NNPN Presents Rolling World Premiere of ANNIE JUMP AND THE LIBRARY OF HEAVEN By Reina Hardy

National New Play Network, the country's alliance of nonprofit theaters that collaborate in innovative ways to develop, produce, and extend the life of new plays, announces its 88th Rolling World Premiere (RWP): Annie Jump and the Library of Heaven by Reina Hardy. The Roll begins later this month in Milwaukee, WI at Renaissance Theaterworks (March 29 - April 21, 2019), heads to Washington, D.C. and Rorschach Theatre (April 19 - May 19, 2019), then to Austin, TX and The VORTEX (April 2020), before concluding in Ridgefield, CT at Thrown Stone (July 2020).

An NNPN Rolling World Premiere (RWP) models a process for developing and producing new plays that results in stronger work overall and the momentum needed for a play to join the repertoire of frequently produced new American works. Each Rolling World Premiere connects three or more NNPN Member Theaters that choose to mount the same new play within a 12-month period, allowing the playwright to develop the work with a new creative team in each theater's community. To date, NNPN has championed RWPs with over one million dollars in financial support. Alumni plays have received hundreds of subsequent productions, recognition in markets across the world, been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, won Steinberg/ATCA, Stavis, PEN and Blackburn awards, and been adapted into feature films.

Annie Jump is a 13-year-old science genius whose alien-obsessed father is the laughingstock of Strawberry, KS. One night in August, a meteor falls, and Annie meets Althea, an intergalactic supercomputer that manifests itself in the form of a mean girl with really great hair. Althea's here to help Annie take humanity from the earth to the stars, but being the Chosen One isn't all glory. What is Althea hiding? And what will Annie have to sacrifice to fulfill her destiny? A play for all audiences about finding your place in the universe, and intelligent life in your neighborhood.

Reina Hardy's plays, which usually contain magic and sometimes contain science, have been produced in Chicago, NYC, London, Austin, and DC. They include Glassheart (Rorschach Theater and the Shrewds), Changelings, (The Vortex), and A Map to Somewhere Else (Everyday Inferno, NYC). Honors include: Michener Fellowship, National New Play Network New Play Showcase, Source Festival, Kennedy Center MFA Playwrights Workshop, Interact 20/20 Commission, Kennedy Center ACTF TYA PRIZE. In the 2018-19 season: the world premiere of Fanatical, in London, new productions of Stargazers in Michigan and Australia, the second production of Susan Swayne and the Bewildered Bride in Cincinnati, and the rolling world premiere of Annie Jump and the Library of Heaven. MFA: Michener Center at UT Austin. reinahardy.com

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