DCPA Theatre Company to Kick Off First-Ever Local Playwrights' Slam on Valentine's Day

The Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) Theatre Company announced today that Colorado playwriting group Rough Draught Playwrights will curate the inaugural Local Playwrights' Slam during the local weekend of the 2015 Colorado New Play Summit. The Slam will take place in the Jones Theatre at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 14 and is free with the purchase of any $10 Summit reading ticket.

Rough Draught Playwrights (RDP) promotes writer development and dramaturgy by connecting Colorado playwrights with peers, actors, directors, producers and theater enthusiasts through informal readings of their scripts. Produced by playwrights Leslie C. Lewis, Nina Alice Miller and Jeffrey Neuman, RDP hosts the quarterly Open Mic Theatrical Playground, where writers have the opportunity to hear their works-in-progress read before a live audience. RDP events, open to playwrights at any stage of development, provide a launchpad for new works that have gone on to productions, awards, and a notable National New Play Network rolling premiere.

"We are thrilled that the expansion of this year's Summit will provide local playwrights with additional outlets to showcase their work," said Kent Thompson, Producing Artistic Director for the Theatre Company. "The expanded weekends also provide Colorado artists and audiences with the unprecedented opportunity to learn from both Paul Vogel, the most respected playwriting teacher in the nation, and Denver favorite Matthew Lopez, undeniably one of the fastest rising playwrights in the country."

The local weekend of the Summit will feature two workshops by Denver Center Playwriting Fellow Matthew Lopez (The Legend of Georgia McBride, The Whipping Man). Lopezwill lead an acting master class on Saturday, February 14. This workshop will use scenes from four of Matthew's own plays and allow writers, actors, and audiences alike to discover the relationship between a playwright, his text, and actors' interpretations.

On Sunday, February 15, Lopez will workshop new scenes with three Colorado playwrights. This session will provide a behind-the-scenes look into the playwriting and development process, including a Q & A session with the audience.

During the Summit's Industry weekend, Pulitzer Prize winner Paula Vogel (How I Learned To Drive), will lead two playwriting boot camps for theatre lovers of all types and abilities.

"This expansion further cements the Theatre Company's commitment to Colorado storytelling," said Thompson. "This season alone audiences have journeyed to Leadville in The Unsinkable Molly Brown and to the fictional town of Holt, Colorado in Benediction."

About the Colorado New Play Summit - The Colorado New Play Summit is a premiere showcase and celebration of new plays. The 2015 festival of new work will take place over two weekends, 2/14-2/15 and 2/21-2/22 and will feature new plays by Jason Gray Platt, Theresa Rebeck, Tanya Saracho, and Catherine Trieschmann.

Over the past decade, the Summit has introduced 44 new plays, over half of which returned to the stage as full Theatre Company productions. Recent Summit favorites include Samuel D. Hunter's The Whale, Matthew Lopez's The Legend of Georgia McBride, Catherine Trieschmann's The Most Deserving, Marcus Gardley's black odyssey, Karen Zacarias's Just Like Us, Jeffrey Haddow and Neal Hampton's Sense and Sensibility The Musical, and Dick Scanlan's The Unsinkable Molly Brown.

About the Denver Center for the Performing Arts - The Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) is a not-for-profit theatre organization dedicated to creating unforgettable shared experiences through beloved Broadway musicals, world-class plays, educational programs and inspired events. The DCPA is one the nation's most active theatre companies, offering more than 30 plays and musicals year-round that engage and inspire audiences of all ages and interests. The Theatre Company is helmed by Producing Artistic Director Kent Thompson and is currently in its 36th season.

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