TS Eliot US/UK Exchange Present Seven New Short Plays on The Old Vic Stage

50 of America's top young theatre artists are coming to London as part of The Old Vic's 2011 TS Eliot US/UK Exchange programme and presenting seven new short plays on The Old Vic stage. From college graduation angst to the perils of living in a major metropolis, the plays offer a series of contrasting, tragic-comic perspectives on life in America.

The performances take place on Friday 3rd June at 3pm. Tickets are free and can be reserved by emailing exchangetickets@oldvictheatre.com.

The TS Eliot US/UK Exchange is a unique programme designed to nurture the best young British and American theatre practitioners. Supported by the T.S. Eliot Estate, and hosted in partnership with The Vineyard Theatre in Manhattan, the programme offers 21-30 year old artists the unrivalled opportunity to engage in a week of cultural activity and artistic development, culminating in a showcase of original work on The Old Vic's 193-year old stage.

At the beginning of May, 46 British artists travelled to New York to learn from senior Manhattan theatre practitioners and presented new work at the legendary Vineyard Theatre. When the Americans arrive in London for the return trip at the end of this month, they will enjoy meetings with representatives from many of London's top theatre's including the Royal Court, The National Theatre, the Donmar Warehouse and the Bush.

Kevin Spacey, Artistic Director at The Old Vic said: "The TS Eliot US/UK Exchange shows The Old Vic's dedication to encouraging transatlantic collaboration. Last year's programme was an extraordinary success and we have found another exciting team to forge lasting creative partnerships across the Atlantic. There is no doubt that relationships created on this project will bear fruit for many years to come."

Steve Winter, Director of Old Vic New Voices at The Old Vic said: "We were thrilled to see the impact that the project had on 2010's participants, widening their creative horizons and instilling a new-found sense of ambition and possibility. We know that the same transatlantic success is in store for 2011's company who are all exceptional artists in their field."

This year's American team are:

Writers:

Jonathan Caren (2011 Lila Acheson Wallace Playwriting Fellow at The Juilliard School; The Recommendation at The Old Globe, 2012)

Joshua Conkel (MilkMilkLemonade)

Dipika Guha (2011 playwriting graduate, Yale School of Drama)

Janine Nabers (Current P73 Playwriting Fellow, Annie Bosh is Missing at 2011 Sundance Theater Lab)

Lila Rose Kaplan (Wildflower at Second Stage Uptown)

christopher oscar peña (New York Theatre Workshop Emerging Artist Fellow)

Joe Tracz (FX's Lights Out, Ars Nova Play Group)

Directors:

Krystal Banzon (2010 LGBT Point Scholar, 2007-2008 Fulbright Scholar)

Mary Birnbaum (Artistic Director of art.party.theater.company, 2010-11 Juilliard Directing Fellow)

Jeremy Bloom (Leaves of Grass (Nude), Drama League Fellow)

Mike Donahue (Stairs to the Roof at A.R.T. Institute; the upcoming Moscow, Cheryomushki at Chicago Opera Theater)

Kel Haney (Marathon 2010 at Ensemble Studio Theatre, Jonathan Alper Directing Fellow at Manhattan Theatre Club)

Luke D. Harlan (SDC National Directing Award Winner, Founder: Directors Repertory)

Producers:

Alex Barron (Naked Angels' Naked Radio; The Living Newspaper)

Frances Black (A Life in the Theatre on Broadway; Even Maybe Tammy at The Flea)

Adam Blanshay (How To Succeed..., Catch Me If You Can, Jerusalem)

Anthony Francavilla (GLAAD Award Winning When Last We Flew, Author of Off-Broadway Economic Impact Report)

Melanie Hopkins (Electra in a One-Piece, Senior Associate Producer for the New York Musical Theatre Festival)

Avi Lipski (Goodbye New York, Goodbye Heart).

Roberta Pereira (A Life in the Theatre on Broadway, Anne Bogart's Siti Company)

Actors:

(Male)

Michael Bradley Cohen (Six Degrees of Separation at Williamstown)

Chris Davis (Atlantic Theater Conservatory)

W. Tre Davis- (Zooman and the Sign at Signature)

Bill Griffin (Ideal)

Graham Halstead (Follow Me Down)

marcus d. harvey (MFA in Acting Candidate '12, Brooklyn College)

Harrison Hill (Our Town at Williamstown)

Jonathan Hooks (Torch-bearers at Williamstown)

Nathaniel Kent (The Sister)

Eric Lockley (2009-2010 Mabou Mines Resident Artist)

Timothy John McDonough (Gin & It)

Michael Micalizzi (Love/Stories; Looking at Christmas)

David Mitsch (The Sporting Life, The Erotic Diary of Anne Frank)

Michael Shaw (3rd year at The Julliard School; Macbeth at Chautauqua)

Dominic Spillane (Six Degrees of Separation at Williamstown Theatre Festival)
(Female)

Lourdes Aguilar (Current Nobody at Sundance Theatre Lab)

Zoe Anastassiou (Three Sisters and As You Like It directed by Eve Best)

Celeste Arias (Measure for Measure)

Chanel Carroll (Hope Speaks at La Mama E.T.C.)

Chaelon Costello (MFA Acting, The New School for Drama)

Daliya Karnofsky (Naked in a Fishbowl)

Maren Langdon (Love/Stories; Office Hours)

Lauren Sowa (The Great Divide)

Ariel Woodiwiss (Six Degrees of Separation at Williamstown Theatre Festival)

Alison Yates (Pope Joan at New World Stages)

THE OLD VIC
Since Kevin Spacey became Artistic Director in 2004, The Old Vic has forged close relationships with the artistic community in New York. Old Vic programming has included such American classics as Dennis McIntyre's National Anthems, Eugene O'Neill's A Moon for the Misbegotten and John Guare's Six Degrees of Separation. In 2009, the theatre embarked on The Bridge Project - a three year co-production with Brooklyn Academy Of Music and Neal Street Productions, directed by Sam Mendes. 2011 marks the final year of The Bridge Project, which will see Kevin Spacey take the title role in Richard III. The Old Vic also recently celebrated a theatrical first with The Arden Project - a series of live video-streamed performances, linking work by The Old Vic's emerging artists in New York and London, in a special one-off event.

US HOST PARTNER VENUE: Vineyard Theatre
(Douglas Aibel, Artistic Director; Jennifer Garvey-Blackwell, Executive Director)
The Vineyard Theatre is a non-profit theatre company dedicated to developing and producing bold new plays and musicals by emerging and established theatre artists. The Vineyard strives to nurture artists, take artistic risks, and engage its audiences and community in dialogue. Notable premieres include Kander and Ebb's The Scottsboro Boys, Bell and Bowen's [title of show], and Lopez, Marx and Whitty's Avenue Q (three Tony Awards), each of which went on to a Broadway run; two Pulitzer Prize-winning dramas, Paula Vogel's How I Learned to Drive and Edward Albee's Three Tall Women; Craig Lucas' The Dying Gaul, Nicky Silver's Pterodactyls and Raised in Captivity, Becky Mode's Fully Committed, Polly Pen's Bed and Sofa, Christopher Shinn's Where Do We Live, Gina Gionfriddo's After Ashley, Tarell Alvin McCraney's Wig Out!, Jenny Schwartz's God's Ear, Colman Domingo's A Boy and His Soul, Will Eno's Middletown, and many more. Their ongoing artistic development programs serve more than 100 artists each season, and their thriving education initiatives reach more than 300 local public high school students. The Vineyard is the recipient of the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Body of Work and special Drama Desk and Obie Awards for Sustained Excellence. For more information, please visit www.vineyardtheatre.org.

OLD VIC NEW VOICES
Old Vic New Voices incorporates three strands of programming: Education, Community and Emerging Talent (through the New Voices Club in London and the New Voices Network in New York). In recognition of OVNV's achievements, the department won an IVCA (International Visual Communications Association) Clarion Award, which recognises excellence in the communication of Social Inclusion and Corporate Social Responsibility.

Education and Community achievements
Since October 2006, OVNV has enabled 35,000 school children to take part in Education programmes themed around main-stage productions and engaged over 12,000 people in large-scale community projects. Previous Old Vic New Voices Community successes include PLATFORM, a site-specific promenade performance in The Old Vic Tunnels featuring a cast and crew of over 100 local volunteers which won a Big Society Award; On The Middle Day, a collaboration with the Imperial War Museum commemorating the 90th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme which won a National Lottery Award for Best Heritage Project; and Branded, a play exploring ethical consumerism; written by Simon Bent and directed by Matt Wilde, which played for five nights and to 5,000 people on The Old Vic's mainstage.

New Voices Club and Network achievements
The New Voices Club is an inspiring professional development programme for actors, writers, directors and producers aged 18 to 25. Year-round activity for the 5000+ members includes masterclasses, workshops, mentoring sessions, readings and production funding through Ideas Fund as part of our partnership with Ideas Tap, a creative online network and funding body for emerging artists which offers members a platform to showcase their work. The New Voices Network offers networking and masterclass opportunities to New York practitioners aged between 21 and 30. Club and Network productions include Inches Apart at Theatre503, Three Sisters in a Manhattan loft-space directed by Eve Best, Time Warner IGNITE at Waterloo East Theatre, and Arden - the first simultaneous transatlantic theatrical production supported by Time Warner.

Time Warner is the lead sponsor of the OVNV Club. The OVNV Club has also received generous contributions from The D'Oyly Carte Charitable Trust, The Fenton Arts Trust, The Marina Kleinwort Charitable Trust, The Noël Coward Foundation, The Stanley Picker Trust, Bernice Chitnis, Eva and Ofir Kedar and other individual supporters of The Old Vic Club. OVNV Network programming is made possible by The Bloomingdale's Fund of the Macy's Foundation with additional support from The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation and individual supporters of the American Associates of The Old Vic. The US/UK Exchange is supported by the TS Eliot Estate.

 

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