 On Sunday, I'm heading to Pasadena Playhouse where my latest play, NOMS DE GUERRE, will receive a workshop and reading as part of the 2014-2015 HOTHOUSE New Play Development Program. We'll be in workshop Monday and Tuesday and then the play will receive a staged reading on Wednesday and Thursday evening followed by post show discussions each night. The ever brilliant and wonderful Diane Rodriguez will serve as director. The cast includes Chris Butler, Deidrie Henry, Pia Shah, Jacques C. Smith, Danielle Mone Truitt, and Michole White. Also, as part of the program, each play is assigned a 3rd year USC MFA in Dramatic Writing student as dramaturg. It's been wonderful working with Victoria Moy and so rewarding to have an educational component to this work. I'm honored and excited to be taking part in this program, and deeply appreciative for the opportunity to continue developing this play. It will be my first time working on the script since Arena Stage's workshop and reading as part of Playwrights Arena back in March. HOTHOUSE readings are by invitation only. Click here for more information. About the PlayNoms de Guerre is a haunting, lyrical and passionate story of friendship, love and politics. Mira is a rising star in the Republican Party, but her campaign against women’s reproductive rights puts her at odds with her best friend, Jude, an award-winning journalist. At home, Mira struggles to run a campaign for Governor and help her war hero husband, Douglas, adjust to civilian life. When Jude discovers that Douglas is linked to a massacre of Afghan civilians, Mira is thrown into a whirlwind of political intrigue and must decide whether to hold on to her career or save her husband. About the Playwright JACQUELINE E. LAWTON was named one of 30 of the nation's leading black playwrights by Arena Stage’s American Voices New Play Institute. 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 (2013 semi-finalist for the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Playwrights Conference), Mad Breed, Noms de Guerre. and Our Man Beverly Snow. Ms. Lawton received her MFA in Playwriting from the University of Texas at Austin, where she was a James A. Michener Fellow. She is a 2012 TCG Young Leaders of Color award recipient and a National New Play Network (NNPN) Playwright Alumna. A member of Arena Stage's Playwrights' Arena and the Dramatist Guild of America, Ms. Lawton currently resides in D.C. About the Director Diane Rodriguez is an Obie Award winning multi-disciplinary theatre artist. She is an accomplished actor, anthologized writer, regional theatre director and Associate Producer/Director of New Play Production at Center Theatre Group (CTG), Los Angeles. She began her career as a lead actress with the seminal ensemble, El Teatro Campesino. Recognized as one of the country's leading advocates for non-text based and ensemble driven work as well as a long time advocate of Latino playwrights and actors, Diane maintains her artistic career while being a member of the artistic staff of Center Theatre Group, which includes the Mark Taper Forum, the Ahmanson Theatre and the Kirk Douglas Theatre. Currently, under her tenure as Director of New Play Production (NPP), CTG's NPP program was awarded a one million dollar grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for the commissioning and development of seven new collaborative works from ensembles or creative collaborators. She has developed and directed the works of numerous writers including Nilo Cruz's Hortensia and the Museum of Dreams and Dreams of My Father, Lynn Nottage's Fabulation at Sundance Theatre Lab, Lloyd Suh's American Hwangap at Ojai Playwrights Conference, Erik Patterson's Sick for Playwrights Arena, and Les Thomas'Cave Quest for East West Players, among many others. In 2008, for Mattel Toy Company, she wrote the book and was the supervising director for the first live Barbie musical Barbie Live/The Princess Adventures. The show premiered in Buenos Aires and will tour Brazil in 2012. She won an OBIE for Performance (Best Ensemble) in 2007 for playing 23 characters in Heather Woodbury's Tale of Two Cities. In 2012 her two plays, Living Large in a Mini Kind of Way and Pitch like a Girl will be produced in Chicago and Los Angeles, respectively. With Mark Murphy and Mark Russell she co-directed the RADAR LA Festival in 2011. She lives in the Echo Park area of Los Angeles with her long time husband, friend and advisor, Jose Delgado. About the HOTHOUSE New Play ProgramHOTHOUSE is the signature new play development program at The Pasadena Playhouse. Launched in 2005, the program provides playwrights and audience with a living lab where new scripts are rehearsed, read aloud, revised, rehearsed and read again. Co-creation through our consensus organizing methodology, experimentation with and exploration of text, music and movement, and artistic bravery are embraced and encouraged through our process.  Under the leadership of Associate Artistic Director Seema Sueko, starting in 2014, the HOTHOUSE reading series will be devoted to advancing plays that authentically align with The Playhouse’s commitment to diversity. We will focus on plays written by playwrights who are historically underrepresented in our field: women, playwrights of color, and playwrights with disabilities; or plays that, through content and/or casting, deliberately diversify the landscape of the theatre. As our field of nonprofit American theater struggles with issues of inclusion, access, community demand, and relevance, HOTHOUSE aims to methodically make our theatrical botanical garden grow. HOTHOUSE Legacy Many plays that started out as HOTHOUSE at The Playhouse readings have since gone on to our Mainstage, as well as other regional theaters, the West End, and Broadway, including SISTER ACT, THE MUSICAL, which was nominated for multiple Tony Awards. Previous HOTHOUSE at The Playhouse artists include writers Suzan-Lori Parks, Alan Menken, Matthew Lombardo, Charles Randolph-Wright and Carol Burnett; actors Beau Bridges, Sharon Lawrence, Robert Forster, Loretta Swit, Scott Lowell, Enrico Colantoni, Danny Pudi, Angela Bassett and Steven Dietz; and directors Art Manke, Sheldon Epps, Oz Scott, Jeremy Cohen, Kappy Kilburn, Alexis Chamow and David Lee. About Pasadena Playhouse Built on a tradition of innovation and excellence, The Pasadena Playhouse is committed to continue to be the premiere theatrical experience in Southern California showcasing the most exciting theatrical entertainment in the state and being an amazing forum for launching new work onto the national stage.
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My Blog
I'm a playwright, dramaturg, and teaching artist. It is here where you'll find my queries and musings on life, theater and the world. My posts advocate for diversity, inclusion, and equity in the American Theatre and updates on my own work. Please enjoy!
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