New Bridges Fest Presents Readings Of New Plays 3/8, 3/9

Palm Beach Dramaworks and Aspen Theater Masters are proud to announce the formation of a new play development program, New Bridges Fest. The two organizations, which have been working together since summer 2008, will present Equity staged-readings of four new plays by emerging American playwrights on March 8th and 9th at 7:30pm in Aspen, Colorado at the Black Box Theatre, and March 23rd and 24th at 3pm and 7pm in Palm Beach, at Dramaworks' downtown theatre. Two plays will be presented at each reading, followed by brief post-show discussions with the playwrights and artistic team. The playwrights are winners of past Theater Masters' competitions.

New Bridges Fest will join the resources of two not-for-profit organizations and build bridges for emerging playwrights, linking select dramatists from across the country with other veteran artists, producers and professionals, who can influence and foster their promising careers. The program will provide multiple venues for these writers to develop their work and to introduce theater audiences to the process of new play development. Participating playwrights include Jennifer Fawcett (Playwright-In- Residence at Curious Theatre Company in Denver), Naomi McDougall Jones (2005 Aspen High School winner--returns to Aspen for this honor), Josh Tobiessen and Jason Tremblay. The readings will be directed by J. Barry Lewis of Palm Beach Dramaworks and Pesha Rudnick of Aspen Theater Masters. The acting ensemble includes John Archie and Kim Ehly from Florida, Chinai Hardy from New York, Peggy Mundinger from Aspen, Matthew Mueller from Denver and Josh Robinson from Boulder.

"The process of developing a new play is costly and typically involves a rehearsal process with professional actors and multiple readings before a participatory audience. As theater companies throughout the country face budget setbacks and halt new programming, Palm Beach Dramaworks and Aspen Theater Masters remain committed to fostering emerging talent by joining forces" says Julia Hansen, Artistic Director of Aspen Theater Masters. "We recognize that investing in new play development today is more crucial than ever, and Aspen and Palm Beach provide an ideal audience base to engage in the process" added William Hayes, Producing Artistic Director of Palm Beach Dramaworks.

Aspen performance times are as follows: 3/8/09 at 7:30 p.m., The Threadbare Sex by Naomi McDougall Jones and then/after/water by Jennifer Fawcett; 3/9/09 at 7:30 p.m., Chicken and Ice Cream by Jason Tremblay and Spoon Lake Blues by Josh Tobiessen.

West Palm Beach performance times are as follows: 3/23/09 at 3:00 p.m., The Threadbare Sex by Naomi McDougall Jones and Spoon Lake Blues by Josh Tobiessen; 7:00 p.m., Chicken and Ice Cream by Jason Tremblay and then/after/water by Jennifer Fawcett; 3/24/09 - 3:00 p.m., Chicken and Ice Cream by Jason Tremblay and then/after/water by Jennifer Fawcett; 7:00 p.m., The Threadbare Sex by Naomi McDougall Jones and Spoon Lake Blues by Josh Tobiessen.

The playwrights selected for the New Bridges Fest inaugural event are alumni and/or competition finalists from Theater Masters Aspiring Playwrights Competition for high school students in the Roaring Fork Valley and Theater Masters National MFA Playwrights Festival for students from ten of the nation's top graduate schools (Brown, Yale, Columbia, NYU, Carnegie Mellon, North Western, Iowa, UCLA, UCSD and the University of Texas at Austin.)

Tickets are $20 each for the readings and post-performance discussions. For Aspen ticket information contact (970) 948-9484 or purchase tickets at the door.

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