What a great day for playwrights, especially if you're a D.C. based playwright. Today, Arena Stage announced the six D.C.-area playwrights that have been selected to participate in the inaugural Playwrights’ Arena as part of the American Voices New Play Institute at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. 

Playwrights’ Arena is a collaborative group of local writers dedicated to the support and development of each other’s work and practice. The yearlong program commences in January 2013, and the inaugural members include Norman Allen, Randy Baker, Jacqueline E. Lawton, Heather McDonald, Danielle Mohlman and Shawn Northrip. I'm proud and honored to be one of the six playwrights and look forward to what the year has to offer. For those who missed the Washington Post announcement, here it is.

"Arena’s focus on American voices extends beyond the mainstage,” comments Arena Stage Artistic Director Molly Smith. “The unique nature of this program is how it will bring writers together to support each other. We are proud to create a forum for collaboration, process and discovery, to connect these artists to each other as well as to another world of artists as only Arena can.”

“I’m thrilled to launch the Playwrights’ Arena and to work with these amazing D.C. playwrights,” shares Arena Stage Director of Artistic Programming and facilitator of Institute programs David Snider. “It is a great group of artists—and another great step in the development of the American Voices New Play Institute.”

More than 30 applicants were considered for the program, which will include bimonthly three-hour meetings on a weeknight at the Mead Center to investigate each other’s work and develop their dramaturgical practice. They will meet regularly with the Institute’s resident playwrights and Arena Stage directors, designers and staff. At least twice during the year actors will read their work in private laboratory rehearsals, giving the playwrights a chance to hear their work and respond to it. The playwrights will be able to attend opening nights and special events and be supported as members of the Arena Stage artistic community. Click here to read the rest of the Arena Stage's official press release.

With this program, Arena Stage joins the ranks of a handful of regional and nationally recognized theatres/arts organizations who are investing time, energy and artistic resources in the local playwriting community. Other such wonderful folks include Active Cultures, Adventure Theatre MTC, Capital Fringe Festival, Inkwell Theatre, Intersections Festival, the Kennedy Center, Mead Theatre Lab Program, National New Play Network, Rorschach Theatre, Round House Theatre, Source Festival, Theater J and several others. I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's exciting to be playwright in the nation's capital! 

NORMAN ALLEN

Norman Allen’s work has been commissioned and produced by the Kennedy Center (The Light of Excalibur), the Shakespeare Theatre Company (On the Eve of Friday Morning) and the Karlin Music Theatre in Prague, where his contemporary Carmen (score by Wildhorn and Murphy) ran for four years. While playwright-in-residence at Signature Theatre, Allen premiered Melville Slept Here, Nijinsky's Last Dance (Helen Hayes Award, Outstanding Play) and In the Garden (Charles MacArthur Award, Outstanding New Play), with subsequent productions across the United States and Europe. Current and upcoming projects include an adaptation of George Eliot’s Daniel Deronda, funded by a grant from the D.C. Commission on the Arts; productions of Carmen in Japan and Korea; and the premiere of Once Wild: Isadora Duncan in Russia with Word Dance Theatre, directed by Derek Goldman. In addition to his work for the stage, Allen has provided essays and commentary for WAMU-FM (NPR), and for leading national publications, including Smithsonian and The Washington Post.           

“David Snider has become the Dolly Levi of the Washington playwrights’ set. He’s put together a group of writers with very different styles, from very different backgrounds. Like any self-respecting matchmaker, he’s made sure that we’ll make life interesting for each other. The make-up of this group means that each of us will be challenged significantly in the year ahead. What could be more important to the work than that?”

RANDY BAKER

Randy Baker is a playwright, director and the co-Artistic Director of Rorschach Theatre which he founded with Jenny McConnell Frederick in the summer of 1999. Plays he has written include Forgotten Kingdoms, The Burning Road, The First Disobedience, The Gate and Dream Sailors. His plays have been produced at Rorschach Theatre, Source Theatre, Forum Theatre (re)acts, Extreme Exchange, Three Leaches Theatre (Colorado), George Washington University and The National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts. He has had readings and workshops at National New Play Network, Inkwell Theatre, Theater J, The Arts Club of Washington, Wordsmyth Theater, MTWorks, Primary Stages, American University, Theater Alliance and Rorschach Theatre. As a director with Rorschach Theatre he has directedThe Minotaur, After the Quake, 1001, Rhinoceros, JB, Behold!, Fair Ladies at a Game of Poem Cards and Monster. He has also directed for Source Theatre, Inkwell Theatre, First Draft, NCDA’s Actors Repertory Theatre, Wayward Theatre, Cherry Red Productions and Young Playwrights Theater where he is a company member.

“I’m honored and humbled to be included among such talented writers—writers that are a testament to the vitality of D.C.’s large playwriting community. Becoming a part of the Playwrights’ Arena and this community of artists is going to be thrilling, allowing me to be a part of something bigger than my own battered laptop."

JACQUELINE E. LAWTON

Jacqueline E. Lawton received her MFA in Playwriting from the University of Texas at Austin, where she was a James A. Michener Fellow. She participated in the Kennedy Center’s Playwrights’ Intensive (2002) and World Interplay (2003). Her plays include Anna K; Blood-bound and Tongue-tied; Deep Belly Beautiful; The Devil’s Sweet Water; The Hampton Years; Ira Aldridge: the African Roscius; Lions of Industry, Mothers of Invention; Love Brothers Serenade, Mad Breed and Our Man Beverly Snow. She has received commissions from Active Cultures Theater, Discovery Theater, National Portrait Gallery, National Museum of American History, Round House Theatre and Theater J. Her play, Cinder Blocks, was published in Experiments in a Jazz Aesthetic: Art, Activism, Academia, and the Austin Project (University of Texas Press). A 2012 TCG Young Leaders of Color, she has been nominated for the Wendy Wasserstein Prize and a PONY Fellowship from the Lark New Play Development Center.

“I'm proud and quite amazed to be part of the inaugural Playwrights’ Arena. Arena Stage was one of my first theater homes as an arts administrator and educator, so it’s wonderful to return as a playwright. I feel fortunate to be able to spend a year dedicated to communing with such exceptionally talented and diverse playwrights, to working with everyone at Arena Stage and to discovering new depths and dimensions of my own writing.”

HEATHER MCDONALD

Heather McDonald’s plays include An Almost Holy Picture, When Grace Comes In, Dream of a Common Language, Available Light, The Rivers and Ravines,Faulkner’s Bicycle, The Two Marys, Rain and Darkness and, upcoming, The Suppressed-Desire Ball (developed at Sundance Ucross Writers Retreat). Her work has been produced on Broadway and Off and at such theaters as The Roundabout Theatre, Arena Stage, The McCarter Theatre, Center Stage, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Indiana Rep, California Shakespeare Theatre, Round House Theatre, Signature Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, The Actors Theatre of Louisville – Humana Festival of New Plays, The La Jolla Playhouse and internationally in Italy, Spain, Portugal, England and Mexico. Her work has been honored with a nomination for the Pulitzer Prize, three NEA Playwriting Fellowships, The First Prize Kesselring Award and was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Her plays are published by Dramatists Play Service, Samuel French, Inc. and in several collections. She has written and sold two screenplays, Rocket 88 and Walking After Midnight, and is at work on a new project for television, GOLD. She received her MFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts and is Professor of Theater at George Mason University.

“The Olympic champion swimmer Dara Torres said that a race is lost in the middle. That really struck me. As an artist, I relate to that. A part of what is wonderful for me to be in this writer's group is to have some comrades for the middle part of the ‘race.’ Some encouragement to ‘keep swimming’ and the joy that comes from looking over to the right and seeing a friendly face ‘paddling along next to you.’"

DANIELLE MOHLMAN

Danielle Mohlman holds an MA in Theatre Studies from Emerson College. Recent credits include Followed by a Sometime Cowboy at Forum Theatre’s Re(Acts); andJim and Paul Meet in Dreams (Field Trip Theatre) and The Crow (Artists’ Bloc), both at the Kennedy Center’s Page-to-Stage Festival. Other credits include Stopgap at the Capital Fringe Festival and The Bed at DC SWAN Day. In 2012, the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities awarded Danielle a Larry Neal Writers’ Award for Dramatic Writing. Upcoming productions include Apocalypse, part of 360° of America at the Atlas Intersections Festival, and John. John. John. at Station Nation—a festival honoring the victims of the Station nightclub fire in West Warwick, Rhode Island. Danielle is a co-moderator of DC-Area Playwrights and Artistic Director of Field Trip Theatre.          

"There's something very exciting about being part of the first class of playwrights. David Snider is so clearly passionate about this project and the individual playwrights involved. He's set up a real playground for process work and is very open to my ideas about experimenting with language in the piece I'm working on this coming year."

SHAWN NORTHRIP

Shawn Northrip is a playwright and composer with an MFA in Musical Theatre Writing from New York University and BA from Catholic University. His punk musical adaptation of Titus Andronicus appeared at Source Theatre Company and Off-Off Broadway at Chashama and the Tank and is anthologized by New York Theatre Experience. Lunch, a musical about love in the eighth grade, was developed with support from the Kennedy Center's Kenan Foundation, earned the Anna Sosenko Assist Trust Grant, premiered at the New York Musical Festival and is published by Playscripts. Cautionary Tales for Adults and the Many Adventures of Trixie Tickles, his parody of children's shows, earned the Audience Choice: Best Musical at the Second Capital Fringe Festival, appeared in Round House's Silver Spring Series and was Spank!ed by Upright Citizens Brigade. When he is not writing, Shawn teaches Theater Arts at George Mason High School in Falls Church City, VA.

“I’m looking forward to refining my writing voice, to maturing as a playwright, to showing that I’m not just a ‘Fringy’ writer, that I’m capable of writing more than fart jokes and the theatrical equivalent of B-grade horror movies, but can create compelling stories, with well-rounded witty characters, comedic on the surface but with heart underneath. But mostly, I look forward to learning how to write better endings… I never know how to end things.”

For more information on the American Voices New Play Institute at Arena Stage visit: arenastage.org/artistic-development/new-play-institute. 

Support for the Kogod Cradle Series provided by: The Barbara R. Walton Endowment Fund for New Playwrights. Barbara R. Walton (1920-2003) was very active in the Washington theater community, serving as President of the Little Theatre of Alexandria and Secretary of the Board of Trustees at Arena Stage (Board member from 1957-65). In addition to directing community theater productions for the Montgomery Players and The Children's Theatre of Richmond, she wrote six full-length plays and numerous one-acts that were produced throughout the Capital region. Her most notable works include: Hallowe'en Time, The Wonderful Idababa, Lost, The Gin-Gin Trade and The Red Hat. Her musical, The Sing Ling Circus (book and lyrics), was presented on the Fichandler Stage by the Arena Stage repertory company in 1962 to wide audience and critical acclaim.   

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater is a national center dedicated to the production, presentation, development and study of American theater. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Molly Smith and Executive Director Edgar Dobie, Arena Stage is the largest company in the country dedicated to American plays and playwrights. Arena Stage produces huge plays of all that is passionate, exuberant, profound, deep and dangerous in the American spirit, and presents diverse and ground-breaking work from some of the best artists around the country. Arena Stage is committed to commissioning and developing new plays through the American Voices New Play Institute. Now in its seventh decade, Arena Stage serves a diverse annual audience of more than 300,000. arenastage.org

Follow Arena Stage on Twitter @arenastage or twitter.com/arenastage and mention the Kogod Cradle Series with #KogodCradleSeries. Find us on Facebook atfacebook.com/arenastage.

“When a big, new idea comes into the world, it must answer two challenges: One is the challenge of how do you behave when you're weak? And the other, how do you behave when you're strong? When you're weak, do you bend, do you compromise? Or are you unyielding and firm? And when you're strong — when you're victorious — are you cruel and vengeful, or are you merciful and forgiving?” Salman Rushdie

This quote, which serves as the opening inscription of my new play, OUR MAN BEVERLY SNOW, comes from Joseph Anton - A Memoir written by the brilliant, bold and incomparable novelist and essayist, Salman Rushdie. In 1988, Salman Rushdie published a novel, The Satanic Verses. I was ten years old at the time and had no idea who Mr. Rushdie was or what happened to him as a result of him writing this highly acclaimed and controversial novel. My favorite books at that time were The Fabulous Five and Anne of Green Gables series.

I eventually did read The Satanic Versus in undergrad. It was an enthralling, majestic, devastating and terrifying read. It reminded me of how I felt when reading Antoine de Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince for the first time. I was enchanted by this lovely, wise and forlorn tale. I read it page for page with my sister. At that time, my world was as a big as Tennessee Colony, a small rural farming community in East Texas, and only stretched as far as Palestine, a small city where we'd go to buy groceries and visit the library. We raised farm animals and kept a vegetable/herb garden. So I understood the tenderness of the Prince's description of his own planet, his devotion to his rose, the vigilance needed to combat the baobab trees and the taming of the fox.  I loved stories of adventure and so was captivated by the Prince's visits to each planet. But when he meets the snake, I was afraid to turn the page. I felt a flash of heat and was filled with an ominous and foreboding feeling. Having grown up on the Bible, I knew what was coming and grew quite sad. I asked my mother to sit with us while we finished reading it.

I am fascinated by what happened to Salman Rushdie. He is an artist. He wrote The Satanic Verses in an attempt to talk about the nature of revolution. He did what I feel an artist is meant to do: ask questions, make observations and call attention to what is happening in the world. And he was punished severely for it.

OUR MAN BEVERLY SNOW is a play about revolution. It is the story of a young slave, Arthur Bowen, who in a drunken rage, picks up an ax and demands his freedom. It is the story of an abolitionist, Reuben Crandall, who--at the risk to life and limb--travels to D.C. to join in the fight to end slavery. It is the story of a reverend, Frank Cook, who preaches the word of God, teaches free people of color how to read and write and gathers a group of Black men together for enlightened discussion. It is the story of an immigrant, Andrew Laub, trying desperately to hold on to his piece of the American Dream. It is the story of a constable, Madison Jeffers, who believes strongly in the institution of slavery, thinks very little of free people of color and despises abolitionists, but is honor bound to protect those in his custody regardless of their beliefs. It the story of a culinary artist, Beverly Snow, who travels to the nation's capital, brings culture the masses and creates magnificent cuisine. He didn't discriminate and opened his doors to slaves, slave owners, auctioneers, and abolitionist alike. Yet, it is his name that is dragged through the mud, his restaurant that is ransacked and he, who is run out of the nation's capital. It is the artist who is punished severely.

The reading this past Saturday was really beautiful. Having written it so quickly, I really had no idea what was there. Even at these early stages, the script is powerful, relevant and compelling. Our post-show discussion was one of the most riveting and passionate that I have ever experienced. We talked a great deal about revolution, but were most interested in the types of people needed to make a revolution possible. In my research for this play, I came across an article, Five Types of Revolutionaries, by Dr. Mostafa Rejai, Professor of Political Science, and Kay Phillips, Associate Professor and Assistant Chair in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology:

"The democratic revolutions of England, America, France, and Mexico gave rise to such historic figures as Cromwell, Hampden, Pym, and Vane; Washington, Jefferson, Otis, Henry, and the Adamses; Danton, Marat, Mirabeau, and Robespierre; Carranza, Madero, and Obregón. The communist and nationalist revolutions of the twentieth century have catapulted into prominence such men as Lenin and Stalin, Mao and Chou En-lai, Ho and Giap, Castro and Guevara, Arafat and Habash, Nkomo and Mugabe. All these men are bent on destroying the existing social order and replacing it with a new one. How they differ among themselves is a question that seldom has been addressed.

Our close examination of a relatively large number of revolutionaries reveals five distinct types:
The Founders (Francis Scott Key) - Represent a mature, solid, middle-aged, middle-class group. Typically members of the establishment in their own societies, most of them appeared on the revolutionary landscape in response to situations of national crisis or emergency.

The Professional Revolutionaries (Rueben Crandall) - Came from the middle or lower social strata and were radicalized quite early in life. They generally had long histories of antiregime activity, were arrested with regularity, and spent long periods of time in prison, exile, or both.

The Scholars (Frank Cook) - Come from the predominantly middle-social stata of their societies. Regardless of their specific professions (most often law, medicine, teaching, journalism, the ministry), they write extensively on a variety of subjects and contribute heavily to the theory and practice of revolution.

The Agitators (Andrew Laub and Arthur Bowen) - they characteristically combine shades of leftist doctrines—anarchism, socialism, communism—with strong nationalist commitments. The Agitators share some characteristics with The Professional Revolutionaries, but in contrast, their commitment is not firm, final, and unwavering. Given appropriate circumstances, The Agitators may turn opportunist.

The Generals (Madison Jeffers) - constitute a professionally educated group, consisting most likely of middle- or high-ranking military officers who become involved in revolutionary activity late in their careers, either because of acute dissatisfaction or as a response to situations of national emergency.

However, there is seemingly no role for the artist. The one who helps the rest of us see our way through the madness and destruction to a place of peace and understanding. The one who fashions chaos and fear into a poem, a song, a mural, a sculpture, a novel or a dance. The one who is accused of inaction and ridiculed for their dreams. The one who asks questions, makes observations and calls attention to what is happening in the world. The one who is punished cruelly for bearing witness and giving voice.

Commissioned, developed and presented by Active Cultures, the reading of OUR MAN BEVERLY SNOW was directed by Colin Grube with dramaturgy by Otis Ramsey-Zoe and featured Maryam Foye, Eric Humphries, James J. Johnson, Julian Elijah Martinez, Dane Petersen, Colin Smith, Dawn Ursula and David Lamont Wilson. Here are some pictures from the reading.

Set in Washington, D.C. in 1835, OUR MAN BEVERLY SNOW chronicles the events surrounding a race riot that crippled the nation’s capitol and sheds light on how freedom of speech, the abolitionist movement and the determination of a people in bondage shaped the nation. 

It is also a play about food. Food isn't only about nourishment and fuel. Food brings people together at times of celebration and mourning. Food teaches you about a people the way music, language and art does. We can keep all kinds of secrets and rewrite history, but what you eat and how you eat it reveals your truth. My mother is a wonderful cook. She makes delicious meals from scratch with fresh herbs and vegetables from our garden. When the sweet and savory aromas permeated the air, my brother, sister and I sped up our chores, abandoned our studies or happily set playtime aside to gather around the kitchen table to eat. Other times, we'd be at her side stealing tastes and watching her transform carefully selected ingredients into culinary masterpieces.

The title character, Beverly Snow, is a masterful chef and savvy owner of the Epicurean Eating House, a lively and popular restaurant that offered patrons a new way of dining. Nicely situated at the corner of 6th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, the Epicurean was a Parisian-style restaurant with private tables, not the common table that had people reaching over one another for food. Snow also created an elegant and extensive menu with a variety of European influenced foods whereas diners were accustomed to a choice of just one or two meals. The Centre Market was located just a stone's throw away between Seventh and Ninth streets, so fresh ingredients were always on hand. What's more, the Epicurean was open from lunch through dinner and into the evening, which was not the norm at the time. Snow even catered large events and advertised new dishes in the widely read newspaper, the Telegraph. He was a brilliant and wildly successful entrepreneur ahead of his time and that can sometimes be a dangerous thing. Click here to learn more about the Snow Riot.

It's been fun to explore the world of Washington, DC in the mid 1800s. I'm excited about tonight's reading and look forward to learning more about the characters and the world of the play.

Active Cultures presents a staged reading of
OUR MAN BEVERLY SNOW by Jacqueline E. Lawton 
as part of the annual Diving Board Festival
Directed by Colin Grube
Dramaturgy by Otis Ramsey-Zoe
Featuring Maryam Foye, Eric Humphries, James J. Johnson, Julian Elijah Martinez, Dane Petersen, Colin Smith, Dawn Ursula and David Lamont Wilson

About the play
With a Parisian flare and a taste for elegance, Beverly Snow, owner of the popular Epicurean Eating House, dished out a healthy dose of wit, a decent pour of ale, and such delicacies as green turtle soup, fried oysters and West Indian jellies to Washington’s high society and political elite. Five dollars had bought his freedom and after five long years, Snow had achieved a level of success unmatched by his peers. All was going well for this hard-working free man of color until one fateful night in the fall of 1835. A young slave entered his owner’s bedroom wielding an ax and a surging wave of violence and destruction makes its way to the Epicurean Eating House. Suddenly, Snow finds himself embroiled in racial, political and social upheaval in this mid-19th century drama. 

Saturday, December 8th at 8:00pm 
Old Parish House, located at 4711 Knox Road College Park, MD 
Metro Station: College Park Metro (Green). 
Click here for directions and parking information.

When this play goes into production, I'm going to create a cookbook of favorite recipes from our cast and artistic/production team. For now, here's some delicious food for thought from today's Artistic Team and Cast:

Your favorite meal to cook: Salmon tacos, black beans, rice and guacamole
Your favorite meal to eat: Salmon burger, kale, and brown rice
Your favorite meal from childhood: Mama's pizza and enchilada's and Papa's bar-b-que. 
Your favorite dessert: mango sorbet or plain mangos
Your favorite drink or cocktail: Banana Café's Lucy's Wild & Crazy Champango, which is comprised of champagne, mango rum & mango nectar!

JACQUELINE E. LAWTON (Playwright) received her MFA in Playwriting from the University of Texas at Austin (Hook 'em Horns!), where she was a James A. Michener Fellow. She participated in the Kennedy Center’s Playwrights’ Intensive (2002) and World Interplay (2003).  She is the author of Anna K; Blood-bound and Tongue-tied;Deep Belly Beautiful; The Devil’s Sweet Water; Ira Aldridge: the African Roscius; Lions of Industry, Mothers of Invention; Love Brothers Serenade, and Mad Breed.  Her work has been developed and presented at the following venues: Active Cultures, Classical Theater of Harlem, Folger Shakespeare Library, theHegira, Howard University, Kennedy Center’s Page to Stage Festival, Rorschach Theater Company, Savannah Black Heritage Festival (Armstrong Atlantic State University), Shakespeare Theatre Company, Source Theatre Festival, Theater J, and Woolly Mammoth Theater Company. She is published in Experiments in a Jazz Aesthetic: Art, Activism, Academia, and the Austin Project(University of Texas Press). She is a 2012 TCG Nathan Cummings Young Leaders of Color award recipient. She has been nominated for the Wendy Wasserstein Prize and a PONY Fellowship from the Lark New Play Development Center. She was named one of 30 of the nation's leading black playwrights by Arena Stage’s American Voices New Play Institute. She resides in Washington, D.C.

COLIN GRUBE
Your favorite meal to cook: Thanksgiving turkey, or dinner
Your favorite meal to eat: Buffalo wings and beer.
Your favorite meal from childhood: My mom's spaghetti
Your favorite dessert: Tiramisu
Your favorite drink or cocktail: Scotch

COLIN GRUBE (Director) is an actor/director in the DC Metro area.  He has received training in Pittsburgh, PA, San Francisco, CA and Greensboro, NC.  Recent work includes acting and directing with Flying V, on camera work with Investigation Discovery and the upcoming Netflix series HOUSE OF CARDS.  In addition, he makes ends meet doing technical work throughout the region. He has worked at Adventure Theatre, Roundhouse Theatre and Olney theatre.  Most of the time, he spends with his wife and son.

OTIS CORTEZ RAMSEY-ZOE
Your favorite meal to cook: vegetable fried rice
Your favorite meal to eat: anything prepared by Carmen W., Tuyet P., or George F.
You favorite meal from childhood: love cornbread; anything with cornbread especially buttermilk & cornbread
Your favorite dessert: tiramisu, fruit, or popcorn
Your favorite cocktail or drink: mint julep and dark & stormy

OTIS CORTEZ RAMSEY-ZOE (Dramaturg) is a Lecturer of Theatre Arts at Howard University, Future Classics Program Coordinator at The Classical Theatre of Harlem, Series Editor for NoPassport Press’s Dreaming the Americas Series, a freelance dramaturg, and a Company Member of banished? productions. He has developed new works with such organizations as The Sundance Institute, Kennedy Center, Arena Stage, Centerstage and Black Women Playwrights’ Group and by such writers as Colman Domingo, Tarell McCraney, Noah Haidle, Kirsten Greenidge and Tim Acito. He has directed readings including Jacqueline E. Lawton’s The Hampton Years and Blood-bound and Tongue-tied, James Webb’s The Contract and David Emerson Toney’s Kingdom. Previously, he was Literary Manager and First Look Coordinator at Centerstage and an Allen Lee Hughes Dramaturgy and Literary Senior Fellow at Arena Stage. Mr. Ramsey-Zöe holds degrees from New York University and the University of Notre Dame.  

MARYAM FOYE
Your favorite meal to cook: Fried Chicken Cutlets, Sweet Yams, Fried Mac and Cheese, Sauteed Spinach
Your favorite meal to eat: Turkey Necks, Rice and Gravy and Collards 
Your favorite meal from childhood: Turkey Necks Rice and Gravy and Collards Pan fried cornmeal cakes
Your favorite dessert: Any Cheesecake 
Your favorite cocktail or drink: Anything Bourbon with water with a splash of simple syrup... when I'm feeling fancy I make a mint julep

MARYAM F. FOYE (Julia Snow) is a North Carolina native living in and loving the metro DC area. She is a classically trained actress through studies at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, Negro Ensemble Company and PATStudio of DC. She has performed with the African Continuum Theater Co., Negro Ensemble Company, TheHegira Project, Syngery Playback theater and more. Her most notable portrayal to date was her role as Angel in the Pearl Cleage classic "Blues for an Alabama Sky".  Maryam is an inspired playwright and emerging director. Her one act play Hidden Words, was produced for the DC Black 'Seeking Serenity' is currently being workshopped for a second reading in May. Maryam is also the heart behind the Hissing Black Cat. An initiative geared to launch in the Summer of 2013. This program is focusing on woman ages 14-24, and hopes to offer social, workforce development and life skills using theater and other forms of art as teaching method

ERIC HUMPHRIES
Your favorite meal to cook: Chicken Parmesan     
Your favorite meal to eat: Brunch at this New Orleans restaurant where I consume Fried French Toast sprinkled with powdered sugar and a strawberry with eggs and sausage
Your favorite meal from childhood: My grand pops famous chili 
Your favorite dessert: Mango and sticky rice
Your favorite cocktail or drink: Framboiuse Lambic beer

ERIC HUMPHRIES (Constable Jeffers) DC AREA: Folger Theatre: Henry VIII, Orestes;  Howard University: Soldiers Story;  Source Festival:  X-Ray Vision at the Motel Nine;  Keegan Theatre: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Alone It Stands (Helen Hayes Nomination – Best Ensemble);  Active Cultures Theatre: Mad Breed;  Synetic Theatre: Animal Farm;  Maryland Shakespeare Festival: Hamlet, Two Gentlemen of Verona:  Franklin Park Shakespeare Festival: The Tempest. Television: America’s Most Wanted, HBO pilot The Washingtonienne.  EDUCATION: University of Maryland-College Park, 2006, Performance.

JAMES J. JOHNSON
Your favorite meal to cook: Chili
Your favorite meal to eat: Hot dogs
Your favorite meal from childhood: Ham and my late grandmother's mac & cheese.
Your favorite dessert: Peanut Butter & Chocolate cheesecake
Your favorite cocktail or drink: Root beer.

JAMES J. JOHNSON (Reverend Frank Cook) is always honored to read a new Jacqueline Lawton play. He is currently onstage at the Kennedy Center, in The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg. Past stage credits include: Ruined (Arena Stage); Teddy Roosevelt and the Ghostly Mistletoe (Kennedy Center); P. Nokio, Lyle the Crocodile, Zomo the Rabbit, and Junebug and the Reverend (Imagination Stage); Neglect (Journeyman Theatre); The Unmentionables (Woolly Mammoth Theatre); As You Like It, Buffalo Hair, Wedding Dance, and Kingdom (African-Continuum Theatre Co.); Member of the Wedding (Ford’s Theatre); Taming of the Shrew and Twelfth Night (Maryland Shakespeare Festival); Anna Lucasta (Rep Stage); Stonewall Country and Macbeth (Theatre at Lime Kiln). NYC credits include: Richard III (Take Wing and Soar Productions); All’s Well That Ends Well (Tattooed Potato); The Meeting (Paul Robeson Theatre). Film/TV credits include: The New ‘N’ Word, The Henchman’s War, Nocturnal Agony, When Life Gives You Shoestrings, Indigo Heart, Too Saved, Eleven, America’s Most Wanted, Kid Fitness, and Eebee’s Adventures. James is also a founding member of Galvanize, a local support network for theatre artists of color.

JULIAN ELIJAH MARTINEZ
Your favorite meal to cook: Steak
Your favorite meal to eat: Hamburger and fries
Your favorite meal from childhood: Thanksgiving, the entire event
Your favorite dessert: Berry cobbler with a side of ice cream 
Your favorite drink or cocktail: Dark and Stormy

JULIAN ELIJAH MARTINEZ (Arthur Bowen) is a teaching artist based in Washington DC and a graduate of Elon University. Upcoming: The Hampton Years (Theater J).  DC Credits include: Locomotion (John F. Kennedy Center); Jekyll and Hyde (Synetic Theater Company); Romeo and Juliet, Pride and Prejudice, Cymbeline, and A Midsummer Nights Dream (Chesapeake Shakespeare Company); and Lyme Park (the Hegira). Regional Credits include: Hamlet and All's Well That Ends Well (Orlando Shakespeare Theater) and Man of La Mancha (Hangar Theater). julianelijahmartinez.com

DANE PETERSEN
Your favorite meal to cook: jambalaya (I use a box - I'm not a magician)
Your favorite meal to eat: whatever I'm eating at that moment
Your favorite meal from childhood: fried chicken with mashed potatoes, gravy and corn on the cob
Your favorite dessert: chocolate fudge brownie ice cream 
Your favorite cocktail or drink: gin and tonic

DANE PETERSON (ANDREW LAUB) has been acting in the DC area for about eight years. He has appeared on stage at Venus Theatre, 1st Stage, Keegan Theatre and others, and in multiple Fringe festivals. And he really digs doing play readings. Originally from Kansas CIty, Dane studied at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts.

COLIN SMITH
Favorite meal to cook: Grilled Salmon 
Favorite meal to eat: Chicken Tikka Masala
Favorite meal from childhood: Raw oysters with cocktail sauce.
Favorite dessert: Angel Food cake with vanilla ice cream and strawberries.
Favorite drink: Jack and diet coke.

COLIN SMITH (Reuben Crandall) has appeared at Theatre J as the understudy for Crick in Photograph51.  He is a company member with Keegan Theatre where his acting credits include: August Osage County (Bill), Spring Awakening (Swing), Twelve Angry Men (Juror 8), The Crucible (Reverend Paris; Ireland/US), Noises Off   (Tim), The Graduate (Mr. Robinson), Dancing at Lughnasa (Michael), Translations (Manus; Helen Hayes nomination-outstanding ensemble), Glengarry Glen Ross (Williamson; Ireland/US)  and others.  Other D.C. credits include productions with The Washington Shakespeare Company, Forum Theatre, American Century Theatre, Charter Theatre and Journeyman Theatre.  His directing credits include Laughter on the 23rd Floor (Keegan Theatre) and Fool for Love (Keegan Theatre; Ireland/US).  Colin is a graduate of St. John’s College, The National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts and The Actors Repertory Theatre. 

DAWN URSULA
Your favorite meal to cook: Good ole-fashioned, southern, throw down: fry some chicken and gizzards (yes I did), some collards, some candied yams and maybe a home-made corn pudding, like when you scrape the corn off the actual ear (then add a can of cream corn, cause scraping gets old quick)
Your favorite meal to eat: I do appreciate a good steak or some fabulous shellfish
Your favorite meal from childhood: Probably spaghetti
Your favorite dessert:  Many favorites depending on mood:  chocolate lava, creme brulee, triple leche, scoop of dulce de leche ice cream, Auntie Sheila's home made chocolate cake, eaten hot with the home made icing still dripping.....I have a sweet tooth
Your favorite cocktail or drink: cosmo or a sweet wine wine

DAWN URSULA (Maria Bowen) was last seen Round House: Next Fall, A Wrinkle in Time; Woolly Mammoth (company member): Clybourne Park, Eclipsed, The Unmentionables, The Velvet Sky, Starving. Everyman Theatre (company member): A Raisin in the Sun, Two Rooms, Doubt, Gem of the Ocean, Yellowman, Much Ado About Nothing, Light up the Sky; Hangar Theatre: The Piano Lesson; Baltimore Shakespeare Festival: Taming of the Shrew; Rep Stage: Anna Lucasta, Butterfingers Angel…,; ACTCo: Joe Turner’s Come and Gone; True Colors Theatre Company: Flyin’ West; The Shakespeare Theatre’s Academy for Classical Acting: 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, Much Ado About Nothing; The Kennedy Center: Shear Madness, Mermaids, Monsters…, and Unleashed…. TV credits include HBO’s The Wire and the PBS documentary, Prince Among Slaves. Dawn has received a Helen Hayes Nomination for Clybourne Park and Baltimore City Paper's 2011 & 2008 “Best Actress” Award and 2005 Best Production for Yellowman. Dawn received her BA from UVA and her MFA from The Shakespeare Theatre’s Academy For Classical Acting at The George Washington University, and is also a founding member of Galvanize.

DAVID LAMONT WILSON
Your favorite meal to cook: baked salmon, asparagus
Your favorite meal to eat: baked salmon, asparagus 
Your favorite meal from childhood: lasagna
Your favorite dessert: strawberry shortcake
Your favorite cocktail or drink: whiskey sour

DAVID LAMONT WILSON (Beverly Snow) is thrilled to have the privilege of working on this exciting new work by Jacqueline Lawton.  Mr. Wilson was last seen performing Factory 449’s Washington premier of “The Saint Plays” and “All That Glitters” for Restoration Stage.   Favorite productions include roles in the critically acclaimed Charter Theatre production of “Am I Black Enough Yet?”, “The Oedipus Plays” at The Shakespeare Theatre, “Heaven” and “Big Love” for the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, “American Buffalo”, “Inns & Outs” and “Edmond” at Source Theatre; “Invisible Disability” and “The Boy Who Walked Backwards” at the Kennedy Center; and the European Tours of “The Cutting Edge” for Imagination Stage and “Julie” for Scena Theatre.  His resume also includes productions at Arena Stage, Olney Theatre, and the Folger Shakespeare Theatre, as well as a featured role on NBC's award winning Homicide: Life On the Streets and HBO's The Wire.  He is currently shooting the new independent film “Flesh To Flesh” by Lee Hayes, and can be seen later this season in “The Saint Plays” for Factory 449.  David would like to thank Daniel Wallace for bringing additional sunshine into his existence!

Tomorrow at 8:00pm, Active Cultures Theatre will present a staged reading of my new play, OUR MAN BEVERLY SNOW as part of their annual Diving Board Festival. My play is one of four plays having a reading, so I hope you can take part in some if not all of the weekend's activities.

This past July, Active Cultures Artistic Director Mary Resing sent me a Washington Post article about Jefferson Morley's book Snow-Storm in August. Set in 1835, Morley chronicles the historical events and key figures in one of D.C. earliest race riots. Since Active Cultures is interested in local history, art, culture, politics, and culinary practices, this story was perfect for them. What struck us both about the riot was the man who became a target of the violence, Beverly Snow, who the chef/owner of the Epicurean Eating House. He was attacked for being a successful Black man at a time when many White men were struggling financially. To me, this racially fueled violence seemed similar to the response that President Obama received upon being elected the first African American president of the United States. I knew I had to write this play.

At the time, I was already working on play about district attorney and author our national anthem, Francis Scott Key. The play, BEND AND SWAY, DON'T BREAK, is set in 1816-1817 around another true life event that has Key defending the rights of two free people of color who had been kidnapped. The case exposed a notorious interstate slave trading ring in the heart of the nation's capitol. Sadly, this play may never be written as I was meant to finish it twice already, but it was usurped by LOVE BROTHERS SERENADE and THE HAMPTON YEARS. While Key doesn’t appear in my play, he was a central figure in the two trials that followed the race riot, serving as district attorney in U.S. versus Reuben Crandall and U.S. versus Arthur Bowen. Arthur Bowen was a young slave who drunkenly wielded an ax in the doorway of his owner's bedroom. Reuben Crandall was an abolitionist charged with publishing seditious libels and circulating publications of the American Anti-Slavery Society. While Crandall's trial was heralded as the most sensational of Key's career, both trials changed the dialogue about slavery and freedom in this country.

In early September, I reached out to historians at the Library of Congress and the National Archives for research. I read newspapers that reported on the riots and the trials. I even read both trial transcripts and diary entries of Anna Maria Thorton, the woman who owned Arthur Bowen and wife of Dr. William Thorton, who designed the Capitol, the White House, and other historic buildings. I learned as much as I could about what life was like for whites, German and Irish immigrants, slaves and free blacks in Washington, D.C. What's more, I studied cookbooks, fashion, and popular songs from the early to mid-1800's. It was really quite wonderful! Then, in November, I started to write the play.

Last night's rehearsal was a culmination of this fast-paced, concentrated effort and it was exhilarating, fun and informative! I feel so fortunate to have a smart, passionate, talented, funny, and enthusiastic team of theatre artists coming together in the development of a new play. Director Colin Grube and dramaturg Otis Ramsey-Zoe guided the cast, which included Maryam Foye, Eric Humphries, James J. Johnson, Julian Elijah Martinez, Dane Petersen, Colin Smith, Dawn Ursula and David Lamont Wilson through a quick and dirty read-through of the script. We stopped to flesh out confusion about the plot, make new discoveries about character and discussed how truly interesting the story of these people are. It's an exciting new play, even at these early stages.

Tomorrow, I'm going to feature the cast and artistic team. For now, here are some great photos from our work together! 

Here's more information about the reading:

Active Cultures presents a staged reading of
Our Man Beverly Snow by Jacqueline E. Lawton 
as part of the annual Diving Board Festival
Directed by Colin Grube
Dramaturgy by Otis Ramsey-Zoe
Featuring Maryam Foye, Eric Humphries, James J. Johnson, Julian Elijah Martinez, Dane Petersen, Colin Smith, Dawn Ursula and David Lamont Wilson

Saturday, December 8th at 8:00pm 
Old Parish House, located at 4711 Knox Road College Park, MD 
Metro Station: College Park Metro (Green). 
Click here for directions and parking information.

NNPN's Australian-American Smackdown was informative and enlightening. I was excited to take part in this discussion and honored to engage with such outstanding artists. New Dramatists Artistic Director Todd London and Georgetown University Professor (and playwright) Christine Evans moderated our conversation. The Australian playwrights included Vanessa Bates and Declan Greene. American playwrights included Carson Kreitzer, Carlos Murillo and myself.

Our conversation was rich, personal and diverse. We were asked to speak about our work from an Australian or an American perspective. We discussed the astonishing and often stifling global impact of the United States. We marveled at Australia's gender parity in contrast to our inability to get anywhere near it. We recognized that our countries are both young and were founded on indigenous lands, colonized by immigrants and built by slave and prison labor. We called attention to guiding principles of our countries: "Freedom" for Americans and "Fair Trade" for Australians Two very distinctive and grand notions that mean different things to different people and don't always trickle down evenly to each citizen. 

As playwrights, we each address issues of race, class, gender and sexual orientation in our work. However, our approach to these universal issues vary beautifully and uniquely in style and form. Each of us has an essential and distinctive artistic vision in response to our personal, political, geographical and historical experience. And even this brief, but powerful shared international experience will no doubt impact how we continue to shape our stories.

It was a fantastic conversation. You can listen to it in its entirety here on #NewPlay TV.