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monday

The Kennedy Center’s Page-to-Stage New Play Festival is the theatrical equivalent of TV Guide’s Fall Preview. More than 35 local companies fan out across the Kennedy Center to present work-in-progress-productions and staged readings of many of this season’s upcoming selections. Today’s offerings include Taffety Punk Theatre Company’s conspiracy-laden Pangea and Journeymen Theater Ensemble’s high-seas-adventure In the Service to the Queen, but Theater J’s presentation of Thomas Keneally’s Holocaust-themed Either, Or promises to be one of the festival’s most discussed—and polarizing—works. The three-day event will likely feature a handful of ringers and at least one unexpected breakout hit—such as Synetic Theater’s visceral multimedia adaptation of Dracula—making it a rare opportunity to preview next year’s must-sees instead of playing catch-up with the critics. Performances begin at 2 p.m. on various stages at the Kennedy Center, 2700 F St. NW; see City List for details. Free. (202) 467-4600. (Nick Green)