Have you ever thought about writing a play? Have you written a play, but wonder how to get it produced? Have you done some other type of writing and wonder whether you can make the switch to playwright?
Come get the scoop on writing for the stage when the CT Chapter of the League of Professional Theatre Women and the Dramatists Guild’s Western New England Region host Inside Playwriting, a panel between sessions of Ivoryton Playhouse’s Women’s Playwright Initiative Saturday, Feb. 22.
Panelists include TV writer and playwright Susan Cinoman, Broadway Producer and playwright Tracey Knight Narang, Director Shellen Lubin, Emmy-Award-Winning Actress and Playwright Dorothy Lyman, Director and Artist/Playwright Kato McNickle. Playwright Emma Palzere Rae, the Dramatists Guild Regional Rep, will moderate.
The panel is open to ticketholders for the initiative, which will feature four play readings in two sessions at the playhouse, 103 Main St. Ivoryton.
At 2 pm:
Savior by Sharon Goldner
Directed by Kate Katcher
Two modern moms at a yoga class dealing with an absurd yet very familiar situation, – what do you do when your five year old tells you he is the messiah?
1200 miles from Jerome by Crystal V. Rhodes
Directed by Kathryn Markey
During World War II, a mother, her two daughters, a young school teacher and a fourteen year old Japanese American fugitive from a “Relocation Camp” are forced to flee the town of Jerome, Arkansas headed to New York City. The journey is over 1200 miles of roads where African Americans aren’t allowed to sleep in most hotels, eat in most restaurants, use restroom facilities or purchase gas at many stations. It is a trip filled with danger, one that could prove to mean the difference between life and death.
At 7 pm:
Court by Holly Arsenault
Directed by Jacqueline Hubbard
An intimate look at divorce and custody battles from a child’s unique, funny and raw perspective.
Deanna and Paul by Dagney Kerr
Directed by Missy Burmeister
Deanna’s a quirky waitress with a strict no tipping policy. Paul’s a surly customer with a tight lid on his heart. Their lonely worlds collide one day in a small-town diner, where one cup of coffee can change everything.
To purchase tickets for the Women Playwrights Festival call 860-767-7318 or go to
www.ivorytonplayhouse.org. League members should contact CTChapter:PTW@gmail.com to find out about discounted tickets.
Regular single ticket prices: $20 adult; $15 senior; $10 student for one performance. Buy tickets for both performances for $30 adult; $25 senior; $10 student
About the Panelists:
Susan Cinoman Susan Cinoman is a playwright and screenwriter whose work is published and produced internationally. For television, she is the creator of the recurring character, Miss Cinoman, on ABC’s, “The Goldbergs” and a frequent writer and contributor. Her one- act play, Fitting Rooms, (Applause Books) is included in Best Short Plays and is produced internationally. Other productions are Cinoman and Rebeck and Gin and Bitters, Off Broadway. Her play Sweet Sand, produced by Ensemble Studio Theatre has been recently published. Two plays were made into award-winning independent films: “Love and Class in Connecticut” and “All Me, All the Time” have screened at film festivals throughout New England. Cinoman is the recipient of the Maxwell Anderson Playwrights Prize, The Aristos Award, Theatre Ariel Award, Best Connecticut Filmmaker of 2007, Ivoryton Playhouse Writing Award and the Guilford Prize in Drama for her new play, Guenevere.
Tracey Knight Narang
Tracey Knight Narang is a producer of the groundbreaking Broadway revival of Rogers and Hammerstein’s OKLAHOMA! (Tony Award), and the highly anticipated new musical Sing Street opening on Broadway in April. In addition to producing and investing, Narang’s play To Each Their Own, received critical acclaim at FringeNYC 2015. See coined the term “Subway Etiquette“ after publishing her book “Subway Etiquette: The Straphanger’s Guide to Underground Conduct.” Narang is a member of the Board of Directors of New York City Center, and the Vice President of the Board of the Actors’ Equity Foundation.
Shellen Lubin
Shellen Lubin directed Gloria Bond Clunie's Buck Naked in the first Women Playwrights Initiative at Ivoryton. As a director/dramaturg assisting in the development of new plays, she has directed across the country, recently working on projects with Lanie Robertson, Stuart Warmflash, Stephanie Satie, Susan Merson, and Amy Oestreicher at multiple venues. Her own plays have been produced and workshopped at Manhattan Class Company, Public Theatre, Pacific Resident Theatre, Hubbard Hall, West Coast Ensemble, American Jewish Theatre, and more. Her songs have been featured on radio and cable TV, in Milos Forman’s first American film, “Taking Off,” in numerous cabaret acts including her own, and in a one-hour special on WBAI-FM, Shellen Lubin - Songwriter/Singer. She also teaches and coaches actors, singers, and writers both privately and as a guest artist. Proud member of DG, SDC, AEA, Co-President - League of Professional Theatre Women, Past President - Women in the Arts & Media Coalition, chair - Women Playwrights Initiative - National Theatre Conference.
www.shellenlubin.com @SHLubin
Dorothy Lyman
Emmy award -winning actress Dorothy Lyman is known for her roles on “Another World,” “All My Children,” “Generations” and “Mama's Family,” but she also is a director (75 episodes of “The Nanny” for CBS), a filmmaker and a playwright. Her first film, shot in Delaware County An Enemy of the People, “The Northern Kingdom,” is available on Netflix, as is her second film, “Split Ends.” A documentary on aging, “Janet’s Class,” is seeking distribution. Lyman produced and directed “Enemy,” her adaptation of Ibsen’s (2016), and her full-length plays A Rage In Tenure (2017) and Soft Landing (2018) at Teatro Santa Ana in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. She can be seen on the HBO series “Divorce” and in guest star roles on other episodic TV shows.
Kato McNickle
Kato McNickle is a Connecticut-based playwright, director, and artist. A graduate of Brown University and holds a degree in Ancient Studies specializing in Greco-Roman and Sanskrit performance and continue to study the connection between art, perception, neuroscience, and performance. They have taught playwriting at the University of Connecticut, and writing and comic making at Artreach, Inc. in Norwich, CT. They are chair of the New London Artistic Council; Vice-President of the Mystic Paper Beasts Mask & Puppetry Company; producer of the Mayfly 24-Hour Theater in New London, and a member Dramatist Guild and the Star Wars Fan Club.
Emma Palzere-Rae, Moderator
Emma Palzere-Rae (actress, playwright, director and producer), founder of Be Well Productions which produces her original touring one-woman shows include The Woodhull Project and Aunt Hattie’s House. She is co-founder of The Way of the Labyrinth Playwrights Retreat, the former artistic director of Plays for Living (NYC), and currently associate director at Artreach, Inc. (Norwich). She is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild, where she is the regional rep for New England West. Recent stage roles include Mother Miriam in Agnes of God (Madison Lyric Stage), Essie Miller in Ah, Wilderness! (East Lynne Theater Company), Sister Aloysius in Doubt (Emerson Theater Collaborative). At Mystic Seaport she co-directs and performed in Lantern Light Tours and Nautical Nightmares.
