan, left him because he wasn’t making a life for himself, but now, Lars, an eccentric woman in a trench-coat, has wormed her way into his life by poking and prodding Phillip with insults, questions, and her own special brand of friendship. In no time, Lars has completely infiltrated Phillip’s home and every part of his life.


Chris Leyva (playwright) is originally from Albuquerque, NM. He received an M.F.A. from the Playwrights Workshop at The University of Iowa and a B.A. in Directing from Coe College. He is the recipient of the CATCO and Greater Columbus Arts Council Playwright Fellowship with his play BOOKS & BRIDGES. Chris directed a production of his play, ALL GRACE, (Richard Maibaum Award in Playwriting, workshop production, 2006 Iowa New Play Festival) for the Columbus Arts Festival in 2008. His play, SOLAMENTE UNA VEZ; A THAW, was named a finalist in the Regional Tony Award-winning Alliance Theatre’s Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Competition and was presented in a staged reading at Playwrights Horizons and at the Alliance. Other plays include: A WORLD WITHOUT ALLERGIES, A TALK BY DR. MICHAEL KRAMER (production 2014, MadLab Theatre Roulette), THE BROTHERS CARAMILLO, EULOGY FOR A PIECE OF SH*T (staged reading 2008, Great Plains Theatre Conference, semi-finalist PlayLabs 2008), BLOODLETTING (reading 2006, Bison Theatre), HOLY SCHMIDT!, (staged reading, 2005 Iowa New Play Festival), FATHER BOB, (workshop production, University of Iowa), and DIALOGUES WITH LARS, (finalist, YES Festival of New Plays, Northern Kentucky University; semi-finalist, New Play Festival, Florida Studio Theatre).  


www.chrisleyvaplaywright.com