Philadelphia Theatre Workshop Announces 2009-10 Season With Two World Premieres and 3rd Annual Playshop Festival

Heading into its sixth season, Philadelphia Theatre Workshop enhanced its mission. The professional company decided to dedicate itself to producing the work of local playwrights. For, the upcoming 2009-2010 season, The company will produce two world premieres and host its third annual PlayShop Festival.

"In our first season, the first play we produced was a world premiere play by a Philadelphia playwright. For the past five seasons, we have continued to nurture local playwrights through our PlayShop development program and annual festival," said PTW Artistic Director Bill Felty. "As we enter our sixth season, we have determined that there is an abundance of talent in the Philadelphia playwright pool; enough so that we can focus 100% of our efforts toward producing plays by Philadelphia-area playwrights. Thus, we have refined our mission to reflect these efforts."

PTW will kick off its season with the World Premiere of Alex Dremann's The :nv:s:ble Play. This premiere will run from November 21 - December 13, 2009. Dremann is a local playwright who has had work premiered in California and New York. His Postcoital Variations was the first play produced by Philadelphia Theatre Workshop.

Next, Philadelphia Theatre Workshop will produce its third annual PlayShop Festival, showcasing works in progress. This festival atmosphere will give audiences a chance to give feedback to new works by local playwrights. The playwrights will have the chance to rewrite their works during the run of the festival.

The season will close with the world premiere of 516 (five sixteen) by Katharine Clark Gray. Gray's show had a workshop production at the New York International Fringe. She was a 2008 PEW Fellow in playwriting and wrote BRAT Productions' User 927.

The two plays will appear at Walnut Street Theatre's Studio 5. The Playshops Festival will be at the Shubin Theatre. Subscriptions cost $50 and are available at www.philadelphiatheatreworkshop.org

ABOUT THE SEASON

THE :NV:S:BLE PLAY

by Alex Dremann

November 21 - December 13, 2009

Welcome to the Existential Publishing Company. Some people are being laid off--given a box to pack up their things and get out. Others are simply vanishing--literally. Colin can't decide which is worse. He's fighting to stay visible to win the heart of lovely Fran in the next cubicle. Tim, a handsome assistant editor, is busy sucking up as a means of survival. Nancy, the boss, is oblivious to everything. The rest of the office includes Ramona, the mysterious plant waterer; Carmen, a sassy and sexy and very pregnant assistant editor; Cass, who's "too old to deal with this sh*t"; and Lawrence, the I.T. guy whom no one's really ever seen. Who can avoid the "HR box of death?" or worse yet, complete invisibility?

THIRD ANNUAL PLAYSHOP FESTIVAL

Four Plays in Process

March 6 - 21, 2010

Four new high quality scripts that reflect diverse, contemporary human stories will run in repertory as part of this new play festival. They present characters, situations, and perspectives not usually seen on other area stages. During this unique and intensive program, playwrights, directors, designers, dramaturges, and actors work collaboratively to develop these plays utilizing feedback from the artists in rehearsals and performances before live audiences. The playwrights will be writing and re-writing the scripts during the entire process, so the plays will reshape themselves over the course of the festival.

516 (five sixteen)

by Katharine Clark Gray

May 15 - June 6, 2010

Don't call her a ghostwriter; Annalee is a professional term paper auteur. Then she meets Sigurd, a cocky grad student who hires her to pen his "chore" assignments while he works on a mysterious thesis. When the two become lovers, they find themselves embroiled in a blood-sport romance that leads to betrayal. When a stricken Annalee exposes their arrangement, they must both confront Sigurd's professor Martie Hodge. They strike a deal saving their skins, but Martie is exacting in her price. Driven by pride, desire, and intellectual longing, 516 (five sixteen) is a revenge romance for brainiacs, a mash note to the mind.

Philadelphia Theatre Workshop strives to nurture bright and emerging artists at various stages of their careers. They will ignite Philadelphia by spotlighting communities of varying orientations, ethnicities, and age often underrepresented in the broader theatrical world. The company is dedicated to reflecting diverse audiences through original, evocative programming. Philadelphia Theatre Workshop educates, invigorates, and entertains!

 

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