UM School of Theatre & Dance Produces Play by Montana Rep's Missoula Colony Contributor

The University of Montana's School of Theatre production of Melissa Ross's exciting new play Thinner Than Water is a special occasion for everyone at Montana Repertory Theatre because the Rep's summer playwriting program, The Missoula Colony, was one of the first script-development programs to recognize and support Melissa's talent. In the summers of 2012 and 2013, Melissa came to Missoula to take part in Colony 17 and Colony 18.

She was recommended to the Rep by Marsha Norman, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and head of playwriting at Juilliard. During Melissa's visits, two of her new plays were read and she took part in panel discussions and taught two workshops on playwriting. She has an outstanding grasp of the technique of playwriting, a singular voice, and a comprehensive grasp of all things relating to theatre, from writing to design to acting. She was and is a welcome addition to the Missoula writing family.

That the School of Theatre & Dance has chosen to put one of Melissa's plays into production is exciting in that it completes the circle begun five years ago when Melissa first came to Missoula at the invitation of the Rep. We are pleased and proud to present a writer who, over the past five years, has grown into one of America's most successful young playwrights.