Press Release: James Madison University CVPA’s Diversity Council selects Playwright Jacqueline E. Lawton to serve as the 2014/15 Cultural Connection Artist-in-Residence for the School of Theater and Dance
James Madison University College of Visual and Performing Arts Diversity Council selects Playwright Jacqueline E. Lawton to serve as the 2014/15 Cultural Connection Artist-in-Residence for the School of Theater and Dance. One of the major diversity initiatives in the CVPA, the Cultural Connections Artist-in-Residence Program that was established in 2007-2008 in collaboration between the Office of Diversity and the College of Visual and Performing Arts.
Artists and scholars who enhance the diversity of thought, perspective, ethnicity, religion, socio-economic status and background, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and cultural experiences are brought to campus by each school. This award is equally funded by The Office of the Special Assistant to the President, the College of Visual and Performing Arts, and School of Theater and Dance.
The Theatre Area plans to bring playwright, dramaturg, and teaching-artist Jacqueline E. Lawton to JMU for a one-week residency. Although her plays primarily focus on issues of race, culture, and class, her work in other venues (as dramaturg, as arts advocate, as the Diversity and Inclusion Online Conference Coordinator for Theatre Communications Group, for example) explores diversity and intersectionality more broadly.
The theme of her visit to JMU is “Beginning and Sustaining Diverse Dialogues,” with the sincere hope that her residency will galvanize engaged discussions about identity, community, and collaboration, both onstage and off. Over the course of the week, Jacqueline will interact with a wide range of students, staff, and faculty in classroom visits, workshops, a staged reading, and a Devised Performance.
Artists and scholars who enhance the diversity of thought, perspective, ethnicity, religion, socio-economic status and background, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and cultural experiences are brought to campus by each school. This award is equally funded by The Office of the Special Assistant to the President, the College of Visual and Performing Arts, and School of Theater and Dance.
The Theatre Area plans to bring playwright, dramaturg, and teaching-artist Jacqueline E. Lawton to JMU for a one-week residency. Although her plays primarily focus on issues of race, culture, and class, her work in other venues (as dramaturg, as arts advocate, as the Diversity and Inclusion Online Conference Coordinator for Theatre Communications Group, for example) explores diversity and intersectionality more broadly.
The theme of her visit to JMU is “Beginning and Sustaining Diverse Dialogues,” with the sincere hope that her residency will galvanize engaged discussions about identity, community, and collaboration, both onstage and off. Over the course of the week, Jacqueline will interact with a wide range of students, staff, and faculty in classroom visits, workshops, a staged reading, and a Devised Performance.
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, 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.