works by drama students
Works by three students from the School of Drama will be showcased in the third annual Yale Playwrights at New Dramatists Playreading Festival, being held Friday, Dec. 8, in New York City.
Sponsored by the School of Drama and New Dramatists, the Manhattan-based center for American playwrights, the event will take place at New Dramatists, 424 West 44th St. The festival runs noon-5 p.m. and will be followed by a reception.
The Yale playwrights featured are Sean Cunningham, Colleen J. Pickett and Joshua Scher. All three will graduate this spring from the School of Drama's playwriting program.
Introducing the playwrights and sharing some of her own experiences as a writer will be award-winning playwright Maria Irene Fornes.
For the festival, Cunningham is offering "God Hates the Irish: A Comedy About Things One Shouldn't Laugh At (or The Ballad of Armless Johnny)," a lampoon of Irish plays. Pickett presents "Cold Water Coming," in which three young girls awaiting their fathers' return from the sea re-enact the story of Noah's wife as she faces the advancing flood. Scher is represented by "Velvet Ropes," a vaudevillian romp that pits two hapless museum-goers against the art that surrounds them.
Created in 1998, the Yale/New Dramatist partnership nurtures emerging student playwrights, exposing them to the process of professional play development while helping them establish formative relationships with selected playwrights, directors, actors, dramaturgs and New Dramatists administrators. Mentoring the three Yale playwrights during their writing process were David Ives, who advised Cunningham; Diana Son, who worked with Pickett; and David Lindsay-Abaire, who guided Scher. For the playwriting festival Loretta Greco will direct Pickett's piece; Greg Leaming will direct Scher's play; and Susan Fenichell will direct Cunningham's comedy.
"These readings -- in conjunction with the internships, workshops and mentorships -- create an extraordinary opportunity for Yale's playwriting students at a critical moment in the development of their careers as working professionals in the theater," says Mark Bly, chair of the playwriting program at the School of Drama, who cofounded and codirects the festival with Todd London of New Dramatists.
As a direct result of the first two Playreading Festivals, a number of Yale playwrights have received commissions, staged readings, workshops and productions from such theaters as the Yale Repertory Theatre, The Joseph Papp Public Theater, Williamstown Theatre Festival, South Coast Repertory, New York Theatre Workshop, The Tribeca Playhouse and Mark Taper Forum.
For additional information, or to make reservations, call New Dramatists at (212) 757-6960.
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