The Mentalist's Jeffrey Hatcher, who wrote the book for the Broadway musical Never Gonna Dance, will be represented at the Door Kinetic Arts Festival with a reading of his new play Strongman's Ghost.

Directed by Oscar-winning playwright Eric Simonson, the play concerns a strongman military dictator—under threat of a coup, an invasion, and a publishing deadline—who chooses to kidnap a writer.

Lombardi playwright Simonson created the festival, which runs June 13–18 at the Björklunden campus of Lawrence University in Door County, Wisconsin. Attendees can expect world premieres of short films, play readings, dance performances, and public workshops on the creative processes behind stage combat and the development of new dance, theatre, and musical theatre works.

In addition to Strongman's Ghost, the second annual festival will feature a staged reading of the new play One House Over, written by Catherine Trieschmann and directed by Milwaukee Rep Artistic Director Mark Clements; the world premiere of a DKAF-commissioned short film The Gleaner, directed by The Black List actor Harry Lennix; a performance from award-winning Chicago-based dance-theatre ensemble Lucky Plush Productions; and screenings of the short films Frame 394 and The New Orleans Sazerac followed by a talk with The New York Times’ Robert Simonson, former editor of Playbill.com. Simonson will also serve drinks and give talks on the history of Wisconsin cocktails over the course of most festival evenings and multiple events.

For more information, visit DoorKinetic.com.

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