Press Release: Playwright Jacqueline E. Lawton joins the Advisory Board of African Continuum Theatre Company
Playwright Jacqueline E. Lawton joins the Advisory Board of African Continuum Theatre Company. Ms. Lawton has been affiliated with African Continuum since 2006; where, in addition to serving as Artistic Associate, Resident Dramaturg and Fresh Flavas Program Coordinator, she also worked as Administrative Assistant, and Group Sales Manager.
"I'm honored to join the Advisory Board of African Continuum Theatre Company," Ms. Lawton said. "We share the belief that the history, culture and legacy of the African American community can be explored, challenged, documented and celebrated through theater. I strongly believe in Producing Artistic Director, Thembi Duncan's vision and I'm excited to be working with her and the board to shape the future of the D.C. community and the American Theatre."
Ms. Lawton joins such prominent members of the D.C. theatre community as Michael J. Bobbitt (Adventure Theatre – MTC), Mary Stone Hanley (Theatre Scholar), Caleen Sinnette Jennings (American University), Hari Jones (African American Civil War Museum), Jennifer L. Nelson (Former Producing Artistic Director), Scot Reese (University of Maryland, College Park), Jewell Robinson (National Portrait Gallery) and JoAnn M. Williams (Former Executive Director).
About African Continuum Theatre Company
The African Continuum Theatre Coalition was created in 1989 as a service organization to assist the dozen or more small black community theatres in the improvement of the quality and visibility of their work. In 1995, the Coalition transitioned into a theatre company, with a primary mission to produce professional, high-quality programming for the general public that preserves and highlights African-American history and culture.
African Continuum Theatre Company has presented over 35 fully-produced, main-stage plays, seven of which were world premieres, along with numerous public readings of new works by playwrights of color. African Continuum Theatre Company is committed to providing new and traditional performing art forms from main-stage productions to community engagement programs. Its focus and strength is engaging the community with exciting and meaningful theatrical productions, educational programs, partnerships, and volunteer opportunities that bring us to the larger community.
African Continuum has garnered recognition for its artistic endeavors and leadership from the Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington and other agencies, including 16 Helen Hayes Awards nominations, 3 Helen Hayes Awards, the Washington Post Award for Distinguished Service to the Community, and the Mayor’s Arts Award.
"I'm honored to join the Advisory Board of African Continuum Theatre Company," Ms. Lawton said. "We share the belief that the history, culture and legacy of the African American community can be explored, challenged, documented and celebrated through theater. I strongly believe in Producing Artistic Director, Thembi Duncan's vision and I'm excited to be working with her and the board to shape the future of the D.C. community and the American Theatre."
Ms. Lawton joins such prominent members of the D.C. theatre community as Michael J. Bobbitt (Adventure Theatre – MTC), Mary Stone Hanley (Theatre Scholar), Caleen Sinnette Jennings (American University), Hari Jones (African American Civil War Museum), Jennifer L. Nelson (Former Producing Artistic Director), Scot Reese (University of Maryland, College Park), Jewell Robinson (National Portrait Gallery) and JoAnn M. Williams (Former Executive Director).
About African Continuum Theatre Company
The African Continuum Theatre Coalition was created in 1989 as a service organization to assist the dozen or more small black community theatres in the improvement of the quality and visibility of their work. In 1995, the Coalition transitioned into a theatre company, with a primary mission to produce professional, high-quality programming for the general public that preserves and highlights African-American history and culture.
African Continuum Theatre Company has presented over 35 fully-produced, main-stage plays, seven of which were world premieres, along with numerous public readings of new works by playwrights of color. African Continuum Theatre Company is committed to providing new and traditional performing art forms from main-stage productions to community engagement programs. Its focus and strength is engaging the community with exciting and meaningful theatrical productions, educational programs, partnerships, and volunteer opportunities that bring us to the larger community.
African Continuum has garnered recognition for its artistic endeavors and leadership from the Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington and other agencies, including 16 Helen Hayes Awards nominations, 3 Helen Hayes Awards, the Washington Post Award for Distinguished Service to the Community, and the Mayor’s Arts Award.
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. Lawton’s 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). Ms. 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). She is a 2012 TCG Young Leaders of Color award recipient and a National New Play Network (NNPN) Playwright Alumna. 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, and as a SheWrites Festival finalist. A member of Arena Stage's Playwright's Arena and the Dramatist Guild of America, Ms. Lawton currently resides in Washington, D.C.