KC Rep's Eric Rosen To Direct At Sundance Institute Summer Theatre Lab

Sundance Institute has tapped Eric Rosen, artistic director of Kansas City Repertory Theatre, to direct Diagram of a Paper Airplane by Carlos Murillo for the 2009 Sundance Institute Theatre Lab, July 7-22, at the Sundance Resort in Utah.

"I am very excited to be returning to Sundance Theatre Lab, which has been so beneficial to my own professional growth," said Rosen, who served as dramaturg there in 2004 for the development of Moisés Kaufman's Tony nominated 33 Variations. "I've been involved in the development of many new plays over the years, and know firsthand how the creative environment at Sundance fosters and supports imagination, innovation and risk."

Murillo is a Chicago-based playwright (dark play), director and teacher. Rosen directed a reading of Diagram of a Paper Airplane in May at the 2009 Inge Festival in Independence, Kansas. "I've known Carlos for the past four years from Chicago, and I think his work is lyrical, imaginative and deeply theatrical," continued Rosen. "To be so quickly reunited with him for the continued development of this piece is an honor."

Diagram of a Paper Airplane is a noir-style, soul-searching investigation into the life and legacy of a once-visionary playwright whose death prompts a prickly reunion of family and colleagues who are driven by curiosity and guilt to attend a post-mortem play reading of his alleged masterwork, which they hope will illuminate a shared but secretive past.

Additional 2009 Sundance Institute Theatre Laboratory fellows and projects selected for this year's residency are An Iliad, adapted by Denis O'Hare and Lisa Peterson, directed by Lisa Peterson; The Lily's Revenge by Taylor Mac, directed by David Drake; Ngwino Ubeho by Odile Gakire Katese, directed by Rebecca Taichman; and Palomino by David Cale, Writer-in-Residence. More information about the Sundance Institute Theatre Laboratory and the 2009 fellows and projects can be found at www.sundance.org.

"The 2009 Sundance Theatre Lab reaffirms the Institute's commitment to serious and poetic writing for the stage; as well as our insistence that artists of vision be given the room and support to create works of great ambition, "said Sundance Institute Theatre Program Artistic Director Philip Himberg. "We look forward to hosting them on the Sundance Mountain and to providing both atmosphere and creative advisors to help further their work."

Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a not-for-profit organization that fosters the development of original storytelling in film and theatre, and presents the annual Sundance Film Festival. Internationally recognized for its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Angels in America, I Am My Own Wife, Spring Awakening, Boys Don't Cry, Sin Nombre and Born into Brothels.

Now in its 45th year, Kansas City Repertory Theatre is one of the nation's leading professional theatres and a member of the national League of Resident Theatres. The Rep produces plays and events each season at two venues: Spencer Theatre on the UMKC campus and Copaken Stage downtown. Its diverse repertoire includes new works, musicals and classics of literature. The theatre serves approximately 100,000 patrons annually and employs more than 250 professional artists, technicians and administrators. This year, more than 8,500 students from 150 schools in the two-state region will attend special matinee performances, and more than 1,200 students will experience our classroom programming and workshops.

For more information on KC Rep visit www.kcrep.com

Photo by Don Ipock