SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — Syracuse’s Babelfest returned to the Redhouse Arts Center for its second year Oct. 8 through 11. The festival showcased new plays submitted by local playwrights.
There were over 300 submissions for new works, and the person tasked with choosing which ones would become a part of Babelfest was Redhouse artistic director Temar Underwood. The name of the festival comes from the term “babel,” meaning a mix of different voices, which Underwood wanted to honor in the selection process.
“When you look at the slate of playwrights, they all come from different backgrounds, different ages, different ethnicities, different genders. It is a cacophony of different voices for sure and that’s why it’s Babelfest,” Underwood said.
Attendance numbers from this year’s rendition of the festival are down compared to its first year. Organizers attribute that to the fact that attendance was free the first year, whereas audiences had to pay for tickets this year. The price was $8 for a day pass and $20 for a weekend pass.
Underwood said he sees Babelfest as an opportunity to establish Syracuse and Central New York in what he calls “the new play pipeline” for the theatre industry.
“In five, six years, my hope is that nationally, in the theatre community people will think ‘hmm, what’s the new play that’s coming out of Syracuse this year,'” said Underwood.
Two works that debuted at last year’s Babelfest, “Slasherland Project” by Qui Nguyen and the musical “Silhouettes” by Jordan Ealey, with music composed by Ari Asfar, are receiving full productions in North Carolina and Texas, respectively, within the next few weeks.
Underwood said he is confident Babelfest will continue to grow and expand.
“Establishing a new works festival is difficult,” Underwood said. “So we have to just continue to be patient about it seeping into the zeitgeist of our community.”
All of the productions, which include a musical, two full-length plays and five miniature plays, are wholly original, which some audience members said was a significant draw.
“I don’t know the shows being performed, I don’t even know the playwrights, I just know that it’s new,” said attendee Jeffrey James Fudesco.
Fudesco said Redhouse was particularly special because his son was involved in projects at the theater while growing up. Fudesco said he sees the theater, which moved to its current location on Salina Street in 2018, as part of a wave of new establishments, alongside bookstores and music clubs, bringing a new energy to the city for young and old people alike.
“[Syracuse has] been a tough place for a while,” said Fudesco. “But we’re on the up, we’ve got some people moving downtown again. Downtown is alive.”