100 YEARS by Richard Dresser a co-production between Playwrights Theatre and Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre

Thoughts from the Artistic Director

As I type this, in the next room rehearsals on going on for the Madison Young Playwrights Festival which will be held this Saturday, March 17, 2012 from 1-4 pm. Reservations can be made by calling 973-514-1787 X34 and more information can be found at our website.

As promised, here are the program notes from John Pietrowski, Artistic Director.

If we have learned nothing else from these difficult times, I think we have remembered the need for, and value of, collaboration, compassion, listening, and creativity. So much of what we thought was true, so many of our assumptions about how the “world works,” have been altered, perhaps even torn apart. It has not been easy for many, and has sent many of us back to examine some basic values to see what we can find there.

For those who do ongoing work in the creative arts, or in any creative field for that matter, humbly questioning assumptions, lovingly tearing things apart, and lovingly putting them back together is an almost daily task that moves towards an unspoken goal of a connection with a spiritual self, a “better angel of our being” (to crib from Abraham Lincoln) that is almost always in a state of transcendence or renewal. What is happening in the world right now reflects what we are constantly doing with ourselves every time we create, unfortunately in the world there seems to be, in certain very loud and visible quarters, a lot less humility and a lot less love.

None of this process is mystical in the stereotypical sense of the word, and when you are working with the arts, there is that tangible product that must be made that grounds you. But it also tests you, and changes you, and ultimately becomes a reflection of who you are, who you were, and who you will be. It is life writ small and large all at once, and that magical moment on the stage, which Martin Esslin called the “Eternal Present,” wraps up all of the contradictions of being human into a package that we can study and admire. It is what we imagine existence to be, and if our imaginations are truly healthy, our daily lives, which are manifestations of our beliefs and imagined thoughts, will reflect that, and follow suit.

The theatre requires us to build a community of people who strive to really listen to each other, to compassionately collaborate to make a new world every time we set a piece of action into motion in a space. It is what we need right now. And this is why we need to honor these young writers who have taken a run at this and set yet one more positive and irreversible action into motion.

Thoughts from the Education Director of Playwrights Theatre

With the 26th Annual Madison Young Playwrights Festival just a few short days away, we are buzzing about with rehearsals, revisions and program printing. Here is what our Director of Education and Festival Director, Jim DeVivo, had to say in the program.

As I have listened to discussions about the state of education at home and across the nation, I have become aware of the great number of new (and “new”) concepts and programs that proclaim their potential success because they “put students first.” In my fifteen years in education, I have come to find that measuring success in student learning can be as varied as each individual student. While some of these programs have potential, rarely do they reference specific student needs, nor do they involve any student input. I am not certain that any one approach can be the great panacea for which we seem to be so desperately searching, especially if it does not truly put students in a primary position.

We have found through our creative arts programs that placing students at the center of the creative process can influence them in ways that provide for successful individual student learning in the present and beyond. In the role of playwright, students have the opportunity to exercise initiative, to make decisions, and to collaborate with professionals to create a piece of theatre. The act of collaboration alone is an essential skill for a students’ learning, but additional skills and knowledge and personal characteristics learned can be as varied as the students themselves can.

Over the years, some of our past young playwrights have shared their experiences with us immediately after the program’s conclusion and after having a few years to reflect on the program’s impact. Here is just a sampling of what some former young playwrights have to say:

· “(The actors) dedication to my work and their intellect with the piece brought my confidence back in a heartbeat… that's what this experience was all about: real actors taking my real work very seriously. This was invaluable to a young artist like myself. It made me feel like I wasn't just some kid who wrote some play about moody teenagers and their moody rings -- it made me feel like I was a real dramatic force that had something to say and they were there to cultivate that.”

· “But ultimately this wasn't an exercise in flattering a writer's ego. The experience truly helped me learn more about my script. After only one read-through, I was able to hear a myriad of new things: rhythm that didn't work and rhythm that did, lines that needed to be cut or added, plot points that remained unclear. Sometimes someone asked me a question, and I realized I couldn't answer because I had never thought about that aspect of the story before. After the performance, I began rewriting the script based on information I had gleaned from this process.”

Although these statements are from older students (one who was a young playwright both in elementary and high school), they are indicative of what we hear from students and parents regarding the impact that participation in this program can have on their personal and academic lives. Many students come away with a newfound confidence, critical inquiry skills, and curiosity that can prompt future learning. By putting their words, their voices, and their imaginations first, we create an opportunity for students to skills for life-long learning.

We congratulate each of the young playwrights who participated in the Madison Young Playwrights Program on their creative work and look forward to all the benefits that this experience will bring.

Check back tomorrow for Artistic Director, John Pietrowki's thoughts.

5 Questions with Frank Deford

Our next to last reading of the 2011 FORUM series is TILL DEATH DO US PARTLY by Frank Deford. This reading will be held at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Dreyfuss Theatre, 285 Madison Avenue, Madison, NJ. Click here for directions. Click here for a printable map of the campus (the Dreyfuss Theatre is located in Building 9).

Frank Deford is author of seventeen books, ten of them novels, two filmed screenplays, hundreds of magazine articles. NPR commentator, Wednesdays on Morning Edition; senior correspondent on HBO's Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel. Winner: Peabody Award, National Magazine Award, Emmy; member of Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame. Former chairman, now chairman emeritus: Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. As they say in sports: out of Westport, Connecticut. Lovely wife: Carol. Two children: Christian and Scarlet. One grandchild: Annabel. Writes: right-handed. 6'4", 180. Huguenot-American.

1. What inspired you to write Till Death Do Us Partly?
I suspect "inspired" is too high-falutin' a word for what prompted me to write Till Death Do Us Partly. Without giving the ending away, let me just say that I read how somebody did something for posterity like what my hero pulls off in secret. Besides, I'm a romantic, and I love love stories and good old-fashioned drawing-room comedies (although I guess, with concessions to the modern: a "family-room" comedy).

2. You say you write right-handed. Do you also only type with your right?
No, I use both hands to type, but I probably use my right index finger for about three-quarters of the board (over to the "r" on the top row) and the left index finger the rest (including a;; those e's and s's). Unfortunately, I have terrible hand-eye coordination and almost no left-hand dexterity (or I would've been a much better basketball player as a kid).

3. In addition to being a playwright, you are also a book author, a screenwriter and a magazine article writer. Do you have the same process for each? If not, how does your process differ?
Process: pretty much the same for whatever I'm working on. Fiction, be it novel, movie, play, requires a more dedicated time. Because you need to get so immersed in the characters and the story you're creating, you can't just lay down fiction and pick it up again a few days later the way you can non-fiction. You have to stay in the story. When I'm writing a commentary for NPR or a script for HBO that I'll be speaking myself, then I'm more conscious of writing for the ear than the eye. Then I write as I talk –– which is very much how I write fictional dialogue, but, of course, then it will be someone else saying my words. Still, I don't just write out dialogue, but read it out loud to myself to hear how it sounds.

4. Who is your favorite sports team?
I grew up in Baltimore, so, hard as it is, I still stick with my Orioles. In Till Death To Us Partly, the two brothers want to own a small racing stable together. I wish I had the money for that. I did have a thoroughbred named after he once, but Frank Deford, the horse, was a loser.

5. What would people be surprised to know about you?
I don't play golf.

Click here to purchase a ticket to see TILL DEATH DO US PARTLY at FDU.

You can also find additional information on our website about the entire FORUM reading series.

$10 per reading
$25 for a FORUM pass (if you are going to attend at least 3 readings in the series---this is the best deal)

5 Questions With James Christy

The 20th reading in our FORUM series is EGYPTIAN SONG by James Christy. This reading will be held at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Dreyfuss Theatre, 285 Madison Avenue, Madison, NJ. Click here for directions. Click here for a printable map of the campus (the Dreyfuss Theatre is located in Building 9).

James’ full length plays include Never Tell (published by Playscripts in 2007), Love and Communication (Playpenn Conference, produced by Passage Theatre in 2010), A Great War (reading at Luna Stage in 2010). His short play Creep won the Actors Theater of Louisville's Heideman Award for best short play in 2001. A reading of Egyptian Song was part of the Premiere Stages festival in June 2011.

1. What inspired you to write Egyptian Song?
I can’t point my finger at one thing that inspired Egyptian Song. My best friend growing up was from Lebanon, so I grew up around this house that had a middle eastern influence. Eventually I read about the singer Omm Kulthum, and I was fascinated with the idea of a female figure that loomed so large in a culture in which men hold most of the external power. I read more about her childhood and this story emerged, not about her life at all, but about a young girl with a similar gift whose life goes in another direction.

2. What do you enjoy most about playwriting?
Well, you’re sort of playing God when you write plays. You can create these little alternative worlds based on whatever you have kicking around in your head. But the fun part is when you get into a story and it takes on a life of its own, the characters start to surprise you and take you in different directions then where you expected.

3. What is your favorite play and why?
I’m a big fan of Stoppard and recently re-read Arcadia. I just really appreciate how deeply he gets into a subject, he’s unafraid of big ideas, but always theatrical. The way he uses spaces is pretty brilliant too.

4. What movie could you watch over and over?
Raising Arizona. Know that movie way too well.

5. What is the best new gadget you recently tried?
Playwrights can’t afford new gadgets. We buy other peoples 2nd hand gadgets on craigslist.

Click here to purchase a ticket to see EGYPTIAN SONG at FDU.

You can also find additional information on our website about the entire FORUM reading series.

$10 per reading
$25 for a FORUM pass (if you are going to attend at least 3 readings in the series---this is the best deal)

5 Questions With Suzanne Bradbeer

The 19th reading in our FORUM series is Suzanne Bradbeer's SHAKESPEARE IN VEGAS. This reading will be held at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Dreyfuss Theatre, 285 Madison Avenue, Madison, NJ. Click here for directions. Click here for a printable map of the campus (the Dreyfuss Theatre is located in Building 9).

Suzanne’s work has been developed and produced at theatres around the country, including Barrington Stage Company, the New Harmony Project, Stamford Center for the Arts, the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, the Lark, and City Theatre of Miami. Current projects include Devil In The Details, God In The Game: an election year drama about the intersection of faith and politics; and Naked Influence, recently workshopped at the Dorset Theatre Festival. Her play Okoboji will shortly be published in a new Smith & Kraus anthology. Suzanne is a member of the Ensemble Studio Theatre, the Actors Studio P/D Unit, the BMI Workshop, and the Dramatists Guild.

1. What inspired you to write Shakespeare in Vegas?
I was commissioned to write a short play with the theme of ‘theft’ for The Drilling Company in New York City. In thinking about theft, I decided to write about one actor stealing a scene from another and I felt that it should be an actor with a small role stealing a scene from the lead. Cleopatra and her handmaiden seemed like good candidates for this. That short play (FEAR AND LOATHING ON THE NILE) is now the second scene in SHAKESPEARE IN VEGAS, and I so loved the characters in that original play that I decided to expand it to a full length.

2. What is your favorite Shakespeare play and why?
I think my favorite Shakespeare play is MACBETH – at least that’s the one that I go back and reread the most often. It’s a great play to learn from – a fast moving story with great stakes; it’s theatrical, exciting, there’s even a little humor, and it has some of the most gorgeous, gorgeous language. That said, I have seen about five different productions of MACBETH and none of them have quite lived up to what I imagine it could be. Someday.

My favorite Shakespeare that I’ve actually seen is probably Fiasco Theater’s CYMBELINE, currently being produced by Theatre for a New Audience. Go see it! It’s magical and surprising, and full of playful energy. Also, there was a fantastic production of TROILUS AND CRESSIDA at the Royal Shakespeare Company that I saw about 20 years ago: it was both desperately sad and side-splittingly funny. I still think about it sometimes.

3. What do you enjoy most about being a playwright?
A good day of writing is satisfying like almost nothing else I’ve ever known.

4. Have you been to Vegas? Did you win big?
I have been to Vegas and I’m embarrassed to say that I didn’t even gamble. Okay, my friend Cat and I put one penny in a slot machine just as we were leaving. I meant to gamble, I really did! But we were so busy just exploring downtown and the Strip and finding places for cocktails…that we forgot to gamble. One of my favorite parts of Vegas is the Old Sign Graveyard – which is exactly what it sounds like.

Incidentally, Cat and I were in Vegas Easter weekend, which, that year, also happened to be the anniversary of Martin Luther King’s assassination. So Easter morning, April 4, we sat in our room at the Trump Hotel (thank you, Priceline) and played and replayed U2’s Pride (In The Name Of Love) and talked about MLK, and God, and loss and hope. It turned out to be an unusual but very moving and memorable way to spend Easter.

5. Do you prefer coffee or tea? Is it part of your creative process?
I PREFER COFFEE!!!! It is definitely part of my creative process. It’s the first thing I do in the morning and that first sip of the day never fails to make me happy. I love coffee so much, I’m going to go have some more right now.

Click here to purchase a ticket to see SHAKESPEARE IN VEGAS at FDU.

You can also find additional information on our website about the entire FORUM reading series.

$10 per reading
$25 for a FORUM pass (if you are going to attend at least 3 readings in the series---this is the best deal)

CONNECTED by Lia Romeo - 17th Reading in FORUM Series

The 17th reading is our FORUM series is CONNECTED by Lia Romeo. The reading will be held tonight, December 12, 7pm at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Dreyfuss Theatre, 285 Madison Avenue, Madison, NJ.

Lia Romeo is a playwright, novelist, and humor book author. She earned her B.A. from Princeton University and her M.F.A in playwriting from Rutgers, ending up with staggering quantities of student loans and no marketable skills whatsoever. She managed to secure a part-time job writing standardized test questions, and spends the rest of her time writing plays and novels and daydreaming about pretty shoes.

Click here to purchase a ticket to see CONNECTED at FDU.
You can also find additional information on our website about the entire FORUM reading series.

$10 per reading
$25 for a FORUM pass (if you are going to attend at least 3 readings in the series---this is the best deal)

5 Questions With Yasmine Rana

On Sunday, December 11, 2011, we will have an evening of one-act plays. Two of those plays will be by Yasmine Rana. The 14th play in our FORUM reading series is HOW I THOUGHT THE MILONGA WOULD SAVE ME and the 15th is BLASPHEME. These plays will be presented on Sunday, December 11, 7:00pm, at Fairleigh Dickinson, Dreyfuss Theatre in Madison, NJ.

Yasmine's book The War Zone is My Bed and Other Plays was published this year by Seagull Books and University of Chicago Press. Other publications include Blackbird, The Kenyon Review, and TDR The Drama Review. The title play of the book, The War Zone is My Bed was recently produced in Los Angeles at Write Act Repertory Theater.

1. What inspired you to write How I Thought the Milonga Would Save Me & Blaspheme?
I studied Argentinian tango several years ago, enjoyed it, but later quit due to the time constraints life presents. Last year, I returned to tango with what I hoped would be a deeper commitment to learning this dance. I would attend milongas to practice and met many interesting partners, dance partners of course. The experience began to resemble personal relationships, particularly the idea of revealing a different side of oneself for a different partner; some preferred the close embrace while others the open one, though the close embracers were the majority of dance partners I had. Sadly, I have quit tango again and have now taken up boxing, perhaps as a result of tangoing. Maybe my next play will be about a boxer who also does the tango.

I wrote Blaspheme after Milonga. Though I do love the comedy discovered in romantic entanglements, my home base as a writer is human rights issues. I wanted to explore an interrogation and was intrigued by the notion of single word as the source of a blasphemous charge.

On further reflection I saw both plays as a dance: the former a dance of pleasure and a quest in seeking the "ideal" partner, and the latter being a dance for survival.

2. Can you tell us a little about your job as a registered drama therapist?
In addition to being a creative arts therapist, I am an English as a Second Language teacher, and it's been wonderful incorporating creative drama into language learning. The joy has been hearing my students respond to a piece of literature we read in class; there's a sense of gratitude in having read a particular work that is now part of their history as learners. As a writer, I've meditated on the meaning of gratitude and how it is a part of my craft and being: I am grateful to theater companies, directors, actors, publishers, and audience members for having given me their time and sometimes their trust.

3. How has working with refugees in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Republic of Georgia and Switzerland played a role in your writing?
Although it's been twelve years since my time in Sarajevo, I know my experience practicing drama therapy in that environment is embedded in my writing. What I took away from that journey was a profound respect for resiliency and for the desire to uphold human dignity even in the most calamitous circumstances.

4. What do you enjoy most about being a playwright?
What I enjoy most about being a playwright is hearing and seeing the different interpretations of my work. I've heard actors and directors from the United States and Europe present my plays and each production or reading is a bit of an epiphany for me

5. If you could have a superpower what would it be and why?
I have just finished teaching my high school ESL students Ernest J. Gaines' quiet masterpiece A Lesson Before Dying. To me, Gaines' work is a meditation on equality and justice, with basic humanity at the core of everything. If I possessed superpowers I would eradicate injustice.

Click here to purchase a ticket to see HOW I THOUGHT THE MILONGA WOULD SAVE ME and BLASPHEME at FDU.

You can also find additional information on our website about the entire FORUM reading series.

$10 per reading
$25 for a FORUM pass (if you are going to attend at least 3 readings in the series---this is the best deal)

5 Questions With Carrie Louise Nutt

The 9th reading in our FORUM series is LSD by Carrie Louise Nutt which will be presented on Tuesday, December 6, beginning at 7:00pm at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Dreyfuss Theatre in Madison, NJ.

Carrie Louise Nutt’s play Agua was a 2010 O’Neill semi-finalist. It was developed during her NNPN Emerging Playwright Residency at PNTJ. When Gods Walk the Earth was part of the Great Plains Theatre Conference PlayLabs, received Tulsa University’s “Best New Works for Young Women” award, and was recently produced at Manhattan Rep. Carrie is published in One on One: The Best Men’s Monologues for the 21st Century by Applause. She is a member of DGA and PWC. She holds an MFA in Playwriting from Rutgers. Recently, she received a new play commission from MCTVS. http://web.me.com/carrienutt/Site/About_Me.html

1. What inspired you to write LSD?
I became interested in government drug experimentation while I was researching for a different play. I ended up stumbling across two stories in particular that jumped out at me. One was centered around a young scientist who died under unclear circumstances and the other story was about a patient admitted to a psychiatric hospital who reported being experimented on. I began to get a picture of a time where Cold War paranoia drove people to do things to others that they should not have. It set up a dynamic where anything was permissible for the greater good. I felt that had resonance for us today.

2. Can you tell us a little about your new play commission from MCTVS?
MCTVS has commissioned me to write a one-act play for their theatre students. I was asked to come onboard for this school year as a Guest Artist. I will teach as well as put together a play for the students to perform. This play will go up in March alongside several other commissions and a handful of student plays in a festival that MCTVS is producing.

3. What is your favorite play or book and why?
My favorite book is Blindness because Jose Saramago understand the difference between civility and savagery. The only difference between the civilized and the uncivilized is the availability of resources. You take that away and it is surprising what people will do.

4. How long have you been writing?
Since I was in elementary school. I used to read Nancy Drew, and then stay up late writing my own mystery novels.

5. What is your favorite guilty pleasure?
The Hunger Games. It's a great trilogy. It's total pop culture, adrenaline junkie trash, but I love it for how well it wraps the reader into the action and the love triangle.

Click here to purchase a ticket to see LSD at FDU.
You can also find additional information on our website about the entire FORUM reading series.

$10 per reading
$25 for a FORUM pass (attend all 23 readings in the series)

New Items and New Rummage Sale Dates

Playwrights Theatre is leaving its space at 33 Green Village Road, Madison, NJ and is selling excess articles it has acquired over the past 25 years.

New things have been addeded since the previous rummage sale dates. We've cleaned out all extraneous items, so only the really useful and interesting ones are left. Everything will be tagged with a price. There are no costumes, lighting, sound equipment or theatre seats.

The rummage sale dates are:
Saturday, October 22 from 9am-2pm
Sunday, October 23 from 9am-2pm

The sale will take place on the first floor of 33 Green Village Road. Cash and checks gladly accepted. Playwrights Theatre regrets it cannot accept phone calls or e-mail inquiries about sale items. All business to be conducted in person.

Need directions? http://www.ptnj.org/pages/directions-and-getting-around

25th Anniversary Gala Photos

On Saturday, September 17, 2011, Playwrights Theatre had a benefit celebrating 25 years of creativity and community at the Hartley-Dodge Memorial building in Madison, NJ.

The evening included music with Jerry Vezza and a performance by Sahirah Johnson and The MoMs (from MoM A Rock Concert Musical) -- Donna Jean Fogel, Jane Keitel, Bekka Lindstrom, Dana Loren McCoy, Stefanie Seskin.

There was a silent auction, new plays from improbably playwrights Hon. Mary-Anna Holden, Mayor of Madison and Hon. Jon M. Bramnic, NJ State Assemblyman as well as Collaborative Play written that evening by the guests and performed by Duncan Rogers and Bev Sheehan.

Playwrights Theatre honored:
Lawrence S. Feinsod, Executive County Superintendent, Essex County
Lisa Ellis, President, Madison Board of Education
Jeannie Tsukamoto, Council Member, Madison Borough Council
Arthur Wilson, Poet/Playwright/Teaching Artist
Shamsuddin Abdul-Hamid, 2010 NJ State Poetry Out Loud Champion

Photo Credit: Walter Rodriguez

To view more photos, visit our website

We're Having a Rummage Sale

Playwrights Theatre is leaving its space at 33 Green Village Road, Madison, NJ and is selling excess articles it has acquired over the past 25 years. Items for sale include: props, furniture, dishware, knickknacks, costumes and office supplies including filing cabinets and desks. All items will be priced to move. Lighting and sound equipment will not be available and the theatre seats have already been claimed.

The rummage sale dates are:
Saturday, October 1 from Noon-6pm
Sunday, October 2 from 9am-6pm
Saturday, October 8 from 9am-6pm
Sunday, October 9 from 9am-6pm

The sale will take place on the first floor of 33 Green Village Road. Cash and checks gladly accepted. Playwrights Theatre regrets it cannot accept phone calls or e-mail inquiries about sale items. All business to be conducted in person.

Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre brings DISTRACTED to Madison

Dreamcatcher presents the New Jersey premiere of Distracted, a smart and serious off-Broadway hit that Time Out New York proclaimed "my favorite comedy of the year!" Due to repairs at the Baird, Distracted will play at Playwrights Theatre.

In Distracted, does nine-year-old Jesse have ADHD or is he just being a kid? Is it even a problem at all? As his parents navigate the complicated world of medical and alternative treatments, they confront the possibility that it's not just Jesse who's distracted--it's our entire culture.

Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre says, "Distracted is the kind of play we do best: serious intimate drama that's filled with witty funny dialog and emotional issues that touch the heart." Get your tickets now!

All performances are at Playwrights Theatre in Madison, NJ.

Event: DISTRACTED Info

Dates: March 4-20, 2011

Times: Fridays & Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 2pm

Location: Playwrights Theatre, 33 Green Village Road

Price: $30 adults, $25 seniors & students w/ ID
Save $3 in advance Buy tickets now no fees!

Discounts: Students pay just $15 on Saturday March 5 only
Seniors pay just $15 on Sunday March 6 only

Groups save 10% or more. The bigger your group, the more you save! Group sales

Don't miss the informative Q&A with Distracted artistic director Laura Ekstrand on Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre's website!

Summer Program for Kids & Teens - BIG DISCOUNTS for Early Enrollment

Playwrights Theatre’s Creative Arts Academy summer camp for kids and summer theatre program for teens will begin on June 20, 2011 and run all summer long in two-week sessions. For more information and to register, visit www.ptnj.org or call 973-514-1787 X21.

The Full-Day Theatre Academy (Monday through Friday, 9:30 am – 4:30 pm) is designed for grades 4-6 and 7-9. Students work with a team of artists and alternate daily through classes in acting, musical performance, playwriting and play production. Students explore each skill and learn how to weave the various elements together into an engaging, original performance piece presented to family and friends. Full-Day sessions are available for Session B (July 5-July 15) and Session C (July 18-July 29). Each session concludes with a presentation for family and friends.

This summer, Playwrights Theatre is offering an Early Enrollment rate plan for the Full Day Camp classes in the Summer Theatre Camp. These special rates can be secured by enrolling students in a Full Day Camp session prior to the dates listed below. No other discounts apply.

Tuition $525 • When Enrolled BEFORE January 31 • With a deposit of $262.50
Tuition $550 • When Enrolled BEFORE February 28 • With a deposit of $275.00
Tuition $575 • When Enrolled BEFORE March 31 • With a deposit of $287.50

After March 31, Full Day Camp registration will return to the regular fee of $595.00 (a deposit of $297.50 is required at the time of enrollment). A deposit in the amount of ½ of the tuition due is required at time of registration. The remaining balance must be paid no later than May 30.

All Full Day Camp enrollments, whether made during the reduced enrollment period, or after, include a $100.00 non-refundable enrollment fee that will not be refunded unless Playwrights Theatre initiates a class cancellation of the session in which the student is enrolled.

To secure this reduced rate, enrollments must be made by phone ONLY. Please contact the Education Office at 973-514-1787, ext. 21.

The Half-Day Summer Camp for kids and the Half-Day Summer Theatre Program for teens is an opportunity for students at all levels of experience to discover new facets of creativity while developing their theatrical skills. Tuition is $275 per two-week session, $250 for returning students with the exception of the Creative Play class, which is $225.

Each session concludes with a presentation for family and friends and is designed to have a slightly different emphasis so students can take the same class several times and still have a high-quality learning experience.

Session A (June 20 - July 1) – Registration deadline June 13
Morning classes from 9:30am-12:30pm include: Playmakers (grades 1-3), Acting Lab (grades 4-6), Acting Workshop (grades 7-9), Musical Performance (grades 4-5/6-8). The Creative Play class (ages 4 & 5) will meet from 9:30-11:30am.

Session B (July 5 - July 15) – Registration deadline June 27
Morning classes from 9:30am-12:30pm include: Playmakers (grades 1-3), Acting Lab (grades 4-6), Musical Performance (grades 4-5/6-8). The Creative Play class (ages 4 & 5) will meet from 9:30-11:30am. Full-Day Theatre Academy (grades 4-6 and 7-9) is from 9:30am-4:30pm.

Session C (July 18 – July 29) – Registration deadline July 11
Morning classes from 9:30am-12:30pm include: Playmakers (grades 1-3), Acting Lab (grades 4-6), Musical Performance (grades 4-5/6-8). The Creative Play class (ages 4 & 5) will meet from 9:30-11:30am. Full-Day Theatre Academy (grades 4-6 and 7-9) is from 9:30am-4:30pm.

Session D (August 1 – August 12) – Registration deadline July 25
Morning classes from 9:30am-12:30pm include: Playmakers (grades 1-3), Acting Lab (grades 4-6), Acting Workshop (grades 7-9), Musical Performance (grades 4-5/6-8). The Creative Play class (ages 4 & 5) will meet from 9:30-11:30am.

Session E (August 15 – August 26) – Registration deadline August 8
Morning classes from 9:30am-12:30pm include: Playmakers (grades 1-3), Acting Lab (grades 4-6), Acting Workshop (grades 7-9), Musical Performance (grades 4-5/6-8). The Creative Play class (ages 4 & 5) will meet from 9:30-11:30am.

SPECIAL SESSION - PLAYWRITING WORKSHOP (grades 6-12)
(June 22 - August 24) • Registration deadline: June 15
Wednesdays from 9:30am-12:30pm • $275

Playwrights Theatre Creative Arts Academy teaches classes year-round for children, teens and adults. The Creative Arts Academy is committed to nurturing independent thinking, artistic and personal development through the literary and performing arts. At the Creative Arts Academy, students are part of a community where self-expression and creativity thrive and every person is a valuable member of the whole. Playwrights Theatre’s Creative Arts Academy strives for artistic excellence while emphasizing the creative process, both of which are vital to the personal, social and academic evolution of students of all ages. Creative Arts Academy instructors are highly experienced professional artists who are perceptive and dynamic in the classroom. Creative Arts Academy teachers are committed to developing their own skills, as well as those of their students, and to refining their artistry through continued practice and education.

For more information including class descriptions and to register, visit www.ptnj.org or call (973) 514-1787.

THE LAST DAYS OF MICKEY AND JEAN by Richard Dresser

A “retired” American couple on the lam in Paris reach the end of the line. A new play from the author of Rounding Third.

Reserve your ticket online or by calling the box office at 973.514.1787 X10.

Richard Dresser’s plays have been produced in New York, regional theater, and Europe. His recently published trilogy of plays about happiness in America includes AUGUSTA (working class), THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS (middle class), and A VIEW OF THE HARBOR (upper class). Other plays are: ROUNDING THIRD, which started in Chicago and appeared off-Broadway and has had over one hundred productions, BELOW THE BELT and GUN-SHY, started at the Humana Festival before moving off-Broadway. His most recent play is THE HAND OF GOD.

Directed by John Pietrowski and featuring Eli Ganias, Bonnie Black, Dan Domingues.

HUNGRY by Lia Romeo

FORUM roundtable reading series continues tonight at 7pm with HUNGRY by Lia Romeo.

In this black comedy by the author of Green Whales and Super, a high school “misfit” trying out for the dance team takes on the dysfunction of her home and community, getting assistance from an unlikely source.

Tickets $10 or buy a FORUM pass and get into all the readings for only $25. To reserve your seat, call the box office at 973.514.1787 X10 or visit our website.

Playwrights Theatre
33 Green Village Road
Madison, NJ 07940
Directions

One-Day Playwriting Intensive for Adults

One-Day Playwriting Intensive for Adults
with Carolyn Hunt, playwright and teaching artist

This one-day playwriting intensive is for beginners and those looking to brush up on their skills. Individual instruction may also exist.

When: Saturday, November 13 from 9:30am-12:30pm

Cost: $125

To Register: Contact our Education Department at 973.514.1787 X21.

Kicking Out the Jams

"Oh, mama, they're kicking out the jams at Playwrights Theatre in Madison.

Harvested from the fertile grounds of a workshop production in the 2009 FringeNYC festival (where it was voted Outstanding Musical), Playwrights has transplanted the one-of-a-kind "MoM A Rock Concert Musical" to where it belongs: the suburbs.

In between, we get memorable songs of rebellion and celebration, sadness and uncertainty. Numbers like "Why Can't He Take Care of the Kids for a Change?" will make you laugh, while the dramatic "Don't Hold Back" speaks to the core of this story, which encourages us to follow our own dreams, come what may."

--William Westhoven, Daily Record

Click here to read the entire review

Get to Know the Cast of MoM

Stefanie Seskin (Catalina) is the founder of blue number nine, a Jersey City based group formed in 1995 that has toured regionally and across the midwest. Seskin is a recipient of ASCAP’s ASCAPLU$ Songwriter Award in the “Popular” category since 2001. Prior to forming blue number nine, Seskin played bass with Bill Popp and the Tapes, sang back-up vocals in several projects, and is credited on 14 albums, on bass, sax, flute, vocals and as engineer.

Jane Keitel (Nancy) Recent Credits: PTNJ: The Good German by David Wiltse (NY/NJ Premiere), Where the Sun Never Sets; American Globe She Bop; Garage Theatre, 7 Good Ways. Jane loves her other work as a teaching artist and director. Directing credits: Les Miserables, School Ed., Pirates of Penzance, WASP. Love and thanks to John, Dani & Richard. Dedicated with love to her mom, Helen, the original ‘Single Mom’. Contact: Facebook: ‘EJ Keitel’ or keitelmusic@aol.com.

Donna Jean Fogel (Karen) has appeared in numerous plays in NYC and regionally as well as in the independent film Nine and Law & Order. Some favorite roles: Sara in Stop Kiss, The Barrow Group; Lady Layle Wingate in Rain from Heaven, Reckless Theatre Co; Supporta in Scenes From an Execution, Blue Light/Atlantic Theatre/Olney; Sister Jane in As It Is in Heaven, Stonington Opera House on Deer Isle, ME; Frankie/Francis in The Voice of the Prairie, Cape May Stage.

Bekka Lindström (Melissa) recently played Sister Betsy in As It Is In Heaven at the Stonington Opera House in Deer Isle, Maine. She last appeared in the NY Fringe as Lori in The Lightning Field, which then went on to a run in London. Other New York credits: Medea in A Jar In The Forest (The Samuel French Play Festival); the suffragette Ellen Gates Star in Jane’s House (The Neighborhood Playhouse); and Sylvia in Stacked (The Bank Street Theater).

Dana Loren McCoy (Ingrid) is a graduate of the Boston Conservatory of Music and Berklee College of Music, Performance and Composition Majors. Dana has performed and written songs for Virgin, EMI, Netwerk and Empire Records. Dana loves the girls in “MoM” and Richard more than Nutella, and blows everlasting kisses to the producers and team at PTNJ for supporting this wonderful project. Special thanks to Tracy Wells who has been all our MoM on this journey.

Think Pink - Moms Are Free

In Honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month, all MoMs get free tickets this weekend!

Calling all Moms! To kick off the first weekend of "MoM A Rock Concert Musical", we're giving away free tickets to all Moms. All you have to do is wear pink to the show tonight or tomorrow and you'll get in for FREE*.

Performances This Weekend:
Saturday, October 2 at 8pm
Sunday, October 3 at 3pm

Ruth Ross, NJ Arts Maven, thinks the show is great! Read her entire review.

Five "soccer moms" form a rock band to play at a High School benefit. Then they get really famous. Beautiful and terrible things happen to them. MOM A ROCK CONCERT MUSICAL chronicles their rise and rise. The workshop production won Outstanding Musical at FringeNYC 2009.

Appropriate for ages 16 and up, adult language and situations

Call the Box Office at 973-514-1787 X10 to reserve your tickets

*Not valid on previously purchased tickets. No retroactive discounts.

Playwrights Theatre
33 Green Village Road
PO Box 1295
Madison, NJ 07940
www.ptnj.org
973-514-1787 X10