Blank Space Workshop To Present Inaugural Season Of New Works In Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor -- University of Michigan theatre playwriting organization Blank Space Workshop will present the first staged workshop of their inaugural season this weekend.

Blank Space Workshop was founded in Nov. 2018 by current Artistic Director Eli Rallo. Rallo is a junior Bachelor Theatre Art major at the University of Michigan, minoring in creative writing and performing arts management.

Blank Space's mission is to provide a supportive space and community for theatrical writers at the University of Michigan. Blank Space is committed to emerging projects, early drafts and young pieces of original theatre and will work with playwrights to help their scripts grow and mature. The workshop process is a space for the writer to have creative agency and work on their script during a two week collaborative process. Each workshop will cumulate in a staged reading, which will serve as an extension of the editing process-inviting an audience into a conversation about new works and their potential.

The production team includes Co-Producers Sophomore BFA directing major Kellie M. Beck (Creative Producer) and sophomore BTA Michelle Palm (Logistics Producer). Working alongside them are Alissa Martin (Associate Producer), Jules Garber (Associate Producer), Devin Raymond (Marketing Director), Paityn Miles (Marketing Associate) and Mackenzie Mollison (Rehearsal Liaison).

The season will kick off with "JULIET" a play adapted from Shakespeare's legend co-written by Kellie M. Beck and Alix Lila Curnow with special contributions by Eli Rallo. It will be directed by Senior BFA Directing Major Marty McGuire and presented in the Acting for the Camera Studio in the Walgreen Drama Center this Saturday at 7 and 11 PM. The production features an ensemble of University of Michigan Undergraduate students, and stars Claire Vogel as Juliet and Bryce Foley as Romeo.

Following "JULIET", Blank Space Workshop will present a season full on new student works.

Matt Harmon's KCACTF Region III festival winning one act "Exhibits in the Zoo" will be directed by Drake George and be workshopped in addition to Emily Russel's ten minute play "Fire and Ice" which will be directed by Amelia Baumann.

Senior BFA Acting Major Sara Prendergast's "Horns" will be directed by Isabel Olson and new musical "Looking for Somewhere" by Isabel Stein and Bridget Jean will finish out the season, directed by Bruna d'Avila.

All performances are free to the public. Blank Space Workshop would like to thank the EXCEL Lab, the University of Michigan department of Theatre and Drama, Jose Casas, Priscilla Lindsay, Jennifer Knapp and Anita Gonzalez.

Blank Space Workshop hopes to go on to produce many more seasons in Ann Arbor. To learn more, head to https://blankspacewsumich.com/ or check in on social media at https://www.instagram.com/blankspacews/.

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