Female Playwrights Take the Spotlight in 'NECESSARY EXPOSURE' Exhibition at Dixon Place Gallery

Necessary Exposure: The Female Playwright Project (on view on September 1, through September 30) is a series of photographic portraits and sound installations that bring visibility to playwrights who identify as female.

Through portraits and podcasts we bring awareness to what remains to be widely seen and heard. The gallery opening takes place at Dixon Place Gallery and, in addition to the exhibit, will include immersive audio performances in the theater, with projections to highlight the absence of seeing these plays performed.

Featured playwrights include Jessica Almasy, Susan Bernfield, Saviana Stanescu, Penny Jackson, Cecilia Copeland Diana Oh, Laura Rohrman, Kari Bentley-Quinn, Amy E. Witting,Winter Miller, Maria Alexandria Beech, Micheline Auger, Karen Cellini, Angela Santillo, Abby Rosebrock, Kara Lee Corthron, and Maybe Burke.

Patrons will be invited to download fully sound designed Podcast recordings of writers and actors performing excerpts of their plays. Patrons can listen to each podcast while viewing the corresponding portrait. All sound plays/ Podcasts will be available for download beginning Sept 1st.

A preview of the Podcasts featuring Kari Bentley-Quinn's THE OCEAN THOUGHT NOTHIG, Read by Samantha Fairfield Walsh is available here.

There is a $10 suggested donation for the opening presentation on September 1. The exhibit will remain on display until September 30. Gallery hours are 6pm to 10pm, or during the day by appointment. Email contact@dixonplace.org to schedule a daytime appointment.

Follow Necessary Exposure on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Necessary-Exposure-The-Female-Playwright-Project/795089977220325, and on Wordpress at thefemaleplaywrightproject.com.

Jody Christopherson (photographer/ conceptual artist) is a performer, writer and photographer living in New York. As a generative artist she creates and performs interactive events within the context of theater, film/new media. Recent works include: Because You Are Good (2015 Innovative Theater Award Nominee), transcribed from interviews with Clove Galilee (daughter of Lee Breuer and Ruth Maleczech co-founders of Mabou Mines), commission and presented by Metropolitan Playhouse in April 2015. The Skype Show or See You in August presented by The New York International Fringe Festival (2013), Filmgate Miami, The Brick Theater and StoryCode (2014). Necessary Exposure: The Female Playwirght Project (presented by Dixon Place Jan-Feb 2015), the theatrical band Greencard Wedding with Ryan McCurdy, Eschaton Cabaret (Dixon Place, Bowery Poetry Club), DIVE (Philadelphia Shakespeare) Like This (Winner of The Exquisite Corpse Film Festival NYC).

Photography credits include: One World Observatory for The Hettema Group, Sleep No More for Huffington Post, The Mount for The Edith Warton Estate, The Glass Sculpture of Fine Artist Henry Richardson, UMBC Magazine, Rising Phoenix Rep, Drama of Works, League of Professional Theater Women, Brooklyn College, The New School as well as portraits of many actors, musicians and playwrights.

Additionally, Ms. Christopherson is the Editor and Creator of The New York Theater Review, The Indie Theater Guide and a writer for the Huffington Post. Member of Actors Equity and Dramatist Guild of America.

Natalie Johnsonius Neubert (sound designer) is a director, sound artist, performer, and curator. In New York her work has been seen with such companies as Target Margin Theater, Performance Space 122, Galapagos Art Center, Ensemble Studio Theater, The Culture Project, The Brick Theater, Nashville Shakespeare Festival, The New York Public Library, the New York Botanical Gardens, as well as at the Miami Light Project and the Bridge Lane Theatre in London. She studied music, theatre and writing at Sarah Lawrence College, where she received both her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Fine Arts degrees.

The Dixon Place Lounge is open before, during and after the show. Proceeds directly support Dixon Place's artists and mission. Dixon Place is located at 161A Chrystie Street (between Rivington and Delancey), in Manhattan's Lower East Side (By subway: F to 2nd Ave, J/Z to Bowery, 6 to Spring St, M to Essex St).

Dixon Place, an artistic incubator since 1986, is a non-profit institution committed to supporting the creative process by presenting original works of theater, dance, music, puppetry, circus arts, literature & visual art at all stages of development. Presenting over 1000 creators a year, this local haven inspires & encourages diverse artists of all stripes & callings to take risks, generate new ideas & and consummate new practices. Artists, such as Blue Man Group, John Leguizamo, Lisa Kron, David Cale & Reno began their careers at DP. In addition to emerging artists, we have been privileged to present established artists such as Justin Vivian Bond, Karen Finley, Martha Wainwright, Kate Clinton, Mac Wellman, Mark Dendy, Sarah Michelson, Wally Shawn, Big Art Group, James Lecesne& Peggy Shaw.

In 1989, Ellie Covan, founding director, was a recipient of a Bessie, a New York Dance and Performance Award, for her service to the community; and Dixon Place received a Village Voice Obie Grant Award in 1990 and 1999. Additionally, in 1999, Dixon Place was awarded an Edwin Booth Award for Excellence in Theater.

Pictured: Kara Lee Corthron, Susan Bernfield, Maybe Burke, Karen Cellini. Photos by Jody Christopherson.