Arena Stage Celebrates Fifth Year of Partnership with Georgetown University

This fall marks the fifth year of the successful partnership between Arena Stage-now home in its expanded venue the Mead Center for American Theater in Southwest D.C.-and the Georgetown University Theater and Performance Studies Program. This year the partnership includes staged readings of new works; a presentation of the Georgetown production of The Glass Menagerie at the Mead Center; student participation in Arena Stage's new Theater 101 program; multiple artists-in-residence and post-show discussions and panels, among other programs. In the spring, Arena Stage will also partner with Georgetown to celebrate the 100th birthday of American master Tennessee Williams.

This ongoing partnership involves Georgetown students in all stages of the theatrical process and provides hands-on opportunities to work with Arena Stage staff and visiting artists. Students will also have the opportunity to engage with Arena Stage's Resident Playwrights Karen Zacarías, Amy Freed, Lisa Kron, Katori Hall and Charles Randolph-Wright and Project Residents Lynn Nottage and David Henry Hwang as part of the American Voices New Play Institute.

The Arena Stage-Georgetown partnership is made possible thanks to the generosity of Andrew R. Ammerman and the family of H. Max and Josephine F. Ammerman.

"Arena Stage's partnership with Georgetown continues to evolve because of our equal commitment to the future of American theater," says Arena Stage Artistic Director Molly Smith. "Working with Georgetown has allowed us to foster the development of new works. This year, rising theater artists will continue to be inspired by hands-on experiences with some of today's greatest playwrights, in addition to participating in the celebration of Tennessee Williams and his work as a playwright."

"As the Mead Center for American Theater is poised for its grand opening, it is gratifying to see our unique partnership with Arena Stage continue to deepen and expand," says Davis Performing Arts Center Artistic Director Derek Goldman. "Students are being given the extraordinary opportunity to work with many of the leading artists of the American stage, including Arena Stage's new Resident Playwrights through the American Voices New Play Institute, and to get an in-depth perspective into the creative process through the Theater 101 program, along with numerous other avenues of participation. We also look forward to collaborating on the first full co-production from the Arena Stage-Georgetown partnership with The Glass Menagerie Project, and other surrounding events as part of our Tennessee Williams Centennial Festival at both Georgetown and the Mead Center."

Partnership Events for the 2010-11 Season:
Staged Reading of Two Men of Florence - September 27, 2010
Directed by Arena Stage Associate Artistic Director David Dower, a staged reading of Two Men of Florence written by Richard Goodwin, a speechwriter for Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, illuminates the intertwined lives of Galileo and Pope Urban VIII in 17th-century Florence. The reading will be followed by a reception to kick off the partnership. To attend, RSVP to amangus@arenastage.org.

Student Participation in Arena Stage's Theater 101 Program - September-November, 2010
Professor Maya Roth and five Georgetown students will participate in the inaugural class of Theater 101, an audience enrichment seminar that is part of the American Voices New Play Institute at Arena Stage, which is intended to reveal the process of new play development to audiences. The program will follow the development process of every tongue confess by Marcus Gardley, which celebrates its world premiere in the Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle in November.

Workshop Production of One Arm - December 18-19, 2010
Helping to kick off the Tennessee Williams festival, Tectonic Theater Project and celebrated playwright/director Moisés Kaufman (The Laramie Project, Gross Indecency) will return to Georgetown for a workshop production of Kaufman's adaptation of Williams' sexually charged potboiler One Arm (Dec.18 and 19). Kaufman's play 33 Variations was also workshopped at Georgetown before its acclaimed runs at Arena Stage, La Jolla Playhouse and then on Broadway. This residency serves as a prelude to One Arm's New York premiere this coming spring. Kaufman will also return as a featured participant in the Tenn Cent Fest (March 24-27).

Post-Show Discussions and Panels for Let Me Down Easy - January-February, 2011
Arena Stage will host post-show panels featuring Georgetown faculty concerning the themes of Anna Deavere Smith's solo show Let Me Down Easy (December 31, 2010-February 13, 2011 in the Kreeger Theater) about the power of the body, the price of health and the resilience of the spirit.

Playwright Residency with Heather Raffo - February 2011
Heather Raffo, playwright and actress of the award-winning one-woman show 9 Parts of Desire, which was presented as part of Arena Stage's 2006-07 season, will return to Georgetown for a residency in the Davis Center this February. In addition to her work with Theater and Performance Studies Program classes, Raffo will participate in interdisciplinary forums, including a public Q&A linked to the development of her new work about Iraq's maqam musical culture as a window into the ghosts of the country's past and present, and its search for human rights.

Presentation of The Glass Menagerie Project - Opening June 2011
As part of the Tenn Cent Fest, the show and surrounding events will be produced at Georgetown and later presented as part of Arena Stage's Visiting Companies Initiative at the Mead Center for American Theater. (Specifics to be announced at a later date.) Directed by Professor Derek Goldman, The Glass Menagerie Project will feature a production of this classic haunting play, surrounded by other events including readings, adapted work from Williams' fiction (including Portrait of a Girl in Glass), letters, screenplays and memoirs, as well as an interactive multimedia installation which uses the scenic world of The Glass Menagerie as a sensory window into Williams' life and work.

Tenn Cent Fest - Spring 2011
The Tenn Cent Fest is an expansive celebration throughout the spring of 2011 of the indelible legacy of work of Tennessee Williams on the occasion of his 100th birthday. Including fully staged productions of The Glass Menagerie and Suddenly, Last Summer, the festival also features readings and workshops of work by Williams, and additional contributions from those whom he has influenced and those who have influenced him. The Centennial Weekend will feature three days of events, kicking off with American Studies' annuAl Richardson Lecture, conceived as a performance event with contributions from an array of acclaimed artists and scholars, and continuing with performances, public talks, discussions, readings, a state-of-the-art multimedia exhibit and much more.

New Work Credit
Arena Stage is working to create individualized learning opportunities for Georgetown students with particular interest in new work, design, production management and other disciplines. Students will work on particular new play processes happening at Arena Stage, and will receive one credit through Georgetown.

Georgetown Student Nights at Arena Stage
Arena Stage continues to offer special nights designated for Georgetown students to attend productions and engage in the work done onstage.

For tickets or more information, visit http://performingarts.georgetown.edu or www.arenastage.org.

The Georgetown University Theater and Performance Studies Program integrates creative and critical inquiry, emphasizing artistic excellence, interdisciplinary learning, socially engaged performance, and the spirit of collaboration. With a dynamic major in Theater and Performance Studies, the Program features a nationally recognized faculty, including leading scholar/artists, and many of the region's leading professional theater practitioners. One of the country's only undergraduate programs in Theater and Performance Studies, this fast-growing program has rapidly attracted significant national attention for its distinctive curriculum, which integrates the political and international character of Georgetown, a commitment to social justice, and high-quality, cutting-edge student production seasons.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater is a national center dedicated to the production, presentation, development and study of American theater. Arena Stage produces huge plays of all that is passionate, exuberant, profound, deep and dangerous in the American spirit, and presents diverse and ground-breaking work from some of the best artists around the country. Arena Stage is committed to commissioning and developing new plays through the American Voices New Play Institute. Now in its sixth decade, Arena Stage serves a diverse annual audience of more than 200,000. www.arenastage.org.

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