New Play Month Comes To Plays and Players in February

Thanks to the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia, February has been named New Play Month. To celebrate its commitment to the development of new works, Plays & Players (P&P) is gearing up for not one but three months of activities.

First up is P&P's Third Annual Philadelphia Bake-Off co-sponsored by the Philadelphia Dramatists Center (PDC), Philadelphia's premiere community of playwrights. Inspired by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Paula Vogel's "Bake-Off" writing exercise, participating playwrights will be given three "ingredients" or prompts and must "bake" a play with them. One of the ingredients will be linked to The Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts' (PIFA's) primary theme of Paris in 1911.

The remaining two ingredients will be announced on PDC's website (www.pdc1.org) February 16, at which time playwrights - whether professionals or amateurs - can view the ingredients and bake their scripts over the next three and a half days. Participating playwrights are invited to Plays & Players Theatre on February 20 from noon-6pm where professional actors will be on hand to perform staged readings of their scripts (the readings will not be open to the public or press).

On February 20 from 6-8pm, immediately following the readings of plays from the Bake-Off, will be a panel presentation by the resident playwrights in PDC's and Plays & Players inaugural joint residency program. Over the past five months, resident playwrights Joy Cutler, Greg Romero and Quinn Eli have been participating in a wide array of artistic development activities including meeting the Magic Gardens' Isaiah Zagar in his private studio and making homemade puppets with former Mum Puppettheatre Artistic Director Robert Smythe. On February 20, they will be discussing their experiences and answering questions for an audience of PDC and P&P members, as well as Bake-Off participants (this event is closed to the public, but members of the press are welcome and encouraged to come).

Represented Radio (Rep Radio), a podcast created by, produced by and featuring local theatre artists, and P&P are giving Philadelphia artists a challenge: create theatre in 24 hours. Actors, directors and writers of all experience levels are invited to participate in The 24 Hour Cram at Plays & Players Theatre February 25-26.

Writers will be asked to come to Plays & Players Theatre at 8pm on February 25 and receive prompts for lines, props or situations that have to be included in their scripts. Scripts must then be written and completed in 12 hours. At 8am on February 26 directors and actors will gather to rehearse until performance-time. A performance is currently slated for 8pm February 26 and is open to the public. Ticket prices are still to be determined.

People interested in participating in The 24 Hour Cram can sign up on the Cram's official Facebook Page, at which point they will receive further instructions. http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/event.php?eid=179073688790027

At the end of February, PDC members who participated in the Third Annual Philadelphia Bake-Off will be given a chance to submit their plays for consideration as part of Plays & Players' PIFA New Play Festival. A panel of three local playwrights will have two weeks to review the submissions, and will announce the winners on March 9. The winning plays will then be staged, produced and performed live April 20-23. To allow as many people as possible to participate in the celebration of these new plays, these performances will be free and open to the public.

Plays & Players (P&P) is at once 99 years old and 2 years old, recently changing from a community theater to a professional quality theater. P&P provides diverse work that ranges from high-voltage, edgy premieres to new takes on classics, and encourages local artists to perform and rehearse in its historic Plays & Players Theatre. The 2010-2011 season includes four shows, a new play festival, a playwright residency program and a continuation of the Super Heroes Who Are Super! and Hear Again Radio Project series. P&P will celebrate its 100th Anniversary in November 2011. To learn more please visit www.playsandplayers.org.

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