Our Voices Together II

Our Voices Together II
2008 ICWP Showcase of Playwrights' Platform Women Writers's New Work
May 17th, 7:00pm Ruth Nagel Jones Theatre, Wellesley College, MA.
Free and open to the public. See some of the Boston area's best actors in Staged Reading premieres!

7:00 pm Pre-show reception with refreshments.
7:30 pm the short plays:

Russian Master Class by Ludmila Anselm *
Cut by Holly Jensen
Unconditionally by Lida McGirr
Shopping Cart by Regina Ramsey*
The Acolyte by Kelly DuMar *

Intermission

The Unveiling by Ellen Davis Sullivan
Last Glance by Hortense Gerardo *
Best Practice by G.L. Horton *
Pull a Costner -by Phyllis Rittner

9:15 pm Post-show discussion moderated by Platform board members Chris King and Kelly DuMar.

* members of the International Centre for Women Playwrights, co-sponsor of this second annual celebration.

Web Links:
Stage Page Pod Cast Re: Our Voices Together >
Ruth Nagel Jones Theatre, Wellesley Summer Theatre
International Centre for Women Playwright
Playwrights Platform

Coming: March 15th 7pm BRIGHTON BRANCH

ICWP Celebration of Women Playwrights Thursday March 15th 7pm
BRIGHTON BRANCH 617-782-6032 Boston Public Library
40 Academy Hill Road, Brighton Free.

WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH STAGED PLAY READINGS

Rosanna Yamagiwa Alfaro: excerpt from her play "Martha Mitchell" about the wife of Nixon's Attorney General-- the only US AG to go to jail, for Dirty Tricks such as covering up the Watergate break in.

Kelly DuMar: excerpt from the full length "Away Message"; about love and loss across two generations.

G.L.Horton's "Elegy"; a veteran violist wants to pass on a hard-earned lesson to an up-and-coming young woman virtuoso.

Monica Raymond's "Novices"; A twenty-first century take on The Taming of the Shrew: Kate and Pete, who've connected on-line, meet in person at Au Bon Pain.

Mary McCollough's "Bottom Lines"; Pooshee Pritchee intends to save brother, Cash, from himself-- and save the family's good name. Pooshee's soon-to-be lawyer niece, Dee, tries to stop her.

Deborah Valianti: excerpt from the Brighton playwright's "Too Many Willies "; a gender bending exploration of the nature and source of Art, and inspiration, and the effects of marketplace sensibilities on the Artist.


TALKBACK and REFRESHMENTS to follow the readings.

ICWP in the Globe (barely)

A brief meention by Cathrine Foster in the Goble's Stages column today

Notes
The International Centre for Women Playwrights is sponsoring a series of events during Women's History Month. Tomorrow at 7 p.m., a "Celebration of Women's Voices" at Wellesley College will feature eight short plays by local women writers. On Thursday at 7 p.m., the Boston Playwrights' Theatre will host a "Celebration of Monologues by Women," featuring short monologues by 16 local writers. More events to come. . .

Coming to Cambridge March 8th

Celebration of Women’s Writing and Readings - Free.
Saturday March 10th 10:00 am-2pm. info 617-630-9704
Central Square Library, 45 Pearl Street, Cambridge, MA.

10:00 FREE WORKSHOP on WRITING FROM THE NEWS with Clauder Gold Medalist Monica Raymond & Geralyn Horton. Using news items & free wheeling free association to create scenes and monologues.

11:45 am STAGED READINGS of SHORT PLAYS
and scenes by local and ICWP women writers:
Debra Wise performing Faith in an excerpt from her play "States of Grace", about author Grace Paley.

Cynthia Wand’s "The American Woman": about Shakespeare scholar Delia Bacon; with Rena Baskin & David Rothauser.

Joyce Van Dyke's "Not My Real Mother": a legendary meeting between Tennessee Williams and Mother Teresa; with Robert Bonotto & G. Horton.

Lee Roscoe's "Mobile": a piece of art comes to life; with Sean David Bennett and Peter White. Monologue "Hunting Life": man and prey.

Monica Raymond's "The Biopsy": a sister’s reaction to a test for breast cancer. Directed by Victoria Marsh.

Rae Edelson's scene from "Surf Casting": older man, younger woman on Nantucket explore need and loss; with Ted Kazanoff & Rena Baskin.

TALKBACK and REFRESHMENTS to follow the readings. This event is a good opportunity for women who are interested in play writing but not connected with a group or theatre to come make connections. Men welcome.

ICWP Celebrations in Ohio March 2007

Women Playwrights Readings in Ohio


Five short plays by women writers will be featured to mark International
Women's Day, March 8, at Gallery 202 in Westerville, Ohio. Organized by the
Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute of The Ohio
State University, all the playwrights are represented in the Institute's
archives. Dr. Alan Woods, the Institute's Director, Dr. Katherine Burkman,
Emerita Professor of English at Ohio State, and Dr. Beth Kattelman, the
Institute's Assistant Curator, will co-direct the readings.

All five plays look at women and their relationships. Toronto playwright
Shirley Barrie's Audience explores the appeal of experimental theatre
through a married couple's relationship, while Vicki Cheatwood, from
Garland , Texas , examines the end of a long-term relationship in her The
Last Time Cooper Took Midge Fishing. Salt Lake City writer Elaine Jarvik's
couple, in Dead Right, re-examine their marriage as the wife contemplates
how she might be presented in her obituary. And Gerry Sanseviero, a
playwright from New York City , presents sisters coping with age while
trying to get served before a Broadway matinee in Matinee Lunch. Katherine
Burkman, in Geraldine and Jacob, plays with a woman obsessed with gambling,
and what both enables and results from her passion with the slots.

The free staged reading starts at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 8th, at
Gallery 202, 38 N. State Street in Westerville . Marking International
Women's Day, the Columbus area reading is one of many staged readings
taking place internationally and recognized by the International Center for
Women Playwrights. International Women's Day dates back to 1909, and has
been celebrated on March 8th since 1919. It has been recognized by the
United Nations as a key support for the UN Charter's 1945 call for gender
equality as a fundamental right.

For more information on the readings, click the link or
contact the Lawrence and Lee Institute at 614/292-6614.
Additional information on Gallery 202 and its programs call 614-890-8202

And much material about the International Centre for Women Playwrights


Alan Woods
Director, Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute
The Ohio State University
1430 Lincoln Tower
1800 Cannon Drive
Columbus, Ohio

Coming to Wellesley March 3rd

I'll be acting with June Lewin in Gail Phaneuf's "New Tricks"

Celebration of Women's Voices Festival
Features Platform Members at Wellesley College,
March 3, 2007, 7 p.m.

Eight Playwrights' Platform members will have plays featured in the "Celebration of Women's Voices Festival," hosted by Wellesley Summer Theatre, in the Ruth Nagel Jones Theatre, March 3, 2007 at 7:00 p.m.

This evening of staged readings is part of the Internatonal Center for Women Playwrights', month-long presentation of Boston-area women's plays celebrating International Women's Day March 8. Featured playwrights include: Ludmilla Anselm (Three Friends), Marika Barnett (Chekhov and Pinter Take a Pause), Kelly DuMar (Clay), Hortense Gerardo (The Dress Rehearsal), Holly Jensen (an excerpt from Stripped), Gail Phaneuf (New Tricks), Regina Eliot Ramsay (The Perfect Stranger), and Phyllis Rittner (Breeding Season).

Following the plays, Nora Hussey, head of the theatre department at Wellesley College and Artistic Director of the Wellesley Summer Theatre, will moderate a panel discussion with Boston-area directors to discuss the plays and explore how the theatrical culture can be influenced to be more receptive to producing plays by women. Featured directors include: Michelle Aguillon (Hovey Players), Jerry Bisantz (Playwrights' Platform/Image Theater), Rose Carlson (Executive Director, Devanaughn Theatre), Lisa Rafferty (Freelance Director and Producer/MOMologues Productions) and Nancy Curran Willis (formerly with Gloucester Stage Company & Boston Theatre Works).

The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served from 7:00 until 7:30 when the readings begin. The Ruth Nagel Jones Theatre is on the lower level of Alumnae Hall and is wheelchair accessible. There is ample free parking in the Davis covered parking structure adjacent to the theatre. Reservations are not necessary.

ICWP Celebrations in Boston March 2007

original "call" to ICWP list with some timely updates....

The International Women's Day or Women's History Month ICWP Celebrations in Boston March 2007

These will be mainly networking events: a chance for women playwrights to introduce themselves and present an attractive sample of their work: Short pieces! So that we get a critical mass to interact and a sense of the abundance of talent and the wide range of subjects and styles women writers have to offer. The work will be self-selected and self-produced by the writers. I'm not jurying, except in so far as I am inviting the women who participated successfully in the 2003 Her-Rah to be part of 2007. This isn't an event for testing new material, but for showing off a bit of the best that you have to your colleagues and theatre professionals. We had a wonderful time together in 2003, getting to know and admire each others' work and sharing contacts. I'm trusting that the Muse will smile on our endeavors this time too.


VIRTUAL PARTICIPATION: Boston Playwrights Theatre is donating space for an event Thursday March 8th that will focus on monologues for actors to use for auditions. Rosanna Yamagiwa Alfaro, who organized for ICWP in 2003, has taken responsibility for this. Some of Boston's best actors and directors have signed on, and the Playwrights Theatre will promote the idea of actors and acting teachers going directly to local women playwrights to get fresh unpublished material. There will be a directors/coaches panel led by Victoria Marsh, discussing how to choose and use monologues, and a network and smooze reception. The Theatre only seats 75, but is legal for 90 with standees -- we're hoping to use the lobby/greenroom for an after-show party that will include more actors/directors/playwrights than will fit into the event, but that is still at the wish stage. VIRTUAL PARTICIPATION by ICWP writers for whom it is impractical to be present will work like this: You snail me a packet of 100 copies (single or double sided) of a page that includes your contact info, tiny bio, description of your monologues and their availability, and a sample or 2 from your monologues that give a sense of your work in this genre; OR you email me the same info, edited to fit onto a single side-- simple txt formatting, please-- I'm a mac user and MSWord has a nasty way of gumming up my word processor programs-- and I will print out 100 copies on my laser printer. However these playwright-advertising pages come to me, I will collate them into packets to be offered to the directors and lit mgrs and actors who take part in this BPT/ICWP event. Any packets that are not claimed at the BPT will be taken to later ICWP events and offered to people there. Advertise!

PHYSICAL PARTICIPATION: If you are an ICWP member and you have some Boston-area connections and can be here for one of the events, please consider participating! I wouldn't encourage anyone to do so who does not already have some connections... Boston does not generally welcome or nurture playwrights. We're working on that here: there is a StageSource committee charged with setting up something for Boston that is modeled on the great work of Chicago Dramatists. Local theatre directors and literary managers will be invited to this event. Chances are, though, that they will NOT come unless someone they know personally is directly involved. But if you have had a play done in this area before, or an area theatre has expressed interest in your work and said something like "If you have something done nearby where I can see it, invite me" and you think that your participation could be a real networking opportunity, then do come! We can't produce for you, but we will assist in any way we can. Maybe the Boston person who is interested your play will be willing to direct the scene or short one act, and provide actors.

So far, there are 6 committed venues for these events, follows:

Kelly Du Mar, a member of Board of Playwrights' Platform and also a veteran of ICWP's Boston Her-Rah 2003, is organizing readings co-sponsored by Boston Playwrights Platform centered on Metro West women for Saturday March 3rd at Wellesley College. It includes a panel on the Wide World of Women Writers. Nora Hussey, head of Theatre at Wellesley, brought a fully mounted production to the ICWP/WPI conference in Galway Ireland, and produces a high proportion of women's work at her theatre, mostly Irish or English. She is the main producer of Polly Teale's work in the US. She will be joined on the panel by directors Nancy Curran Willis, Rose Carlson, and Jerry Bisantz.

ICWP member Hortense Gerardo is featured in an event that will showcase her one act "The Rosewater of Dona Felicidad", an allegorical play based on Dr. Faustus and the fall of Allende circa 1973, which will be performed as a form of object-based theater-- aka puppetry. There's also a women-themed gallery art show -- at Lasell College in Newton. Newton Community Cable will cover it as News. It is Saturday March 10th, and will have a reception with refreshments.

ICWP has secured the Central Square Library in Cambridge for events March 8th 6-9pm
and Sat March -10th "matinee" 10:30 am-2pm.
These are events for which I am hoping for more participants. Central Sq. is a funky diverse location, nestled between Harvard and MIT. You can see the space-- it will seat 70-90-- with bad sight lines-- on the ICWP web site under "Events 2003 Her-Rah". Two of the participants from 2003 have indicated that they want slots in the Sat. "Matinee". I am trying to recruit a sane dependable person to run Central Sq. Thurs eve, because I'll be acting a monologue from Rosanna Alfaro's Martha Mitchell at BPT and can't be in 2 places... Actress Ann Carpenter, who is in the Charlestown Working Theatre's production of ICWP member Jamie Pachino's "Race", is getting two of the CWT actors to reprise a scene from "Race" at Central Sq., probably on Thurs. the 8th.

The Brighton (Boston) Public Library just called to request ICWP Women's History Month readings in their 70 seat performance space on Thursday March 15th 7-9 pm. I queried them-- the Platform used to have play readings there-- last month, but the head Librarian was on vacation. She's back, and very enthusiastic. So this space is open for plays and scenes, and so far I have only 20 minutes of scenes to put in it!