#Bay Area Playwrights Festival

[writemarcus]

Finalists/Semifinalists Revealed For 46th Bay Area Playwrights Festival

The festival received 614 applications from playwrights across the United States.

By: Chloe Rabinowitz

Jun. 01, 2023

Playwrights Foundation, the West Coast's premier launchpad for exceptional new plays and playwrights, has revealed the semifinalists and finalists for the 46th Bay Area Playwrights Festival, which will be presented in a hybrid festival (both in-person and streamed attendance options) April 12-21, 2024, per Playwrights Foundation's recent announcement to shift to a biennial festival structure. BAPF continues to uphold its legacy as one of the oldest and most successful new play festivals uplifting playwrights' new works early in their career.

The festival received 614 applications from playwrights across the United States. Applicants underwent a thorough evaluation process and were reviewed by Playwrights Foundation staff in collaboration with 189 committee readers-local and national theatre professionals serving as evaluators, with 57% who identify as playwrights. From this pool of 614 applicants, 148 semifinalists were carefully chosen based on the writer's voice, skills, and the play's potential. Applicants were narrowed down further to 45 finalists encompassing unique voices, under-represented narratives, and bold theatrical forms across various levels of experiences. Ultimately, five playwrights will be selected among the finalists and announced at a later point.

"The current landscape of contemporary playwriting is so vibrant. There is an abundance of writing which blooms with strong points of view, memorable plots and characters, and risk-taking moments of stagecraft." says Literary Manager Heather Helinsky. "Our community of readers were highly engaged by a wide range of theatrically innovative styles, compelling narratives, and poignant issues and themes. The semifinalists and finalists are deserving of reaching audiences in need of catharsis-from communal grieving to a good laugh."

Bay Area Playwrights Festival is one of the oldest and most successful new play festivals for new works in their early stages. Established in 1976 by acclaimed director Robert Woodruff, the festival has built a respected reputation for uplifting original and distinctive new voices in the theater, investing in the development of their work, and launching storied careers. Among the first writers developed at the inaugural BAPF was the young Sam Shepard. Since then, more than 500 prize-winning, nationally significant playwrights have received one of their first professional experiences at the BAPF, including Pulitzer Prize winners Nilo Cruz, Jackie Sibblies Drury, Paula Vogel, and Annie Baker; and acclaimed playwrights Lauren Gunderson, Rajiv Joseph, Katori Hall, Christopher Chen, Lauren Yee, and Marcus Gardley. BAPF's ongoing success in supporting and amplifying exceptional, newly emerging writers and launching their ground-breaking new work is its enduring legacy.

"We are excited to spotlight these talented playwrights and incredible plays in this year's BAPF semifinalists and finalists," says Executive Artistic Director Jessica Bird Beza. "There are an abundance of powerful narratives included on the list that made for an incredibly difficult selection process. We want to uplift and advocate for the dynamic work of this next generation of playwrights to other theatermakers and hope to see them on stages around the country."

After listening closely to playwrights and other constituents, Playwrights Foundation recently announced that the Bay Area Playwrights Festival model will shift from an annual festival to a biennial hybrid festival in order to expand the pre-festival program from 4 to 12 months. This change will allow staff to be more intentional and responsive to each playwright's needs and increase the amount of time, care, and resources dedicated to each playwright.

"The past few years have been a time for reflection and growth at Playwrights Foundation, resulting in newly expressed purpose, vision, and values," said Beza. "We move forward with a deeper commitment to center and empower the playwrights we serve, guided by a strategic plan co-created with significant playwright representation, and the 46th Bay Area Playwrights Festival program model changes reflect this."

45 FINALISTS FOR THE 46th BAY AREA PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL

Calley N. Anderson, The Alligator

Jennifer Barclay, Behave Yourself

Nikki Brake-Sillá, ReWombed

Karen Marguerite Caronna, Dream of a Marginal Deity

Sam Chanse, Fellowship

Sean-Joseph Choo, otou-san

Avery Deutsch, The Last Beach Day

NJ Draine, The Housing Situation on Neptune

Lisa Sanaye Dring, Seven Hoshi

Jahna Ferron-Smith, Are We There Yet?

Noa Gardner, Nan

Sara Guerrero, Have to Believe We Are Magic

Mya Ison, Laure

Hasti Jafari, Superposition: A Crawling Play in Two Parts

Alicia Kester, Water Spirits

Garrett David Kim, Belligerency

Claire Koenig, DYKER BYKES

Molly Olis Krost, Nanay

Melissa Leilani Larson, A Form of Flattery

Minna Lee, My Home on the Moon

Jeffrey Lo, Balikbayan Box

Ethan Luk, Flight of a Legless Bird

Zizi Majid, They Came in the Night

Nick Malakhow, Optional Boss Battle

Divya Mangwani, Vigil-Auntys

Schaeffer Nelson, Hottest Church Dads

Miles Orduña, Lola

Rena Patel, Pyar aur Coffee

a.k. payne, Dwellers

Aidaa Peerzada, Children of the Wise

Phanésia Pharel, R&B

Eliana Pipes, Cowboy and the Moon

Christina Pumariega, Her Math Play

Ankita Raturi, Fifty Boxes of Earth

Aurora Real de Asua, The Pride Before

Harrison David Rivers, maybe the saddest thing

Nia Akilah Robinson, The Great Privation: How to flip ten cents into a dollar.

TyLie Shider, Whittier

DeAndre Short, At Ease

Phillip Christian Smith, Riverside Drive

Caridad Svich, Chelsea & Ivanka

Jason Tseng, Fear & Wonder

Emma Watkins, Elizabeth is Going into the Ground

Madison Wetzell, The Body Play

David Zheng, Ching Chong Maka Haya

103 SEMIFINALISTS FOR THE 46TH BAY AREA PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL

Ai Aida, The True Tale of Princess Kaguya

Boni B. Alvarez, Sticky Rice

Amanda L. Andrei, Lena Passes By

Brent Askari, The Refugees

Alayna Jacqueline, You Know I'd Never (Even If I Did)

Jen Browne, Standing in the River While the World Falls Down

Phillip Gregory Burke, The Suncatchers of Sahel: An Ancestral Tale Told To Today's Griot, Part II: The Two Twilights

B.J. Burton, Maddie on Her Way Home

Nora Sørena Casey, The Censorship of Dreams

Chima Chikazunga, 1 Letter Shy of Coincidence

Matthew Chong, Lessons

Xavier Clark, backstroke boys

Katie Coleman, The Madonna of Logan Square

Lynne Conner, The Mother

Samantha Cooper, She Lives with a Shrine

Kate Danley, Working for Crumbs

Angela J. Davis, Griswold

Maddie Dennis-Yates, We're Just Redoing The Kitchen

Nelson Diaz-Marcano, 1898 or How Sugar Conquered the Enchantment

Judy M. Dove, Shinsei (rebirth)

Sean Dunnington, The Children's Farm

Alisha Espinosa, The Dirt is Fertile

Helen Everbach, Tea Patches

Zachariah Ezer, The Stones of Life

Jeanette Farr, Hedda on Fire: A Play Inspired by Ibsen and Climate Grief

Gina Femia, the thing about air

Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend, Come Again

Elizabeth Flanagan, Meth

Jeremy Gable, Carpenter Gorge

Craig Garcia, The Here and Now

Taylor Dodd Geu, Passing Over

Ruth Geye, These and Those

Emma Gibson, Lumin

Maximillian Gill, Blank Slate

Mikki Gillette, American Girl

lily gonzales, my eyes are up here honey

Franky D. Gonzalez, Escobar's Hippo

Ahon Gooptu, Seasons of Love

Keiko Green, Hells Canyon

Malique Guinn, Bounty on Our Heads

Katherine Gwynn, All I Want to Do is Be Pretty Like You

Rach Harris, Trophically Cascaded

Andrea Hart, Mounds or Talking Shit about a Pretty Sunset

Alli Hartley-Kong, People Should Talk About What's Real

Steven Hayet, Hugo Saves Christmas...in May!

Howard Ho, Reset

Daniel Holzman, Me & Who

Poliento Ico, A Love Letter to Loss

J. Lynn Jackson, Lucía Fuentes

Keenya J. Jackson, The Return of the Shogun

KJ Jarboe, Soured Milk

Jen Jarnagin, demolition extreme

Jacob Juntunen, See You in a Minute

Lisa Y. Kang, American Migration

M.J. Kang, The Battle of Saratoga

Ambata Kazi-Nance, M Power: A (Re)Birth Story

Lisa Kenner Grissom, here comes the night

Alex Lead, Easter Eggs for a Statistic

Tracey Conyer Lee, The First Time

Matthew Libby, Sisters

Alex Lin, Bad Chinese Daughter

Alicia Louzoun-Heisler, Bashert

John Mabey, Desert Oceans

Gloria Majule, Uncut

Eric Marlin, AirSpace

Leigh M. Marshall, The Hunters & All the Haunted

C. Meaker, Ghosts in the Graveyard

Francisco Mendoza, Piggyback

Alison Minami, Sinkhole

LJ Morizono, Transcending the Belly of the Beast

Aya Sophie Nassif, Without Her

Asia Nichols, The Incredible Darling(s)

Cynthia Galaz Ochoa, Matriarch

Dave Osmundsen, More of a Heart

Novid Parsi, Remains and Returns

José Pérez IV, Very Berry Dead

Reynaldo Piniella, Son of an Unknown Father

Zahida Rahemtulla, The Frontliners

Andrew Rincón, El Mito or The Myth of my Pain

Colette Robert, [landscape play]

Jacob K. Robinson, The Lark Ascending

Kira Rockwell, Space Bound

Ashley Lauren Rogers, Don't Think About Elephants

Lisa Marie Rollins, Token

Madeline Rouverol, You're Not a Mystery to Me

Martine Sainvil, Indispensable

Marcus Scott, There Goes the Neighborhood

Mak Shealy, exceptional

Nic A. Sommerfeld, Pieces

travis tate, YOUR MAXIMUM POTENTIAL

Sebastian Timpe, The House of Mulberry Street

Amy Tofte, The Rest of Us

Jackson Tucker-Meyer, The Perfection of the Donut

Josiah Thomas Turner, BECOMING!!, or, The Making of the Musical Sensation of 2279 and All that Followed

James Anthony Tyler, Pranayama

Joseph D. Valdez, Warrior's Blood

Hope Villanueva, Brackish

Caity-Shea Violette, Rx Machina

Stephanie Kyung Sun Walters, Come to Me, Cling to You

LaDarrion Williams, Hurt People

Lauren Wimmer, The Cookie Institute

Susan Yassky, The Women's Center

Laura Zlatos, Show Trial

ABOUT PLAYWRIGHTS FOUNDATION

Playwrights Foundation, led by Executive Artistic Director Jessica Bird Beza, was founded in 1978 and is widely recognized as one of the top playwright service organizations and new play incubators in the U.S., dedicated to supporting and championing playwrights' artistic growth and careers while uplifting their voices on a national level. PF envisions a future where playwrights are radically centered as visionary leaders who transform the world through storytelling. Serving emerging and mid-career playwrights from the Bay Area and around the country, PF has identified over 500 exceptional writers early in their careers and given them space, time and professional artistic collaborators to explore new theatrical ideas free from the pressures of the marketplace for more than 45 years. Playwrights PF has worked with have won every award in the theater including the Pulitzer, the Tony, the Obie, the National Critics Circle Award, the Susan Smith Blackburn Award, and many more. On its 40th Anniversary, Playwrights Foundation was recognized with a Theatre Bay Area Legacy Award for its substantial impact on the field. PF has received two Glickman Awards for best new play to premiere in the Bay Area through its Producing Partnership Initiative. Among the many PF-developed works that have premiered across the country are Katori Hall's The Mountaintop, Rajiv Joseph's Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, Jihae Park's Hannah and the Dread Gazebo, Lauren Gunderson's The Revolutionists, Lauren Yee's King of the Yees, Madhuri Shekar's House of Joy, Mike Lew's Teenage Dick, and Mona Mansour's We Swim, We Talk, We Go To War, and many more.

[yourdailyqueer]

Carol Leigh / The Scarlot Harlot (deceased)

Gender: Female

Sexuality: Bisexual

DOB: 11 January 1951 

RIP: 16 November 2022

Ethnicity: White - American

Occupation: Artist, writer, activist, sex worker, playwright, director, producer

Note: Is credited with coining the term sex work and founded the Sex Worker Film and Arts Festival and was the co-founder of BAYSWAN, the Bay Area Sex Worker Advocacy Network.

[we-players]

This year's Bay Area Playwrights Festival will be happening online July 17-24! Check out the line up and get tickets here: https://playwrightsfoundation.org/2020-bay-area-playwrights-festival/

OR, for our artist friends, apply for free tickets for the performances and events. 

Our friends at Playwrights Foundation are doing great work that you don't want to miss! 

[fluxuslaphil]

Interview with Annie Saunders by Steve Marsh

In 1960, on the CBS game show I’ve Got a Secret, audience members laughed nervously as John Cage performed “Water Walk,” a three-minute composition where Cage makes music with a water pitcher, an electric mixer, ice cubes, a rubber ducky, and a tape recorder, among other common household items. Fluxus Festival curator Christopher Rountree tapped Annie Saunders to help him adapt Cage’s performance for the final night of the festival. Saunders’ theater company, Wilderness, concentrates on site-based experiential theater, largely set in disused, urban spaces marked for demolition. We caught up with Saunders via FaceTime on a spring visit to her parents home in the Bay Area and discussed the deep social need for hanging out in immersive, open-ended environments where the artists in charge are not telling us that everything is going to be okay.

SM: How long have you had to get this piece ready?

AS: Chris approached me about it at Christmas time. I met him a year ago, when Chris was conducting another show in an opera festival in Omaha, Nebraska and he saw The Wreck [Saunders’ experimental opera]. He and I talked a little bit after we were in Omaha about possibilities for collaboration. That was kind of just a preliminary conversation, and then in December he called me up for this.

SM: John Cage didn't accept that music was an idea for a communication—when he conscientiously wrote something sad he was frustrated that the audience and critics were often apt to laugh. He quit making music until he read the writings of Ananda Coomaraswamy positing that, “the responsibility of artists is to imitate nature in her manner of aspiration.” So Water Walk isn’t a piece of music interpreting water, it’s actually meant to mimic the sound of water.

AS: I think the domestication of water as well. It's like bottle of soda, blender, steam cooker, bathtub. It's all the ways that we’ve tried to contain those natural resources.

SM: Cage may have invented “The Happening” before Allan Kaprow—Kaprow attended Cage’s composition class at the New School. Cage thought theatrically, in any case. So does his score for this piece read like a script?

AS: Yeah. Absolutely.

SM: How familiar were you with his work before taking this on?

AS: I was familiar with him only through the dance world, so only really because of Merce [Cunningham] and also because of Anna Teresa De Keersmaeker, who uses some Cage and also Steve Reich. My master's degree was in modernism and philosophy, but I wrote a lot about visual arts. I wrote my master's thesis about minimalism. It relates to masculinity, and it was mainly about visual art and literature, but there was some music stuff in there. Really just in the past year I've been really working robustly with music people. All my theater work has sound design but I rarely work with live musicians. So when I first read Water Walk, I knew I wanted to make it longer, to not just do it for three minutes. As soon as I watched the video, I wanted to see what happens to the performer in doing this over and over again. And I also was very drawn to everything that happens on the tape, like the whole situation of the live to tape the TV thing. I knew I wanted to include that and I knew I wanted to loop it.

SM: Oh wow.

AS: I love watching that thing. I just feel like there's so much and I'm really excited that we get to use it so many times, because I feel like the mission of it starts to become this other thing. On that tape, Cage is this kind of blissed out guru, sort of oblivious to the audience and the presenter and the whole situation. Also, I think, really into the idea of the live to tape audience, who are so unlike the experimental music audience.

SM: Yes, music critics of the time were very skeptical of Cage, and classical or even “experimental” music audiences aren’t always the most progressive.

AS: I relate to that very profoundly. When I make stuff, the thing that gets me so excited is when people are like, “I've never been to the theater before—I heard you had a great bar at this place.” When we take over a warehouse and we do a show, I'm interested in people who are like, “I've walked by this building and there's never anything here and now there's something here, so I came.” That's why I love making work in LA, because there's this kind of event-based audience that aren't a theater or music crowd. They're just people who want to do cool shit and they don't care.

SM: When you go to the Tonight Show or Kimmel or something, they give you candy to rev you up, and you’re told when to clap and when to laugh. The whole thing is artificial, but it's meant to be a simulacrum of something real.

AS: You're watching a performance of sorts, but you're also a performer in the performance and you're also sort of a volunteer. Especially back in the day, when I've Got a Secret was on, they would go get those people from the mall. People would be out for the day, housewives and shit, and they would be like, “We’ll give you a prize.” So in our piece, we're doing this thing where we're actually going to show you how repetitious and boring live performance actually is. We're not going to have a comedian, or a hype man, or a raffle guy. We’re just going to show you the resets and every reset will be real, for 45 minutes.

SM: Cage has that famous quote: “If something is boring after two minutes, try it for four. If still boring, then eight. Then sixteen. Then thirty-two. Eventually one discovers that it is not boring at all.”

AS: Totally. My suspicion is that we probably won't quite get there.

SM: How will your staging be different than Cage’s was in 1960?

AS: It will be the last piece of the Fluxus festival, in BP Hall. So when the 8pm show in the main hall gets out, they’ll walk into our set. The set with the tables and the bathtub and the piano and everything is in the center of the space and it’s lit like a TV set but it’s oriented in the round. When Cage performed live on I’ve Got a Secret, it would have been boomed and that's how we're going to do the amplification for ours as well. When Chris starts playing the composition Water Walk, he will be followed by a boom operator. He'll play the composition seven times and he's going to try and do it exactly the same every time and he'll fail—he'll become agitated and tired and wet.

SM: Things will be getting fucked up, the radios will break…

AS: And so during the resets, the stage hands will come out, they'll mop and they'll put new water in the bathtub and they'll put new ice cubes out. And the set will become a pile of shit. And that's also a lot to do with Fluxus. Actually I was reading La Monte Young, and he has this quote: “Fluxus is the state of things.” That's the actual life—the impossible thing is stasis. The thing to do as a radical Fluxus artist is actually to try to do things the same and fail and let the audience witness. Basically, it goes from being a recreation of a previous thing that happened on TV to being just what's happening in the room.

SM: Wow.

AS: I am interested in duration and boredom and I'm interested in what happens in between. You have an expectation of the artist: that they're going to resolve your feelings for you. We have this expectation of tension, build up and then release. This playwright or this composer is going to take care of me in this way. They’re going to help me with my need for things to resolve. And I think Cage was dealing with this idea that maybe I’m not going to do that.

SM: We think of John Cage as being kind of this avant-garde composer who didn't care about what was going on politically, but instead he saw his music as a critique of what was going on in the world, whether in Vietnam or with the Civil Rights movement. Why is this piece interesting to you in 2019?

AS: That's a great question and a big question. Something I think about a lot is an audience that wants total agency over how they consume stories. I think a lot about the audience that wants to download a TV show and watch it on their own time. Those same people want to be given access to temporal human interactive events that will not happen again.

SM: Yes. We crave those kinds of events. Why?

AS: I think, in our increasingly digitally mediated culture, magically disruptive, spontaneously intimate, interactive, real time happenings of togetherness are really needed for humanity and really desired. Fluxus as a whole, and the whole idea of happenings—the democracy of that, and the spontaneity of that, and the humanity and the possibility for fuck ups, is really important to me.

This interview has been condensed and edited by Steve Marsh, a writer interested in culture, extreme experience, and performance. He’s profiled athletes, artists, and leaders in thought and business for Mpls. St.Paul Magazine, New York Magazine, GQ, Pitchfork and the Wall Street Journal.

[kneipho]

Via: Bay Area Plays   

Full List as of 8/31/18: San Francisco - Peninsula - North Bay -East Bay - South Bay

-

SAN FRANCISCO

42nd Street Moon – “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” – Oct. 3rd – 21st

African-American Shakespeare Company – “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf” – Sept. 15th – 29th

American Conservatory Theatre (ACT) – “Sweat” – Sept. 26th – Oct. 21st “Men on Boats” – Oct. 17th – Dec. 16th

Awesome Theatre – “Terror-Rama III: Dead the Whole Time” – Oct. 12th – 27th

Bay Area Musicals –

Beach Blanket Babylon (OPEN-ENDED)

Bindlestiff Studio – “Stories High XViii” – Through Aug. 25th

Brava Theater Center –

Crescent Moon Theater –

Crowded Fire Theater – “Church” – Sept. 13th – Oct. 6th

Curran –

Custom Made Theatre Company – “The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?” – Sept. 20th – Oct. 20th

The Department of Badassery

Exit Theatre – “San Francisco Fringe Festival” – Sept. 6th – 15th

Faultline Theater Company –

Ferocious Lotus –

foolsFury –

Golden Thread Productions – “Kiss” (presented at Shotgun Players in Berkeley)- Aug. 23rd – Sept. 23rd

Killing My Lobster – “North by North Lobster” – Oct. 18th – 27th

Lamplighters – “The Pirates of Penzance” – Aug. 4th – 26th

Landmark Musical Theatre –

Lorraine Hansberry Theatre –

The Magic Theatre  – “The Resting Place” – Oct. 10th – Nov. 4th

The Marsh – “The Clyde Always Show” – Through Aug. 29th “Keeping Up With the Jorgensons” – Through Aug. 25th “Bravo 25: Your A.I. Therapist Will See You Now” – Sept. 20th – Oct. 27th “The Waiting Period” – Through Oct. 28th “Why Would I Mispronounce My Own Name” – Oct. 25th – Dec. 8th “Acid Test: The Many Incarnations of Ram Dass” – Sept. 21st – Nov. 4th

New Conservatory Theatre Center – “Red Scare on Sunset” – Sept. 21st – Oct. 21st “Cardboard Piano” – Oct. 26th – Dec. 2nd

The Playwright’s Center of San Francisco –

Playwrights Foundation – “Bay Area Playwright’s Festival” – July 20th – 29th

Ray of Light Theatre – “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” – Sept. 14th – Oct. 6th

The Refuge – “Cabaret” – July 6th – 15th

San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company –

San Francisco Mime Troupe – “Seeing Red: A Time-Traveling Musical – Begins July 4th (various locations)

San Francisco Playhouse  – “You Mean to Do Me Harm” – Sept. 18th – Nov. 3rd “Sunday in the Park with George” – Through Sept. 8th

Shelton Theater – “Baby Doll” – Sept. 13th – Nov. 3rd

SHNSF – “Les Miserables” – Through Aug. 26th “The Phantom of the Opera” – Sept. 5th – 30th “On Your Feet! The Emilio and Gloria Estefan Broadway Musical” – Sept. 11th – Oct. 7th

Theatre Rhinoceros –

Thrillpeddlers

Troupe Theatre – “The Future is in Eggs” – Aug. 25th – 26th

Virago Theatre Company

Z Space – “#GetGandhi” – Aug. 10th – 26th

PENINSULA

Broadway by the Bay, Redwood City – “Saturday Night Fever” – Aug. 10th – 26th

Coastal Repertory Theatre, Half Moon Bay – “Avenue Q” – July 27th – Aug. 26th “Death of a Salesman” – Sept. 28th – Oct. 28th

Dragon Theatre, Redwood City – “The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence” – Sept. 14th – Oct. 7th

Fuse Theatre, Redwood City –

Hillbarn Theatre, Foster City – “West Side Story“ – Aug. 30th – Sept. 16th “Noises Off!” – Oct. 11th – 28th

Pacifica Spindrift Players – “My Fair Lady” – Aug. 10th – Sept. 2nd “It Can’t Happen Here” – Oct. 19th – Nov. 4th

Palo Alto Players – “Tarzan” – Sept. 8th – 23rd

The Pear Theatre, Palo Alto – “Northanger Abbey” – Aug. 31st – Sept. 23rd “Hedda Gabler” – Oct. 12th – 28th Stanford Repertory Theatre, Palo Alto –

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Palo Alto/Mountain View – “Native Gardens” – Aug. 22nd – Sept. 16th “Fun Home” – Oct. 3rd – 28th  

NORTH BAY

6th Street Playhouse, Santa Rosa – “Comedy of Errors” – Through Sept. 2nd “Guys and Dolls” – Sept. 14th – Oct. 7th

Bay Area Stage Productions, Vallejo – “I Ought To Be in Pictures” – Through June 10th Lucky Penny Productions, Napa – “Into the Woods” – Sept. 7th – 23rd “Blithe Spirit” – Oct. 19th – Nov. 4th

Marin Shakespeare Company –

Marin Theatre Company, Mill Valley – “Oslo” – Sept. 27th – Oct. 21st

Novato Theater Company – “A Chorus Line” – Sept. 7th – 30th “God of Carnage” – Oct. 26th – Nov. 11th

Ross Valley Players – “Twelfth Night” – Sept. 28th – Oct. 21st

Sonoma Arts Live – “Hello, Dolly!” – Oct. 5th – 21st

Spreckels Theatre Company

– “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time”  – Sept. 7th – 30th“Addams Family Musical” – Oct. 12th – 28th

EAST BAY

Actor’s Ensemble of Berkeley – “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged” – Through Sept. 3rd

Altarena Playhouse, Alameda – “Clybourne Park” – Oct. 5th – Nov. 11th “One Man, Two Guvnors” – Through Sept. 9th

Anton’s Well Theater Company – “Dirty Butterfly” – Sept. 21st – Oct. 7th

Aurora Theatre Company, Berkeley – “Detroit, ’67” – Aug. 31st – Sept. 30th

Bay Area Children’s Theatre, Berkeley – “The Cat in the Hat – El Gato Ensombrerado” Sept. 15th – Nov. 4th

Berkeley Playhouse – “Dreamgirls” – Sept. 21st – Oct. 21st

Berkeley Repertory Theatre – “A Doll’s House, Part 2” – Sept. 6th – Oct. 21st “Fairview” – Oct. 4th – Nov. 4th

Center REPertory Theatre, Walnut Creek – “Mamma Mia” – Aug. 31st – Oct. 7th “Dancing Lessons” – Oct. 19th – Nov. 7th

Central Works, the New Play Theater, Berkeley – “Chekhov’s Ward 6” – Oct. 13th – Nov. 11th

Chanticleers Theatre, Castro Valley – “Don’t Dress For Dinner” – Oct. 19th – Nov. 11th

Contra Costa Civic Theatre – “Allegiance” – Sept. 21st – Oct. 21st

Douglas Morrisson Theatre, Hayward – “Once Upon a Mattress” – Sept. 13th – 30th

The Marsh, Berkeley – “Each and Every Thing” – Through Sept. 29th “One Life Stand” – Through Sept. 29th “Can You Dig It” – Through Sept. 9th “Latin Standards” – Oct. 5th – Nov. 17th

Masquers Playhouse, Point Richmond –

Piedmont Center Theatre, Piedmont –

Pittsburg Community Theatre – “Spamalot” – Sept. 28th – Oct. 7th

Ragged Wing Ensemble, Oakland –

Shotgun Players, Berkeley – “Women Laughing Alone With Salad” – Oct 12th – Nov. 11th “Kiss” – Through Sept. 23rd

Stage 1 Theatre, Newark –

Those Women Productions, Berkeley – “Woman on Fire” – Through Sept. 9th

Town Hall Theatre, Lafayette – “The Revolutionists” – Sept. 29th – Oct. 20th

Tri-Valley Rep, Livermore –

Ubuntu Theater Project – “Pool of Unknown Wonders” – Aug. 31st – Sept. 23rd

UC Berkeley TDPS –

Woodminster Amphitheater, Oakland – “In the Heights” – Aug. 31st – Sept. 9th

SOUTH BAY

Broadway San Jose – “On Your Feet” – Oct. 9th – 14th

Center Stage Performing Arts, Milpitas –

Children’s Musical Theater San Jose – City Lights Theatre Company, San Jose – “In the Heights” – Through Aug. 25th “God of Carnage” – Sept. 13th – Oct. 14th

Foothill Music Theatre, Los Altos Hills –

Lyric Theater, San Jose – “The Wizard of Oz” – Oct. 13th – 28th

Naatak Indian Theater – “Mahabharat” – Sept. 2nd – 23rd

Norcal Academy of Performing Arts –

Northside Theatre Company, San Jose –

Pintello Comedy Theater, Gilroy –

San Jose Stage Company – “The Lieutenant of Inishmore – Sept. 26th – Oct. 21st

San Jose Theaters

San Jose Youth Shakespeare –

Santa Clara Players – “Exit the Body” – Oct. 26th – Nov. 17th

Silicon Valley Shakespeare, San Jose – “Much Ado About Nothing” – Through Sept. 2nd

South Bay Musical Theatre, Saratoga – “Mame” – Sept. 22nd – Oct. 13th

Sunnyvale Community Players – “Grease” – Sept. 15th – Oct. 7th

Tabard Theatre Company – “Another Roll of the Dice” – Sept. 14th – Oct. 7th

Teatro Vision, San Jose – “Departera” – Oct. 11th – 21st

OPEN-ENDED RUNS/IMPROVISATION

Bay Area Theatre Sports (BATS), San Francisco

Comedysportz San Jose

Made Up Theatre, Fremont

Synergy Theater, Walnut Creek

Un-Scripted Theater Company, San Francisco

OPERA

Bay Area Opera Collaborative

Island City Opera, Alameda

Opera San Jose

[pwunion]

Jami Brandli

JAMI BRANDLI’s plays include Technicolor Life, S.O.E., M-Theory, ¡SOLDADERA!, Sisters Three, Through the Eye of a Needle, Medusa’s Song, O: A Rhapsody in Divorce, Visiting Hours, The Caregiver's Guide and BLISS (or Emily Post is Dead!) which was named in the 2014 Kilroys List. 

Her work has been produced/developed at New Dramatists, New York Theatre Workshop, Launch Pad, The Women’s Voices Theater Festival, Chalk REP, Great Plains Theatre Conference, The Lark, among other venues. As a 2019 Humanitas Prize PLAY LA, she wrote her play, Visiting Hours.

BLISS (or Emily Post is Dead!) nominated for Best Playwriting for an Original Play; Los Angeles Ovation Awards. 2019 Humanitas Prize PLAY LA playwright. Winner of John Gassner Memorial Playwriting Award, Holland New Voices Award, Ashland New Plays Festival and Aurora Theatre Company's GAP Prize. Finalist for the PEN Literary Award for Drama, Playwrights’ Center Core Writer Fellowship, Princess Grace Award, Bay Area Playwrights Festival and the O'Neill National Playwrights Conference; nominated for the Susan Smith Blackburn Award. Her short works are published with TCG, Dramatic Publishing Company, Applause Books, and Smith & Kraus.

Technicolor Life premiered as part of the 2015 Women’s Voices Theater Festival and received its Australian premiere in 2017. In 2018, BLISS (or Emily Post is Dead!) received a joint-world premiere with Moxie Theatre (San Diego) and Promethean Theatre (Chicago), ending with Moving Arts’ production at Atwater Village Theatre in Los Angeles (LA Times Critic’s Choice and Ovation Recommended). BLISS will receive it’s next production at Defunkt Theatre (Portland, OR) in early 2020. Through the Eye of a Needle (Stage Raw ‘TOP TEN’ Pick and Ovation Recommended) received its world premiere at The Road Theatre (Los Angeles), March-May 2018. Sisters Three received its world premiere with The Inkwell Theater (Los Angeles) in December through January 2019. She is currently a member of the 2020 Under Construction playwright cohort at The Road Theatre where she is working on her next play, The Caregiver’s Guide.

A proud member of The Playwrights Union and The Dramatist Guild, Jami teaches dramatic writing at Lesley University's low-residency MFA program. She is represented by Samara Harris at Michael Moore Agency and by MSW Media Management.

www.jamibrandli.com

New Play Exchange

[finishinglinepress]

FINISHING LINE PRESS FEATURED AUTHOR OF THE DAY Lisa Marie Rollins

Lisa Marie Rollins is a writer, freelance director and new work developer. She is a Sundance Institute Theatre Lab Fellow (Directing) and Directors Lab West member. Regional directing /dramaturg work include Hedgebrook Women’s Play Festival, Crowded Fire Theater, American Conservatory Theatre, Playwright’s Foundation, TheatreFirst, Berkeley Repertory Theater (Ground Floor), Shotgun Players, Magic Theatre, San Francisco Playhouse, TheaterWorks(CO); some notable new plays by Lauren Gunderson, Geetha Reddy, Idris Goodwin, Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm, Min Khang, Philana Omorotionmwan and creative collaborations with comedic artists W. Kamau Bell and Zahra Noorbakash.She has been a writing fellow with Djerassi, Hedgebrook, SF Writers Grotto, CALLALOO London, VONA, Just Theater Play Lab and Joshua Tree Highlands Artist Residency. She holds graduate degrees from Claremont Graduate University and University of California, Berkeley. Lisa Marie is currently revising her new play LOVE IS ANOTHER COUNTRY (Coin&Ghost, Los Angeles 2019). Her chapbook of poems, Other Words for Grief (2018, winner, Mary Tanenbaum Literary Award) is available from Finishing Line Press. She was honored with a “Bay Brilliant” artist award from San Francisco’s KQED and just received a 2-year Gerbode Special Award in the Arts(2019) as a playwright.Most recently she directed INKED BABY by Christina Anderson, the World Premiere of Idris Goodwin’s American Prom, World Premeier of Zahra Norbakhsh’s ON BEHALF OF ALL MUSLIMS,and the West Coast Premiere of Tearrance Chisholm’s HOODED: Being Black for Dummies . Her new play LOVE IS ANOTHER COUNTRY was produced by Coin&Ghost Theatre Company in Los Angeles.She is currently a Resident Artist with Crowded Fire Theater and Artist-in-Residence at BRAVA Theater for Women in San Francisco. Her new book of poems, “Other Words for Grief” is NEWLY RELEASED from Finishing Line Press. She is developing her new play “TOKEN” and working on a new play commission, funded by The Wallace Gerbode Foundation.

AWARDS / FELLOWSHIPS

Gerbode Playwright Grant / Special Awards in the Arts, 2019

Bay Brilliant Award, KQED, 2018

Member, Directors Lab West

Directing Fellow, Sundance Institute Theatre Lab

Artist Grant, San Francisco Arts Commission for BRAVA commission of UNTOLD (2017)

Writing Resident, Joshua Tree Highlands Artist Residency, 2017

Mary Tanenbaum Literary Award, “Other Words For Grief” (formerly titled “Compass”, poetry manuscript in progress), 2016

Writing Fellow, San Francisco Writers Grotto, 2016

Artist in Residence, BRAVA Theater for Women, 2016-2019

CA$H Grant, Theater Bay Area, 2015

Individual Artist Grant, City of Oakland Cultural Arts, 2012

Individual Artist Grant, Zellerbach Foundation, 2012

Finalist, Individual Artist Grant, Theater Bay Area, 2011, 2012

Individual Artist Grant, James Irvine Foundation, 2011

UC Berkeley’s Poetry for the People, Poet in Residence, 2010-2011.

Colorlines Magazine’s ‘Innovator to Watch”, 2009

Outstanding Pre-Dissertation Award, St John’s University Adoption Initiative, 2008.

https://lisamarierollins.wordpress.com/ #POETRY # #lit #read #book

[shereewrites]

My talented sis in law!!!! Deborah Wicks La Puma: A few 2019 highlights - There 51 productions, most professional, of 12 different Debbie Wicks La Puma musicals (up from 33 productions of 8 musicals in 2018) - 8 of the productions were by college theater programs - 7 of the productions were remounts - Composed two World Premiere musicals -- 1) SHE PERSISTED, THE MUSICAL at Bay Area Children's Theatre and 2) DON'T LET THE PIGEON DRIVE THE BUS! (THE MUSICAL!) at the Kennedy Center. Both had sold-out runs. She Persisted was immediately picked up for an Off-Broadway production and Pigeon is set for an extended national tour. - Was the second-most professionally-produced playwright or composer in Washington, DC with 3 productions. Alan Menkin had six. No other writer had more than 2. - Nominated for a Helen Hayes award for Outstanding Sound Design (for her compositions for the play DIGGING UP DESSA at the Kennedy Center). Her fifth career Helen Hayes nomination - Nominated for a Theatre Bay Area Award for Outstanding New Musical for SHE PERSISTED, THE MUSICAL (the cast was invited to perform her song "Walk On" as the closing number for the awards ceremony) - Barnes & Noble stores nationwide started selling a vinyl record of her musical NAKED MOLE RAT GETS DRESSED: THE ROCK EXPERIENCE! - Her song "Elephant in the Room" was sung by Tom Lennon (The Odd Couple) and Yvette Nicole Brown (Community) in a show filmed at the Kennedy Center for a later streaming broadcast - Performed a medley of her songs from her Mo Willems musicals at the opening of The Reach expansion at the Kennedy Center - Performed her song "Walk On" at the Junior Theatre Festival in San Jose - Music directed A CHRISTMAS CAROL at The Guthrie in Minneapolis https://www.instagram.com/p/B6rOO7YhcF8/?igshid=utwglmbbzf8m

[thekingsmanscycle]

Karlemon’s Lands: Valarre (continued)

Geography of Valarre

River Alard. Hurley of Crownisle’s ‘Almanac’ describes the great river Alard as ‘the course along which runs the ancient life blood of a nation’, referring to a great quantity of iron and copper to be found in the rocks along the banks. In today’s reckoning the Alard, with its source at Mont Piaget and mouth at the Bay of the Tempest is a booming trade channel running to the heart of the country. It also once served as the divider between Deucalion and Karolin aligned lands during the Period of the Two Brother Kings.

River Harlan. A river along which Hurley saw barges filled with coal and salt headed north and south from Lake Lauzon, now near empty as the coal dried up and the salt mines lost workers to the Underdark. The Harlan meets the Osirian Sea at the little town of Giltavon, where the playwright Lavaud set his horror-tragedy ‘The Wreckers’, a drama about a family of cannibalistic robbers that lived in the rocky outcroppings in the bay, preying on the victims of shipwrecks until the return of an itinerant soldier to the town of his birth nearby.

The Verley Highlands. This natural fortress of hills and glens was used by the Segolatar as their staging ground for their conquest of Valarre in the earliest days of the nation. It was often said at the time that the lords of the Verleys would hold them until the waters that flooded Ynen flooded them as well. In current terms, that refers mostly to crown-owned lands under Alberic II’s stewards and rangers, but a sizeable portion of the southern range holds the lands of House Etienne, a younger and ambitious house in Valarre.

The Forest of Hyrne. Named for a cognate of Keverne, the great king of the woodlands in Valarris folklore, the Hyrne oak forest covers a great area of eastern Valarre and has been inhabited for centuries. It is said to be the home of great spirits of the natural places, and to be infamous for the disappearances of children and young couples. Oft this is blamed on wolves or hags or other wandering monsters but some attribute it to the faery rings that dot many of the forest clearings.

Ysére Lake. This picturesque body of water on the southeastern border of Valarre with Cosima is one of the largest in Karlemon’s Lands and is said to be home to a variety of monstrous creatures including but not limited to; an escaped hydra from the War of Tears, a colony of naiads for whom the lake is named, a gigantic catfish by the name of Mona Grandis and a warband of trolls pursuing a witch who promised to give them godhood.

Isle of Ramsar. A small island in the Nolin Sound between Valarre and Tylia, Ramsar has been a possession of Valarre for the past four hundred years following victory at the Battle of Mont Judual. This right was reaffirmed in the Treaty of Clannet in 1295 and the Ramsarii, the island’s natives, hold Valarris citizenship. The island’s economy is mostly agricultural, with cattle farming, mussel fishing and apple orchards being the main businesses. It is however home to the first known temple to Meseret, the goddess of the seas.

Landmarks of Valarre

Ebronante. Reportedly destroyed by the Tarrasque of legend, the great citadel of the Guyony dynasty was famed for its thick walls and iron forges that supplied the northern human realms with all manner of cast iron items over four centuries. As the Guyony left with their treasury, there are no tales of gold or jewels, save that of Hervé II’s crown, said to be the first purpose-made crown in Valarre and worth a king’s ransom.

Valarre Academie of War. Originally a subsidiary of the Arcanum Nobilite  dedicated to the education of the aristocracy, the Academie was expanded some two hundred years ago to include the merchant classes and peasantry of sufficient skill and merit. The arts of war, according to its founder Albertine I Karolin, include training in at least three weapons, classical strategy, unit tactics, provisioning, camp organisation and moral training in the treatment of noble prisoners of war, including interrogation and either execution or ransom.

The Marnberg Temple. Built over six hundred years ago by devotees of the Lydian pantheon, it is the first temple to include sections dedicated to all nine canonical deities and the lesser Vanathes. The centrepiece is a twenty-foot tall statue made in the likeness of Jocasta the Dawn-Captain standing in the central archway and holding the doors open during the day for worshippers to enter. Its continued patronage by the baronial house Sylvestre is as a result of their own devotion to their faith. 

The Karolingian Library. Founded by Sigismondo I Orsini of Cosima, the library, which is the largest in the human world, passed into Valarris state hands some three hundred years ago. Its immense buildings serve as the campus for the Valarre chapter of the Arcanum Nobilite and its collection rises into the thousands of book and hundreds of thousands of scrolls and parchments. Seen as one of the state’s greatest triumphs, it is held in prestige as far away as Sinhal.

Wildlife of Valarre

Enfield - A winged scavenger that pesters farmers and hunts birds through the fields of Valarre, known for its cunning and mischievous nature.

Griffon - A rare and proud creature, famed in Valarre as the loyal companion of the legendary hero Caradec Grall, who rode the griffon Alcatraz into battle.

Cave Lion - A dangerous hunter most commonly found in the Verley Highlands, it is a current and present danger to those hiking in the mountains.

Bequise - A small avian creature with bright plumage and reptilian features, it defends itself with a foul-smelling paralytic saliva.

Ungaris Deer - A breed of white furred deer seen by many hunters as a swift and worthy adversary, formerly sacred to Bromos, god of hunting. 

Tobar - A large green predatory freshwater fish common to the rivers and canals of central Valarre, hunted yearly as a centrepiece for the Midwinter Festival.

Valarris Folklore

Keverne, Lord of the Forest. A popular and well-known spirit of nature, Keverne is given offerings by country folk to ensure the virility of their sons, fertility of their daughters and luck while hunting. Thought to be the son of lords of the archfey, he is depicted as a half-man, half-stag centaur and has been revered in Valarre for more than a thousand years. 

Caradec Grall, the Man Who Would Be King. A legendary figure of Valarre, he was said to be a royal heir who forsook his throne to serve the common people atop his war-griffon Alcatraz. Known as a kind and shy man in his youth, he was emboldened to fight by the plight of his manservant, the brave but tragic Gwylum, who was killed by his liege lord as penance for not paying his taxes. In more recent tales, he fights the elves across the sea and will return to rule Valarre justly and with honour once the line of his friend and comrade Morgane Le Bal has faltered and been exitnguished.

Morgane Le Bal. A mythical contemporary of Caradec Grall, she is a queen of great magical power who protects the kingdom from dark forces through cunning, intelligence and strength of will. She is seen as a dark figure, but undoubtedly good and beloved by her people, who gifted the name the ‘Le Bal’ as a warning to her enemies of the misfortune and tragedy that would befall them should she feel the need to unleash her wrath. Any child of the Valarris royal family born with great magical power is lauded as a member of her bloodline and is known as a ‘Morganiste’ in her honour.

Tarrasque. A folktale from the west of Valarre tells of the existence of a sleeping monster that inhabits the mountains outside Martillac which destroyed each of the Seven Bright Cities so thoroughly, that now there are only six. The titanic creature was said to be so powerful and destructive that it destroyed the great glaciers of the Verleys, flattened the terrain of Valarre and left great channels of earth upturned so that they became the great rivers. 

The Beast of Bornau. A story two centuries old concerns the terror of crimes perpetuated by Gudwal de Rais, a lesser noble of Valarre, who embraced a dark cursed form and feasted upon each of his six wives a year after their wedding night. The seventh, a beautiful redheaded prostitute known only as Jeanne, killed him with a single blow from a silver candelabra. Her name is lauded throughout the barony of Courzon, the lands of House Leclerc.

The Winter Father. Said to be a god of nature whose name is long forgotten, the Winter Father is a happy, kind and soulful entity who delivers gifts to children upon the winter solstice. To defend himself from the cruellest winter spirits he carries a mace and his oak staff, which helps him to walk through the snow. He walks through every town, accompanied by the sound of tolling bells and the smell of hot wine.

[lyndadefuria]

Directing World Premiere of “A Period Piece”

So honored to be directing the world premiere production of Megan Bussiere’s play, A PERIOD PIECE, with The Shrill Collective. I am humbled and beautifully challenged, and can’t wait for you to experience this piece. 

This period piece has no damsel. This period piece is not written in verse. This period does not end a sentence.

This play births a story that celebrates female empowerment and resilience, motherhood, sisterhood, and the women who lift us up.

A PERIOD PIECE is a 2019 O’Neill National Playwrights Conference Finalist and a 2019 Playwrights Foundation/BAPF (Bay Area Playwrights Festival Semi-Finalist).

Proceeds from this production will benefit The Lower Eastside Girls Club.

JULY 27, 28 & AUGUST 2, 3, 4 @ 7:00PM

TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE: https://www.artful.ly/the-shrill-collective

[writemarcus]

Charles Turner, Marcus Scott & Sean Mason in MELANIN or THE IN CROWD July 31, 2021 at Catskill’s Bridge Street Theatre

A Brand-New Musical in Concert at Catskill’s Bridge Street Theatre

Wrapping up a recent Artists’ Residency at the Catwalk Institute with pianist/composer Sean Mason and playwright Marcus Scott, Brooklyn-based vocalist and composer Charles Turner will present a one-night only “tasting” from the project they’ve all been creating together. This will be the very first airing of selections/songs from “Melanin or The In-Crowd”, an exciting new musical theatre piece in its nascent stages, to be performed live at Catskill’s Bridge Street Theatre on Saturday evening July 31 at 8:00pm.

Over the course of a weekend, a cadre of young, upscale, globetrotting professionals gather for one last hurrah in and around NYC’s lounge scene. Celebrating the newfound success of one of their own who has received a lucrative job offer overseas, the coterie spends an unforgettable weekend, touring various nightclubs in an endless cavalcade of booze, hookups and cheap thrills.

Inspired by the classic golden age MGM Hollywood musicals, but filtered through a modern lens, this splashy new musical encompasses a variety of musical styles such as blues, jazz, swing, big band, jazz fusion, progressive soul, psychedelic soul, cinematic soul, Sophisti-pop, quiet storm, urban, doo-wop, hip-hop soul, neo-soul, alternative R&B, funk, dancehall, reggae, highlife and afro pop. “Melanin or The In-Crowd” is a postmodern coming of age rom-com that explores themes including millennials and the youth of America, materialism, consumerism, capitalism and commodification, classism, colorism, selfishness, respectability politics, depersonalization and dating in the digital age, sexism, sexual freedom, and modern love, all through the prism of black bourgeois culture.

The multi-faceted Turner has performed at such venues as Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Birdland, Smoke Jazz club and the historic Minton’s Playhouse in Harlem. International performances include PizzaExpress in London, Sunset/Sunside in Paris, Sala Clamores in Madrid, and other venues abroad from Seoul, South Korea to Wellington, New Zealand. His passion is to bring swing and jazz to listeners of all generations, carrying the Spirit of Harlem and the torch of the past into the present day for music lovers and dancers throughout the world to experience, embrace, and enjoy. This new collaboration with pianist/composer Sean Mason and playwright Marcus Scott extends Turner’s range even further and promises to be an event to remember.

Charles Turner is a multi-faceted, Brooklyn-based composer and vocalist whose work transcends borders and styles from Jazz, R&B to Soul. Turner has held residencies, hosted, and performed at venues such as Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center,   Birdland, Smoke Jazz club and  the historic Minton’s Playhouse  in Harlem. International  performances include, Pizza Express, in London, Sunside Sunset in Paris, Sala Claomores in Madrid, and more venues abroad from Seoul, South Korea to Wellington New Zealand.

Turner’s Sophomore Album “ Single & In Love” , produced by Grammy award winning drummer Ulysses Owens Jr. has received critical acclaim and continues to  play all across the world. Berklee College of Music Graduate, he has extended his educational value by teaching at The American School of Modern Music in Paris, France in 2017 & 18.  Then then participated in “ Jazz for Young People” at JALC and conducted Masterclasses in various high schools and  Universities such as N.Y.U.

Charles’ passion to bring swing and jazz to listeners of all generations and backgrounds proceeds through his new band and project Charles Turner & Uptown Swing.  Bringing the Swing and Spirit of Harlem to music lovers and dancers around the world. Vibrant Swing , Virtuosic Bebop & Vital Blues, The band extends music from the swing era to present under the umbrella of swing .

Vocalist, Composer, & Educator, moving forward to bring this incredible music to the people ; Turner holds the torch  of the past  and brings it along with him to present day for all to experience , embrace, and enjoy.

MARCUS SCOTT is a playwright, musical theater writer, librettist, journalist, critic and teaching artist. Full-length works include “Fidelio” (Libretto; Heartbeat Opera at Baruch Performing Arts Center, 2018; called “poignant” by NY Times and “vital” by The New Yorker), “Tumbleweed” (Finalist for the 2017/2018 Humanitas Play LA Workshop, the Playwrights Foundation’s 2017 Bay Area Playwrights Festival, and the 2017 Festival of New American Plays at Austin Playhouse; semi-finalist for the 2017/2018 New Dramatists Princess Grace Fellowship Award), “Sibling Rivalries” (long-listed for the 2020 Theatre503 International Playwriting Award; semifinalist for 2021 Blue Ink Playwriting Award, the Landing Theatre Company’s 2020 New American Voices Playwriting Festival and the 2020 Campfire Theatre Festival), and “Cherry Bomb” (recipient of the 2017 Drama League First Stage Artist-In-Residence; 2017 Finalist for the Yale Institute for Music Theatre). His work has been developed, presented and/or produced by Joe’s Pub, Feinstein’s/54 Below, Abingdon Theatre Company, Astoria Performing Arts Center, Out of the Box Theatrics, Weathervane Theatre, Dixon Place, National Black Theatre (KSA series), Playwright’s Playground at Classical Theatre of Harlem, Space on Ryder Farm, Cherry Lane Theater (DUAF), Theater 80 St. Marks (DUAF), Across A Crowded Room – Lincoln Center Performing Arts Library (NYPL), NY Theatre Barn, CoLAB Arts, Symphony Space, NYC LGBT Center, Secret Theatre, MicroTheater Miami, among others. Residencies and retreats: The Center at West Park Virtual Performance Residency (2020-2021), Gingold Theatre Group Speaker’s Corner Writer (2020-2021), Liberation Theatre Company’s Playwriting Residency Fellowship (2018), Athena Theatre’s Athena Writes Playwriting Fellowship (2018), the inaugural LIT Council at the Tank (2018-2019), Fresh Ground Pepper Artist-In-Residence BRB Retreat (2017), One Co. Writers’ Residency at Little Farm (2017) and Goodspeed Opera House Retreat (2013). He was also the 2016-17 Musical Theatre Fellow at Playwrights Horizons and the 20172018 co-moderator of Musical Theatre Factory’s POC Roundtable. Scott is a four-time top finalist for the R&D Group at The Civilians, a two-time National Black Theatre I AM SOUL Playwrights Residency finalist and a 2019 finalist for the Bushwick Starr’s Starr Reading Series. His articles appeared in TimeOut New York, American Theatre Magazine, Playbill, Elle, Out, Essence, among others. BFA: State University College at Buffalo, MFA: NYU Tisch.

SEAN MASON. Born and raised in Charlotte, NC, Sean Mason taught himself by ear how to play the piano at the age of 13. His beginning musical roots included Gospel, Classical, Hip-Hop, and R&B music but then he discovered jazz and decided to make a career of it. To further his knowledge, Sean went to study music at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. After two years of study, Sean decided to move to New York City and transfer his studies to The Juilliard School, studying for another two years before ultimately leaving to pursue his music interests independently. In his short but already groundbreaking career, Sean has played and toured with many jazz professionals, prominently including Branford Marsalis and Wynton Marsalis, but among many others. Sean is based in New York City and leads his own band, “The Sean Mason Trio”, which performs regularly in New York City and tours across the globe. Aside from his performing career, Sean is also a composer and an orchestrator in the musical theatre space. https://www.seanmasonofficial.com

[wecocogg-blog]

Blessed with beaches, mountains, food and music, Jamaica’s considered the jewel of the Caribbean by many. But if you’d like to spend longer than a couple of weeks in the land of wood and water, you’ll want to venture beyond all-inclusive resorts to discover off the beaten track delights. There’s a way to do it safely, but prior planning is a prerequisite — here are 10 tips for a long-term Jamaican trip.

1. Government travel advice

Wherever you’re travelling, it’s wise to check official travel advice from your own government first — Aussies can check Smartraveller, but most nations have equivalents that are easy to find.

2. Check Your ConsuLate

Save the contact details of your consulate before you leave home. Australia has an Honorary Consul located at 80-82 Second Street, Kingston 13 — but UK, US and Canadian embassies in New Kingston can also offer advice.

3. Flights

Various US carriers fly to Jamaica, as well as long-haul British companies like BA and Virgin — find cheap flights by booking ahead of time on comparison sites like Kayak

4. Family AccomModation

Provided it’s not located in a higher-risk area in certain parts of cities like Kingston or Montego Bay, staying in a home with a Jamaican family lets you immerse yourself in the culture. Find out more on the Worlds Together Travel Network site.

5. Private Rentals

If you’d prefer renting a private property, the same safety provisos apply, but taking time to research rated Jamaican Airbnb properties means you’ll benefit from spending time in an authentic home rather than a hotel and enjoy a taste of local living

6. Visit Firefly

Firefly is the former hillside home of playwright Sir Noel Coward in the rural parish of St Mary. It’s been preserved much as it was when he entertained real and Hollywood royalty there and the stunning views of the Caribbean coastline are simply sublime.

7. Get Rebellious

When you love roots reggae music, attending the Rebel Salute festival in the St Ann countryside is a no-brainer. It’s held annually in January and might be the most laid-back gathering on the planet. Find more info at rebelsalutejamaica.com.

8. Rockhouse Hotel, Negril

Negril is Jamaica’s most isolated tourist town and has boasted a Boho vibe since the 60s. Its Seven Mile Beach is one of the nation’s best and staying at Rockhouse Hotel is recommended — splash out on a waterfront cabin with its own diving deck. ​

9. Bob Marley Museum Kingston

A visit to the Bob Marley Museum at 56 Hope Road Kingston is a must for fans of the late, great musician. It’s his former home, so you’ll see his bedroom, kitchen and the outhouse area where his attempted assassination took place in 1976.

Bob Marley

10. Staying connected

Jamaican broadband is fast and coverage is far reaching — so whether you want to keep in touch with far-flung family or study for an online degree with the likes of Anglia Ruskin Distance Learning, you’ll have no problem keeping connected. ​ That’s our list! Share your own Jamaican travel tips in the comments section.

[tripstations]

10 Tips For A Long-term Jamaican Trip

Blessed with beaches, mountains, food and music, Jamaica’s considered the jewel of the Caribbean by many. But if you’d like to spend longer than a couple of weeks in the land of wood and water, you’ll want to venture beyond all-inclusive resorts to discover off the beaten track delights. There’s a way to do it safely, but prior planning is a prerequisite — here are 10 tips for a long-term Jamaican trip.

1. Government travel advice

Wherever you’re travelling, it’s wise to check official travel advice from your own government first — Aussies can check Smartraveller, but most nations have equivalents that are easy to find.

2. Check Your ConsuLate

Save the contact details of your consulate before you leave home. Australia has an Honorary Consul located at 80-82 Second Street, Kingston 13 — but UK, US and Canadian embassies in New Kingston can also offer advice.

3. Flights

Various US carriers fly to Jamaica, as well as long-haul British companies like BA and Virgin — find cheap flights by booking ahead of time on comparison sites like Kayak

4. Family AccomModation

Provided it’s not located in a higher-risk area in certain parts of cities like Kingston or Montego Bay, staying in a home with a Jamaican family lets you immerse yourself in the culture. Find out more on the Worlds Together Travel Network site.

5. Private Rentals

If you’d prefer renting a private property, the same safety provisos apply, but taking time to research rated Jamaican Airbnb properties means you’ll benefit from spending time in an authentic home rather than a hotel and enjoy a taste of local living

6. Visit Firefly

Firefly is the former hillside home of playwright Sir Noel Coward in the rural parish of St Mary. It’s been preserved much as it was when he entertained real and Hollywood royalty there and the stunning views of the Caribbean coastline are simply sublime.

7. Get Rebellious

When you love roots reggae music, attending the Rebel Salute festival in the St Ann countryside is a no-brainer. It’s held annually in January and might be the most laid-back gathering on the planet. Find more info at rebelsalutejamaica.com.

8. Rockhouse Hotel, Negril

Negril is Jamaica’s most isolated tourist town and has boasted a Boho vibe since the 60s. Its Seven Mile Beach is one of the nation’s best and staying at Rockhouse Hotel is recommended — splash out on a waterfront cabin with its own diving deck. ​

9. Bob Marley Museum Kingston

A visit to the Bob Marley Museum at 56 Hope Road Kingston is a must for fans of the late, great musician. It’s his former home, so you’ll see his bedroom, kitchen and the outhouse area where his attempted assassination took place in 1976.

Bob Marley

10. Staying connected

Jamaican broadband is fast and coverage is far reaching — so whether you want to keep in touch with far-flung family or study for an online degree with the likes of Anglia Ruskin Distance Learning, you’ll have no problem keeping connected. ​ That’s our list! Share your own Jamaican travel tips in the comments section.Original Article

The post 10 Tips For A Long-term Jamaican Trip appeared first on Tripstations.

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[briefnytw]

Meet the Fellows (2017-2018)

Every year, NYTW inducts several upcoming artists as “2050 Fellows.” The fellows are titled for the year by which the US Census Bureau expects the country’s population will rise to 439 million and will contain no single racial or ethnic majority; their work reflects this multiplicity of perspectives, challenging the dominant paradigm and giving voice to those not often heard. Read about the 2017-2018 “2050 Fellows” below.

Eleanor Burgess’s plays include The Niceties, Chill, Start Down, and These Dying Generations. Her work has been developed or produced at Manhattan Theatre Club, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Alliance Theatre, Huntington Theatre Company, the Contemporary American Theatre Festival, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Portland Stage Company, Centenary Stage Company, the Lark Play Development Center, the Kennedy Center/NNPN MFA Playwrights Workshop, Everyday Inferno, Ryder Farm and Luna Stage. She’s been the recipient of the Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Award, an EST/Sloan commission, a Keen Teens Commission, and the Susan Glaspell Award for Women Playwrights. She grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts, studied history at Yale College, and recently completed the MFA in Dramatic Writing at NYU/Tisch.

Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm is a current member of the Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program at Juilliard and a recent MFA Playwriting graduate from the Catholic University of America. His play Hooded: Or Being Black for Dummies received its World Premiere at Mosaic Theatre in Washington, D.C. this year and will be followed by the World Premiere of his play Br’er Cotton at Kitchen Dog Theatre in Dallas, TX. His work has been developed with the Signature Theatre, Theatre J, Theatre Alliance, The Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, and the Djerassi Resident Artists Program. He was named a “Person to Watch” by American Theatre Magazine and a “Rising Star” by Variety. He was a finalist for the inaugural Relentless Award and London's 503 Theatre Award. He was named winner of both the Rosa Parks Playwriting Award and the Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting Award at KCACTF 2016.

Shayok Misha Chowdhury is a queer Bengali director and writer based in NYC. Misha is co-founder of The Lonely Painter Project, an interdisciplinary collaborative that looks to performance as the art of embodied inquiry. Favorite projects include a devised adaptation of The Last Leaf (Barn Arts Collective), Inhume: A Genesis Story (Riverside Church), and the song-cycle MAKE (Hemi Encuentro, Santiago, Chile). Recent and upcoming directing credits: Cherrie Moraga's The Mathematics of Love (Stanford TAPS); Nia Witherspoon's The Messiah Complex (DUTF); Sarah DeLappe's The Wolves ('62 Center, Williams). With composer Laura Grill, Misha has written and directed three new musicals, including The Optics of Dying Light (HERE) and Artemis in the Parking Lot (awarded Best of Fest at NYMF’s 2016 Reading Series @ Playwrights Horizons). The duo’s newest piece, How the White Girl Got Her Spots and Other 90s Trivia, will debut at Ars Nova's ANT Fest in June 2017. A recipient of fellowships from Fulbright, Kundiman, and the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center, Misha’s writing has been published in The Cincinnati Review, TriQuarterly, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Portland Review, Asian American Literary Review, and elsewhere. He has been a visiting artist at Stanford, Williams, Fordham, and Syracuse Stage. MFA: Columbia University.

Tatiana Pandiani is an Argentine born, NYC based director and choreographer of new works and musicals. She is currently developing a Spanish language folkloric musical based on Ruben Darío's fiction works, El Poeta Y El Rey (The Drama League & The Habitat). Selected credits: N*** in Paris & La Lupe (Teatro SEA), 187 & These are the Stairs You Got to Watch (Atlantic Stage 2), 1989 (Connelly Theatre), The Co-operatives (NY Int'l Fringe), Assassins (Princeton Summer Theatre). Upcoming: Brandon Jacob Jenkins Appropriate (Princeton Summer Theatre), Leonardo Gonzales's NANAS (IATI/La Micro), NORA (Lanesboro Arts, MN). Tatiana has worked as an Assistant/Associate director at Toneelgroep Amsterdam, Repertorio Español and Miami New Drama and is a teaching Artist at the Atlantic Theatre Co. MFA: Columbia. For more information, please visit: www.tatianapandiani.com.

Whitney White is a director and musician based in Brooklyn, New York. Her original musical Lover I'll Bring You Back to Life was part of Ars Nova's 2016 ANT Fest, and her musical adaption of Macbeth: Macbeth in Stride was work-shopped at Chautauqua (2016), Trinity Rep (2017), and Judson Memorial (2017). Her first full-length play Great Hill Mouth was part of the 2016 Drama League's rough Draft Series. Whitney is the inaugural 2017 Roundabout Directing Fellow and last winter assisted Sam Gold on Othello at New York Theatre Workshop starring Daniel Craig and David Oyelowo, and Dan Sullivan on If I Forget at Roundabout. This spring she will assist Anne Kauffman on Marvin’s Room. MFA Acting: Brown University/Trinity Rep, BA Political Science and Certificate in Musical Theatre from Northwestern University. www.whitney-white.com.

Nia Ostrow Witherspoon is a multidisciplinary artist investigating the metaphysics of black liberation, desire, and diaspora. Working primarily in the mediums of playwriting/directing, vocal and sound composition, and creative scholarship, Witherspoon’s work has traveled both nationally and internationally to venues ranging from theatres and universities to activist organizations and non-profits. Described as “especially fascinating” by Backstage Magazine, Witherspoon has been the recipient of multiple awards and residencies, including: BRIC’s Premiere Residency, Astraea Foundation’s Lesbian Writer Award and Global Arts Fund Grant, Downtown Theatre Festival’s “Audience Award,” a Wurlitzer Foundation residency, Lambda Literary’s Emerging Playwriting Fellowship, a CASH Grant from Theatre Bay Area, and a Mellon Dissertation Fellowship. Her staged works have been featured at BRIC, HERE, National Black Theatre, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, Dixon Place, Movement Research, and the Painted Bride (Philadelphia), among various venues in the Bay Area, including Theatre Artaud, Theatre of Yugen, The Lab, The Garage, La Peña, and Eastside Arts Alliance. As a performer, Witherspoon is co-founder of ceremonial music collective SoliRose, a world-premiere cast member in Sharon Bridgforth’s River See (Links Hall), and a featured vocalist in the work of Cherríe Moraga in La Semilla Caminante/The Traveling Seed (Intersection for the Arts). Witherspoon’s writing is published in an array of journals and anthologies, and she is currently at work on collection of essays, tentatively titled Nation in the Dark, and a play cycle, The Dark Girl Chronicles, which explores the criminalization of black cis- and trans- women via African diaspora sacred stories.

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Julianne Jigour

Julianne Jigour’s plays have been produced by or developed with PlayGround, MADlab, Theater Masters, Santa Clara University, Bombay Theatre Company, KCACTF, and the HBMG National Winter Playwrights Retreat.

She has received two commissions from Planet Earth Arts, one of which—BRIGHT SHINING SEA—received its premiere production with PlayGround in San Francisco, where it was a Theatre Bay Area Awards Recommended Production. Her short plays BEECH. OAK. IRIS. and DOMESTIC HELP were finalists in the 2020 and 2022 Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Festival. She has twice received grants from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for science-themed TV pilots and has been a finalist for the Steeltown Film Factory competition. Julianne earned her BA in English and Creative Writing from Santa Clara University, where she studied with Brian Thorstenson. She earned her MFA from Carnegie Mellon University, where she studied with Rob Handel and received the West Coast Drama Alumni Clan award for Dramatic Writing. Julianne resides in Los Angeles, where she’s a proud member of the Playwrights’ Think Tank and the Playwrights’ Union.