Eugene O'Neill Theater Center Announces 2012 National Playwrights Conference Selections

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center announced today eight plays to be developed at the 2012 National Playwrights Conference (NPC):

PROVENANCE by Anne Garcia-Romero
RECLAMATION by Ken Weitzman
TWO LAKES, TWO RIVERS by Laura Jacqmin
HYPE HERO (King Patch) by Dominic Taylor
ALLIGATOR by Hilary Bettis
ORANGE JULIUS by Basil Kreimendahl
THE TALL GIRLS by Meg Miroshnik
FOOL by Theresa Rebeck.

Greg Kotis will also be in residence working on a new play.

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Wendy C. Goldberg, each will undergo the O'Neill's signature development process, employing acclaimed professional creative and support staff, including directors, dramaturgs, actors, and designers. Playwrights spend the month of July developing and presenting staged readings of their work during NPC's 48th season.

Seven of the eight selected works were chosen from among nearly 1,000 plays received through the O'Neill's open submissions process, which allows any playwright ? with or without agent representation ? to submit. Readers from across the country to choose works based on merit, without authorship attribution.

"I am so pleased to welcome these playwrights and their projects to The O'Neill for our 2012 National Playwrights Conference", says Artistic Director Wendy C. Goldberg. "Our commitment to finding the next generation of storytellers as well as serve as a home for writers throughout their careers is truly evident in this group of artists. Although there are many development programs that have grown up over the years, our original home of new work development keeps a unique and crucial place in the theatrical landscape. I am proud of the space we can provide collaborators in an effort to move their work forward into production."

Goldberg is in her eighth season as artistic director of the National Playwrights Conference. During her tenure, many of the projects developed at the National Playwrights Conference have gone on to great acclaim in New York and around the country.

Seven of the eight plays developed in the 2011 season have thus received full production commitments within eight months of their time at the O'Neill ? a remarkable endorsement of the value of the O'Neill process. The Nether by Jennifer Haley recently won the 2012 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and will be given a world premiere production by the Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles in 2013. Idris Goodwin's How We Got On, directed by Goldberg, garnered critical praise for its recent run at the Humana Festival of New American Plays at the Actors Theater of Louisville. Good Goods by Christina Anderson recently received its premiere production at Yale Repertory Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut.

Executive Director Preston Whiteway remarked, "Congratulations to the nine writers who will be with us for our 48th NPC season. Wendy has strengthened the program tremendously as Artistic Director, and I look forward to these eight plays joining the theatrical canon. The O'Neill's work is valuable and a leader in the field, and I also offer my congratulations and thanks to the nearly 1,000 writers who submitted work for consideration."

Box Office (860-443-1238) and online ticket sales begin Wednesday, June 8; advance ticket sales are available to O'Neill Members beginning Monday, May 16. Schedules are subject to change.

For further information, call the O'Neill at 860-443-5378, email theaterlives@theoneill.org, or visit www.theoneill.org.

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