Chicago, USA - 2007
HERRAH
June 21-24, 2007
Her-Rah for Weekend of Women's Playwrights : Chicago Sun Times
A Story for All Ages : Mendelein Review
Organiser: Jill Elaine Hughes (ICWP Board member and Treasurer 2007)
The International Centre for Women Playwrights and Around the Coyote are pleased to announce
Chicago HER-RAH 2007:
A Festival of The World's Best Women Playwrights And Their New Plays,
on June 21-24, 2007
at the Around the Coyote Gallery
1935-1/2 W. North Ave.
Chicago,
Illinois, United States of America.
CHICAGO HER-RAH 2007 will present staged readings of new,
production-ready plays by women from all over the world. Rather than
serving as a developmental workshop, the purpose of this event is to
present high-profile staged readings of production-ready,
women-authored scripts for the express purpose of providing promotional presentation that will lead these scripts into full production
by professional theatres.
ICWP received more than 150 play submissions from women playwrights all
over the world for consideration in this event; the resulting program
is a dynamic mix of 17 plays in a wide variety of playwriting genres,
styles, and subject matter from playwrights all over the U.S. and
world. The included playwrights represent all regions of the United
States, as well as South Africa, Mongolia, and Romania.
All of the
featured plays are either Chicago or U.S. premieres. Panel discussions
on the craft of playwriting and networking parties with members of the
Chicago theatre scene are also included in the four-day event.
HER-RAH!
features 2007's LARGEST and MOST DIVERSE one-weekend-only assembly of
plays, playwrights, actors, and directors in Chicagoland's ENTIRE
theater season, with plays of interest to women, African-Americans,
Asian-Americans, Gay/Lesbian/Bi/Transsexual communities, Senior
Citizens, and more!
The readings are directed by Chicago's hottest
up-and-coming young directors. Many of Chicago's top off-Loop actors
are also featured in the readings, including Jennifer Shin and Mia Park
from Collaboraction's current hit play, THE INTELLIGENT DESIGN OF JENNY
CHOW.
Admission and ticket reservation info:
ICWP and Around the Coyote offer an All-Festival Pass, which gains
admission to all staged readings, panel discussions, and networking
parties for $15. A-la-carte admission to individual readings/panels is $5. Admission is first-come, first-served basis; reservations
will not be accepted. Box office info line: (347) 436-0683 (info only). Box office accepts cash or checks only; sorry, no credit
cards.
About ICWP:
The International Centre for Women Playwrights is a nonprofit
organization dedicated to supporting women playwrights around the world
by: bringing international attention to their achievements, encouraging
production of their plays, translation, publication, and international
distributions of their works, providing means for communication and
contact among the sister community of the world's women dramatists,
assisting them in developing the tools of their craft, in determining
their own artistic forms, and in setting their own critical standards.
A complete listing of the included Chicago HER-RAH! plays and playwrights follows:
(Actors marked with * denote members of the Actors' Equity Association,
the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United
States)
SWEET GINGER, HOT AND BLUE
by P.H. Lin (New York, NY USA).
Directed by Alison Daigle.
Ginger Chan wants to be an artist. Her immigrant father insists she
become a doctor. Can the family survive, or will the combustible
relationship between daughter and father destroy it? Complicating
things are a 95-year-old Jewish woman, a female Buddha, and the
apparition-spirits of Ginger's mother and brother.
Cast: Haruna Tsuchiya (Quan-Yin); Marc J. Rita (Fu-Swun Chan); Jennifer
Shin (Ginger Chan); Margaret Kustermann (Tillie); Mia Park (Ma); Daniel
Han (Der-Li)
EMPTY FRIDGE, CARROTS, AND TOMATOES
by Naranjargal Khashkhuu (Ulaanbaatar, MONGOLIA).
Directed by Lydia Milman.
The meager contents of a refrigerator become the catalyst for a family
conflict and a heated discussion on the true nature of love and
marriage in Mongolian society.
Cast: Phil Tang (Tumur); Min-aha Beek (Ouyun); Cary Shoda (Kurel); Helen Young (Murun); Sun Hong (Ganbat);
EVERYBODY ELSE (IS FUCKING PERFECT)
by Karen Jeynes (Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA).
Directed by Hollis Rabin.
Life is almost perfect in the suburban home of newlyweds Gavin and
Cathy---a stable happy home and a good husband who is all she ever
dreamed of. Enter Cathy's sister Traci, fresh from yet another
disastrous relationship in London. Sparks fly in
this wacky middle-class South African comedy---especially when Traci begins an affair with toyboy Jared.
Cast: Todd Mengay (Gavin); Missy Moreno (Cathy); Kerri Morrison (Traci); Scott Butler (Jared); John Alder (Stage Directions)
EVEN THE DIRT BLEEDS DOWN HERE,
by Carolyn Nur Wistrand (Flint, MI USA).
Directed by Jemma Alix Levy.
This play is a folkloric drama of the Deep South that embraces the
relationship between magic and everyday life, the hierarchy of skin
tone, and the unity of themes in African-American life over the 20th
century. The characters appear in 1904 and 1974 linked by fate, blood,
and conjure.
Cast: Angelique Westerfield (Miss Cally/Corrachiba); Kelly Owens (Miss
Dorcus/Miss Delilah); Mercy Oni (Creadell/Dessie) Sean Nix (Green-eyed
Bruce/Gambling Gullah Jack); Sheila Garg (Caroline/Camille); Ryan
Hutton (Clayton Chester); Ellen Peace (Delphine/Swamp Witch); Olivia
Porter (Celeste/Molly Means)
HEADS,
by EM Lewis (Santa Monica, CA USA).
Directed by Sydney Chatman.
A British Embassy worker, an American engineer, a network journalist
and a freelance photographer are held captive in Iraq. As death draws
close, each hostage must decide what he'll do to survive.
Cast: Tovah Hicks (Conway); Dennis Grimes (Velazquez); David Adams
(Wolfe); Tiffany Scott* (Caroline Conway) Wayne Carr* (Apres)
ANOTHER PIECE OF CAKE,
by Madelyn Sergel (Gurnee, IL USA).
Directed by Jennifer M. Hawk.
Four old women telling the truth.
Cast: Alexandra Main (Tandy); Laura Skokan (Diane); Caroline Dodge Latta (Clara); June Miller (Maggie);
Candance Krestel (Ann); Mickey Crocker (Terry); Jason Frydman (Edward)
BOSWELL'S DREAMS,
by Marie Kohler (Milwaukee, WI USA).
Directed by Jenniffer J. Thusing.
A comic-drama about the power of friendship, authenticity, and the
written word, this play is grounded in the relationship between the
18th-century writers James Boswell and Samuel Johnson---but also leaps
forward in time to the discovery of Boswell's personal journals by a
female American graduate student in the 1950s.
Cast: Ryan Hutton (James Boswell); Walter Brody (Samuel Johnson);
Justine Turner (Joan Weinstein); Katie Siri (Ensemble); Franette Liebow
(Ensemble); Rick Smith (Ensemble); Andrew Pond (Ensemble); Peter
Vamakas (Ensemble)
PUSH,
by Kristen Lazarian (Sherman Oaks, CA USA).
Directed by Geoffrey Carlson.
PUSH is the story of Brooke Gatwick, a vibrant Los Angeles art dealer
with everything going for her. She has a loving husband, a solid group
of friends, and a thriving career with money to burn. She also has deep
insecurities about love and committment---and she's not the only one.
Brooke's husband, Owen, is also in doubt of his wife's fidelity. But
some tests are meant for failure, as Brooke and Owen soon discover.
When love becomes a game for this couple, it's a "push" that leaves
everyone devastated and the fate of one marriage hanging in the balance.
Cast: Becky Schallert (Brooke); Christine Makouske (Eleanor); Kate
Hurley (Amy); Elizabeth Burbee (Charlotte); Nathan Albert (Owen); Matt
Wilson (Adam); Zach Bosteel (Ansgar)
BIRTH,
by Karen Brody (Accord, NY USA)
Directed by Katie Jones.
This documentary play, based on interviews the playwright conducted with 118 women, is about modern childbirth in
America.
Cast: Cyra K. Pollizzi (Amanda); Judith Laughlin (Jillian); Lori Duncan
(Lisa); Tina Carney (Natalie); Jessica Camacho (Vanessa); PJ Monson
(Beth); Jazmin Corona (Janet); Amanda Hogan (Sandy)
INCOMING,
by Kathy Anderson (Audubon, NJ USA)
Directed by Matthew Singletary.
A lesbian couple is having a baby in an unusual way, involving an
inverse gravity board, a game of Red Rover, and an ex-lover trapped in
a hospital bed.
Cast: Kay Capasso (Liz); Ton-Essa La'Rocque (Sally); Stacy Boldrick
(Lou); Tom Lally (Dad); Andy John (Man 1); Jonathan Musser (Man 2);
Nicole Stachura (Stage Directions)
THE NUCLEAR SECRET,
by Lucia Verona (BUCHAREST, ROMANIA).
Directed by Gregory Gerhard.
This play presents the "huis clos", the confidential moment of the
face-to-face discussion between the acting President of a country and
the new President-elect. The acting President has to tell his successor
the most important state secrets.
Cast: Paul David Popp (President 1); Greg Hardin (President 2)
B4,
by Kathy Hsieh (Seattle, WA USA).
Directed by Kimberly Senior.
Three couples. Three time periods. One NYC apartment. Japanese-American
couple Grace and Jimmy are re-starting their lives after being interned
in WWII. Walter Weissman and his wife Rachel struggle to break the
blacklist in the 1950s. Christina desperately searches for her husband
after he leaves for the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
Cast: Cary Shoda (Jimmy); Betty Gabriel (Grace/Anna); Rob Skrocki
(Walter); Elaine Rivkin* (Rachael); Christine Buinan (Christina); Carl
Anderson (Paul)
MANHATTAN CASANOVA
by Jenny Lyn Bader (New York, NY USA).
Directed by Linda Roberts.
Dr. Charlotte Kaplan is a skeptical psychiatrist, attuned to trends,
noticing that all of her patients and friends are falling in love even
more quickly than usual. Could one man be responsible? A comedy about
compulsive seduction.
Cast: Bonnie Hilton (Charlotte); Diane Oppenheim (Pam); Ann Marie
Hultgren (Anne); Harry Hultgren (John); Karen Arnold (Eva); Kelli Kopp
(Nicki/Voice of the Time/Voice of the Weather)
GRIEVING FOR GENEVIEVE
by Kathleen Warnock (Astoria, NY USA).
Directed by Thrisa Hodits.
The Peck sisters and their mother gather in Baltimore for Delilah's
wedding. A stroke of bad luck changes their plans, and the sisters have
to take charge of the mother who's always tried to run their lives.
Cast: Earlina McLaurin (Danni); Barbara Whitney (Delilah/Ensemble);
Eliza Stoughton (Angel); Amy Ripepi (Genevieve); Matt Edlen (Offstage
Voice/Stage Directions)
THEIR WINGS WERE BLUE,
by Carmen Betancourt (Queens Village, NY USA).
Directed by Mikalina Araceli Rabinsky.
Three characters escape from the Picasso painting The Tragedy. The
museum curator who watches over the painting falls in love with one of
them and gives chase.
Cast: Mike Pusatari (Nottingham); Arielle Nobile (Enriquetta); Tomas Herman (Alonzo); Nik Mitseff (Lorenzo)
Donna Osowski (Suzanne); Lydia Landor (Toffle); J. Isreal Greene (Jackson)
DARLIN',
by Charlotte Samples (Torrance, CA USA).
Directed by Renee Gorka.
The anticipated arrival of a government photographer to an "Okie"
migrant worker camp in the midst of the Great Depression brings forth a
little girl's dream of having her picture taken in her deceased
mother's one good, store-bought dress.
Cast: Kim Vaness (Loyce); Brian Robert Dongarra (Curtley); Charlie
Jensen (Joe Don); PJ Monson (Althea); Glen Allen Pruett* (Papa); Norman
Bowers (Carl); Ryan Hutton (Billy)
WHY'D YA MAKE ME WEAR THAT, JOE?,
by Vanda (New York, NY USA)
Directed by Scott Bishop.
Two women fall in love with each other while their men are off fighting in the South Pacific in World War II.
Cast: Leeann Zahrt (Charlie); Michael Sullivan (Joe); Elise Lammers
(Aubra); Michael Peters (Philip); Joan McGrath (Grandma); Katie
Weisenberger (Emily); John Coriell (Mover/Others/Stage Directions)
CHICAGO HER-RAH! 2007 DAILY SCHEDULE:
(ALL EVENTS TAKE PLACE AT AROUND THE COYOTE, 1935 1/2 W. NORTH AVENUE.)
THURSDAY, June 21:
7pm-8pm: Networking Party for audience, actors, directors, playwrights, and theatre producers.
8 pm: ANOTHER PIECE OF CAKE
FRIDAY, June 22:
9 am- 11 am: PANEL DISCUSSIONS:
9 am-10 am: Panel discussion on teaching playwriting to "the next
generation" of women writers, moderated by Kathy Corbett of Melbourne,
Australia (University of Melbourne). Panelists will include Lisa
Dillman, local Chicago playwright and teacher.
10 am- 11 am: Panel discussion on playwriting for young audiences,
moderated by Jill Elaine Hughes (Chicago, IL USA) Panelists include
Ilesa Duncan, freelance director and staff at Pegasus Players and
Chicago Dramatists, as well as Karen Cardarelli of Emerald City Theatre
Company.
11 am-1:30 pm: PUSH
1:30 pm-2:00 pm: Lunch Break
2:00-4:15 pm: BIRTH
4:30-6:30 pm: THEIR WINGS WERE BLUE
6:30-7:30 pm: Dinner Break
7:30-9:00 pm: THE NUCLEAR SECRET and EMPTY FRIDGE, CARROTS, AND TOMATOES (double-bill of one-acts)
9:00 pm-10:00 pm: EVERYBODY ELSE (IS FUCKING PERFECT)
SATURDAY, June 23:
9 am-11 am: B4
11am-1pm: EVEN THE DIRT BLEEDS DOWN HERE
1:00-1:30 pm: Lunch Break
1:30-3:45 pm: SWEET GINGER, HOT AND BLUE
4:00 pm: HEADS
6:00-8:00 pm: Dinner Break
8:00-10:00 pm: DARLIN'
10:00-11:00 pm: Formal Reception/Party, Raffle Drawing/Silent Auction
SUNDAY, June 24:
9 am-11 am: BOSWELL'S DREAMS
11 am-1 pm: INCOMING
1 pm-1:30 pm: Lunch Break
1:30 pm-3:30 pm: MANHATTAN CASANOVA
3:30 pm-05:30 pm: GRIEVING FOR GENEVIEVE
5:30 pm-7:30 pm: WHY'D YA MAKE ME WEAR THAT, JOE?
Playwright Bios:
LUCIA VERONA (Bucharest, ROMANIA; author of THE NUCLEAR SECRET)
Born in Arad, a town in the West of Romania, Lucia Verona studied at
the Music Academy in Bucharest, wishing to become an opera singer, but
as she soon realized that she would never be a second Callas, she moved
on and started writing. She writes plays - mostly comedies, some of
which were produced or awarded major prizes -, novels and short
stories. Lucia is also a translator of drama from Hungarian, French and
English. A member of the Romanian Writers' Union, she is currently
president of the playwriting and theatrical criticism of the Bucharest
Writers' Association (which is the Bucharest branch of the Writers'
Union)
KAREN JEYNES (Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA; author of EVERYBODY ELSE IS FUCKING PERFECT)
is a 25-year-old writer, director, producer and stage manager with an
unfortunate tendency towards comedy. She studied English and Drama at
University of Cape Town. Her plays include "Laying Blame", "sky too
big", "Backwards in High Heels" (co-authored with the cast), "Don't
Mention Sex", "Kiss Kiss" and the multi award-winning "Everybody Else
(is Fucking Perfect)". She has also directed "The Best Man", "Pillow
Talk" and "Txt Me". Her adaptation of Thomas Rapakgadi's "The Purse is
Mine" aired on South African Bush Radio in 2006, and she is busy
writing a radio drama series for SAFM with Nkuli Sibeko, tentatively
entitled "Office Hours". Her teenage novel "Jacques Attack" (also
co-authored with Nkuli Sibeko) was published in 2004 as part of the
Siyagruva Series for New Africa Books, and her new book, "Flipside"
co-authored with Eeshaam September, is due for release this year.
NARANJARGAL KHASHKHUU (Ulaanbaatar, MONGOLIA; author of EMPTY FRIDGE, CARROTS, AND TOMATOES)
Ms. Khashkhuu is profiled in The Best 100 Mongolian Women (1996); a
chapter of "Who is Who?" in the Encyclopedia Mongolia and the Best 108
Mongolian Women (2004). She initiated the Mongolian Friends of
Shakespeare program, and the Globe Art Centre in Mongolia, organizing
Shakespeare Festivals and the International forum of women filmmakers
The World with Women Eyes. Playwriting Awards include The Leon Prize
for Best Play (Love Hidden in the Heart). A Mongolian journalist, Ms.
Khashkhuu set up the NGO Globe International, promoting and supporting
media freedom; she speaks at International events on the Mongolian
media situation; and is involved in training, advocacy and lobbying for
media freedom. Ms. Khashkhuu has visited more than 30 countries. She
teaches television theory and practice at Mongolian universities and
colleges; has published a book on TV journalism; and has received 10
journalism awards.
KRISTEN LAZARIAN (Sherman Oaks, CA USA; author of PUSH)
is a Los Angeles-based playwright who has had her full-length and short
plays at many venues in L.A., including the Geffen Playhouse, First
Stage, East-West Players, Theatre Geo, the Road Theatre, Pacific
Resident Theatre, 68 Cent Crew, and the Blank Theatre. Her works have
also been staged across the United States, including New York City, and
international productions in Holland, United Kingdom, Australia, and
Canada. Her play PUSH swept the 2006 Fritz Blitz Awards for New Plays,
winning in every category including Outstanding Playwright. Her plays
have been published by Smith & Kraus and the Laguna Review. In
addition to writing plays, Ms. Lazarian is a published theater critic
and poet. She has also written for television animation.
MARIE KOHLER (Milwaukee, WI USA; author of BOSWELL'S DREAMS)
co-founded Milwaukee-based Renaissance Theatreworks in 1993 and
currently serves as its Co-Artistic Director and Resident Playwright,
having written three of the company's five original works. Her play
COUNTING DAYS earned a nomination as the American Association of
Theater Critic's "Best New Regional Play" in 1995 and was a finalist in
the Charlotte Repertory Theater's Best New Plays Competition. Her play
MIDNIGHT AND MOLL FLANDERS was named "Best New Play of 2000 by
Milwaukee Magazine. BOSWELL'S DREAMS was also named "Best of the Year"
by Milwaukee Magazine. Ms. Kohler was honored with the Milwaukee Arts
Board 2005 "Artist of the Year" Award, and recently served as
Professional Guest Playwright Respondent at the Kennedy Center American
College Theatre Festival (KCACTF). She holds a BA from Harvard
University and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
KAREN BRODY (Accord, NY USA; author of BIRTH)
is a playwright, journalist, and mother. Ms. Brody began her
professional career with two years in the Peace Corps and went on to
work in international development primarily with women's groups in
Kenya, Guatemala and New York City. In the early 1990s, Brody's passion
for storytelling kick-started her career as a journalist, writing on
health and women's issues for Mothering Magazine and several other
publications. After having delivered her two children at home with
midwives in 1999 and 2001, Brody became a passionate advocate for
pregnant mothers. She began interviewing mothers about their birth
experiences and in 2005 wrote her first play, a documentary-style piece
called BIRTH. By 2006, BIRTH has received scores of productions
nationwide and is commercially successful primarily among birth
professionals. Ms. Brody also founded Birth on Labor Day (BOLD) as a
way to raise awareness about the global maternity care crisis.
CAROLYN NUR WISTRAND (Flint, MI USA; author of EVEN THE DIRT BLEEDS DOWN HERE)
Ms. Nur Wistrand's plays have been staged at the Nat Horne Theatre,
Harold Clurman Theatre, Playwrights Preview Productions and Open Eye:
New Stagings in New York City; The Bilingual Foundation for the Arts in
Los Angeles; The Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia; The
Phoenix Civic Plaza, and at numerous educational and community venues.
She is a faculty member in the Department of Africana Studies,
University of Michigan-Flint. Her plays are published by Africa World
Press, One Act Play Depot, Contemporary Drama Service, and Carmel
Publishers in Chandigarh, India. She is a member of ICWP, the
Dramatists Guild, and BAFA International Organization for the Arts.
KATHLEEN WARNOCK (Astoria, NY USA; author of GRIEVING FOR GENEVIEVE)
is a playwright from New York City's borough of Queens. Her full-length
play ROCK THE LINE was produced by Emerging Artists Theatre (NYC) and
published by United Stages. She received the Robert Chesley Award for
Emerging Playwright in 2006. GRIEVING FOR GENEVIEVE was produced by En
Avant Playwrights at the Midtown International Theater Festival (NYC)
in 2005. Her other plays have been produced in New York City and
regionally around the country, as well as international productions in
London and Dublin. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild, Emerging
Artists Theatre, TOSOS II Theatre, and En Avant Playwrights, as well as
ICWP. By day, she proudly edits Frommer's Travel Guides.
KATHY HSIEH (Seattle, WA USA; author of B4)
is an award-winning playwright, actor, and producer based in Seattle,
Washington. Her scripts have received premier productions with SIS
Productions, Northwest Asian American Theatre and Vancouver Asian
Canadian Theatre. As an actor, she has worked on workshop productions
of new works with playwrights such as Chay Yew, Philip Kan Gotanda,
Julia Cho, Alvin Eng, Jose Cruz Gonzalez, and others. She has also
performed with the Tony Award-winning Seattle Repertory Theatre and
Intiman, as well as ACT, Book-It, Empty Space, Group Theatre, Tacoma
Actors Guild, Freehold, ReAct, Living Voices, and SIS Productions.
CHARLOTTE SAMPLES (Torrance, CA USA; author of DARLIN')
Charlotte began her playwriting career in the Advanced Playwrights'
Workshop at South Coast Repertory Theatre in Costa Mesa, California
under the tutelage of John Glore. She has won a number of playwriting
awards, including First Prize in the 2002 William P and Arlene R Lewis
Playwriting Competition; First Prize in the 2001 Sprenger-Lang
Foundation New Play Competition; and she was a Finalist for the 1999
Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center National Playwrights' Conference. She was
also the recipient of a 1998 grant to the Shenandoah International
Playwrights' Retreat in Staunton, VA. By day, she does toy-brand
copywriting for MGA Entertainment, Mattel Toys, Wham-O, and other toy
companies, and she has contributed articles to The Los Angeles Times,
Westways, and many other publications.
P.H. LIN (New York City, NY USA; author of SWEET GINGER, HOT AND BLUE)
Ms. Lin has had her plays produced and/or workshopped in NYC by Women's
Project and Productions; The Lark; Pulse Ensemble Theatre; Nomad
Theatre Company; and Diverse City Theatre Co. Her work has also
received productions and staged readings by various theatres in
Washington, DC; Michigan; North Carolina; Ohio; Pennsylvania; and
Virginia. She holds an MFA in Theater Arts from the Catholic University
of America, and is also a Woodrow Wilson Fellow. In addition, she has
received numerous individual artist awards from the State of Maryland
and Montgomery County, Maryland. Ms. Lin is the winner of George Mason
University's Mary Robert Rinehart Award as well as Dayton FutureFest
National Playwriting Competition.
EM Lewis (Santa Monica, CA USA; author of HEADS)
Ms.
Lewis is a member of Moving Arts Theater Company, the Alliance of LA
Playwrights, ICWP and the Dramatists Guild. Her plays have been read
and produced all over the United States. Her newest play, HEADS, was
read at Pacific Resident Theater and The Blank Theater, both in Los
Angeles; and at the hotINK International Festival of New Plays at NYU.
It is also the winner of Coe College's New Works For The Stage
competition, and was a semi-finalist for the 2007 O'Neill Playwrights
Conference.
VANDA (New York City, NY USA; author of WHY'D YA MAKE ME WEAR THAT, JOE?
Vanda's play VILE AFFECTIONS played to sold-out audiences at the New
York International Fringe Festival in 2006. WHY'D YA MAKE ME WEAR THAT,
JOE is nominated for this year's Susan Smith Blackburn Award, and also
won Honorable Mention in the Writer's Digest Playwriting Contest, as
well as being a winner in the Ashland New Plays Series. WHY'D YA MAKE
ME WEAR THAT, JOE is also a finalist or semi-finalist in a number of
other playwriting contests, including the Reva Shiner Award, the
Panowski Playwriting Award, Playlabs at The Playwrights' Center, the
O'Neill Playwrights Conference, and the Cherry Lane Alternative Mentor
Program. Vanda won an Edward Albee Fellowship for her play SCREAMING IN
THE WILDERNESS. Vanda's one-act plays have been produced all over the
world. She is a member of The Actors' Studio in New York City.
MADELYN SERGEL (Gurnee, IL USA; author of ANOTHER PIECE OF CAKE)
Madelyn Sergel is a playwright and freelance writer. Recent staged
readings include THREE CUPS, directed by Gift Theatre ensemble member
Alexandra Main, and ANOTHER PIECE OF CAKE, both seen at Citadel
Theatre. Her play TALK received a staged reading at the Gurnee Theatre
Company, directed by GTC Artistic Director and Shattered Globe ensemble
member Doug McDade. A graduate of Syracuse University with a degree in
theatre, Ms. Sergel acted professionally for many years with theatres
throughout Chicagoland. A member of SAG/AFTRA, she also worked in
commercials, industrials, and print.
CARMEN BETANCOURT (Queens Village, NY USA; author of THEIR WINGS WERE BLUE)
Carmen draws inspiration for her plays from the nooks and crannies of
New York City, where she has lived most of her life, as well as South
America, land of her roots. She is a graduate of NYU and has attended
various theater playwriting schools. Carmen enjoys gardening,
traveling, doing volunteer work at literacy centers, and most of all,
letting her imagination roam wild as she concocts her plots.
JENNY LYN BADER (New York City, NY USA; author of MANHATTAN CASANOVA)
Recent productions of Ms. Bader's plays include MANHATTAN CASANOVA
(Hudson Stage Company), NONE OF THE ABOVE (New Georges), and OUT OF
MIND (NYU/Strasberg). Ms. Bader's plays have also been produced at
Center Stage NY, Vital Theatre, HERE Arts Center, The Humana Festival
of New American Plays at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, Florida's
City Theatre, and many other theatres around the United States. Her
plays and other writings have been published by Vintage Press, Smith
& Kraus, Dramatists Play Service, Warner Books, and other
publishers. She has received an Edith Oliver Award from the Eugene
O'Neill Center and a "Best of the Fringe" selection at the New York
International Fringe Festival, and a Lark Playwriting Fellowship, for
which she was nominated by Wendy Wasserstein. Ms. Bader graduated from
Harvard University, where she received the Whitehill Prize for humane
letters and arts. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild, Writers
Guild- East, and the Authors Guild.
KATHY ANDERSON (Audubon, NJ USA; author of INCOMING)
Kathy has been a writer of plays, essays, and short stories for more
than three decades. Her plays have been produced at Brooklyn Arts
Exchange, Philadelphia Theatre Workshop, and the Theatre Alliance of
Greater Philadelphia SPARK Festival, among other venues. Her writing
has also been published in The Advocate and Antietam Review. She is a
recipient of a New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowship (1999)
and was a participant in the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference fiction
workshop (2003).
Producer Bios:
JILL ELAINE HUGHES (Producer/Curator/Event Coordinator)
A
current member of the International Centre for Women Playwrights
Executive Board, Jill Elaine Hughes has been active in the Chicago
theater community as a playwright, director, actor and producer for
nearly 10 years. Ms. Hughes founded the nationally acclaimed Stockyards
Theatre Project in 1999 and served as its Artistic Director for five
years, and also established Stockyards' annual Women's Performance Art
Festival in 2000. Her plays have been produced or have received staged
readings in Chicagoland by Stockyards Theatre Project, Chicago
Dramatists, Bailiwick Arts Center, Theatre of Western Springs, Stage
Left Theatre, Women's Theatre Alliance, Boxer Rebellion Ensemble,
Around the Coyote, Writers Bloc, Estrogen Fest, Experimental Theatre
Chicago, Speaking Ring Theatre Company, Theatre Entropy, and around the
U.S. and world by East Village Experimental Theatre Co. (Philadelphia),
Belleville Theatre Guild (Canada) NewGate Theatre (Providence, RI),
Whole World Theatre (Atlanta), Brooklyn College, Harrogate Theatre
(United Kingdom), Insurrection Theatre (Phoenix, AZ), A Working Theatre
Co. (Portsmouth, OH), University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, Rockland
Productions (Los Angeles, CA), Regroup Theatre (Los Angeles, CA) and
many more. Her plays are published by Smith & Kraus, Meriwether
Publishing Ltd., and Brooklyn Play Publishers. She is also a novelist
and journalist who has contributed to many magazines and newspapers,
including the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Reader, New Art Examiner, Cat
Fancy, Missouri Review, Barfly, and many other publications. Ms.
Hughes' play INTELLIGENT DESIGN was recently named a Semi-Finalist for
the prestigious Julie Harris Playwriting Award. Her debut novel MARKET
FOR LOVE will be released next year.
KATIE JONES (Co-Producer/Assistant Curator)
Katie Jones is currently the Outreach Coordinator at American Theater
Company, and she directs Northlight Theatre's Open Door Ensemble of
Senior Citizens. She has also worked in different capacities with
Around the Coyote, Citadel Theatre Company, and Steppenwolf's Crosstown
Teen Ensemble. Katie is also a member of the Directors Lab at Lincoln
Center and Directors Lab Chicago, where she has found a deep love for
working with playwrights on new material. She is originally from South
Carolina and received her degree in Performing Arts from Clemson
University.
CYNTHIA CASTIGLIONE (Around The Coyote Theatre Curator/Liasion)
has been Around the Coyote's theater curator since 2003. She is a
producer and actress who has worked in all areas of theatre with such
companies as Redmoon, Piven, and Collaboraction. She is a Board Member
of Co-Op Image and a producer for the Human Television Network, with
whom she is currently working on an outdoor installation to be
installed in Spring of 2006.Cynthia is a graduate of The Theatre School
at DePaul University.
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