We’re Not Playing… this week

We have been pleasantly overwhelmed with the enthusiasm for our latest new play project!

Not PlayingAnd we have more new plays coming your way, starting next week!  BUT, since this is our final production week for the 2016 Female Playwrights ONSTAGE Festival: Curves Ahead in Prescott, Arizona, we thought we’d pause just long enough to share some thoughts on how incredible this year’s line-up is (and how wonderful the artists and playwrights and audiences have been!)

Every year I wait in near-breathless anticipation to see what kind of wacky, wonderful, moving, and straight-up hilarious plays we’re going to get… it’s kind of like Christmas, only the presents are from daring writers and the joy of opening them is shared with all of the playwrights who participate in our peer review process.

This year’s line-up features a lot of comedies… We have a few really poignant pieces in the line up as well – enough to make us think, maybe get a little indignant, a little misty-eyed – but there are hands down more comedies than dramas.  Last year, we were heavy on the latter.  I don’t know if it’s this year’s theme, the socio-political realities we’re dealing with, or just a general mood that’s somehow set in, but I think we need funny this year.  I think there is a lot going on in the world to make our hearts weary.  As the We’re Not Playing initiative proves, there’s plenty of need for catharsis too, but sometimes the need to go to the theatre and just laugh with friends and strangers is strong.  And sometimes doing so can be reaffirming in a way that allows us all to walk out of the theatre a little lighter.

I hope that our Prescott audiences enjoy this year’s festival.  It features plays by some truly talented and passionate women, and our production features some of Prescott’s finest directors and actors!  The fact that these plays have already been produced in Louisiana with Acadiana Repertory Theatre makes it even more exciting.  And to know that they’re going to be wrapping up their whirlwind national-tour with a reading in NYC makes me incredibly proud!  Of course, I couldn’t do any of this without the amazing help of our Partner Producers: Steven Landry and Etienna Wright with ART in Lafayette, LA; Darcy Martin Rose with Acting Out NY in Ithaca, NY; Christine Breihan and Samuel French Bookshop in Los Angeles, CA; Kate Hawkes with Red Earth Theatre in Sedona, AZ; Charissa Menefee with Iowa State University in Ames, IA; Amber Hanel with Sculpted Entertainment in Auburn, AL; Katherine James, who put together a seven theatre collective to produce a reading in Los Angeles, CA; and Sam Gibbs with Stairwell Theatre in New York City, NY.  These people and all of the incredible actors and directors they brought together in order to breathe life into our festival are the reason the ONSTAGE Fest is such a success!

And now we’re about to rock these shows in Prescott – and I couldn’t be more proud!  I hope that if you’re in the Prescott area, you will join us this week (Oct. 6-8 at the Prescott Center for the Arts)  And if you’re in attendance on opening night, I especially hope you’ll join us after the show at El Gato Azul for some delicious treats and mingling with our talented artists! PrintThanks for all of your support for Little Black Dress INK!  We love what we do, and we love sharing it with you!  Come back next Monday for a play by Anne Hamilton – the next piece in our We’re Not Playing Initiative.

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