2023 Diversity Showcase

The Diversity Showcase recognizes scripts, books, short stories, & stage plays, in any genre, that feature a Writer or a story about a Lead Character from an under-represented community.

2023 WINNER

AL-IDRISI

written by Emma Whitcombe

In the 12th Century, a young Muslim travels throughout Northern Africa and Europe finally settling in Palermo, Sicily - where he uses his knowledge to create the most accurate map of the world, the Tabula Rogeriana.

2023 OFFICIAL SELECTIONS

ASH by Dave Stockwell (based on the nonfiction book "Route 9 Problem: The Battle for Lang Vei" by Dave Stockwell). A Special Forces medic, Eugene "Ash" Ashley, Jr., forced under fire during the Vietnam War, must attempt to rescue fellow Green Berets trapped by enemy tanks, becoming the first African American awarded the Medal of Honor in Special Forces history. | Website: LangVeiBattle.com | Facebook

BILLY AND GEORGE by Ken Jones and Darryl L. Harris. General George Washington and his closest companion and enslaved person, William "Billy" Lee, discuss, argue, and challenge the concepts of freedom, war, and ultimate love as they prepare to cross the Delaware River on December 25, 1776, just hours before the Battle of Trenton during the American Revolutionary War. (Inspired by the life of William "Billy" Lee.) | Website: BillyAndGeorge.Info | Writer Website: KenJones1.Online | Article in Metro Weekly | Review in Broadway World

BUTTERFLIES & BUBBLEGUM by French L. Fraker, Jr. Two young people, different from society and each other, become lovers.

DUKES by Tim Tuchrello (story by Mohamed Mirghahari & Scott Shepard). A talented, seven-foot athlete reluctantly leaves his home to attend University, where he can pursue a professional basketball career. (Based on the story of Walter Dukes, a young Black man in the 1950s.) | IMDb

FAMILY EMBERS (Le Brace di Famiglia) by Carlo Celestino Colecchia. Two inseparable Italian brothers, Francesco and Marco, survive World War I and go their separate ways to pursue their goals: one wants to lead a normal farming life while the other seeks fame and riches. Once buried treasure is discovered in the family hearth, one brother absconds with it, which destroys their relationship. Only when the Nazis invade their hometown are they able to come together.

FEED THE BRUTE by Corsica Wilson. Struggling to survive on the Oregon Trail, one woman ambitiously hunts down a bison single-handedly to prove her worth to the caravan.

GOING OM by Lissa Coffey & Shawn Parikh. After getting stranded in India while attending a relative's funeral, a stressed-out young businessman reevaluates his life as he connects with his family's cultural background. | Website: CoffeyTalk.com/SongDivine/Movie | Stage32 Profile | Facebook: @LissaCoffeyTalk | LinkedIn @LissaCoffey | Instagram: @LissaCoffey | Twitter: @CoffeyTalk

HOW NOT TO WRITE A ROMANCE NOVEL by Suzy Stein and Fernando Perez. The world's greatest romance novelist has given up on love, but will his blossoming relationship with a younger man lead to a new chapter or the same tragic ending? | Website: EntityEye.com

IN HYDING by Carlos Perez (based on the book "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" by Robert Louis Stevenson). Dr. Jekyll creates a formula that will enable him to become who he believes he was always born to be. | IMDb | Off The Wall Plays: Listing

MAKING WAVES by Drew Larimore. A young man in rural Maine strikes up a summertime tryst with a local merman. | Website: DrewLarimore.com | Facebook: @Drew.Larimore

MIRACLE CHIPS by Nikhail Asnani. A potato chip man combats the company that exploits him while dealing with his difficult family. | Instagram: @Nikhailr

MOKSHA by Saurin Lakhia. In the late 22nd century, a queer Indian-American man uses psychedelic science to lead humanity to its new interstellar home, but must first confront his past after receiving a cryptic message from Earth about his estranged mother and her mass ritual suicide cult. | Website: MokshaFilm.com | Stage32 Profile | LinkedIn | Instagram: @Saurin_Lakhia | Twitter: @Odinvir

NONE by Bryan J. Ferguson (based on the novel "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie). Ten strangers are invited to an island getaway under false pretenses, only to realize they are trapped after people begin to die.

PISTOL CITY by Lee John. A case of mistaken identity leaves a high school dropout with a chance at a full-ride scholarship.

SANA by Michael Orton & Robert Aguilar. A gifted guitarist exploits the healing songs of his Navajo culture for acclaim, but after a tragic accident he must return home and face the haunting memories of his Shaman father.

THE HEALER by Lonas Taylor. When a teenage prostitute commits suicide after being thrown out of an apartment on Christmas Eve, the hard-nosed Tennessee sheriff responsible for the eviction embarks on an obsessive and dangerous quest to find her missing infant daughter.

THE PRAYER WARRIOR by D. Tina Batten and Traci Wooden-Carlisle. Ms. V., a humble servant of the Lord, has been placed on assignment at Center of Hope Christian Academy. By day, she serves as a trusted counselor for students, giving them a safe haven to pour out their innermost feelings while providing professional and honest truth wrapped in a firm kindness and love that inevitably draws them closer to Jesus. Not to be outdone, the faculty also bends her ear from time to time. By night, Ms. V. enters the spiritual realm and takes her place on the battlefield as one of God’s faithful prayer warriors. | Website: The PrayerWarriorBook.com | Facebook: @TraciWoodenCarlisle | Twitter: @traciwcarlisle | Instagram: @tawcarlisle

THE UNTOUCHABLE STUDENT by James M. Freeman. A twelve-year old Indian Untouchable seeks payback after his teacher expels him for cheating.

WHAT DO WE DO NOW? by Kevo Aregbe. An African American family in 1965 must face modern day challenges of living in a crime ridden neighborhood. Edwana and her husband Kyle are raising their children, Kylie and Eddie in a world rife with poverty and discrimination. The children must fight the challenges imposed upon them, while their parents try to raise them with limited resources. (The story combines a timeline of African American issues into the year 1965, using dilemmas of different decades from 1940's - 2020's.) | Website: ArtByKevo.com | Instagram: @kevoarts

WHITE-WASHED by Navdeep Bains. A south-Asian woman must confront a corrupt police force and her own demons as she attempts to overcome her guilt-ridden grief when seeking justice for a race-related killing.

ZOOM HIT (First Episode of SILVIA MORETTI, ATTORNEY AT LAW) by Laura P. Valtorta. When Silvia sees her older doctor boyfriend get murdered during a Zoom meeting, she travels to the site of the murder to try and catch the killer. | Twitter: @laurapuccia