Press Release: Jacqueline E. Lawton to Join Faculty at UNC-Chapel Hill and serves as Dramaturg at PlayMakers Rep
Playwright, dramaturg, and Diversity and Inclusion advocate and consultant Jacqueline E. Lawton has joined the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s as an assistant professor in the Department of Dramatic Art. Lawton’s appointment, effective January 1, is in conjunction with her new position as Dramaturg at PlayMakers Rep.
“I’m honored to be joining the faculty at UNC and the staff at PlayMakers Rep,” said Jacqueline E. Lawton. “Joseph Haj is a brilliant director and visionary leader. His commitment to artistic excellence, community engagement, and diversity and inclusion has been a guiding force for me in my own work. Adam Versenyi is a brilliant scholar, professor, and dramaturg. His cares deeply about his students and faculty, and his enthusiasm for theatre is infectious. Being a part of this rigorous, inspiring, and nurturing artistic and academic environment is a dream come true for me.”
Beginning spring 2015, Lawton will teach Advanced Playwriting and Play Analysis and will serve as dramaturg on one production each semester.
"We are excited that Jacqueline Lawton will soon be joining our faculty in the Department of Dramatic Art, and the dramaturgical team for PlayMakers Repertory Company,” Adam Versenyi, Chair of Dramatic Art and Dramaturg for PlayMakers Repertory Company. ”Jacqueline's intelligence, acumen, and expertise will greatly enhance the work we do in both the classroom and the rehearsal hall. We look forward to having her with us."
“I could not be more thrilled to have Jacqueline Lawton joining the faculty here at UNC and joining our team of resident dramaturgs at PlayMakers,” said Joseph Haj, Producing Artistic Director Director. “Jacqueline is an exceptional thinker, a wonderful colleague, and an important voice in our field. We are honored to have her with us.”
In addition to teaching at a top ranked university and a critically acclaimed regional theatre, Lawton’s requirements for tenure have her continuing to work as a professional playwright and dramaturg. Also, her works as Theatre Communications Group’s Diversity and Inclusion online curator will be considered service.
In 2010, Lawton was named one of the top 30 national 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; Mad Breed; Noms de Guerre; and Our Man Beverly Snow.
Ms. Lawton’s work has been developed and presented at the following venues: Classical Theater of Harlem, Folger Shakespeare Library, Howard University, Kennedy Center’s Page to Stage Festival, Rorschach Theater Company, Round House Theatre, Savannah Black Heritage Festival (Armstrong Atlantic State University), Shakespeare Theatre Company, Source Festival, Theater J, and Woolly Mammoth Theater Company. She has received commissions from Active Cultures Theatre, Adventure Theatre - Musical Theatre Center, American Theatre Company, Discovery Theater, National New Play Network, National Portrait Gallery, National Museum of American History, Round House Theatre and Theater J. She is published in Experiments in a Jazz Aesthetic: Art, Activism, Academia, and the Austin Project (University of Texas Press).
Lawton has worked as a dramaturg and research consultant at Actors Theatre of Louisville - Humana Festival of New American Plays, African Continuum Theater Company, the Arden Theater, Arena Stage, Discovery Theater, Ensemble Studio Theater, Folger Shakespeare Library, the Ford's Theatre, Horizons Theater, Howard University, the Hub Theatre, Interact Theatre, Kennedy Center VSA Program, Morgan State University, Rorschach Theater Company, Round House Theatre, Theater Alliance, Theater J, Tribute Productions, University of Maryland, Virginia Stage Company, and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company.
Ms. Lawton has taught classes on acting, directing, dramaturgy, movement, playwriting, Shakespeare, and solo performance at Arena Stage, Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Folger Shakespeare Library, the John F. Kennedy Center, Round House Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Smithsonian Associates, Towson University, University of the District of Columbia, and the Young Playwright's Theatre. Additionally, she has taught theater residencies and professional development workshops to adults and teachers wanting to integrate arts into the classroom.
Lawton is a 2012 Theatre Communications Group (TCG) Young Leaders of Color award recipient and a National New Play Network (NNPN) Playwright alumna. She is the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships including two Young Artist Program Grants from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities for Playwriting; the Ellsworth P. and Virginia Conkle Endowed Scholarship for Drama; the Jean McKenzie Schenkkan Endowed Scholarship in Playwriting; and the Morton Brown, Nellie Lea Brown, and Minelma Brown Lockwood Endowed Scholarship in Playwriting. She has been recognized as a semi-finalist for the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Playwrights Conference and the Playwright's Center PlayLabs. She serves on the Advisory Board of African Continuum Theatre Company and as the Diversity and Inclusion Online Conference Curator for TCG. She is a proud member of Arena Stage's Playwright's Arena and the Dramatist Guild of America.
Ms. Lawton received a BA concentration in Theatre, a BS in Radio-Televison-Film for Screenwriting, and an MFA in Playwriting from the University of Texas at Austin, where she was a James A. Michener Fellow.
About UNC Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the nation’s first public university, serves North Carolina, the United States and the world through teaching, research and public service. We embrace an unwavering commitment to excellence as one of the world’s great research universities.
Our mission is to serve as a center for research, scholarship and creativity and to teach a diverse community of undergraduate, graduate and professional students to become the next generation of leaders. Through the efforts of our exceptional faculty and staff, and with generous support from North Carolina’s citizens, we invest our knowledge and resources to enhance access to learning and to foster the success and prosperity of each rising generation.
We also extend knowledge-based services and other resources of the University to the citizens of North Carolina and their institutions to enhance the quality of life for all people in the State. With lux, libertas — light and liberty — as its founding principles, the University has charted a bold course of leading change to improve society and to help solve the world’s greatest problems. UNC Chapel Hill website: www.unc.edu
About Playmakers Rep
Based in UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences, PlayMakers is the Carolinas’ premiere resident professional theater company. The Drama League of New York has named PlayMakers one of the best regional theaters in America. The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has recognized PlayMakers with a $50,000 “Art Works” grant to support the plays and accompanying outreach activities. PlayMakers website: www.playmakersrep.org
“I’m honored to be joining the faculty at UNC and the staff at PlayMakers Rep,” said Jacqueline E. Lawton. “Joseph Haj is a brilliant director and visionary leader. His commitment to artistic excellence, community engagement, and diversity and inclusion has been a guiding force for me in my own work. Adam Versenyi is a brilliant scholar, professor, and dramaturg. His cares deeply about his students and faculty, and his enthusiasm for theatre is infectious. Being a part of this rigorous, inspiring, and nurturing artistic and academic environment is a dream come true for me.”
Beginning spring 2015, Lawton will teach Advanced Playwriting and Play Analysis and will serve as dramaturg on one production each semester.
"We are excited that Jacqueline Lawton will soon be joining our faculty in the Department of Dramatic Art, and the dramaturgical team for PlayMakers Repertory Company,” Adam Versenyi, Chair of Dramatic Art and Dramaturg for PlayMakers Repertory Company. ”Jacqueline's intelligence, acumen, and expertise will greatly enhance the work we do in both the classroom and the rehearsal hall. We look forward to having her with us."
“I could not be more thrilled to have Jacqueline Lawton joining the faculty here at UNC and joining our team of resident dramaturgs at PlayMakers,” said Joseph Haj, Producing Artistic Director Director. “Jacqueline is an exceptional thinker, a wonderful colleague, and an important voice in our field. We are honored to have her with us.”
In addition to teaching at a top ranked university and a critically acclaimed regional theatre, Lawton’s requirements for tenure have her continuing to work as a professional playwright and dramaturg. Also, her works as Theatre Communications Group’s Diversity and Inclusion online curator will be considered service.
In 2010, Lawton was named one of the top 30 national 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; Mad Breed; Noms de Guerre; and Our Man Beverly Snow.
Ms. Lawton’s work has been developed and presented at the following venues: Classical Theater of Harlem, Folger Shakespeare Library, Howard University, Kennedy Center’s Page to Stage Festival, Rorschach Theater Company, Round House Theatre, Savannah Black Heritage Festival (Armstrong Atlantic State University), Shakespeare Theatre Company, Source Festival, Theater J, and Woolly Mammoth Theater Company. She has received commissions from Active Cultures Theatre, Adventure Theatre - Musical Theatre Center, American Theatre Company, Discovery Theater, National New Play Network, National Portrait Gallery, National Museum of American History, Round House Theatre and Theater J. She is published in Experiments in a Jazz Aesthetic: Art, Activism, Academia, and the Austin Project (University of Texas Press).
Lawton has worked as a dramaturg and research consultant at Actors Theatre of Louisville - Humana Festival of New American Plays, African Continuum Theater Company, the Arden Theater, Arena Stage, Discovery Theater, Ensemble Studio Theater, Folger Shakespeare Library, the Ford's Theatre, Horizons Theater, Howard University, the Hub Theatre, Interact Theatre, Kennedy Center VSA Program, Morgan State University, Rorschach Theater Company, Round House Theatre, Theater Alliance, Theater J, Tribute Productions, University of Maryland, Virginia Stage Company, and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company.
Ms. Lawton has taught classes on acting, directing, dramaturgy, movement, playwriting, Shakespeare, and solo performance at Arena Stage, Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Folger Shakespeare Library, the John F. Kennedy Center, Round House Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Smithsonian Associates, Towson University, University of the District of Columbia, and the Young Playwright's Theatre. Additionally, she has taught theater residencies and professional development workshops to adults and teachers wanting to integrate arts into the classroom.
Lawton is a 2012 Theatre Communications Group (TCG) Young Leaders of Color award recipient and a National New Play Network (NNPN) Playwright alumna. She is the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships including two Young Artist Program Grants from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities for Playwriting; the Ellsworth P. and Virginia Conkle Endowed Scholarship for Drama; the Jean McKenzie Schenkkan Endowed Scholarship in Playwriting; and the Morton Brown, Nellie Lea Brown, and Minelma Brown Lockwood Endowed Scholarship in Playwriting. She has been recognized as a semi-finalist for the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Playwrights Conference and the Playwright's Center PlayLabs. She serves on the Advisory Board of African Continuum Theatre Company and as the Diversity and Inclusion Online Conference Curator for TCG. She is a proud member of Arena Stage's Playwright's Arena and the Dramatist Guild of America.
Ms. Lawton received a BA concentration in Theatre, a BS in Radio-Televison-Film for Screenwriting, and an MFA in Playwriting from the University of Texas at Austin, where she was a James A. Michener Fellow.
About UNC Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the nation’s first public university, serves North Carolina, the United States and the world through teaching, research and public service. We embrace an unwavering commitment to excellence as one of the world’s great research universities.
Our mission is to serve as a center for research, scholarship and creativity and to teach a diverse community of undergraduate, graduate and professional students to become the next generation of leaders. Through the efforts of our exceptional faculty and staff, and with generous support from North Carolina’s citizens, we invest our knowledge and resources to enhance access to learning and to foster the success and prosperity of each rising generation.
We also extend knowledge-based services and other resources of the University to the citizens of North Carolina and their institutions to enhance the quality of life for all people in the State. With lux, libertas — light and liberty — as its founding principles, the University has charted a bold course of leading change to improve society and to help solve the world’s greatest problems. UNC Chapel Hill website: www.unc.edu
About Playmakers Rep
Based in UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences, PlayMakers is the Carolinas’ premiere resident professional theater company. The Drama League of New York has named PlayMakers one of the best regional theaters in America. The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has recognized PlayMakers with a $50,000 “Art Works” grant to support the plays and accompanying outreach activities. PlayMakers website: www.playmakersrep.org
About Playmakers Rep
Based in UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences, PlayMakers is the Carolinas’ premiere resident professional theater company. The Drama League of New York has named PlayMakers one of the best regional theaters in America. The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has recognized PlayMakers with a $50,000 “Art Works” grant to support the plays and accompanying outreach activities. PlayMakers website: www.playmakersrep.org