Long Wharf Theatre & White Heron Theatre to Partner for 'New Play Collaborative'

Long Wharf Theatre will partner with the White Heron Theatre Company, located on Nantucket, to establish a "New Play Collaborative," allowing the theatre to have a summer incubator for new works.

The new collaborative will take place with Long Wharf Theatre in residence on Nantucket in June to develop new work by an established playwright. The name of the play and the playwright will be announced at a later date.

"I am very pleased to enter into this relationship with the White Heron Theatre. Long Wharf Theatre has a long tradition of being innovators in the field of new play development, and this partnership helps continue that legacy. New play development is vitally important to the health of our theatre, and for the art form as a whole. To have a place to incubate these new projects is invaluable,"said Artistic Director Gordon Edelstein. "We are pleased to be Long Wharf's summer home for new play development. Long Wharf has been committed to new plays and has transferred over 30 plays to Broadway or off-Broadway," said Lynne Bolton, artistic director of White Heron. "White Heron is committed to new work. The "New Plays Collaborative" with the Long Wharf Theatre will develop new plays that could go on to have a long life on the American stage."

The White Heron/Long Wharf connection, which began last summer with a reading of the play 4,000 Miles starring Judith Ivey (The Glass Menagerie, Shirley Valentine, Curse of the Starving Class), Patch Darragh (The Glass Menagerie), and Elvy Yost (Curse of the Starving Class) and directed by Edelstein will continue in 2014 with the development and reading of a new play by an established playwright. The reading will be open to the public.

White Heron is a not-for-profit theatre company, first formed in New York in 2005, by Lynne Bolton and Earle Gister, former dean of the Yale graduate acting program. The company moved to Nantucket in December 2011. The company produces classical and contemporary works in a transformational, character-driven way. The company also in the process of developing the Nantucket Theatre Institute, which will bring theatre professionals and students from around the country to study, do professional development and workshops year-round in downtown Nantucket.

In January 2012, White Heron produced a full Equity production of Shaw's Candida at Nantucket's Bennett Hall. That production travelled to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for the month of August, 2012, to great reviews. In January 2013, White Heron produced God of Carnage at the Dreamland Theater Main Stage. For more information about the White Heron Theatre Company, visit www.whiteherontheatre.org.

For more information about Long Wharf Theatre, visit www.longwharf.org or call 203-787-4282.

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