Lark Play Development Center
Recent Press Releases |
DRAMATISTS GUILD HONORS THE LARK THE LARK AND THE NATIONAL NEW PLAY NETWORK BRING WRITERS TOGETHER, click here DOCUMENTARY FEATURING LARK’S BETTY SHAMIEH’S AGAIN AND AGAINST SHE LIKE GIRLS BRINGS THE COLLISION OF HOMOPHOBIA, RACE, AND CULTURE TO THE LARK, click here LARK ANNOUNCES NEW, UNPRECEDENTED PLAYWRITING FELLOWSHIP, click here "THE LARK ANNOUNCES SELECTIONS FOR THE 14TH ANNUAL PLAYWRIGHTS' WEEK FESTIVAL,." click here "THE LARK'S 2ND YEAR IN RESIDENCE AT NEW YORK STAGE AND FILM," click here "A BENGAL TIGER WANDERS THE STREETS OF BAGHDAD AT THE LARK," click here "THE LARK PARTNERS WITH CULTURE PROJECT AND THE PUBLIC THEATER," click here THE LARK PARTNERS WITH THE PUBLIC THEATER ON NEW DAVID HENRY HWANG PLAY, SOON TO PREMIERE AT CENTER THEATRE GROUP," click here LARK PLAYWRIGHTS FIND THEIR WAY TO THE STAGE," click here |
Dramatists Guild honors the Lark
with the James Kirkwood Award
Shown left (from left to right) , front row: Katori Hall, James Price.Back row: David Henry Hwang, Sue Drury, John Clinton Eisner, Lark Producing Director, Kenneth Lin, Carson Kreitzer, Tina Howe, and members of the Lefkowitz family representing the James Kirkwood Estate.
NEW YORK , NY – Tina Howe, on behalf of the Dramatists Guild of America, along with Sue Drury from the Guild, presented the Lark Play Development Center with the James Kirkwood Award for “fostering and promoting the work of contemporary American playwrights.”
The celebration took place at the closing session of Lark’s Playwrights’ Workshop, where this year’s select Lark Fellows were on hand to help commemorate the award. Lark’s 2007-08 Fellows include, Katori Hall, Carson Kreitzer, Kenneth Lin, and James Price. It was especially fitting for Howe to present Lark with the award as during the 2007-08 Workshop, she had been involved as both a writer developing new work and as a Playwright Advisor alongside esteemed colleagues like David Henry Hwang, Lynn Nottage, and Doug Wright.
THE LARK AND THE NATIONAL NEW PLAY NETWORK BRING WRITERS TOGETHER
Shown left, front row: Bevin O’Gara, Associate Artistic, New Rep; Seth Rozin, Producing Artistic Director, InterAct Theatre; Meron Langsner, Playwright Fellow, New Rep; Carson Kreitzer, PONY Fellow, Lark. Back row: Daniella Topol, Artistic Program Director (Lark); Samuel Brett Williams, Playwright Fellow, PTNJ; John Clinton Eisner, Producing Director (Lark); Sean Christopher Lewis, Playwright Fellow, InterAct Theatre.
NEW YORK, NY –Some of the country’s most exciting young playwrights are finding their way into the public eye with the help of innovative organizations like New York City’s Lark Play Development Center and the National New Play Network, a collective of more than 20 regional theaters spread across the United States.
As part of a new wave of deeper support for playwrights, organizations like the Lark, New Rep in Boston, InterAct Theatre in Philadelphia, and Playwrights Theater of New Jersey (PTNJ) are hosting writers for one-year fellowships. On April 22, 2008, resident playwrights and artistic leaders from these four organizations met at the Lark Play Development Center in New York City to talk about their residency experiences and to share new plays written during their fellowships.
DOCUMENTARY FEATURING LARK’S
U.S./M É XICO PLAYWRIGHT EXCHANGE PROGRAM TO AIR ON CUNY TV
CUNY-TV’s “Nueva York” will air
short-documentary about the Lark on April 10th
NEW YORK, NY –The Lark Play Development Center is pleased to announce a CUNY-TV short documentary about its 2007THE WORD EXCHANGE: U.S./México Playwright Exchange Program which will air on “Nueva York” on Thursday, April 10 th at 10am, 4pm, 10pm and on April 12 th at 2pm on CUNY/TV. For the past two years the Lark has hosted playwrights from México and paired them with American playwrights for a ten day residency in which the Lark introduces the writers to New York’s vibrant theatre scene, as well as to industry leaders and the Lark community. Public readings of the newly translated work are then presented along with a final celebration for all the artists involved. The documentary will also available for online, for more schedule and to view online, please visit www.cuny.tv/series/nuevayork.
The documentary was filmed this past November when CUNY-TV sent a camera crew to the Lark to begin documenting the unique program. They first observed the rehearsal process where they were able to film the guest Mexican playwrights working with their American playwright translator, bilingual director and cast. The crew then interviewed Program Director Andrea Thome about the challenges and successes of having playwrights from different nations collaborate, as well playwrights Susana Cook, Hugo Alfredo Hinojosa, and Paola Izquierdo about their process. Finally they filmed the final celebration which included excerpts of the work.
THE WORD EXCHANGE had quite an unexpected success in its inaugural year as OUR DAD IS IN ATLANTIS by Javier Malpica, translated by Jorge Cortinas (BLIND MOUTH SINGING) , is currently running through April 20 th at Working Theater, co-produced by Queens Theatre in the Park; it will be presented in by Phoenix Theater this May and was part of the National New Play Network’s National Showcase 2007.
2007THE WORD EXCHANGE: U.S./México Playwright Exchange Program featured Ver ó nica Bujeiro’s THESADNESS OF THE LIMES, Hugo Alfredo Hinojosa Díaz's DESERTS, Jorg Celaya’s VAN GOGH IN NEW YORK by Jorge Celaya, and Paola Izquierdo'sOF PRINCES, PRINCESSES, AND OTHER CREATURES. It also featured U.S. playwright/translators: Andy Bragen (06-07 Jerome Fellow) , Migdalia Cruz (SALT) , Caridad Svich (LUCINDA CAVAL) , and Susana Cook (100 YEARS OF ATTITUDE) .
his program is a collaboration between the Lark and Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes ( Mexico’s National Fund for Culture and Arts) with support from The Mexican Cultural Institute of New York.
BETTY SHAMIEH’S AGAIN AND AGAINST
SPENDS TWO NIGHTS AT THE LARK
New York , NY - As part of their Studio Retreat reading series entitled “Thursdays at the Lark”, the Lark Play Development Center will present two free readings of Betty Shamieh’s AGAIN AND AGAINST on February 28& 29 in the Lark Studio. This reading will also feature Shamieh (THE BLACK EYED) in the lead role. Seats may be reserved through www.larktheatre.org or by calling 212-246-2676 x24.
In Shamieh’s play a P alestinian-American graduate student is interrogated and accused of terrorism by an Arab-American FBI agent, who tells her that her boyfriend used her as a pawn in a terrorist plot. She must now decide whether to reveal evidence that may entrap her lover and herself.
As one of the Lark’s key selection criteria is plays that reveal vital and unheard perspectives, Shamieh’s unique voice and background are an ideal match. According to Shamieh, “I wrote the play because I wanted to examine the internal debate within the Arab-American community about how to handle the challenges we face at this point in American history. I intended to write the play in a way that doesn't necessarily take sides, but rather explores the experience of being a member of a group that is deemed suspect.”
AGAIN AND AGAINST will be directed by José Zayas ( Strom Thurmond is not a Racist/Cleansed ) and presented at 7pm each night in the Lark Studio, 939 Eighth Avenue (between 55 & 56 Streets), 2 nd Floor. P lease visit www.larktheatre.org for more information on “Thursdays at the Lark,” as well as about other Lark programming. AGAIN AND AGAINST was commissioned by the Lark with support from New York State Council for the Arts, and has been previously developed at the Royal Court Theatre and ThePublic Theater’s New Works Now!festival.
Lark’s Studio Retreat program gives writers 30 intensive hours over the course of a week to work with actors and a director to focus on the text of their piece. Rewrites are encouraged and at the end of the process the Lark presents one or two public readings.
SHE LIKE GIRLS BRINGS THE COLLISION OF HOMOPHOBIA, RACE, AND CULTURE TO THE LARK
New York , NY - To start off the new year the Lark Play Development Center will present a BareBones® production of SHE LIKE GIRLS by Chisa Hutchinson. The play deals with two girls who fall in love in Newark, NJ amidst homophobic surroundings. The performances will take place at the Lark Studio from January 9 -13, tickets are $15 ($10 Students) and may be purchased through www.larktheatre.org or by calling 866-811-4111.
For Hutchinson, who grew up in Newark, SHE LIKE GIRLS is a very personal endeavor, she says, “ The immediate trigger for this play was the fatal stabbing of a 15-year old lesbian in Newark …but the play isn't about murder...it's more about the urban community, the urban family, and how they respond to homosexuality.”
Hutchinson hopes that audiences come away with heightened awareness of about which people can and can’t marry; which people have and don’t have souls. She says, “If people didn’t questions the validity of those types of assertions, then folks like me might still have to jump brooms and ride them all the way to hell or limbo or wherever it is that white people thought the pseudo-souls of black people ended up back then. And the fact that gays are being excluded, harassed, and murdered by a group of people still reeling from the effects of having others do those very things to them? The irony is just too much. My theory is that there are only a handful of really toxic, really vocal haters, and pretty much everybody else is neutral…and they need to hear a voice of love and acceptance every now and then or else they’ll just habituate the hate. Or worse. They succumb to the toxicity and join in. And wouldn’t that be a waste?“
The Lark was introduced to Hutchinson through its Open Access Program, where SHE LIKE GIRLS was chosen from over 400 submissions. According to Lark Producing Director John Eisner, “T hough Hutchinson deals with critically important social themes in this play, its humanity shines through in its delightfully mischievous theatricality. She is a brilliantly intelligent and skillful writer, young, funny, and glowing with compassion. She's the kind of writer the theater of the future is going to need."
LARK ANNOUNCES NEW, UNPRECEDENTED PLAYWRITING FELLOWSHIP
1st “Playwrights of New York” (PONY) awarded to Carson Kreitzer Fellowship provides a year of free rent in NYC, monthly stipend and artistic support valued at $80,000
The Lark Play Development Center – the NY theatre that has been the writing home for such playwrights as Theresa Rebeck (“Mauritius”), David Henry Hwang (“Yellow Face”) and Sarah Ruhl since it opened its doors in 1994 – announces a new, unprecedented playwriting fellowship, the “Playwrights of New York,” (PONY) which will provide an emerging playwright a year of free housing in NYC, a monthly living expense and artistic support at the Lark, including mentoring with the playwrights Tina Howe and the Tony Award-winner Arthur Kopit.
Announced by John Eisner, the Lark’s Producing Director, this first annual “Playwrights of New York” fellowship – with an estimated cash value of $80,000 including rent, stipend and programming support for the playwright – has been awarded to Carson Kreitzer, a writer who enjoyed a measure of success early in her career with plays in NY including “Freakshow” and “Dead Wait” (Clubbed Thumb), “Take My Breath Away” (P.S. 122) and “The Slow Drag” (American Place Theatre), along with the more recent “The Love Song of J. Robert Oppenheimer” in theatres across the country. Lacking, however, a breakthrough hit that enabled her to continue writing and working in New York City, Ms. Kreitzer relocated for several years. PONY will give her a full year to live and work again in NY’s lively theatre community, specifically in the thriving, supportive environment of the Lark Play Development Center, located at 939 Eighth Ave. in New York City.
With the PONY, the Lark Play Development Center has created one of the largest fellowships available to playwrights in the U.S. The fellowship is underwritten, in part, by Lark playwright and board member Sandi Goff Farkas, who conceived PONY, seeing the need for writers to have a bridge between the academic and professional arenas of playwriting. Because so many playwrights leave the profession due to the harsh economics of being a writer in NYC, Ms. Farkas sought to create a way to help with the difficult transition.
Ms. Kreitzer says the PONY fellowship is a “dream come true” for her: “I lived in NY for eight years, and my life in theater was always in competition with paying my rent. This fellowship will allow me to pursue my craft in the city where it means the most, and a chance to forge relationships and alliances that will carry me through my professional life.”
About the Lark’s new PONY fellowship, Mr. Eisner remarks, “We want to give the grant to a writer for whom the experience will be a transformative one, and in Carson’s case, we are thrilled to be able to bring her back to New York, where she started. The fellowship is the newest opportunity that the Lark has to do what we do best, that is, to provide a platform where writers can create their work and develop it in a supportive environment in the city’s vibrant theatre scene.”
With its emphasis on providing playwrights of all backgrounds and achievement with a safe haven to write plays free of routine pressures and artistic agendas, the Lark Play Development Center was the place where Sarah Ruhl wrote her original draft of “The Clean House,” and where Tanya Barfield wrote “The Blue Door.” Two other Lark-generated plays will receive major productions in New York this season: Ms. Rebeck’s “Mauritius” (opening Oct. 4 on Broadway at the Biltmore) and Mr. Hwang’s “Yellow Face,” (opening in ovember at The Public Theatre). One of the Lark’s most public and avid supporters amongst writers, Ms. Rebeck, in fact, has written all of her recent work as a playwright at the Lark: “The Scene,” “The Water’s Edge,” along with “Mauritius.”
Ms. Kreitzer says that she expects during her fellowship year at the Lark to write her newest play, “Enchantment” about the crisscrossing lives of the Freudian psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor Bruno Bettelheim and Temple Grandin, a high functioning autistic woman known for designs of more humane slaughterhouses. She also expects to complete her play “Be Here Now,” an adaptation of “The Three Sisters,” as well as a work-in-progress about a pair of Chicago socialites and their obsession with dollhouses.
According to Mr. Eisner, a remarkable 72 plays developed at the Lark have gone on to 82 stages worldwide in the past 2 years, from “Yellow Face” and “Mauritius” to Anna Ziegler’s “BFF” Off-Broadway, Chantal Bilodeau’s “Pleasure and Pain” at the Magic Theatre, Rajiv Joseph’s “Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo” and David Freeman’s “A First Class Man.”
Over 80 playwrights each year participate in the Lark Play Development Center’s numerous programs, including Playwrights Week, its BareBones Series, International Exchange Program and Studio Retreats.
THE LARK ANNOUNCES SELECTIONS FOR THE 14 TH ANNUAL PLAYWRIGHTS’ WEEK FESTIVAL
NEW YORK, NY – The Lark Play Development Center and the Indo-American Arts Council are proud to announce the selected playwrights for Playwrights’ Week 2007. This year’s eight writers, chosen from nearly 500 submissions, bring a diversity in subject matter ranging from an outbreak of bird flu to a soldier stuck in the Middle East to a tragic African-American entertainer. The playwrights will spend a weeklong residency at the Lark developing their work with professional actors, a director, and Lark staff; they will then present that work in a public reading during the Festival.
For the Lark, the Playwrights’ Week is a key program in unearthing new writers from around the world, as it stems from an open-submission policy, as well as an outreach to unique and unheard voices. According to Playwrights’ Week alumni Chantal Bilodeau, “Playwrights Week is a gift and the Lark’s greatest quality is that it invests in writers, not just in plays.”
This year's selections include: NOBODY by Richard Aellen, the tragedy of Bert Williams, an African-American entertainer; RAISINS, NOT VIRGINS by Sharbari Ahmed, traces the journey and jihad of an American-Muslim woman in New York; SAND, by Trista Baldwin, details a young American soldier occupying the Middle East; SHE LIKE GIRLS inspired by the 2003 murder of a lesbian teen in Newark by Chisa Hutchinson; GARY, by Melinda Lopez, about three youths lost in the mundane until one violent night changes everything; VELOCITY, by Daniel Macdonald, in which a 15 year old girl decides to blow her father out the 73 rd floor of an office tower; CHILDREN AT PLAY, a tragic farce about five friends struggling to make it through junior high and high school, by Jordan Seavey; and DAY THE BIRD FLU CAME by Jonathan Yukich, where two health officials investigate an outbreak in a small town.
The Festival kicks off with a Meet the Writers reception on September 26 th where the playwrights will be introduced, interviewed, and will read excerpts of their work. The Festival will come to a finale with a special celebration of the Lark’s 8 th year in partnership with IAAC on October 1 st, where seven South Asian Lark Alumni writers will share work and the 2007 IAAC Playwright-in-Residence will be announced, concluding with a reception commemorating the 10 th Anniversary of the Indo-American Arts Council.
The Playwrights’ Week selection process started in November of 2006. Hundreds of scripts were submitted through the Lark's open submission policy. Finalists were chosen through a rigorous process involving the Lark’s Literary Wing, comprised of dozens of theatre artists and community members. The final eight playwrights were selected by a group of esteemed industry professionals including: Catherine Coray (curator, HotINK), Anton Dudley (playwright, SLAG HEAP), Suzy Fay (Lark Dramaturg/Roundtable Director), Daniel Jaquez (Intar New Works Lab), Morgan Jenness (Abrams Artists), Rajiv Joseph (playwright, BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO), Miles Lott (Lark LitWing Chair), Aroon Shivdasani (IAAC), and Rob Urbinati (Queens Theatre in the Park).THE LARK’S 2ND YEAR IN RESIDENCE AT NEW YORK STAGE AND FILM
NEW YORK, NY – The Lark Play Development Center is welcomed back for its second year in residency at New York Stage and Film , July 17 – 22. Fifteen Lark artists will spend a week retreat on the beautiful campus of Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY to develop work including the creation of a hip-hop piece, the development of book and lyrics for a musical, the expansion of a 10-minute play, the beginning of a new translation, and much more. This year’s participants include ten writers: Chantal Bilodeau, Ian Cohen, Kristoffer Diaz, Anton Dudley, Rajiv Joseph, Angela Kariotis, Arthur Kopit, Catherine Leger, Lynn Rosen, Charlie Sohne, and Saviana Stanescu. Joining the writers as directors and dramaturges will be John Eisner, Suzy Fay, Daniella Topol, and Sturgis Warner, and actors Andres Munar and Jennifer Dorr White.
This partnership began in the summer of 2006, when the Lark participated in a one-week residency at NYSAF. Then this past spring, the Lark hosted NYSAF in Manhattan to help support the selection of NYSAF’s upcoming season. The Lark is honored to be a part of NYSAF again and is thrilled that three Lark-developed plays are part of NYSAF’s 2007 season: SUBSTITUTION (by Anton Dudley ), DANCE OF THE HOLY GHOST (by Marcus Gardley ), and AMERICAN HWANGAP (by Lloyd Suh ).
According to Lark Artistic Programming Director, Daniella Topol , “We consider our process at the Lark to be a ‘retreat in New York City’, under the radar from commercial pressures, but it’s nice to take our artists out-of-town where they can really forget the daily grind, enjoy nature, and give life and breath to their work. A residency at NYSAF enables our artists to focus on critical dramaturgical questions and to be a part of a community focused on play development and critical thinking.”
While in residency, the writers will be working on a wide array of work including: Bilodeau’s (PLEASURE & PAIN) translation of Leger’s AMERICAN CAR, in which characters cross paths around a dead body, a hit & run, and a botched wedding ceremony; Diaz’s (WELCOME TO ARROYO’S) third play in his GUERNICA trilogy entitled SLATE; TINA GIRLSTAR by Dudley (SLAG HEAP)and lyricist Sohne , a musical about an aging record producer who decides her swan song will be to create the world's greatest Pop Princess; ODYSSEY TRIPPIN by Kariotis ( REMINISCENCE OF THE GHETTO & OTHER THINGS THAT RAIZED ME), a play that explores ancestral lineage and stretches the line between the early 20th century folk music of Rembetika in Greece and Hip Hop today; PUDDY TAT by Rosen (BACK FROM THE FRONT) about a poor man, with barely a family or a friend, who has a magnificent secret ; Stanescu’s (WAXING WEST) play ALIENS , based on the true stories of people engaged in green card marriages and illegal immigration. Meanwhile Cohen (LENNY & LOU), Joseph (BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO, HUCK & HOLDEN) and Kopit (NINE, INDIANS, WINGS) will work on new, untitled projects.
THE LARK AND ROMANIA CULTURAL INSTITUTE GO BEYOND TOURISM
NEW YORK, NY – The Lark Play Development Center, the Odeon Theatre, and the Romanian Cultural Institute (RCI) are bringing several esteemed artists from Romania as part of their ongoing American Romanian Theatre Exchange program (ARTE). Making the trek to New York during this installment of the program are renowned Romanian actress and General Manager of the famed Odeon Theatre Dorina Lazăr, theArtistic Councilor of the Odeon Alina Moldovan, and playwright Alina Nelega, who’s play AMELIA BREATHES DEEPLY will be presented as a public reading starring Lynn Cohen on May 10, 7pm at the Lark Studio.
ARTE began in May, 2006 when Producing Director John Clinton Eisner led a delegation of playwrights and artistic leaders to Romania, including – Tanya Barfield (THE BLUE DOOR), Saviana Stanescu (WAXING WEST), Kelly Stuart (THE LIFE OF SPIDERS), Doug Wright (I AM MY OWN WIFE), as well as Gordon Edelstein, Artistic Director of Long Wharf Theatre, and Randy Gener, senior editor for American Theatre Magazine.
ARTE, supported by the Romanian Cultural Institute, is spearheaded by Stanescu, who was Lark’s Theatre Communications Group International Fellow. According to Stanescu, “The travels and projects that we developed as part of ARTE have gone far beyond ‘cultural tourism’ and allow a true artistic dialogue to happen. And we are committed to continuing to deepen, to diversify and to treasure that dialogue.” RCI’s Corina Suteu says that they were eager to take part in this program, “In order to support exchange in the field of playwriting and translation between Romania and the U.S. with the hope that it grows into a fully fledged long-term program of play development and translation."
During their current visit, the Romanian artists will not only continue developing relationships with key artists here in New York, but will also take part in a “think tank” discussion on U.S. – Romanian theater exchange. They will also travel to the Long Wharf Theatre as guests of Gordon Edelstein to see his adaptation and direction of UNCLE VANYA. Upon returning to the Lark, they will present a public reading of Nelega’s AMELIA BREATHES DEEPLY, in a translation by Kelly Stuart and starring Lynn Cohen. This reading will be followed by an excerpt from the play in Romanian, performed by Lazăr, as well a panel discussion entitled “How Plays Feel Different in Different Languages.”
On the importance of building international bridges like these, Eisner says, “Every encounter between the U.S. and international artists yields powerful results: relationships are formed, projects are imagined and advanced, and deep questions are raised about the role theater plays in helping different people, with different experiences, to talk with each other.”
A BENGAL TIGER WANDERS THE STREETS OF BAGHDAD AT THE LARK
The Lark partners with Queens Theatre in the Park to present
Rajiv Joseph’s powerfully, relevant BENGAL TIGER AT
THE BAGHDAD ZOO.
New York, NY - The Lark Play Development Center continues its ongoing partnership with Queens Theatre in the Park – presenting a BareBones® production of BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO by Rajiv Joseph from April 13 - 14 & 16 - 21at 8pm. After performances at the Lark Studio, the production will move onto Queens Theatre in the Park from April 26 - 29. Tickets are $15 and may be purchased through www.larktheatre.org, 866-811-4111 or through www.queenstheatre.org for their performances.
Acutely relevant amidst our current political climate, Joseph’s darkly, comedic drama takes the audience straight into the Middle East where the lives of two American soldiers, an Iraqi translator and a tiger intersect on the streets of Baghdad; consequently changing each other’s lives forever.
For Joseph (ALL THIS INTIMACY, HUCK & HOLDEN) it took a small Associated Press news article about a bizarre interaction at the Baghdad Zoo to germinate this play of political and personal displacement. “The sadness and absurdity of that event,” says Joseph “led me to a different way of thinking about the war in Iraq. There’s a point where the media and government’s articulation of the war stops being particularly helpful.”
Lark’s Producing Director John Eisner says, “By placing America’s current dilemma in Iraq into a wider context of history and the ghosts of innocent victims, Joseph calls upon us to recognize the enormous challenge we face in creating a world that prizes humanity above nationhood.”
Working alongside Joseph is director Giovanna Sardelli (HUCK & HOLDEN, BAD DATES) who has been part of BENGAL TIGER’s development since Joseph was a 2005-06 Playwrights’ Workshop Fellow at the Lark. The cast for this production is as follows: Joseph Kamal, Ryan King, Tom Ligon, LeRoy McClain (THE HISTORY BOYS), Sharone Sayegh, and Alok Tewari. BENGAL TIGER has also been developed through residencies set up by the Lark at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco, Centro Helenico in Mexico City, and SUNY Purchase. The development of BENGAL TIGER is supported in part by The Greenwall Foundation. Please visit www.larktheatre.org for more information.
THE LARK PARTNERS WITH CULTURE PROJECT AND THE PUBLIC THEATER
NEW YORK, NY – This year, the Lark Play Development Center continues to expand its role in not only developing new work, but in advancing that work through partnerships with theatres and residencies across the country. Current partners include the Culture Project, Playwrights Foundation (San Francisco), New York Stage and Film, Queens Theatre in the Park and The Public Theater.
Most recently the Lark hosted a residency for New York Stage and Film, February 26 – March 2. This will be followed by: Jessica Litwak’s TERRIBLE VIRTUE, presented in partnership with the Culture Project on March 8; a partnership with Playwrights Foundation in which four Lark writers are in residence in San Francisco; a public reading of Tracey Scott Wilson’s THE GOOD NEGRO will be presented in partnership with The Public Theater on March 29 and in April Rajiv Joseph’s BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO will be presented at the Lark with additional performances at Queens Theatre in the Park.
While the Lark has been exploring ways of discovering and supporting playwrights for thirteen years, Producing Director John Eisner says, “ Without the combined resources of many theaters, universities and other cultural institutions, it is nearly impossible to bring vital and unheard voices onto stages and into the American theater repertoire. The Lark is excited to play a role in advancing important projects by bringing key people and institutions together to form healthy and productive partnerships .”
On the TERRIBLE VIRTUE partnership, Allan Buchman, Artistic Director of the Culture Project says, “We are keenly aware of the kind of support playwrights need in developing risk-taking, meaningful work and are pleased to be collaborating with Lark where playwrights are put first and foremost and are given that support." Meanwhile, THE GOOD NEGRO will be the Lark’s second project with the Public Theater; they previously partnered on David Henry Hwang’s YELLOW FACE. Public Theater Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis, says “The Lark has been a wonderful, nurturing and creative partner, providing space, resources, insight and community. They are a rare and marvelous company, deserving of support and recognition.”
This month the Lark also heads across the country, as their partnership with Playwrights Foundation continues. Four Lark writers – Nastaran Ahmadi, Rachel Axler, Marcus Gardley, and Jason Grote - will each be in residence for a week and participate in the Bay Area Playwrights Festival in San Francisco.
In addition to these partnerships, the Lark also continues to work with Center Theatre Group, Harlem Arts Alliance, Hip-Hop Theater Festival, Indo-American Arts Council, Japan Society, Magic Theater in San Francisco, and Second Generation, among others.
THE LARK PARTNERS WITH THE PUBLIC THEATER ON NEW DAVID HENRY HWANG PLAY, SOON TO PREMIERE AT CENTER THEATRE GROUP
Hwang and others head to Lark for development.
NEW YORK, NY – This winter and spring, the Lark Play Development Center presents Thursdays at the Lark, devoted to writers such as David Henry Hwang and emerging playwright, Enrique Urueta. Both will have public readings of new work presented at the Lark Studio in midtown. Hwang’s YELLOW FACE will be read November 30 and Urueta’s DANGER OF BLEEDING BROWN will take place on December 7.
While it has always been the Lark’s mission to develop new plays, these next two in particular illustrate how the process remains a necessity to playwrights at all stages of their careers. Hwang (M. BUTTERFLY, FLOWER DRUM SONG) is taking advantage of his reading in preparation for the upcoming premiere of YELLOW FACE at Center Theatre Group in May of 2007, as well a production at The Public Theater. Meanwhile, Urueta (M.F.A. Playwriting, Brown University) represents perhaps the essence of the Lark’s development program. He submitted his play through Lark’s open submission process, his talent was noticed and a window of opportunity to develop his craft was created.
For many emerging playwrights, the Lark represents their first taste of recognition for their craft, while more established playwrights think of it as a place they can always turn to. Hwang says of developing at the Lark, “ For many playwrights such as myself, the Lark has become the best
place in America to work on our new plays - a smart creative community devoted to helping each play grow into the work it wants to be . ”
The process behind Thursdays at the Lark involves playwrights engaging in intensive work with actors and a director to focus on the text of their play, followed by a public staged reading. Up first is Hwang’s YELLOW FACE, a biting and funny new work about race and identity in America. In December is DANGER OF BLEEDING BROWN by Enrique Urueta, about race and relationships between a student and his professor. And in 2007, Thursdays at the Lark will continue with BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO by Rajiv Joseph (HUCK & HOLDEN), a new untitled play by Tanya Barfield (BLUE DOOR, a co-commission between Lark and Center Theatre Group) and SPINOZA by Colin Greer. All readings are free, open to the public, take place at the Lark Studio, 939 Eighth Avenue (bet 55 th – 56 th Streets) and start at 7pm..
LARK PLAYWRIGHTS FIND THEIR WAY TO THE STAGE
Taking “R & D” seriously, the Lark is helping playwrights find productions for their work
NEW YORK, NY – What do New York City playwrights Tanya Barfield, Theresa Rebeck and Sarah Ruhl have in common? Well, for one thing, each of them has had a new play in recent production–plays that were originally developed at the Lark Play Development Center, in the Playwrights’ Workshop led by Arthur Kopit. Barfield’s BLUE DOOR ran September 28 th through October 29 th at Playwrights Horizons; Rebeck’s MAURITIUS ran at the Huntington from October 6 th to November 12 th (THE WATER’S EDGE, which played at Second Stage this past summer, and THE SCENE, which will play there this December, were also developed at the Lark); and Ruhl’s THE CLEAN HOUSE runs at Lincoln Center from October 5 th to January 28 th.
In fact, 45 plays that were developed at the Lark Play Development Center moved onto a phenomenal 56 stages at other theaters this past year. This is good news for this “think-tank” organization that does not itself produce the plays it develops. Rather, the company is dedicated to providing a safe environment and resources for playwrights and their creative partners to explore new and ambitious ideas out of the limelight and away from commercial pressures. The Lark is delighted that its efforts are helping so many plays move forward to audiences locally, nationally and globally.
Lark playwrights are effusive in their praise for the company. Rebeck describes the Lark as “a place to go where smart people listen to my work and tell me to keep writing.” In regards to BLUE DOOR, Barfield says “the Lark was important because it provided a consistent opportunity to hear my work and receive feedback.”
“Sometimes what we do here at the Lark doesn’t feel all that ‘sexy’,” observed Lark Producing Director John Clinton Eisner. “We give writers whatever time and resources they need to support their most ambitious ideas, and that can take years. But it sure feels good when we are able to steward these plays towards continuing life in theaters around the country and the world.”
Some of the Lark’s recent successes include Brian Dykstra’s CLEAN ALTERNATIVES, which was produced last year at the 59 E. 59th Street Theater and was awarded a "Fringe First" at the Edinburgh Festival this summer, Adriana Sevan’s TAKING FLIGHT, which premiered at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, and Chantal Bilodeau’s PLEASURE AND PAIN, which is moving on to productions in San Francisco and Mexico City.
