Kennedy Center's NEW VISIONS/NEW VOICES Workshop to Present Six New Works This Spring

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announces the 25th anniversary of the biennial workshop NEW VISIONS/NEW VOICES from May 6 to May 8, 2016. Dedicated to the development of new plays and musicals for young people and their families, this innovative series pioneers a unique forum for the field of theater for young audiences (TYA).

NEW VISIONS/NEW VOICES 2016 will present six new works by American playwrights, selected from theater companies based in Austin, TX; Costa Mesa, CA; Evanston, IL; Milwaukee, WI; Minneapolis, MN; and Seattle, WA; selections from nine new works from India, Korea, and South Africa as part of the International Playwrights' Intensive; and will mark the unveiling of the first-ever, newly published NEW VISIONS/NEW VOICES: 25 years/25 plays (Dramatic Publishing).

Since its inception in 1991, NEW VISIONS/NEW VOICES has assisted in the development of 96 new plays, musicals, and operas from 86 playwrights and 37 composers working with 57 U.S. and 10 international theater companies. This year's conference will continue to expand opportunities for high-quality performance experiences for young people, facilitating the development of productions by a variety of world-class writing teams, directors, and organizations.

"With a sense of adventure and purpose, NEW VISIONS/NEW VOICES has forged ahead as the vanguard of the field. Scores of writers have been nurtured and challenged, extraordinary new plays have been created, and the lives of young people around the globe have been transformed by the ripple effects of this artistic journey," according to Rives Collins, Associate Professor at Northwestern University. For the past 25 years, NEW VISIONS/NEW VOICES has had a reputation for pushing boundaries and fostering the development of strong, creative, and innovative plays and playwrights that have greatly influenced the field of TYA. Peter Brosius, Artistic Director of Children's Theatre Company, Minneapolis, explains, "I came back so moved by what [NEW VISIONS/NEW VOICES has] done for all of us and for the field and for thousands and thousands of kids."

While at the Kennedy Center, selected playwrights, directors, music directors, composers, and actors work collaboratively in a weeklong intensive workshop setting to develop their projects. After revisions, rewrites, and rehearsals of the new plays and musicals, the works are presented as rehearsed readings during a three-day conference for theater professionals, educators, and others interested in the field, which will include discussions, conversations, and other events facilitated by Daniel Renner, Director of Education for New York's Theatre Development Fund. The Center provides housing, transportation, stage managers, dramaturgs, and Equity performers for each show. NEW VISIONS/NEW VOICES 2016 features dramaturgical support by Ken Cerniglia and Faedra Chatard Carpenter.

Additional participants will include Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan (All the Way and The Kentucky Cycle, respectively), Tony Award-winning regional theaters including Children's Theatre Company and South Coast Repertory, leading TYA theaters in the industry, and Northwestern University.

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NEW VISIONS/NEW VOICES 2016:

Austin, TX

ZACH Theatre and Teatro Vivo: jj's arcade

jj's arcade, a play written by José Casas and directed by Nat Miller, follows the lives of a father and son struggling with the aftermath of a tragedy. In the process, a little boy named JJ discovers his ability to create, building a cardboard arcade; using this discovery as a way to cope with the world, but also to connect with the father who truly doesn't know him. Inspired by a true story, this play explores the power of imagination in our lives and the true meaning of "being a family."

Costa Mesa, CA

South Coast Repertory: Amos & Boris

Amos, a mouse, longs to live on the sea so he builds a boat and sets out for a life of adventure. He fears his life will be cut short while he falls off of his boat in the middle of the sea and almost drowns. Thankfully, Boris, a whale comes to Amos' rescue and the two become fast friends. They realize that even though they are different in practically every way, they have more in common than they ever thought possible. An existential tale about friendship and mortality, Amos & Boris has been adapted from William Steig's prize-winning classic children's book by Sofia Alvarez (book and lyrics) and Daniel Roland Tierney (music) with direction by Shelley Butler.

Evanston, IL

Northwestern University: Ever In The Glades

Ever In The Glades revolves around five teenagers growing up on a fictional island in the Everglades where the adults are as dangerous as the gators. When one of the kids returns from Juvenile Detention to help the rest escape to the mainland, it seems their prayers have been answered. There's only one problem-they need a boat, and they need it before the adults catch wind of their plan and end it, or end them. Written by Laura Schellhardt and directed by Rives Collins, the play begs the question: what is the current generation's responsibility to the next, and what happens if we fail them?

Milwaukee, WI

First Stage: TXT ME L8R

It starts on a Wednesday. Kids in high school getting the weirdest texts from fellow students they don't know. What's going on? And what if it's not people connecting with people via their phones... but phones trying to connect with other phones via their people? Written for First Stage's award-winning Young Company and working with director John Maclay, Eric Coble has crafted a fun, fast exploration of our relations to media, technology, and each other. A digital mystery for the savvy texter.

Minneapolis, MN

Children's Theatre Company: The Last Firefly

Inspired by Japanese folk tales and Kabuki theatre techniques, Naomi Iizuka crafts a brand new tale about Boom, the son of Thunder, whose search for his father leads him on an adventure that reveals the interconnectedness of the natural world and his place within it. The Last Firefly will premiere in a future season, directed by Artistic Director Peter C. Brosius.

Seattle, WA

Seattle Children's Theatre: SHADOWPLAY

Exploring the unseen world of imagination and fantasy, SHADOWPLAY by Robert Schenkkan, directed by Linda Hartzell, employs the grand literary tradition of the ghost story to tell a modern tale of teenage life and domestic darkness-and to call out the compassion and bravery needed to brighten one young girl's life.

An additional U.S. project has been named as an alternate, should one of the other projects be unable to participate.

New York, NY

Lincoln Center Education & Trusty Sidekick Theatre Company: The Prizefighter of P.S. 217

Written by Drew Petersen and directed by Jonathan Shmidt Chapman

International Playwrights' Intensive

A partnership between the Kennedy Center and the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies at the University of Maryland, the intensive will take place at the University of Maryland from April 24 - 30, 2016, followed by a presentation of excerpts read during the NEW VISIONS/NEW VOICES conference at the Kennedy Center. International partners include ASSITEJ South Africa and the Soweto Theatre; The National Theatre Company of Korea; ASSITEJ/India and the Little Theatre of Bangalore.

India

I Am Fine, Thank You by Sunil Bannur

One Dream Too Many by Deepika Arwind

The Other Side by Vinati Makijany

Korea

Sweet Words House by Choon-keun Park, Translated by Alyssa Kim

South Africa

The Kids from Amandla Street by Lereko Mfono

Mbuzeni by Koleka Putuma

Mr. José and the Rabbits by Samson M. Mlambo

Space Rocks by Tamara Schulz

The Underground Library by Jon Keevy

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The Kennedy Center retains its commitment as the nation's cultural center to educating and enlightening children and adults in Washington and around the country. The Center's national education programs include: Ensuring the Arts for Any Given Child, which works with 20 municipalities and their school districts around the country to develop a long-range strategic plan for arts education; ARTSEDGE, a website that offers standards-based materials for use in and out of the classroom; Partners in Education, which forges relationships between an arts organization and its neighboring school systems to build effective arts education programs for teachers and teaching artists; Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education Network, works with 30 state organizations on arts education policy issues; Explore the Arts, which provide insight into the cultural and historical context of the works presented on stage and sparks dialogue between audiences and the artists who have created the performances through participatory workshops, demonstrations, panels, master classes, and open rehearsals; and the Kennedy Center/Stephen Sondheim Inspirational Teacher Awards, which acknowledge teachers of grades K-12 whose efforts have made a significant impact on their students; and Kennedy Center Theater for Young Audiences on Tour, which brings original Kennedy Center productions for students and families into communities and performing arts centers around the country.

In and around D.C., the Kennedy Center's programs include Changing Education Through the Arts, a program that works with seven schools in the area to affect long-term change in school culture through professional learning in arts integration; Professional Development Opportunities for Teachers, which trains Washington-area educators to teach the arts or other subject areas through the arts; and Washington, D.C. Partnership Schools, where the Center provides resources and teaching artist residencies to 22 elementary, junior, and senior high schools in Washington, D.C. The Center also mounts more than 100 events and performances of theater, music, dance, and opera throughout the season for more than 100,000 local school-aged children.

In addition, the Center offers multiple skill development programs for young artists and professionals both locally and nationally, including the National Symphony Orchestra's Youth Fellowship Program, Summer Music Institute, and High School Competition; Washington National Opera's Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program, Opera Institute, and Kids Create Opera Partnership; the biennial NEW VISIONS/NEW VOICES forum for development of new plays for young people; Exploring Ballet with Suzanne Farrell; Betty Carter's Jazz Ahead; VSA's Playwright Discovery Program, Young Soloists, and Visual Arts Programs; arts administration internships; and the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival which impacts hundreds of thousands of college-aged theater students across the country and marks its 48th anniversary in 2016.

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