Liz Kerin And Azure Osborne-Lee Awarded 2018 Annual Parity Commission At Second Annual Parity Productions Gala

Theatre Production Company Parity Productions, a producer of new work that ensures they fill at least 50% of the creative positions (playwrights, directors, and designers) on their productions with cis women and/or trans and gender nonconforming (TCNG) artists, has awarded two commissions to Liz Kerin for Stop-Motion and Azure Osborne-Lee for Mirrors. The ceremony took place on Wednesday, September 26 at the Second Annual Parity Gala at Gotham Comedy Club.

The awards were presented by last year's Parity Productions commission-winning playwrights, Mêlisa Annis and Else C. Went. Parity Productions also announced the next phase of their partnership with Show-Score, the largest online fan community for theater lovers, to provide an increased level of comprehensive marketing and promotional support for Parity's Qualifying Productions.

Parity Productions awards two commissions annually to one cis woman playwright and one TGNC playwright who have demonstrated a singular talent for storytelling. Liz Kerin and Azure Osborne-Lee will receive $2,500 each and developmental support for their plays with an option for production.

The submission period for Parity's Third Annual Playwriting Commission is October 1st - October 31st, 2018. Click here to learn more about the submission process.

Liz Kerin (she/her) is a graduate of the Dramatic Writing Department at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, Liz has a background in screenwriting as well as live theatre. Last year, her full-length play Stop-Motion was selected for the Botanicum Seedlings development workshop at Theatricum Botanicum and was also shortlisted as a semi-finalist at Premiere Stages. In 2018, the play was selected for The Road Theatre's annual playwright's festival, where it received a reading. Her work has been seen onstage at New York University, FringeNYC, 440 Studios, The Producer's Club, and with the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. On the film and television side, Liz was featured on the Tracking Board's Young and Hungry List, which names the top up-and-coming screenwriters in Hollywood, and her feature script PYONGYANG HOME VIDEO made the 2016 Hit List. She's currently developing a television series and adapting a YA novel to screen. Liz is also an author, and her debut novel The Phantom Forest will be released by Inkshares in early 2019. For more, please follow along on Twitter: @Liz_Kerin.

Azure D. Osborne-Lee (he/him, they/them) is a current member of Trans Lab, which is supported by The Public Theater and WP Theater. Azure's work has been produced and/or developed by Trans Lab, The Tank, The Syndicate, The Flea Theater, BAX|Brooklyn Arts Exchange, BAM, JACK, Rising Circle Theater Collective, The Fire This Time Festival, Horse Trade Theater Group, The Castillo Theatre, The New Ohio Theatre, National Black Theatre, Freedom Train Productions, Downtown Urban Arts Festival, Lambda Literary, The Helix Queer Performance Group, and regionally. Winner of Downtown Urban Arts Festival's 2018 Best Play Award and the 2015 Mario Fratti-Fred Newman Political Play Contest. http://azureosbornelee.com

Parity Productions is a formidable producer of new work that ensures that they fill at least 50% of the creative positions (playwrights, directors, and designers) on their productions with cis women and/or TGNC artists. In addition to producing their own work, they actively promote other theatre companies that follow their 50% hiring standard. Artistically, they develop and produce compelling new plays that give voice to individuals who rebel against their marginalized place in society. Parity Productions is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit theatre company formed in 2016 by international award-winning director Ludovica Villar-Hauser with its roots in two other previous not-for-profits founded by Villar-Hauser: VH Theatrical Development Foundation and Works by Women.