Congratulations to Playwrights Theatre's Volunteer Guild Coordinator, Norma Mortimer, for winning the Robert J. Pickering Award for Playwriting Excellence!

Spring Classes for Kids, Teens and Adults

Playwrights Theatre’s Creative Arts Academy spring classes for kids, teens and adults will begin in February. All classes are held at Playwrights Theatre, 33 Green Village Road, Madison, NJ. For more information and to register visit http://www.ptnj.org/ or call 973-514-1787 X21.

Playwrights Theatre Creative Arts Academy classes are an opportunity for students at all levels of experience to bring their imaginations to life, while practicing basic performance and writing skills. Students work collaboratively with their peers creating characters and telling stories while building the confidence needed to enjoy creative freedom. Most classes conclude with a “sharing” of class work for family and friends.

Playwrights Theatre’s classes are taught by practicing theatre artists who are working actors, directors, and writers. The intimate class size allows individuals to explore in a safe, non-judgmental environment and insures individual attention is given to each participant.

The Adult Playwriting Workshop, taught by Playwrights Theatre’s Artistic Director, John Pietrowski, is a basic workshop class where students share work in a supportive environment. Enrollment is open to students of all levels of experience; classes will provide exercises to beginners working on their first play as well as experience writers who are further down the road.

Tuition per class is $275 and $250 for returning students with the exception of Creative Play. Tuition is $225 for this class only. Registration deadline for all kid and teen classes is February 18.

Spring 2011 classes for kids and teens include:
Creative Play (Pre-K and K, ages 4 & 5)
February 24 – April 21
Thursdays, 3:30pm – 4:45pm
10 classes

Playmakers (grades 1-3)
February 26 – May 7 (no class April 23)
Saturdays, 10:30am-12:00pm
10 classes

Acting Lab (grades 4-6)
March 1 – May 3
Tuesdays, 4:30pm-6:00pm
10 classes

Musical Performance (grades 4-6)
February 24 – April 28
Thursdays, 4:30pm-6:00pm
10 classes

Musical Performance (grades 7-9)
March 1 – May 3
Tuesdays, 4:30pm-6:00pm
10 classes

Creative Play, Playmakers, Acting Lab and Musical Performance are process-oriented classes that teach age-appropriate theatre skills. Each class culminates in a student-generated performance for family and invited guests. Each session 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.

Spring 2011 class for adults:
Playwriting Workshop
January 3 – March 7
March 21 – May 23
Mondays, 7:00pm-10:00pm
Pro-rate options are available for late starts for this class only.

For more information and to register, visit http://www.ptnj.org/ or call the Education Department 973-514-1787 X21.

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.

THE LAW OF THE MONKEYS by Ken Scarborough

Dani has a lot of love to give, and she gives it freely in this dark comedy by former SNL writer Ken Scarborough.

Ken Scarborough has won four Emmys for his television writing—as a staff writer for Saturday Night Live, as the Head Writer for the PBS series Arthur, and as a writer for Between the Lions. Ken served as Head Writer for the Nickelodeon series Doug and currently serves as Head Writer and Creative Producer for Martha Speaks, a children’s television series he developed for PBS.

Directed by John Pietrowski and featuring Eilis Cahill, Daniel Sullivan, Stacie Lents, Clark Carmichael, David Mason.

Tickets $10 or $25 for a FORUM pass and see all the readings through Sunday. Order online or by phone 973.514.1787 X10.

ARTIST AS A MAN by Joe Sutton

Author Joe Sutton explores the tangled relationship between an author and his agent. Not based on a true story, or is it?

Directed by James Glossman and featuring Paul Murphy, David Mason and Evelyn McGee Colbert.

Joe Sutton’s plays include Voir Dire, As It is in Heaven, Complicit, and Restoring the Sun. They have been produced by such theatres as the New York Theater Workshop, BAM and the Old Vic. Joe is a recipient of fellowships from NYFA and the NEA, and has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Last season Joe developed his mystery television show Scales of Justice for the USA network. Joe resides in Montclair, NJ with his wife Anne and their sons James and Nicholas.

$10 for tonight's reading for buy a FORUM pass for $25 and see all the readings this week.

To secure your seat, order online or call the box office at 973.514.1787 X10.

JACKASS FLATS by John Simon & C.C. Lovehart

Tuesday, December 14 at 7pm

It's Las Vegas, 1951, and an unusual trio of women take a road trip to a sunrise picnic at the dawn of the Nuclear Age. Funny and relevant, JACKASS FLATS is a heart-warming story of survival in a time and place both mythical and real.

C.C. Loveheart Jackass Flats was first inspired by the personal reminiscences of C.C. Loveheart who grew up in Las Vegas. In her checkered career, she has acted on stage and screens of all sizes from coast to coast. She is a Clio award winner and created the character of Coco for Nickolodeon’s Pinwheel House for which she still gets fan mail. She is a Lifetime Member of The Actors’ Studio. In New Jersey, she appeared in The Gin Game.

John Simon C.C.’s husband and frequent collaborator, is a self-described “compulsive musician”. As a record producer and performer, he has worked with Janis Joplin, Leonard Cohen, The Band, Taj Mahal, Gil Evans, Marshall McLuhan and many others. He has released several albums of original songs. John and C.C. have appeared in a self-penned cabaret act called Alone Together For The First Time Again.

Directed by Brendan Burke

Kay..................................................Denise Lute
Ginny...............................................Olivia Gilliatt
Lana Dee..........................................Lucy Eller

The reading will be held at:
Playwrights Theatre
33 Green Village Road
Madison, NJ 07940
Need directions?

$10 for the reading for reserve a FORUM pass and see all the remaining readings for $25. Purchase your tickets online or by calling the box office at 973.514.1787 X10.

Week Three of FORUM

The third and final week of FORUM begins tomorrow. $10 for one reading or $25 for a FORUM pass. Order online or by calling the box office at 973.514.1787 X10.

Tuesday, December 14 - 7:00pm
JACKASS FLATS by John Simon & C.C. Lovehart
It's Las Vegas, 1951, and an unusual trio of women take a road trip to a sunrise picnic at the dawn of the Nuclear Age. Funny and relevant, JACKASS FLATS is a heart-warming story of survival in a time and place both mythical and real

Wednesday, December 15 - 7:00pm
ARTIST AS A MAN by Joe Sutton
Author Joe Sutton explores the tangled relationship between an author and his agent. Not based on a true story, or is it?

Thursday, December 16 - 7:00pm
THE LAW OF THE MONKEYS by Ken Scarborough
Dani has a lot of love to give, and she gives it freely in this dark comedy by former SNL writer Ken Scarborough.

Friday, December 17 - 7:00pm
NUMBER OF PEOPLE by Emilie Beck
In this one person show, a Holocaust survivor whose encounter with a German family after his release from the camps comes to define the essence of his life.

Saturday, December 18 - 7:00pm
MARLOWE by James Glossman
An ensemble adaptation of Raymond Chandler's classic film-noir tales of iconic private eye Philip Marlowe, among the sun burnt, violent streets of 1940s Los Angeles.

Sunday, December 19 - 7:00pm
THE EXCEPTIONALS by Robert Clyman
In a new version of last year’s reading, and prior to it’s production at Merrimack Theatre in Massachusetts, this play takes place in the Coordinator for Parent Liaison’s office of a donor insemination research program for “exceptional” children and their parents.

A User’s Guide to Hell, Featuring Bernie Madoff by Lee Blessing

Staged reading tonight at 7:00pm, part of the FORUM reading series.

Directed by John Pietrowski and featuring Al Mohnmann, Jim Ligon, Daniel Sullivan, Andrea Bianchi.

In the time after his downfall, Bernie Madoff is taken on a tour of hell (New York City) by Verge and encounters its various denizens before he learns the truth.

$10 for tonight's reading or purchase a FORUM pass for $25 and see all the remaining readings in the series. Purchase online or call the box office at 973.514.1787 X10.

Lee Blessing has written for stage, film and TV for over thirty years. His play A Walk in the Woods ran on Broadway and in the West End. He’s had roughly a dozen plays produced off-Broadway, including A Body of Water and Going to St. Ives in recent years. Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey produced his play Whores in their 2004-05 season, in conjunction with the New Jersey Repertory Theatre.