May 16th is right around the corner, and that means it’s time for our last two semi-finalist ONSTAGE readings, which means we’re a hop-skip-and-a-jump away from announcing our finalists! So exciting!
But, before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s talk about the first of those two readings happening in Auburn, AL, led by our fabulous Auburn producer, Amber Ryhne Hanel with Sculpted Entertainment! I had the happy opportunity to meet Amber last year, just a my husband and I moved to Waco. (We’re here while he finishes up grad school). Amber was so welcoming, and helped me get the lay of the theatre land here in Waco, so she was instrumental to me getting a foothold on the art scene here. I quickly realized that Amber’s energy and talents would be an excellent fit with Little Black Dress INK, and so I was thrilled when she said she’d like to bring our ONSTAGE Project to Auburn with her when she moved!
She’s already hard at work with her actors, getting ready to present plays by our fabulous playwrights…
2 weeks 3 days til the East AL reading of the #OnStage #Project 6 of the top #writers #Semifinales @LBlackDressINK pic.twitter.com/EfSYbnoNrq
— Sculpted Entertainmt (@GetSculpted) April 28, 2015
Talking about playwrights, let’s meet these awesome writing women!
Kira Rockwell is a playwright from Dallas, Texas. She is a recent graduate of Baylor University where she received her BFA in Theatre Performance and a minor in Film & Digital Media. This March, her play Nomad Americana premiered at WaterTower theatre’s Out of the Loop Fringe Festival. In 2014, Kira established a writing group called the Waco Writer’s Collective for fellow emerging writers in her community. As a teaching artist, Kira directs and leads a theatre program for at risk urban youth at the Methodist Children’s Home. Currently, she is developing a full length play set in the near future of a dystopian America called, BirthRight, and resides with her husband in Waco, Texas. This will be her first time working with Little Black Dress Ink’s festival and she is over the moon with excitement to be working with this outstanding company and other fabulous ladies from around the nation! #femaleplaywrightrock
Hannah K. Baker is an alumnus of Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts where she earned a BFA in Film Production with an emphasis in directing. She continues producing creative content such as working on John Legend’s music video “You and I” and the indie feature THE SUBMARINE KID, co-written and starring Finn Wittrock. She is a member of the Coronet Writers Lab, which has fostered such talent as Mickey Fisher, the creator of the network TV show EXTANT.
She is constantly work-shopping various projects including her debut feature and has recently been tapped to write a spec pilot. She has directed a handful of shorts and a music video, soon to be released. In her work, she explores the human condition across many genres in the pursuit of inspiring positive change within the audience.
Bridgette Dutta Portman is an emerging playwright from the San Francisco Bay Area. Her plays have been read and produced in the Bay Area, across the country, and overseas. She particularly enjoys writing silly, absurdist comedies, dramas that deal with psychological and existential issues, and scripts that play with language or involve classical structure and themes. She is incoming president of the Playwrights’ Center of San Francisco and an associate artist at Wily West Productions, as well as a member of the Pear Avenue Theatre writers’ guild. Her website is www.
A long persevering dramatist, Susan Goodell’s work received recent readings at the Virginia Stage Company and NYC’s Abingdon and The Barrow Group. Her HEELS OVER HEAD was on the main stage at Tri-State Actors Theater in Newton, NJ, and HOPE THROWS HER HEART AWAY will be presented by Genesis Theatrical Productions in Chicago this fall. Shorter works were staged by the Chicago’s Landmark Festival, the Boston Theatre Marathon, NYC’s Fresh Produce’d and The Source Festival in Washington DC. Other recognition: Steppenwolf Theatre Company commission, Djerassi Residence Artists Program, Denver Drama Critic’s Circle Award nomination and the Denver Post’s 10-best list.
Katherine Koller’s short plays, including Cowboy Boots and a Corsage, have been staged across Canada. The Seed Savers premiered at Workshop West Theatre in Edmonton (2009), and Coal Valley: the Making of a Miner was produced at the Royal Tyrrell Museum Theatre in Drumheller (2005). Voices of the Land: The Seed Savers and Other Plays was published by Athabasca University Press in 2012. Last Chance Leduc won the 2013 Alberta Playwriting Competition. Katherine also writes fiction, and for dance, ballet, opera, radio and film. She is currently working on new plays, Dirt Baby and Riverkeeper; a novel-in-stories, Art Lessons; and a feature screenplay adaptation of Cowboy Boots and a Corsage. www.katherinekoller.ca
Molly Pease earned her B.A. in Theatre and Public Relations from the University of Georgia. She plans to attend Northwestern in the fall to earn her M.F.A. in Writing for the Screen and Stage. Molly also enjoys performing and writing stand up and sketch comedy. She helped found an all female improv troupe at UGA called Lady Parts. Thanks for watching the show!
Don’t miss these fabulous playwrights,
Saturday, May 16th at 4 pm at Overall Company in Opelika!
