National New Play Network Adds The VORTEX as Core Member Theater

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 the addition of The VORTEX as its 33rd Core Member Theater. The NNPN Board of Directors voted in favor of The VORTEX's application for Core Memberships at its Annual Conference in Kansas City, MO.

Vice President and Chair of the Membership Committee, Freddie Ashley of Actor's Express, said, "We are thrilled to welcome The VORTEX as our next Core Member. As we've gotten to know this vital company as an Associate Member, we've seen that their dedication to adventurous, inclusive new works is a guiding engine of their operations and an essential piece of the Austin arts scene. I look forward to our further collaboration and seeing how they enrich and deepen NNPN's work in the coming years."

Bonnie Cullum, VORTEX co-founder and Producing Artistic Director says, "For more than 30 years, The VORTEX has been a leader in the creation of cutting-edge, new work in Austin, Texas. We are honored to become Core Members of the National New Play Network. With the diversity and abundance of 21st-century plays and playwrights, we are truly in a golden age of American Theatre. I am thrilled to engage in transformative national conversations through Rolling World Premieres."

Associate Artistic Director Rudy Ramirez adds, "As Associate Members, it has been our honor to partner with the National New Play Network to produce the work of some of Austin's most beloved playwrights, including Gabriel Jason Dean, Allison Gregory and Reina Hardy. We are excited to expand that partnership to bring cutting-edge theatrical pieces to Austin for their world premiere even as we build an even stronger springboard for Austin playwrights to launch their national careers."

"Austin is a hotbed for new plays, and I'm so proud and excited that The VORTEX will be anchoring an NNPN Core Membership in the heart of Texas. As we plan our next few seasons, I'm looking forward to the magic that this partnership will bring to our city and the opportunities it will provide for the artists that call Austin home. Thank you NNPN, here's to the many conversations and collaborations to come!" says Managing Director, Melissa Vogt.

The VORTEX creates and presents new, innovative performances-world premiere plays, operas, musicals, ritual theatre, and devised collaborations. The VORTEX transgresses conventional theatrical forms with multidisciplinary performances from diverse traditions. Music, film, dance, opera, aerial arts, puppetry, and performance art contribute to our vibrant theatre. We are an artist-owned and operated theater and have produced over 350 productions. We are proud to have always engaged in non-traditional casting. The VORTEX has presented work by dozens of famous cutting-edge artists and is internationally renowned as a haven for alternative performance. Our work has received more than 100 major awards and hundreds of nominations for artistic excellence in production, design, acting, performance, directing, playwriting, choreography, and musical composition. vortexrep.org

National New Play Network is an alliance of professional theaters that collaborate in innovative ways to develop, produce, and extend the life of new plays. Since its founding in 1998, NNPN has supported more than 250 productions nationwide through its innovative National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere program, which provides playwright and production support for new works at its Member theaters. Additional programs - its annual National Conference, National Showcase of New Plays, and MFA Playwrights Workshop; the NNPN Annual and Smith Prize commissions; its residencies for playwrights, producers and directors; and the organization's member accessed Collaboration, Festival, and Travel banks and online information sessions - have helped cement the Network's position as a vital force in the new play landscape. NNPN also strives to pioneer, implement, and disseminate ideas and programs that revolutionize the way theaters collaborate to support new plays and playwrights. Its most recent project, the New Play Exchange, is changing the way playwrights share their work and others discover it by providing immediate access to information on more than 26,500 new plays by living writers.

NNPN's 32 Core and over 90 Associate Members - along with the nearly 300 affiliated artists who are its alumni, the thousands of artists and artisans employed annually by its member theaters, and the hundreds of thousands of audience members who see its supported works each year - are creating the new American theater. nnpn.org | newplayexchange.org

Photo Credit: Errich Petersen

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