Karen Carpenter To Be Guest Director Of One-Act Inge Plays

Karen Carpenter, former associate artistic director at the Old Globe Theater of San Diego, director at the Yale Cabaret, and former production manager of more than a dozen Broadway musicals, will be guest director of the world premiere of One-Act Inge plays at the William Inge Theatre Festival this April in Independence, Kansas.

Ms. Carpenter is a member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers (SSDC) and Actors' Equity Association. Karen Carpenter was one of seven nominees nationwide for the coveted Mike Ockrent Fellowship this year.

During her four years at the Old Globe, Ms. Carpenter's award-winning works consistently enjoyed critical acclaim. Among her noted productions there: Nilo Cruz's Two Sisters and a Piano (Critics Choice, Los Angeles Times), Jeffrey Hatcher's Smash (Patté Award and Critics Choice, Los Angeles Times), and Harold Pinter's Betrayal (Craig Noel Award and The Reader's "Best Bet"). Additionally, she collaborated as their artistic producer on many premieres and revered works by such theatrical luminaries as Mark Lamos, Dan Sullivan, and Arthur Miller (in the last production of his life).

Ms. Carpenter was graced by the mentorship of some of America's most brilliant directors: Lloyd Richards and Jack O'Brien. She counts herself most fortunate to have produced or managed the premieres of many of the original works of our nation's most gifted playwrights: August Wilson, Suzan-Lori Parks, and Mac Wellman, among others.

Ms. Carpenter believes her years as a Production Stage Manager on Broadway for such shows as Sunset Boulevard, Les Misérables, and August Wilson's The Piano Lesson and Two Trains Running, gave her a ‘big picture' perspective and provided her with an unparalleled theatre education and directive to support the text and honor the play.

As an educator, Karen was on the faculty at Yale School of Drama for five years, and created the curriculum still in use there for its Master of Fine Arts in Stage Management.

She is now developing projects for the Getty Museum, the International Meeting on Ancient Greek Drama in Delphi, and the National Musical Theatre Network.

Ms. Carpenter will direct "An Evening of Inge One-Acts" that will be the opening production of the 28th Annual William Inge Theatre Festival, April 22-25. Ms. Carpenter will direct several short Inge plays that have never been published. They will premiere on Wednesday, April 22, the opening of the 28th Annual William Inge Theatre Festival. Casting is underway.

The Thursday April 23 production at the festival is a reading of a new work by Chicago-based playwright Carlos Murillo, titled Diagram of a Paper Airplane.

On Saturday, April 25, the festival climaxes with a multi-media tribute to Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt, co-creators of The Fantasticks, and the presentation to them of the Inge Festival's Distinguished Achievement in the American Theatre Award.

Tickets go on sale online March 1. For more information, visit www.ingecenter.org or call (620) 332-5491.