In 2022, the first annual VOLT Festival at 59e59 in New York
featured three Off-Broadway premieres by Karen Hartman.
In 2022, the first annual VOLT Festival at 59e59 in New York
Recent News
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"You might lose count of how many times a chill runs down your spine."
-Time Out Chicago Like so many great mysteries, it all began in an attic with a dusty old suitcase... The discovery of a stash of over two hundred letters in three languages opens clues to an untold history in THE LUCKY STAR – a gripping true story of resilience and determination to restore a family's legacy.
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(Four out of four stars) "... it is so clearly concerned with what we do about all of this now." -Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune |
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World Premiere
In an era just beyond our own, two sisters fight for human connection as they face down a big tech dystopia. A folk-hero professor defends our most intimate relationships, while her sister attempts a perilous inside maneuver within the corporation that owns and sees all. A thrilling revolutionary tale for today that reclaims a bond beyond data. "Hartman does one better than Orwell." - TheaterMania Supported by a 2019-20 Guggenheim Fellowship. |
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"Hartman's smart-crazy dialogue elicits a constant low roar of happy laughter from the audience....The point of Goldie, Max, & Milk isn't that the liberal atheists or the tradition cleaving conservatives have all the answers. It's that the answers won't mean anything if we can't talk to each other."
- Broward Palm Beach New Times Max, a single lesbian, just gave birth. She’s unemployed, with a house that’s falling apart, an ex on the loose, and no clue how to nurse her newborn. Can Goldie, an Orthodox Jewish lactation consultant, guide Max into motherhood? Or will conflicting family values get the
better of them both? A surprising and deeply human comedy about motherhood, family, and doing what comes naturally. |
RATTLESNAKE KATE wins 8 Henry Awards, including Best New Work!
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Book by Karen Hartman
Music and Lyrics by Neyla Pekarek World Premiere Denver Center, 2022 Winner: BEST NEW WORK in Colorado Hartman joins forces with singer-songwriter Neyla Pekarek (formerly of the Lumineers) to unearth the legend of Kate Slaughterback, Colorado native, rattlesnake slayer, and fast fashion queen of 1927. Western lore meets a modern eye, raising the spirit of a woman who played by no one's rules. Larger than life and stranger than fiction, with heart-stopping folk harmonies, RATTLESNAKE KATE sings forgotten history into an American tale for today. |
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How do you hold onto normal when life is anything but? Set in upstate New York during the Iraq War, this intimate, stunning, and heart-wrenching new musical tells the story of losing everything and living anyway; of a girl who hits rock bottom, finds her mom there, and begins to grow up. Full of humor, hope, grief, and sheer teenage joy, ALICE BLISS presents a breathtaking exploration of family and community coming together to find hope in the face of uncertainty. Winner: Weston-Ghostlight New Musical Award. Book by Karen Hartman, Music by Jenny Giering, Lyrics by Adam Gwon based on the novel by Laura Harrington directed by Mark Brokaw |
"Over four years of research, Ms. Hartman — who lived in New Haven while a graduate playwriting student at Yale School of Drama — sat in on training sessions at the fire academy, rode in fire trucks and hung out among first responders."