MRT Commissions Five Playwrights

With an eye to the future, MRT announced today five new commissioned playwrights: Vichet Chum, Kevin Kling, Melinda Lopez, Dael Orlandersmith, and Kalean Ung.

The commissions will provide the writers with long-term development and production support in creating new works for the theatre, according to Nancy L. Donahue Artistic Director Courtney Sale and Executive Director Bonnie J. Butkas.

Sale said, "The heart of our mission at MRT is new works. We need new stories, new forms of communication, new partnerships, and new ways of seeing as we move through a post-pandemic landscape. I am honored the writing and voices of Dael Orlandersmith, Kalean Ung, Kevin Kling, Melinda Lopez, and Vichet Chum will lead us to the next moment. We are delighted to partner with UC Santa Barbara's Launch Pad in the development of Melinda's commission."

After a year-long shutdown due to the pandemic, MRT relaunched in April of 2021 with Orlandersmith's Until the Flood. One of America's most distinctive voices, the Pulitzer Prize finalist (Yellowman) has received innumerable honors, including the Guggenheim Foundation Award, the Doris Duke Artists Award, and the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Her other plays include Beauty's Daughter (OBIE Award), The Gimmick, and Monster.

Chum, a Cambodian-American playwright and actor, premiered his autobiographical play, KNYUM, at MRT in 2018. He also appeared in the MRT productions of Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley and The Haunted Life, and MRT recently produced developmental readings of Kween, his new piece about Lowell High School students. Chum's other plays include The Boy Luck Club and High School Play: A Nostalgia Fest (recent Alley Theatre world premiere). This season Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago will premiere his latest, Bald Sisters.

Lopez's most recent plays include Mr. Parent at Lyric Stage Company of Boston and Young Nerds of Color at Central Square Theater. Also an actor and director, she is the current Artist in Residence at The Huntington Theatre. Lopez teaches at Boston University and Northeastern University, and she was the first recipient of The Kennedy Center's Charlotte Woolard Award for being a "promising new voice in American theatre." Her plays include Mala and Sonia Flew, both winners of the Elliot Norton Award.

In May, MRT produced Kling's Best Summer Ever to rave reviews. A playwright, author, storyteller, performer, recording artist, and longtime contributor to NPR's "All Things Considered," Kling tells his magical, hilarious, and tender stories through the lens of a proud Midwesterner, who was born with a congenital birth defect. His best known performance pieces include 21A, The Ice Fishing Play, and Tales from the Charred Underbelly of the Yule Log. Kling is the recipient of the Whiting Award for American Drama and the National Storytelling Network's Circle of Excellence Award.

A Cambodian American, Ung is an award-winning actress, singer, and interdisciplinary artist based in Los Angeles. MRT will produce her autobiographical play, Letters from Home, in January. Her work ranges from Shakespeare to experimental theatre to contemporary opera. Kalean teaches the Barrantes Voice System at CalArts. She has also taught at California State University Los Angeles and the New York Film Academy.

MRT's upcoming 44th subscription series will include The 39 Steps, a hilarious sendup of the classic Hitchcock film, adapted by Patrick Barlow and directed by Sale, September 14 to October 2; a bewitching take on Shakespeare's Macbeth, adapted by Lee Sunday Evans and directed by Rosa Joshi, October 19 to November 6; the world premiere of A Christmas Carol, adapted and directed by Sale, November 30 to December 24; the East Coast premiere of Letters from Home, written and performed by Kalean Ung, January 18 to February 5, 2023; and How High the Moon: The Music of Ella Fitzgerald, conceived by Rob Ruggiero and featuring Tina Fabrique, May 3-21, 2023.

To subscribe to the five-show season and save up to 25% over the cost of individual tickets, contact the Enterprise Bank Box Office at 978-654-4678 or visit www.mrt.org. Individual tickets for all shows will go on sale August 15.

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