Kwame Kwei-Armah and Gavin Witt to Speak at 11th Annual Philadelphia Theatre Research Symposium

Villanova Theatre has announced the 11th Annual Philadelphia Theatre Research Symposium (PTRS), featuring a keynote address by renowned director Kwame Kwei-Armah and distinguished dramaturg Gavin Witt of Baltimore Center Stage, one of the leading regional theatres in the nation.

This year's conference will kick off on Thursday, May 4 with the Emerging Scholars Panel followed by additional panels and the keynote address on Friday, May 5, 2017. The theme of this year's conference is "New Plays and New Play Development."

At this year's conference, join in the conversation to ask some of the nation's most illustrious scholars and innovative practitioners: Where do new plays come from? How do today's playwrights take their work on the journey from idea, to draft, to opening night? How does our current political moment affect the work of the directors and actors who work on new plays? What role can universities and scholars play in pushing theatre to new limits?

The Philadelphia Theatre Research Symposium (PTRS) seeks to highlight the work of both theatre scholars and practitioners. This symposium offers the opportunity to present works in progress and to share ideas with other researchers and practitioners. Presentations will engage a broad range of topics in theatre and drama studies including but not limited to: the role of playwrights, directors, and dramaturgs in new play development; specific strategies for new play development; and race, gender, and identity in new play development. In addition to these explorations, Villanova is especially thrilled to offer the opportunity to hear from Kwame Kwei-Armah and Gavin Witt who have been at the helm for several successful world premieres at Baltimore Center Stage.

PTRS will take place from 7:30pm-9:30pm on Thursday, May 4 and from 9am-5:30pm on Friday, May 5, 2017 in Bartley Hall 1011. There will be a lunch break and a reception after the keynote speech. Mr. Kwei-Armah and Mr. Witt will speak at 4:15pm. Admission is free to the public but pre-registration is strongly encouraged. A detailed schedule is available on the event's website.

Kwame Kwei-Armah, OBE is an award-winning British playwright, director, actor, and broadcaster. Most recently, he directed One Night in Miami... at London's Donmar Warehouse and a musical adaptation of William Shakespeare's Twelfth Nightand The Comedy of Errors at The Public Theater in New York. At Baltimore Center Stage he has directed Marley, One Night in Mi ami..., Amadeus, dance of the holy ghosts (City Paper Top Ten Productions, 2013), The Mountaintop, An Enemy of the People, The Whipping Man, and Naomi Wallace's Things of Dry Hours. In 2014, Kwame was named Best Director in City Paper's Best of Baltimore, and he was a finalist for the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation's Zelda Fichandler Award for Best Theater Director. Among his works as a playwright are Elmina's Kitchen, Let There Be Love, A Bitter Herb, Statement of Regret, Seize the Day, and Beneatha's Place, which debuted at Baltimore Center Stage in 2013 as part of The Raisin Cycle. Other directorial credits include Wallace's The Liquid Plain at Signature Theatre, Dominique Morisseau's Skeleton Crew at the Lark Play Development Center, Much Ado About Nothing and the World Premiere of Detroit '67 at The Public Theater in New York, and the World Premiere of The Liquid Plain at Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He has served on the boards of Theatre Communications Group, Steinberg Playwright Awards, The National Theatre, and The Tricycle Theatre (London), and as Artistic Director for the World Arts Festival in Senegal. He was named the Chancellor of the University of the Arts in London, and in 2012 was named an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

Gavin Witt came to Baltimore Center Stage in 2003, after nearly 15 years in Chicago as an actor, director, dramaturg, translator, and teacher-and co-founder of the classically based greasy joan & co theater. Among his translations and adaptations are a half-dozen Shakespeare plays, including a Jeff-nominated version of Pericles. In addition to working as a dramaturg on scores of productions, readings, and workshops at Baltimore Center Stage, he has helped develop new work around the country. Before making his Baltimore Center Stage mainstage directorial debut with Twelfth Night, Gavin directed more than a dozen Young Playwrights Festival entries, and many new play readings, as well as the 50th Anniversary Decade Plays for Baltimore Center Stage. A graduate of Yale and the University of Chicago, he has taught at the University of Chicago, DePaul, Towson University, and the Peabody Conservatory at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University; he served on the advisory boards of several theaters; and spent more than a decade as a regional Vice President of the National Association of Dramaturgs, LMDA.

Now in its 11th year, the Philadelphia Theatre Research Symposium is an annual forum for scholars and practitioners from the Philadelphia region and beyond to share their research and enter into a dialogue about current trends in theatrical practice and scholarship. Past conference themes include "Our Day Will Come: Reclaiming the Feminine in the Irish Theatre"; "Rewriting Histories: Rewriting the Past in the Plays of Sarah Ruhl"; "Woman in Theatre: Celebrating women's contributions to American theatre as artists, scholars, and leaders"; "Ethnicity, Identity, and Hybridity; The work of the Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, Asian and Asian-American Playwrights"; and "The Work of Elizabeth LeCompte, The Wooster Group, The Avant Garde, Textual Intervention, and Experimental Theatre Collectives." PTRS has welcomed such varied and accomplished keynote speakers as Garry Hynes, Sarah Ruhl, Emily Mann, Elizabeth LeCompte, Anna Deveare Smith, and Richard Schechner.

Villanova Theatre is a community of artist-scholars committed to transforming hearts and minds through the visionary production of classical, modern, and contemporary dramatic literature. Our work is fueled by the imaginative striving common to Villanova's accomplished faculty, versatile staff, and energetic graduate students. Together, we are devoted to creating a vibrant theatre enriched by and overflowing with the ideas explored in our classrooms. In all of our endeavors, we aim to share the dynamic experience of collaborative learning with our audiences in order to engage the intellect and stir the soul. As a facet of Villanova University, Villanova Theatre serves the campus community as well as thousands of theatre-goers from the Main Line and the Greater Philadelphia area.

Since 1842, Villanova University's Augustinian Catholic intellectual tradition has been the cornerstone of an academic community in which students learn to think critically, act compassionately and succeed while serving others. There are more than 10,000 undergraduate, graduate and law students in the University's six colleges - the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Villanova School of Business, the College of Engineering, the College of Nursing, the College of Professional Studies and the Villanova University School of Law. As students grow intellectually, Villanova prepares them to become ethical leaders who create positive change everywhere life takes them.

IF YOU GO:

PHILADELPHIA THEATRE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

May 4-May 5, 2017

At Villanova University, Bartley Hall, Room 1011, 800 E. Lancaster Avenue, Villanova, PA 19085
***Free parking available in VU's Main Lot (Lancaster & Ithan Avenues)

PTRS will take place from 7:30-9:30pm on May 4, 2017 and from 9:00am-5:30pmon May 5, 2017 in Bartley Hall, Room 1011. There will be a lunch break and a reception after the keynote speech. Mr. Kwei-Armah and Mr. Witt will speak at 4:15pm. (For a detailed schedule, visit the registration page.)

Registration is free of charge. To register, click here.

To post a comment, you must register and login.