Tennessee Women's Theater Project's 11th Annual Women's Work Festival Launches 5/5

Tennessee Women's Theater Project returns to Nashville's Z. Alexander Looby Theater starting Friday, May 5, with the Eleventh Annual Women's Work Festival of performing and visual arts created by women.

Running through Sunday May 21, the festival spans a wide variety of styles and genres to offer a completely different program at every performance: poetry and storytelling, one-woman shows, plays and readings, dance, music, film and a display of visual art works in the theater. This year includes a special, free-to-the-public event on Wednesday, May 10. TWTP is joining a global movement for gender equity, which has been dubbed 50/50 Day, by screening a short film and hosting a discussion on how we may achieve a more gender-balanced world in all sectors of society.

Middle Tennessee's first and only annual showcase for the creative efforts of women was born in pain and frustration after Maryanna Clarke, company founder and artistic director, suffered a back injury in early 2007, with the theater already booked for a play in May.

"After weeks with my pain killers and my walker, I had to admit I did not have the stamina to direct a play - I could barely move off the couch," she recalls. "It occurred to me that other women must have work! I emailed every woman artist I knew, offering our stage as a showcase." Women from Nashville and across the country responded with plays, poetry, film, music and performance art. Eleven years on, the celebration is going strong.

Women's Work Highlights

The opening weekend includes music, theater and film: Friday, the Music City-inspired musical Another Round, with book by Bill Feehely, and music and lyrics by Julie Forester and Kirsti Manna; Saturday offers a staged reading of a new play, Revisiting Wildfire, written by Kari Floren, featuring Aleta Myles and Tamara Scott, directed by Carolyn German; on Sunday, there is a screening of the Nashville-made (and soon-to-be cult favorite) horror comedy Black Holler, written by Heidi Ervin, Rachel Ward Heggen and Jason Berg. The film stars Tamiko Robinson Steele, and features a broad assemblage of Nashville film folk among the cast and crew.

The always-popular Dance Night (May 13) includes return appearances by several choreographers including Jen Jen Lin and Chinese Arts Alliance, Marci Murphree and New REASONs Contemporary Dance, Maria Maggipinto, Kinetic Kristen Teffeteller, and Megan White. Newcomers this year include Willow McNeal, Stephanie Miller, Emilia Stuart, and Summer Shack, plus a dance film by Blue Moves.

The eleventh annual Mother's Day Poetry Sunday on May 14 features readings by returning poets Barbara Russell and Brenda Butka, and first-timers Shannon Clark, Jennifer Mobley, Olivia Timberlake, with a spoken word presentation by Brandy Rogers.

Women's Work offers playwrights a stage for readings and workshop performances - audience exposure is crucial to the development of a play. Robyn Brooks of Maryland, and Marilynn Anselmi of North Carolina understand the benefits: both are presenting readings of new plays for the sixth year in a row.

More highlights of Women's Work 2017: Sassy (5/21), a short documentary by Amy Scatliff; plays and one-woman shows including Last Nights of the King (5/11), written and performed by Katie Del Rocco; Donor 63125 (5/12), by six-time presenter Marilynn Barner Anselmi; Collections (5/18), written and performed by Allison Summers; Queen of Thrones (5/19), by Sherre Bishop, Earth Tone (5/20), a performance art piece by Thandiwe Shiphrah and Daniel Arite; and shorter works and storytelling (5/21) by artists including Anna Carroll, Charlotte Higgins, Barbara Moss, Lainie Marsh, and six-time presenters Judy Klass and Robyn Brooks.

This year's visual art display includes drawings by Nikki Staggs, and quilts and other art works by Edith Costanza.

Single tickets to Women's Work are just $10 each; a $30 Mini-pass offers admission to any four performances, and the $60 Festival Pass is good for admission to all shows. With the support of sponsors and grantors including The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, the company is able to compensate the presenting artists for their appearances: $6 of every $10 in ticket sales will go to the presenters.

Women's Work opens Friday May 5 at the Z. Alexander Looby Theater, adjacent to the Looby Branch Library at 2301 Rosa L. Parks Blvd. The festival continues weekends through Sunday May 21. Show times are at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, and 2:30 p.m. Sundays. For a complete schedule of performers, show dates and times, reservations and information, call (615) 681-7220 or visit Tennessee Women's Theater Project on Facebook or at www.TWTP.org.

The Women's Work 2017 roster (as of April 27):

Friday May 5, 7:30 pm - Musical Theater: Another Round, music and lyrics by Julie Forester & Kirsti Manna, book by Bill Feehely

Saturday May 6, 7:30 pm - Theater: staged reading of Revisiting Wildfire, by Kari Floren

Sunday May 7, 2:30 pm - Feature Film: Black Holler. Written by Heidi Ervin, Rachel Ward Heggen and Jason Berg, and filmed in the Nashville area with a local cast and crew, Black Holler had a staged screenplay reading at Women's Work in 2015.

Wednesday May 10, 7:30 pm - FREE Special Event: 50/50 Day, a special short film, online discussion and educational event and live talkback. Everyone is invited to join in this global conversation about what it will take to get to a more gender-balanced world in all sectors of society: business, politics, culture, home, and more.

Thursday May 11, 7:30 pm - Theater: One Woman Show: Last Nights of the King, written and performed by Katie Del Rocco.

Friday May 12, 7:30 pm - Theater: staged reading of Donor 63125, by six-time Women's Work presenter Marilynn Barner Anselmi

Saturday May 13, 7:30 pm - Dance Night: featuring works from Jen Jen Lin, Kristen Teffeteller, Brandy Rogers, Windship Boyd, Maria Maggipinto, Willow McNeal, Stephanie Miller, Megan White, Emilia Stuart, Summer Shack, and Marci Murphree, and a film created and performed by Blue Moves

Sunday May 14, 2:30 pm - 11th Annual Mother's Day Poetry, with Shannon Clark, Jennifer Mobley, Barbara Russell, Olivia Timberlake, Brenda Butka and a spoken word presentation by Brandy Rogers

Thursday May 18, 7:30 pm - Theater: One Woman Show: Collections, written and performed by Allison Summers

Friday May 19, 7:30 pm - One Woman Show - Queen of Thrones, by Sherre Bishop

Saturday May 20, 7:30 pm - Performance Art: Earth Tone, a performance piece by Thandiwe Shiphrah and Daniel Arite

Sunday May 21, 2:30 pm - Theater: Short Plays, Film, Stories and More: Wounds of the Heart: A Journey Through Brokenness, by Anna Carroll; The Kitchen Table, by Charlotte Higgins; Storytelling by Barbara Moss; Jalopy: An Unsustainable Relationship a musical one-act by Lainie Marsh; Sassy, a short film by Amy Scatliff; Getting Played, by Judy Klass; and Sopresa/Suprise, by six-time presenter Robyn Brooks

Visual art on display - drawings by Nikki Staggs; Art works and Quilts by Edith Costanza

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