Chicago Dramatists is having an extraordinary and memorable 2009 In addition to the success of A Steady Rain opening on Broadway this fall, starring Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman, Chicago Dramatists enters its 31st season with the honor of the TCG New Generations/Future Leaders grant, the announcement of four new resident playwrights and a new associate artistic director, and its selection as only one of four theatres to be included as part of the inaugural Millennium Park "In The Works" Theatre Lab Project this spring. In addition, last month, Raymond Gaspard, one of the producers of A Steady Rain, optioned Liquid Moon by John Green (a 2002 Chicago Dramatists production), and is developing the script for a New York production. This series of great news has given Chicago Dramatists the opportunity to grow its organization and shine the spotlight on its talented playwrights.
Chicago Dramatists is one of only ten theatres that have been selected to participate in the ninth round of the New Generations/Future Leaders Program, a grant initiative designed by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and Theatre Communications Group (TCG). As part of this grant, early-career theatre professionals are mentored by established leaders in the theatre field which allows the company to bring on Richard Perez as Chicago Dramatists' first ever Associate Artistic Director. Through this two-year program, Chicago Dramatists' Artistic Director Russ Tutterow will mentor Richard Perez by sharing his knowledge and experience to advance Perez's journey to become an artistic leader in new work. Perez previously served as the Artistic Director of the Bloomington Playwrights Project in Bloomington, Indiana for seven years. At Chicago Dramatists, he will be responsible for The Playwrights Network, the theatre's national membership program of more than 200 writers, casting, support of Chicago Dramatists' 60 Associate Artists, and collaborations with other Chicago Theatres. He will also direct, Aiming for Sainthood, by Resident Playwright Arlene Malinowski, to be workshopped and performed in spring 2010 as part of The Millennium Park "In the Works" Project.
The Millenium Park series allows audiences to sit on the stage of the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, and experience works in development by four local theatre companies. "In the Works" is supported by a grant from The Boeing Company Charitable Trust. Chicago Dramatists is scheduled to participate in the "In The Works" Project March 25-27, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. Visit millenniumpark.org or call 312-742-1168 for more information about this program.
Chicago Dramatists has been selected for these unique opportunities due in part to being the only theatre in the country that is both a playwrights' development center and a full producing theatre which continues to push the envelope with the newest plays and most promising playwrights. Through its long-standing Residency program, Chicago Dramatists seeks to nurture accomplished, Chicago-based dramatists who show the potential to make significant contributions to the national theatre. Thus, looking forward to the next generation of theatre, the company is also pleased to welcome the following four outstanding writers to the ranks of its 40 Resident Playwrights: Scott T. Barsotti, Dana Lynn Formby, Andrew Hinderaker, and Ruth Margraff. Every year, Chicago Dramatists' playwrights earn literally hundreds of professional accomplishments from productions and awards to other honors at large and small theatres in Chicago and around the world; enriching the lives of hundreds of thousands of theatre patrons, exporting Chicago voices across the globe, and significantly boosting Chicago Dramatists' reputation as one of the nation's foremost new play development theatres.
Chicago Dramatists is also continuing its SATURDAY SERIES, an ongoing event at the theatre open to the public every Saturday at 2:00 p.m. featuring staged readings and discussions of plays-in-progress. This popular series is an interactive experience that allows audience members to get a sneak peak at exciting new work which in the past have included the likes of the current Broadway smash hit, A Steady Rain, by Chicago Dramatists' Resident Playwright, Keith Huff.
In the fall of 1979, four playwrights came together to hear their work read aloud and to hone their craft. Today, Chicago Dramatists' amazing record of achievement has landed them an invaluable place in the artistic community as a vital source of inspiration to 40 resident playwrights, 160 associate playwrights, 60 associate artists, and thousands of audience members. Over the past three decades, Chicago Dramatists has worked with over a thousand playwrights, produced and developed thousands of plays and stayed true to its mission to nurture compelling, challenging and diverse plays that move on to productions, earn awards, and define the American theatre. Through passionate dedication, personal nurture and careful exposure, Chicago Dramatists carries on its thirty-one-year-old mission of developing new plays and playwrights for the next generation of theatre.
The New Resident Playwrights
Scott T. Barsotti is a playwright, screenwriter, and performer, originally from Pittsburgh, PA. His plays include "The Revenants," "McMeekin Finds Out," "Jet Black Chevrolet," and "Brewed" and have played in Chicago, New York, New Orleans and Pittsburgh. His work has been seen at the New York International Fringe Festival, the Rhinoceros Theater Festival, and Collaboraction's "Sketchbook," and has been produced and/or developed by WildClaw Theatre, Curious Theatre Branch, Chicago Dramatists, The Route 66 Theatre Company, Roundelay Theatre Company, and Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company, among many others. He is the co-writer of the 2008 short film "The Paranormalists," and his feature-length comedy "All Wrong About People" is currently under option. Mr. Barsotti is a company member of Curious Theatre Branch and WildClaw Theatre, as well as an Artistic Associate of Illegal Drama and Collaboraction. He has an MFA in Writing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and is honored to be counted among the Resident Playwrights at Chicago Dramatists, where he has been a member of The Playwrights Network for several years.
Dana Lynn Formby is a blue-collar playwright whose attitude has been carved by the relentless Wyoming wind – lips tight, eyes squinted, legs crossed because god knows what could blow in. She is a Resident Playwright at Chicago Dramatists. She is happy to be working with the Vet Art Project in Chicago. Her recent plays include "Corazon de Manzana," invited to the 2009 WordBRIDGE Play Lab; "The Small of Her Back," a 2009 Kendeda Finalist; "Inherit the Whole," which was presented in readings at Premiere Stages, Victory Gardens Theater, and was the winner of the CLTP New Play Project. "Armed with Peanut Butter," winner of the 2009 Kennedy Center National 10-Minute Playwriting Award and will be produced at The 2009 Source Festival; "Sugar Bear," which was commissioned by Ohio University's School of Medicine; "Loaded Gavel," which was read at the 2007 Houston Urban reading series. Ms. Formby is the 2008 recipient of the Scott McPherson Playwriting Award. She holds an MFA in Playwriting from Ohio University.
Andrew Hinderaker's plays and screenplays frequently fare well in competitions without actually winning anything. Notable recognitions include Finalist/Semi-Finalist status at Sundance, PlayLabs, The Princess Grace Award, The Heideman Award, and the Austin Film Festival. His plays have been read or produced in New York, Los Angeles, and his hometown of Chicago, at such theaters as Steppenwolf, Victory Gardens, American Theater Company, Chicago Dramatists, the side project, and Stage Left. His play, "Suicide, Incorporated," was developed at the Seven Devils Playwrights Conference and will receive its world premiere at Chicago's Gift Theatre in April of 2010. On the basis of this play, Mr. Hinderaker has been nominated for the 2010 Otis Guernsey New Voice in American Playwriting Award, sponsored by the William Inge Center for the Arts. He has been a member of The Playwrights Network for several years at Chicago Dramatists, where he is now a Resident Playwright, and is currently a professional mentor for the 22nd Annual Chicago Young Playwrights Festival.
Ruth Margraff's writings have been presented throughout the USA, UK, Canada, Russia, Romania, Serbia, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Croatia, France, Sweden, Japan, Egypt and India. She has been awarded four Rockefeller Foundation Multi-Arts commissions, a McKnight National Commission/Residency, a McKnight Advancement Grant and Jerome Fellowship with the Playwrights' Center, an NEA/TCG national playwriting residency, a Fulbright new opera award to Greece, several grants from TCG/ITI, Arts International, Trust for Mutual Understanding of New York, two NYSCA awards, and a CultureConnect envoy to Calcutta (India). Her work is published by Kendall/Hunt, Backstage Books, The Drama Review, Performing Arts Journal, American Theatre, Theater Forum, Playscripts, Inc., Stockyard Magazine, Applause Books, CUNY/Martin Segal Press, Dramatist, Johns Hopkins, Manchester, NuMuse Anthology/Brown, Chain/Temple, Epoch/Cornell, Conjunctions/Bard, Autonomedia, etc. Ms. Margraff is an alumnae of New Dramatists and HERE's Harp artist residency, member of League of Professional Theater Women, co-leader of a Theatre Without Borders initiative with Brandeis University's Slifka Coexistence International, and a Resident Playwright with Chicago Dramatists. She is represented by Susan Schulman Literary Agency and has taught at the Yale School of Drama, Brown University, University of Texas/Michener Center, University of Iowa, etc. and she is currently Associate Professor of writing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.