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XX PlayLab 2014
June 6 & 7, 2014 @
The Boston Center for the Arts
Free and open to the public!
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The Boston Center for the Arts will produce its second new play festival in collaboration with Company One Theatre for XX PlayLab, the program designed to support, develop and propel the work of female playwrights. On Friday, June 6 and Saturday, June 7 audiences will have the opportunity to see performances of new plays from this year’s XX Playwrights, catch a sneak peek of Company One Theatre’s multimedia, experimental production for Summer 2014, and participate in panel conversations on the rise of “Geek Theatre” and the future of the new play sector on a national level. Performances will be followed by post-show conversations with the artists, who will share their experience and discoveries from a full year of XX PlayLab development.
C1's Take:
We are so glad to be continuing working with the BCA to produce the XX PlayLab and to give female playwrights an opportunity to develop important new plays. We will be working with Natsu Onoda Power all season to develop ASTRO BOY AND THE GOD OF COMICS with a local cast and a mix of original and new design collaborators, leading up to a production in the summer. Furthermore, Miranda Craigwell and Obehi Janice (who was mentored by Natsu Onoda Power at Georgetown University) have become core artists with the company over the past two years – we couldn’t be happier to support the continued development of these unique theatrical voices.
The Splendor Variations
- Friday, June 6 at 8:00 pm
Director: Shawn LaCount
Dramaturg: Ilana M. Brownstein
Based on SPLENDOR (IRNE nominated) - which was developed in the 2012-13 XX PlayLab and produced by Company One this past fall - Kirsten Greenidge heads back into the town of Bellington to explore her characters lives even more deeply. This is a rare opportunity to accompany a playwright on her journey of post-production revision.
Shelter of Last Resort
- Saturday, June 7 at 10:00 am
Director: Summer L. Williams
Music Director: Geannetta Bennett
Dramaturg: Jessie Baxter
It’s 1815, no – it’s 2005 – and storms are brewing off the Gulf Coast as the mixed community of New Orleans learns what the water brings us, and what it takes away.
Astro Boy and the God of Comics
- Saturday, June 7 at 2:00 pm
Director: Natsu Onoda Power
Assistant Director/Creative Advisor: Jamie Gahlon
Dramaturg: Ilana M. Brownstein
Dramaturg: Ramona Ostrowski
Created and directed by Natsu Onoda Power, this sensational, multimedia, experimental theatre piece, devised with an ensemble cast, combines live hand drawing, interactive video, and large-format animation by actors on stage. A major step in the imaginative use of technology in theatre; ASTRO BOY is a truly ground breaking work.
Geek Theatre: Bringing Outsiders Center Stage
- Saturday, June 7 at 2:30 pm
It's time to Geek Out to sci fi, comics, robots, and big-tent diversity! Geek Theatre is on the rise and we are talking to the folks at the center!
FUFU & OREOS
- Saturday, June 7 at 4:30pm
Director: Steven Bogart
Dramaturg: Ilana M. Brownstein
Dramaturg: Ciera Sadé Wade
A multiculti 20-something navigates the collisions between her Nigerian heritage, her American lifestyle, and loaded promise of Prozac.
What's Next: XX Artist Panel
- Saturday, June 7 at 7:15 pm
A conversation with this season's XX PlayLab artists talking about some of the biggest issues of new play field: representation, parity, opportunity, and mentorship.
See who's on the panel!
Kirsten Greenidge is a current PEN America/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award for Playwright in Midcareer, whose recent work includes SPLENDOR (Company One), THE LUCK OF THE IRISH (LTC3 and the Huntington Theatre Company), BOSSA NOVA (Yale Rep), RUST (The Magic) and MILK LIKE SUGAR (La Jolla Playhouse and Playwrights Horizons), which received a Village Voice Obie Award, the San Diego Critics Award, and a TCG/Edgerton Foundation Award. Kirsten has attended The O’Neill, The Playwright’s Foundation Summer Festival, Pacific Playwrights Festival, Denver Center New Play Summit and has been a NEA/TCG Fellow and recipient of the Lorraine Hansberry KC/ACTF Award, the Mark Cohen Award, and two IRNE Awards. Past plays produced by Company One are 103 WITHIN THE VEIL, A MORE PERFECT UNION, and THANKSGIVING in the collaborative play GRIMM. She is currently at work on commissions from LTC3, The Goodman, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, La Jolla Playhouse, the Huntington Theatre Company, the Kennedy Center and the University of Iowa. An alum of New Dramatists, Kirsten attended Wesleyan University where she was a U.S History Major and The Playwrights Workshop at the University of Iowa. Kirsten is also a member of the Boston playwrights group Rhombus.
Miranda Craigwell will be appearing in the world premier of Lydia Diamond’s new comedy, SMART PEOPLE, at the Huntington Theatre Company this summer. Regional credits include Lady Capulet in ROMEO AND JULIET (Actors’ Shakespeare Project), Selector in HOW WE GOT ON* (Company One), Shylock in MERCHANT OF VENUS (Zero Point Theater), Silvia in TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA (Actors’ Shakespeare Project), Susan in RACE (New Rep), and Oya/Shaunta Iyun in THE BROTHER/SISTER PLAYS** (Company One). Film/TV roles include Grace in “LITTLE EYES” (Beyond Measure Productions), Margaret in “FOUR” (Jam the Wimp productions) and Oona in UK television series “NIGHTLIFE”. Ms. Craigwell was formerly a member of the URBAN IMPROV troupe (Freelance Players) and was recently a Playwright Fellow with the Huntington Theatre Company. Her play SHELTER OF LAST RESORT is currently being developed as part of the XX Playlab at the BCA.
Natsu Onoda Power is a DC-based writer/director/ designer. Recent works include THE T PARTY (Forum Theatre, writer/ director), A TRIP TO THE MOON (Synetic Theatre, writer/ director/ illustrator), ASTRO BOY AND THE GOD OF COMICS (The Studio Theatre 2ndStage, writer/ director). She has also directed YELLOW FACE (Theatre J); and SONGS OF THE DRAGONS FLYING TO HEAVEN (The Studio Theatre 2ndStage). Her set design has been seen at Imagination Stage, Forum Theatre, Synetic Theatre, and The Hub Theatre. She is an Assistant Professor of Theater and Performance Studies at Georgetown University, where she has directed THE OMNIVORE’S DILEMMA (adapted from Michael Pollan), MADNESS AND CIVILIZATIONS (adapted from Michel Foucault), and numerous other productions. Natsu holds a Ph.D. in Performance Studies from Northwestern University, and is the author of God of Comics: Osamu Tezuka and the Creation of Post World War II Manga (The University Press of Mississippi in 2009).
Obehi Janice is an actress, writer, producer, and director. A native of Lowell, Massachusetts, her written work explores the power of voice in identity, politics, cultural exchange, and testimony. Her plays have been produced by GAN-e-meed Theatre Project, Sleeping Weazel, MPAACT (Chicago), The One-Minute Play Festival, The Berkshire Fringe Festival, and The Boston Theater Marathon. She is a graduate of Georgetown University.