Media Releases

A New Stage for Women who win Script Competition
Regina Taylor for its National Council
World Premiere Playwright
WPI Moves Central Florida Theater Forward 
New Work by Arlene Hutton
WPI Hosts Parts of Speech Reading at Orlando Repertory Theatre 
WOWW is Central Florida's Freshest Theater Initiative
Call for New Plays by Women Playwrights Living in the Southeast
Women Playwrights' Initiative Presents World Premiere
A Thousand Variations Speaks a Universal Language
FSU Distinguished Professor Authors PLAYFEST Drama
Local Playwright Featured in October Reading
Orabelle Amazes the Actors
Winner of Women Playwright's Competition Gets World Premiere Production
WPI Welcomes Published Author June 13
WPI Sets a New Stage for a Woman's Voice
And the WPI Winner is...
Making Theater from Scratch
Pulitzer Prize Nominee Authors PlayFest Drama
Dramatic Abstraction Draws Actor Ensemble
Cue the Audience
Great Aunt Loretta inspired Margot Knight
CEO Margot Knight of United Arts
Call for Scripts

 

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Women Playwrights’ Initiative (WPI)
Lyndol Michael
lyndolmichael@earthlink.net
407.380.1812

MEDIA RELEASE

Women Playwrights’ Initiative announces
A New Stage for Women who win Script Competition

(Orlando FL) July 18, 2007 – New stages will occur in the 2007-08 season produced by Women Playwrights’ Initiative (WPI), as timing and guidelines have changed for WPI’s annual Call for Scripts.

The two major differences from previous WPI competitions are the dates – moved up from a September start date to an August 1-October 1 timeframe – and WPI is now requesting one-act plays. Previous Calls for Scripts have asked for full-length plays.

Women writers who reside in the following states are eligible: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, or Virginia. Scripts must be original and unpublished short plays of 25 to 60 minutes in length, which may open up the field for more submissions than in previous years.

WPI President Lyndol Michael said "We’re also committed to improving the quality of the scripts we receive. WPI started the annual Playwriting Workshop in 2006, and, happily, nine of the 10 writers in this year's Workshop were from Southeast states." 

WPI is aiming for a new stage as its expected venue for the winning script(s). The group’s reading panel will reach its decision in January 2008, a developmental process with the playwright(s) will begin in February and culminate with a staged production tentatively to be at Orlando’s May 2008 International Fringe Festival, the oldest operating Fringe Festival in North America.

For more information, please call Julia Gagne at 407-273-9723, or email her at julesgee@cfl.rr.com. Complete Call for Scripts guidelines are at www.WomenPlaywrights.com.

About Women Playwrights’ Initiative. WPI is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to foster the development and production of plays written by women, through educational outreach, workshops, readings and productions. For more information go to www.WomenPlaywrights.com

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CONTACT:
Women Playwrights’ Initiative
Lyndol Michael
407.380.1812 or lyndolmichael@earthlink.net

MEDIA RELEASE
Women Playwrights’ Initiative selects
Regina Taylor for its National Council
(Orlando, Fla.) April 3, 2007 - Women Playwrights' Initiative (WPI), a nonprofit advocating the development and production of plays written by women, has selected Golden-Globe winner Regina Taylor for its inaugural National Advisory Council. Council members will take on a support and advocacy role as WPI helps increase the production of plays written by women on the national scene.

WPI’s newly formed National Advisory Council will be composed of luminaries in the theater arts and other disciplines who will lend their names and prestige to WPI and its advocacy of women playwrights.

“I met Regina at the world premiere of The Dreams of Sarah Breedlove, and we began a conversation about the future. I’m thrilled to have someone of her caliber to help with our mission,” said WPI President Lyndol Michael.

Taylor was the first black actress to play Shakespeare’s Juliet on Broadway. She made her professional acting debut in the CBS made-for-TV movie Crisis at Central High and won praise forher film debut in Lean on Me. Additional TV roles include such series as Law & Order and Strange Justice. Taylor earned her Golden Globe Award playing Lilly Harper in the highly regarded series I’ll Fly Away.

She currently portrays Molly Blane on CBS’s The Unit. Taylor also has won attention for her stageplays and books for musicals. Crowns has been performed widely in America, and The Dreams of Sarah Breedlove, which premiered at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, was recently produced at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre, where Taylor is an Artistic Associate. Other playwriting credits include Oo-Bla-Dee and Drowning Crow which was produced on Broadway starring Alfre Woodard.

Nationally, just 17 percent of the plays produced on America’s main stages are written by women, according to the New York State Council on the Arts. Past seasons in four Central Florida counties have produced only 14-16 percent of plays by women. This season, programming of plays by women increased to 19 percent, according to analyses done by WPI’s Board last August. www.WomenPlaywrights.com

For an online bio of Regina Taylor, visit http://www.cbs.com/primetime/the_unit/bios/rtaylor.shtml

About Women Playwrights’ Initiative. WPI is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to foster the development and production of plays written by women, through educational outreach, workshops, readings and productions. For more information go to www.WomenPlaywrights.com

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CONTACT:
Women Playwrights’ Initiative
Lyndol Michael
407.380.1812 or lyndolmichael@earthlink.net

MEDIA RELEASE
Women Playwrights’ Initiative announces
World Premiere Playwright

(Orlando, Fla.) March 12, 2007 - Women Playwrights' Initiative (WPI) has selected Ree Howell and her script Five Women in Havana as its fourth annual World Premiere production.

The North Carolina-based playwright expects to be in Orlando for both a developmental reading June 10 and for the fully-staged production.

“Writing it was a six-month process, and that’s long for me,” said the self-described reclusive writer. “And it’s only my second project with strong roles for women!”

Howell’s script was inspired by a collision of events: a major hurricane, an interest in Cuba’s near future, interviews by Helen Mirren and Meryl Streep where they lamented the lack of significant roles for women, and her father’s appeal that she “get out of her office more.”

That sent Howell to a beach location for a month where she unplugged, researched and wrote. Her sister-in-law in Tennessee found WPI’s competition online, and Howell submitted the play after readings in her home.

WPI conducted its recent competition in the Southeast and received submissions from all nine states, a total of 72 submissions representing 62 playwrights. The first runner-up in the competition, Summer’s End by Martha Humphreys of Alabama, will be given a public reading in Central Florida later this year.

In celebrating March as National Women’s History Month, WPI notes that women’s history did not begin to emerge as a study subject until the 1970s. The scarcity of women’s voices on theater stages was not known statistically until more recently. The national percentage of produced plays written by women is 17 percent. In four Central Florida counties, it is 19 percent for the current season. www.WomenPlaywrights.com

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CONTACT:
Women Playwrights’ Initiative
Lyndol Michael
407.380.1812 or lyndolmichael@earthlink.net

NOTE TO EDITORS: Photos of playwright Hutton, director Jorie, as well as logos for Wave of Women Writers (WOWW!) initiative are available.

MEDIA RELEASE 
WPI Moves Central Florida Theater Forward 

ORLANDO (Feb 22, 2007) – Women Playwrights’ Initiative (WPI) is one of only three associate theaters at PlayFest 2007 – the Harriett Lake Festival of New Plays. WPI’s readings of Gulf View Drive by Arlene Hutton are Feb 25 at 7:30pm and Feb 27 at 7pm at the Lowndes Shakespeare Center. Chris Jorie will direct, and Hutton, a New York City-based playwright, will be in town for talkbacks after both readings.

WPI’s reading at PlayFest comes right before Gulf View Drive opens Off-Broadway on March 17 at the 78th Street Theatre Lab, therefore making WPI part of the development of a play before it opens Off-Broadway. It plays in rotating repertory through April 29.

Hutton led WPI’s inaugural Playwriting Workshop where emerging playwright Sarah Kate Moore was a participant. Moore, a Rollins’ College senior, was given a scholarship so that she could work on her script Grace, which will be given a fully-staged production March 29-April 1 at the Fred Stone Theatre, as part of Rollins’ Second Stage series. The event is free and open to the public.

“The script has changed hugely since I started it, including a very surreal second act. I keep telling myself that if it fails horribly, at least I'll learn something,” says the playwright, who recently invited all the Workshop participants to her production. “There are so many talented women playwrights, and we're some of them!”

As part of the WOWW! campaign (Wave of Women Writers), works by women playwrights are now playing or are upcoming at PlayFest 2007!, Rollins College Second Stage (Fred Stone Theatre), Orlando Repertory Theatre, Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival, Starlight Theater, and UCF Conservatory Theatre.

In a four-county Central Florida area, WPI reports that of the plays and musicals programmed for the area’s 2006-07 season, 19% are written by women – an encouraging 3-5% increase over two previous seasons. www.womenplaywrights.com

About Women Playwrights’ Initiative. WPI is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to foster the development and production of plays written by women, through educational outreach, workshops, readings and productions. For more information 

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NOTE TO EDITORS: Contact Lyndol for photos of the playwright and the director. Playwright Beth Lincks (aka Arlene Hutton) is available by appointment for interviews.

MEDIA RELEASE
Women Playwrights’ Initiative Presents
New Work by Arlene Hutton

(Orlando, Fla.) Feb 6, 2007 - Women Playwrights' Initiative (WPI) will be a guest presenter for the third year at PlayFest – the Harriett Lake Festival of New Plays. New York-based playwright Arlene Hutton will be in attendance for both readings of her new play Gulf View Drive. 

The last in her Nibroc Trilogy, Gulf View Drive premiered recently with sparkling reviews in Los Angeles. Local audiences will hear Gulf View Drive for the first time when WPI presents readings on Sunday Feb 25 at 7:30pm and Tuesday Feb 27 at 7pm.

The play is about family, Florida, and the 1950s. “I want audiences to recognize themselves and their families in Gulf View Drive,” says the award-winning playwright, whose scripts are known for artful blends of humor with pathos.

The Trilogy, which includes Last Train to Nibroc, See Rock City and Gulf View Drive, opens off-Broadway March 17 and plays in rotating repertory through April 29 at the 78th Street Theatre Lab. Chris Jorie, who directed See Rock City at Orlando Repertory Theatre last spring, will direct the readings of Gulf View Drive, with many returning members of the cast.

“Arlene paints the kind of American realism that is my favorite type of storytelling. I was able to envision her characters from my first reading of her work,” says Jorie, an independent director and acting coach.

For more information about WPI’s guest theater readings, contact producer Julia Gagne, 407-273-9723 or julesgee@cfl.rr.com. 

PlayFest 2007 is hosted by the Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival, and is a 10-day theater event packed with dynamic new plays and programming. Admission to the WPI readings requires a PlayFest button purchase and a $3 ticket. http://shakespearefest.org/

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CONTACT:
Women Playwrights’ Initiative
Lyndol Michael
407.380.1812 or lyndolmichael@earthlink.net

NOTE TO EDITORS: A photo of the playwright is available.

MEDIA RELEASE 

WPI Hosts Parts of Speech Reading at Orlando Repertory Theatre  

(Orlando, Fla.) Jan. 4, 2007 - The Women Playwrights’ Initiative (WPI) invites the public to a reading of Parts of Speech, an original play by Janet Burroway, on Monday, Jan. 22, at 7p.m. on the Lobby Stage at Orlando Repertory Theatre in Loch Haven Park.

This is the second time WPI has worked with playwright Burroway, FSU Professor Emerita, who wrote Sweepstakes, last year’s PlayFest reading.

The play will be directed by Ellen Jones, who was assistant director to Edwin Sherin during its Tallahassee reading with Jane Alexander.

“Janet’s writing is thought-provoking and soul-stirring,” Jones said. “It captures the imagination. I am tremendously grateful to Jane Alexander for introducing me to Janet, and I’m thrilled to be working with her again.”

Burroway drew on her own family experiences for Parts of Speech, which is about an interplay of politics, censorship and empathy. Translation teacher Imogen must re-learn that we all have only parts of speech.

Burroway’s play evolved from several experiences, including the events of Sept. 11, 2001, and improvisations she saw about communication. “But it was when I encountered an article about the Japanese Internment Camps in Arizona that I ‘got’ the plot,” Burroway said.

WPI is producing the reading to recognize the play’s first runner-up status in last season’s script competition. The Tallahassee playwright will be in attendance to receive audience feedback. For more information, call producer Sally McArthur at 407-894-1222 or go to www.WomenPlaywrights.com. The reading is free; however, contributions to WPI are appreciated.

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CONTACT:
Women Playwrights’ Initiative
Lyndol Michael
407.380.1812 or lyndolmichael@earthlink.net

MEDIA RELEASE
WOWW is Central Florida's Freshest Theater Initiative

ORLANDO (Sept 21, 2006) - Women playwrights get a new boost from Women Playwrights' Initiative (WPI) during the 2006-07 season through an initiative called Wave of Women Writers (WOWW!).

This new strategy emerged from WPI's reworked mission statement and its commitment to closer examination of the area's advancement of produced plays written by women. The great news is that people are asking questions, which is surely the result of more awareness of the scarcity of womens plays, according to WPI President Lyndol Michael.

Answering the many questions is one of WPI's goals. Another is a determined effort to better understand and evaluate the status of plays that get produced in four counties of Central Florida: Orange, Seminole, Lake and Osceola.

The third goal is embedded in WPIs new mission statement: to foster the development and production of plays written by women, through educational outreach, workshops, readings and productions. Theaters will be encouraged to cross promote the plays written by women, including musicals where a woman wrote the book/text. WPI will assist theaters in cross promoting with the help of volunteer participation. The WOWW logo may be used as a marker for publicity during the season's journey. In addition, WPI will partner with groups such as Mad Cow Theatre for readings and other forums which feature women playwrights.

WPI reports that of the plays and musicals programmed for the area's 2006-07 season, 19% are written by women an encouraging increase over two previous seasons. In media interviews throughout the Southeast, WPI has strongly expressed a challenge to theaters to include more women playwrights one of live theater's most underserved groups. www.womenplaywrights.com

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About Women Playwrights' Initiative. WPI is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to foster the development and production of plays written by women, through educational outreach, workshops, readings and productions. For more information go to www.WomenPlaywrights.com

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CONTACTS:
Women Playwrights? Initiative
Lyndol Michael
407.380.1812 or lyndolmichael@earthlink.net

Stacey Lane
571-213-4890 or stacey_lane_smith@yahoo.com

MEDIA RELEASE
Women Playwrights' Initiative Presents World Premiere

ORLANDO (Aug. 15, 2006) - A Thousand Variations on a Lie Told Once, a new comedy-drama by Stacey Lane, will be given a world premiere production by the Women Playwrights' Initiative (WPI) Sept 13-17, 2006, at Orlando Repertory Theatre's Tupperware stage in Loch Haven Park.?

The play, which beat out 87 other entries in the WPI's annual Southeast contest, is an irresistible tale about three adult daughters who confront their mother about farewell letters they believe their deceased father left for them.

Lane will hold talkbacks with audiences on Sept. 13 and 15. The playwright said her storytelling ability dates back to her childhood. She said she read 100 books every summer.

My passion for reading stories naturally evolved into a passion for creating stories because I can?t remember a time when I wasn't writing, said the Virginia playwright.

Lane also credits her success to having a strong mother who raised me to never for a moment view my gender as a limitation. Sadly, this is not true for many.

Kathleen Lindsey is directing the world premiere. Performances are Wed-Sat at 7:30pm and Sunday at 2:30pm. Tickets are $15. Discounts: $13 seniors, and $13 for the entertainment industry (Sept 13). ONLY cash and checks will be received at the door; no credit card or advance purchases are available. However, reservations may be made at reservations@womenplaywrights.com and on the Web site: www.womenplaywrights.com

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About Women Playwrights' Initiative. WPI is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to foster the development and production of plays written by women, through educational outreach, workshops, readings and productions. For more information go to www.WomenPlaywrights.com

Playwright Stacey Lane (L) discusses script changes with Director Kathleen Lindsey during a rehearsal of Stacey's play A Thousand Variations on a Lie Told Once.

Photo credit: Liz Kiefer Photography   

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Women Playwrights’ Initiative (WPI)
Lyndol Michael
lyndolmichael@earthlink.net
407.380.1812

Call for New Plays by Women Playwrights Living in the Southeast

(Orlando FL) August 22, 2006 - The Women Playwrights’ Initiative (WPI) will produce a full-length original play written by a woman playwright living in the Southeast. Playwrights residing in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, or Virginia may submit the first 15 pages only of no more than two scripts. Electronic submission is preferred or the pages may be postmarked no later than November 1, 2006. Select writers will be asked to submit full manuscripts for further consideration.

A panel of readers selects one play, which then goes through a developmental process with the playwright’s participation. The winning playwright is expected to be in Orlando for the fully staged production and for the developmental reading, and will receive a stipend to assist in travel and other expenses.

WPI's Reading Panel reaches its decision in February 2007, the workshop process begins in the Spring, and culminates with a fully-staged production in a small professional setting in Orlando.

Scripts must be original, previously unproduced full-length plays. Scripts that have received staged readings may be submitted. However musicals, children’s plays, collaborations and adaptations are not eligible. Complete Call for Scripts guidelines are at www.WomenPlaywrights.com.

For more information, please call Ms. Gagne at 407-273-9723, or email her at julesgee@cfl.rr.com. Playwrights are invited to submit a title page and the first 15 pages only to Ms.Gagne via email (preferred) or USPS mail: Julia Gagne, 3006 Hartland Ct., Orlando, FL 32825. www.WomenPlaywrights.com

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About Women Playwrights Initiative. WPI is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to foster the development and production of plays written by women, through educational outreach, workshops, readings and productions. www.WomenPlaywrights.com

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Lyndol Michael (available until noon 4-13-06)
407.380.1812
lyndolmichael@earthlink.net

Julia Gagne
407.273.9723
julesgee@cfl.rr.com

A Thousand Variations Speaks a Universal Language

Orlando, Fla. (April 12, 2006) A Thousand Variations on a Lie Told Once, by playwright Stacey Lane, has been selected by the Women Playwrights Initiative (WPI) for its next world premiere production set for September 2006. A Thousand Variations is a heart catching, drama-comedy involving the shatterproof connections of family.

The WPI received submissions from all nine Southeastern states, a total of 88 scripts representing 70 individual playwrights. Lauren Gunderson was originally declared the winning playwright, but due to a previous production of her play, the writer withdrew her script, Baby M. WPI then selected the first runner-up, A Thousand Variations on a Lie Told Once.

The fully-staged production of Lane’s play will be preceded by a reading on June 11 at the Fred Stone Theatre on the Rollins College campus in Winter Park, Fla. The Virginia playwright will be in attendance to receive audience responses in a talkback.

Writing is the only thing that always makes me happy, said the former Orlando resident and Rollins graduate. Writing has longevity! Lane will use audience reactions to rework the script before rehearsals begin for the world premiere production.

Writing women into theater history has been part of WPI’s mission since its inception three years ago. WPI began with a small group of women, who cared about women’s work in live theater, meeting over coffee. The faces have changed, but the mission has remained the same: Increase production of plays written by women.

In this year’s selection – WPI’s third annual world premiere production of a new play by a woman of the Southeast -- three grown daughters confront their mother about goodbye letters they believe their deceased father left for them. www.WomenPlaywrights.com

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About Women Playwrights Initiative. WPI is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to encourage the development of women playwrights, primarily in the Southeast, through readings, productions and writing workshops. www.WomenPlaywrights.com

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Source: Lyndol Michael, 407.380.1812, lyndolmichael@earthlink.net

FSU DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR AUTHORS PLAYFEST DRAMA

Orlando FL - The Women Playwrights' Initiative (WPI) is a guest theater at The Harriett Lake Festival of New Plays - PlayFest 2006! WPI's readings on Wednesday February 15 at 6pm and Saturday February 18 at 2:30pm will introduce theatergoers to SWEEPSTAKES by Janet Burroway.

"There are autobiographical elements in this play. In fact, I must bring something of my self to each character I write," says the playwright and author of seven novels. Janet Burroway's most recent plays are MEDEA WITH CHILD, SWEEPSTAKES, and PARTS OF SPEECH, which was given its initial reading with Jane Alexander in 2004. Her one-act DIVISION OF PROPERTY, was chosen by Lanford Wilson as winner of the 2002 Arts & Letters Award.

SWEEPSTAKES director Julia Gagne points to the timing of this reading given the current popularity of alternative love stories. "All the characters seem to be motivated by one or another of our basic human needs, and there's a message for everyone who has a dream."

Ms.Burroway is also the author of poetry, essays, children's books, and seven novels including The Buzzards (nominated for the Pulitzer Prize) and Raw Silk (runner up for the National Book Award). Her textbook Writing Fiction, now in sixth edition, is the most widely used creative writing text in the U.S. She is Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor Emerita at the Florida State University in Tallahassee.

The Harriett Lake Festival of New Plays - PlayFest 2006! runs February 8-19, 2006 at the Lowndes Shakespeare Center in Loch Haven Park. There will be a talkback with the author following both readings. www.womenplaywrights.com

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SOURCE:   Lyndol Michael, 407.380.1812, lyndolmichael@earthlink.net


LOCAL PLAYWRIGHT FEATURED IN OCTOBER READING

The Women Playwrights' Initiative (WPI) was founded to ensure that women's voices don't disappear from live theater. Each year, the WPI conducts a Call for Scripts in nine states of the Southeast: AL, FL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC, TN and VA. From 2003 to 2004, script submissions almost doubled. WPI's most recent first runner-up was the comedy Do's & Donuts by Linda Treiber.

Last year, WPI began the tradition of giving its first runner-up a Fall reading, and on October 18, the group will combine the Reading with a Silent Auction featuring works by area artists. The event will be held at Orlando Repertory Theatre's Lobby Stage (in Loch Haven Park) with the doors opening at 7pm for the Silent Auction, and the reading of Do's & Donuts beginning at
7:30pm.

Emerging playwright Treiber is Production Manager for Walt Disney Entertainment Special Events. "I got to write and direct video this year, mostly comedy and song lyrics. I thank God every day for having a career in the theater!" Her work also connects her with the great and the near great, like the Jane Goodall of elephants, Cynthia Moss. But the thing that makes her "strut the most" is that she's now a playwright!

Ms. Treiber has completed one full-length play and three one-acts, as well as serious progress on a second full-length. Her one-act play June Cleaver was premiered in May at the Orlando International Fringe Festival. She also produced and directed the work, a twisted and hilarious comedy.

The first appearance of Do's & Donuts was at a Playwrights Round Table reading in February 2005. From that feedback, she continued to rework the script and Kathleen Lindsey will direct the newest version on October 18. Audience reactions and questions during a talkback will propel the script to
another, higher level of development. Here's a hint of the plot: Two North Carolina sisters fight the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune in this southern fried "who-donut."

Admission to the reading is free; donations to the WPI are applauded.

Call for Scripts 2005 is underway, with a November 1 deadline. Complete guidelines are on the website: www.WomenPlaywrights.com

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Photo (self portrait) of the playwright is available
Photo credit: Linda Treiber

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SOURCE:   Lyndol Michael, 407.380.1812, lyndolmichael@earthlink.net


ORABELLE AMAZES THE ACTORS

Actors in Orabelle's Wheelbarrow are getting the full ride and want to stay on this new project train for as long as possible. The Women Playwrights' Initiative (WPI) presents the premiere of Orabelle's Wheelbarrow, written by Sheri Reynolds, at Orlando Repertory Theatre's Tupperware stage next week, September 13-18, with Tuesday through Saturday performances at 7:30pm and Sunday at 2pm.

WPI was founded to ensure that women's voices don't disappear from live theater. Job one is finding and encouraging new work. Orabelle's Wheelbarrow won the second annual 9-state competition of the Initiative. Job two is attracting actors and a director who welcome a creative challenge and who
don't fear an unknown script. Josie Deamus, who plays the title role, is new to the new play development process. "I absolutely will do more new work!" she declared. "Orabelle's message hit home with me. I can do only one play a year, so I have to make it count."

Actor Pam Baumann is cast in the role of Gwendolyn, "a female Archie Bunker" she's quick to offer. "Gwen is funny, angry, sad and can't bear anything to take attention away from her." This is Ms.Baumann's first new play also. "It's been a very positive experience for me. Everybody in the acting core loves this play."

Both women were in the cast that performed a Staged Reading to an overflow crowd in June. Ms.Reynolds was on hand to receive the feedback, watch audience reactions, and make necessary changes to the script for the fully-staged production. The World Premiere, then, is the culmination of
WPI's year long competition-to-production journey.
 
Tickets may be purchased with credit card in advance through the Orlando Rep's box office (407-896-7365), or at the door of the Tupperware stage with cash or by check the day/night-of the performance. www.WomenPlaywrights.com

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rehearsal photos are available

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SOURCE:   Lyndol Michael, 407.380.1812, lyndolmichael@earthlink.net


WINNER OF WOMEN PLAYWRIGHT'S COMPETITION GETS WORLD PREMIERE PRODUCTION

Women Playwrights' Initiative (WPI) presents the premiere of Orabelle's Wheelbarrow, written by Sheri Reynolds, at Orlando Repertory Theatre's Tupperware stage. The play will be performed September 13-18, with Tuesday through Saturday performances at 7:30pm and Sunday at 2pm. Opening night and Friday night will feature an after-show chat with the Virginia based author.
 
The play was chosen as the second annual 9-state competition winner of WPI, whose mission is to honor and encourage the work of women playwrights, primarily those living in the Southeast.

Orabelle's Wheelbarrow takes place in a tiny town in South Carolina, where a grieving woman is changed by encounters with the timeless Orabelle, who carries broken promises in her wheelbarrow. The play is informed by Ms. Reynolds' own background in the rural South and includes a diverse cast.
She has published three novels, including The Rapture of Canaan -- a New York Times bestseller and an Oprah Bookclub Selection. An associate professor of creative writing and literature, she holds the Ruth and Perry Morgan Chair of Southern Literature at Old Dominion University in Norfolk,
Virginia.

WPI has been operational since 2003, and last year teamed with Valencia Character Company in Orlando for the first annual world premiere. In Fall 2004, WPI put out another call for full-length, original plays written by female playwrights living in the Southeast. By then, WPI had achieved
non-profit status with an active Board of Directors.
 
The Initiative hopes to address the relative dearth of plays being written by women in the United States. Only 17 percent of the plays produced on America's main stages are written by women, according to a study by the New York State Council on the Arts. Producer Lyndol Michael is forthright in saying "We're improving that percentage, one play at a time."

Orlando Repertory Theatre's Tupperware Stage is located in Loch Haven Park in Orlando. Tickets are $15 general admission, and on opening night only, $12 for those in the entertainment industry. To make reservations, call The Rep's box office at 407-896-7365. www.WomenPlaywrights.com

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WPI WELCOMES PUBLISHED AUTHOR JUNE 13

Audience and cast feedback will provide critical insights for playwright Sheri Reynolds as she prepares the final draft of ORABELLE'S WHEELBARROW for its September premiere. The Women Playwrights' Initiative (WPI) is producing the Staged Reading of her winning script on Monday June 13 at 7pm on Orlando Repertory Theatre's lobby stage.

Presenting Ms.Reynolds' new work in public is a prime time opportunity for Central Florida theater enthusiasts to collaborate with the novelist-playwright. Audience members will have the privilege of
conversation with the emerging playwright during a talkback. From this feedback, Ms. Reynolds will make final changes to the script.

Ms. Reynolds has published three novels including The Rapture of Canaan, a New York Times bestseller and an Oprah Bookclub Selection. ORABELLE'S WHEELBARROW is her first play. She encourages others to make the leap across genres. "I'd tell them to go for it because they have nothing to lose!"

Lani Harris is the director of both the Staged Reading and the World Premiere of Ms. Reynolds' play. She's been nurturing new work for years and adds proudly, "I've come to believe that it's one of the most important functions a director can have." She has directed extensively in California and at University of Central Florida's Department of Theatre where she is Associate Professor/Performance.

Ms. Reynolds' play ORABELLE'S WHEELBARROW is the second annual World Premiere production by the WPI and will be presented September 13-18 at Orlando Repertory's Tupperware Theatre in Loch Haven Park, Orlando. The play contains adult themes and language.

WPI honors new and established women playwrights, primarily in the Southeast, by providing new stages for their voices. Admission to the Reading is free; donations are always welcome.
www.womenplaywrights.com

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Source: Lyndol Michael, 407.380.1812, lyndolmichael@earthlink.net
Photo credit: Jenean Hall


WPI SETS A NEW STAGE FOR A WOMAN'S VOICE

Sheri Reynolds' play ORABELLE'S WHEELBARROW is the second annual world premiere by the Women Playwrights' Initiative (WPI), to be presented September 13-18 at Orlando Repertory's Tupperware Theatre in Loch Haven Park, Orlando. Lani Harris is the director.

Ms. Reynolds has published three novels - Bitterroot Landing, The Rapture of Canaan (a New York Times bestseller and an Oprah Bookclub Selection), and A Gracious Plenty. A fourth novel, The Firefly Cloak, is forthcoming from Harmony in March 2006. ORABELLE'S WHEELBARROW is her first play. She encourages others to make the leap across genres. "I'd tell them to go for it because they have nothing to lose!"

Director Lani Harris has been nurturing new work for years and adds proudly, "I've come to believe that it's one of the most important functions a director can have." She has acted and directed professionally in California and Florida, and served nine years as artistic director for a northern
California theater, where she founded the Summer Shakespeare Program. In Orlando, Ms. Harris has performed with Disney, worked with the Disney Institute and directed extensively at UCF where she is Associate Professor/Performance.

In its ascent to the world premiere production, WPI conducted a regional competition in the Southeast and received submissions from all nine states. Script development with the winning playwright began in April, and the resulting script was presented in June at a public reading. Audience and cast feedback provided more insights, and the September premiere is the culmination of Ms. Reynolds' collaboration with WPI on this project. Audiences will have the privilege of discourse with the playwright during a talkback.

WPI honors new and established women playwrights, primarily in the
Southeast, by providing new stages for their voices.
www.womenplaywrights.com


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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Source: Lyndol Michael, 407.380.1812, lyndolmichael@earthlink.net

And the WPI winner is...

...published author Sheri Reynolds of Cape Charles VA.

Sheri's play ORABELLE'S WHEELBARROW has been selected by the Women Playwrights' Initiative (WPI) for its second annual world premiere production, September 13-18, 2005. It will be presented at The Rep's Tupperware Theatre in Loch Haven Park, Orlando FL.

Sheri Reynolds was born and raised in rural South Carolina. She received her BA from Davidson College in 1989 and her MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1992. She has published three novels: Bitterroot Landing, The Rapture of Canaan (a New York Times bestseller and an Oprah Bookclub Selection), and A Gracious Plenty. A fourth novel, The Firefly Cloak, is forth coming from Harmony in March 2006. Also an associate professor of creative writing and literature, she holds the Ruth and Perry Morgan Chair of Southern Literature at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. ORABELLE'S WHEELBARROW is her first play.

The WPI conducted a regional competition in the Southeast late last year and received submissions from all nine states.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Source: Lyndol Michael, 407.380.1812, lyndolmichael@earthlink.net

MAKING THEATER FROM SCRATCH

Orlando FL – That’s the fertile milieu of emerging playwright and 2003

Pulitzer nominee D.W. Gregory, author of Driven to Abstraction. This early play started as a 10-minute sketch and will receive its first professional production by the Women Playwrights’ Initiative (WPI) at PlayFest. WPI is a guest theater at the festival of new plays at the Lowndes Shakespeare Center in Loch Haven Park.

Ms.Gregory didn’t know when she wrote her first play - The Moon Shell -that it would get her into graduate school. It was workshopped at The Mt. Sequoyah New Play Retreat, a similar process to the professional venture that takes place in four PlayFest performances of Driven to Abstraction: Sunday, 1/16 at 4:30p, Tuesday 1/18 at 6:15p, Friday 1/21 at 9:15p, and Sunday 1/23 at 3:15p.

She’s written eight full-length plays, numerous 10-minute sketches, about a dozen one-acts, and one screenplay. Current successes include winner of the George R. Kernodle One-Act Playwriting Award, NYU’s Hot Ink Reading Series, a production of The Savage Sex by Brideview Productions in Tallow, Ireland, and 12 productions of Radium Girls between October 2004 and April 2005.

United Arts President Margot H. Knight is eager for new works by women to shake the historical stigma. “WPI is a weather vane in the community along with PlayFest, Fringe, and other producers of new works. Why women aren’t writing plays is a broad societal and cultural issue. But new works by women must emerge!”

Skillful revisions are the marrow of play development, and audiences will have an interactive experience with Ms.Gregory¹s play. Real people listen and respond with their comments about how the play made them feel. Ms.Gregory hopes that PlayFest audiences “will be transported, and if not transported, at least entertained.”

www.womenplaywrights.com

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Photos available: Playwright D.W.Gregory, rehearsal scenes of DRIVEN TO ABSTRACTION, Director Kathleen Lindsey

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Source: Lyndol Michael, 407.380.1812, lyndolmichael@earthlink.net

PULITZER PRIZE NOMINEE AUTHORS PLAYFEST DRAMA

Orlando FL – It’s a lively season for 2003 Pulitzer nominee D.W. Gregory. Her tightly written script Driven to Abstraction will be presented as a workshop production by the Women Playwrights’ Initiative (WPI) at PlayFest. WPI is a guest theater at the 10-day festival of new plays at the Lowndes Shakespeare Center in Loch Haven Park.

Driven to Abstraction, presented by the WPI, is receiving its first professional production at PlayFest, where audiences will express their feelings about the new play in a talkback following all four performances: Sunday, 1/16 at 4:30p, Tuesday 1/18 at 6:15p, Friday 1/21 at 9:15p, and Sunday 1/23 at 3:15p.

In 2003, Ms. Gregory was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for her drama, The Good Daughter, which broke all box office records in its premiere at the New Jersey Rep Company, where she is a writer in residence. From Why We Invented God and The Girl is Gone to Radium Girls and Driven to Abstraction, her work is being produced in Ireland, New York, Arkansas and throughout the U.S. in 2004-05. She credits reporting for daily newspapers as the foundation of her writing.

Driven’s director, Kathleen Lindsey is working to be invisible in this project. “My job is to make sure the playwright’s story is told. Does it work or doesn’t it? The audience will tell us!” Ms. Lindsey was most recently seen in WPI’s reading of Something to Draw On, and previous directing credits include the international phenomenon Menopause The Musical.

Like the playwright’s theater career, Driven to Abstraction is a work in progress. www.womenplaywrights.com

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Photos available: D.W. Gregory, rehearsal scenes of DRIVEN TO ABSTRACTION,

Director Kathleen Lindsey

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Source: Lyndol Michael, 407.380.1812, lyndolmichael@earthlink.net

DRAMATIC ABSTRACTION DRAWS ACTOR ENSEMBLE

Orlando FL -- Principal actors Tad Ingram, Ayla Harrison and Patrick Braillard agree on the theatricality of 2003 Pulitzer nominee D.W.Gregory's Driven to Abstraction, a workshop production from Women Playwrights' Initiative (WPI) at January's PlayFest. WPI is a guest theater at the 10-day festival of new plays at the Lowndes Shakespeare Center in Loch Haven Park.

All seven actors in the ensemble play multiple roles. Ingram plays the dual roles of Picasso and Art Professor. Harrison is Dora Maar and Art Student, and Braillard is Sabartes and Boyfriend.

"The stark efficiency of the script is so satisfying. The simplicity just spoke to me!" proclaims Ingram.
Actor-playwright Harrison loves a good role. "The girl allows you to see Dora and Dora allows you to see the girl. It's a mirror image as writing device."Sabartes/Boyfriend actor Braillard enjoys open-ended work. "Can we excuse Picasso for being a destructive animal because he was a genius?" Braillard is eager to know what answers the audience will take away from Driven's four performances.

Tad Ingram was last seen by local audiences as Ebenzer Scrooge at The Rep. At the Orlando Shakespeare Festival, he's played Cleante in Tartuffe, Sebastian in The Tempest and DeGuiche in Cyrano de Bergerac.

PlayFest is Ayla Harrison's third professional production while she pursues a BFA in performance from UCF's Conservatory Theatre. Her approach to the dual Dora Maar/Art Student roles is driven by her progressive grasp of writing skills. Regarding her own scripts, she says "If I were an actor, would I want to do this play? And I do want to dissect the woman Dora!"

Patrick Braillard's Orlando stage debut was the role of Adam in The Shape of Things at Mad Cow. A recent transplant from Washington State, Braillard's previous roles include Hal in Proof, Brick in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and Albert in A Thousand Clowns.

Former Washington Post theater critic and Driven to Abstraction playwright D.W.Gregory is a tax law editor by day, and yet her nomination for the Pulitzer Prize in 2003 signals her gift. "D.W.Gregory's script was chosen because it's tightly written, with an interesting and challenging style. I was intrigued by the central female character who is compelled to discover her art through pain," affirms director Kathleen Lindsey.

WPI honors the discoveries and progress of the playwright, as she and the WPI creative team transform her play from the page to the stage. PlayFest audiences will express their feelings about the new play in a talkback, a feature which accompanies all four presentations. This is the first professional production of Driven to Abstraction, and, like the playwright's career, is a work in progress. www.womenplaywrights.com

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FOR RELEASE: August 23, 2004

Source: Lyndol Michael, Board President of Women Playwrights' Initiative (WPI); 407.380.1812; lyndolmichael@earthlink.net

CEO Margot Knight of United Arts
headlines WPI's first event of the season

Orlando FL - Arts enthusiast and United Arts President Margot H. Knight will perform the role of Josephine, a cheerless mother, in the Reading of a new play by Barbara Kreher, SOMETHING TO DRAW ON. The performance, to be held October 5 at 7pm, opens the 2004-05 season of the Women Playwrights' Initiative (WPI).

The Reading Fundraiser to benefit the WPI is a collaborative event bringing three performing arts organizations together with visual artists. In its second year of production activity, the WPI is producing the event. Project Imagination Founder Mitchell O'Rear will relate the action through the stage directions. Host venue Harwood-Watson Dance Studio welcomes crossover arts events and teaches dance as part of a comprehensive lifestyle.

Women playwrights have something personal to say, and they're eager to say it through a lead character or perhaps a quirky minor character. In the case of playwright Kreher, "I had a brother who died at age 33 (model for character of Jimmy), and Josephine, his mother, is an imagined character who is both talented and self-destructive."

In DRAW, Kreher is speaking through three of the characters including Jenny, Josephine's oppressed daughter. Kreher is a Palm Bay Florida playwright with a lively sense of humor. She's appearing in a standup comic competition Saturday night, August 28, at the Palm Bay Community Center in Brevard County.

Harwood-Watson Dance Studio offers the perfect venue for SOMETHING TO DRAW ON as the Studio is home to a small art gallery also. Nathalie Torres' works will be on display at the time of the Reading. Local artists are a regular attraction and special project of Studio founders Eliza Harwood and Kip Watson.

Works by other local artists will be featured in the October 5 event as items for purchase in a silent auction.

 Harwood-Watson Dance Studio is located at 820 Humphries Avenue, Orlando, near the south entrance to Baldwin Park. Location and map at www.hwdancestudios.com. There is no admission fee, but donations to the WPI will be accepted.

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Source: Lyndol Michael, 407.380.1812, lyndolmichael@earthlink.net

CALL FOR NEW PLAYS BY WOMEN PLAYWRIGHTS LIVING IN THE SOUTHEAST

The Women Playwrights' Initiative (WPI) will produce a full-length original play written by a woman playwright living in the Southeast. Never-before-produced full length scripts by playwrights residing in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, or Virginia will be accepted. Submissions must be postmarked on or before December 1, 2004, and if the writer would like her script returned, a manuscript-sized SASE must accompany each submission.

A panel of readers will select one play, which will then go through a developmental process with the playwright¹s participation. The writer will receive a stipend to cover travel and other expenses related to the production.  WPI's Reading Panel will reach its decision by February 1, 2005, and the workshop process will begin in Spring 2005, with a fully-staged production next Fall in a small professional setting in Orlando.

Playwrights are invited to submit no more than two manuscripts each to: Julia Gagne, 3006 Hartland Ct., Orlando, FL 32825.

Scripts must be original, previously unproduced full-length plays. Scripts that have received staged readings may be submitted. However musicals, children's plays, collaborations and adaptations are not eligible. Although WPI cannot assume responsibility for loss, damage, or return of scripts, every reasonable care will be taken.

For more information, please call Ms. Gagne at 407-273-9723, or email her at jgagne@valenciacc.edu. Complete guidelines for Call for Scripts 2004 are at www.womenplaywrights.com

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