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Play Synopses
SWEET GINGER, HOT AND BLUE, by P.H. Lin (New York, NY USA).
Directed by Alison Daigle.
Ginger Chan wants to be an artist. Her immigrant father insists she become a doctor. Can the family survive, or will the combustible relationship between daughter and father destroy it? Complicating things are a 95-year-old Jewish woman, a female Buddha, and the apparition-spirits of Ginger's mother and brother.
EMPTY FRIDGE, CARROTS, AND TOMATOES , by Naranjargal Khashkhuu (Ulaanbaatar, MONGOLIA). Directed by Lydia Milman.
The meager contents of a refrigerator become the catalyst for a family conflict and a heated discussion on the true nature of love and marriage in Mongolian society.
EVERYBODY ELSE (IS FUCKING PERFECT) by Karen Jeynes (Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA). Directed by Hollis Rabin.
Life is almost perfect in the suburban home of newlyweds Gavin and Cathy---a stable happy home and a good husband who is all she ever dreamed of. Enter Cathy's sister Traci, fresh from yet another disastrous relationship in London. Sparks fly in this wacky middle-class South African comedy---especially when Traci begins an affair with toyboy Jared.
EVEN THE DIRT BLEEDS DOWN HERE, by Carolyn Nur Wistrand (Flint, MI USA).
Directed by Jemma Alix Levy.
This play is a folkloric drama of the Deep South that embraces the relationship between magic and everyday life, the hierarchy of skin tone, and the unity of themes in African-American life over the 20th century. The characters appear in 1904 and 1974 linked by fate, blood, and conjure.
HEADS , by EM Lewis (Santa Monica, CA USA). Directed by Sydney Chatman.
A British Embassy worker, an American engineer, a network journalist and a freelance photographer are held captive in Iraq. As death draws close, each hostage must decide what he'll do to survive.
ANOTHER PIECE OF CAKE , by Madelyn Sergel (Gurnee, IL USA). Directed by Jennifer M. Hawk.
Four old women telling the truth.
BOSWELL'S DREAMS , by Marie Kohler (Milwaukee, WI USA). Directed by Jenniffer J. Thusing.
A comic-drama about the power of friendship, authenticity, and the written word, this play is grounded in the relationship between the 18th-century writers James Boswell and Samuel Johnson---but also leaps forward in time to the discovery of Boswell's personal journals by a female American graduate student in the 1950s.
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PUSH , by Kristen Lazarian (Sherman Oaks, CA USA). Directed by Geoffrey Carlson.
PUSH is the story of Brooke Gatwick, a vibrant Los Angeles art dealer with everything going for her. She has a loving husband, a solid group of friends, and a thriving career with money to burn. She also has deep insecurities about love and committment---and she's not the only one. Brooke's husband, Owen, is also in doubt of his wife's fidelity. But some tests are meant for failure, as Brooke and Owen soon discover. When love becomes a game for this couple, it's a "push" that leaves everyone devastated and the fate of one marriage hanging in the balance.
THEIR WINGS WERE BLUE , by Carmen Betancourt (Queens Village, NY USA).
Directed by Mikalina Araceli Rabinsky.
Three characters escape from the Picasso painting The Tragedy. The museum curator who watches over the painting falls in love with one of them and gives chase.
BIRTH, by Karen Brody (Accord, NY USA) Directed by Katie Jones.
This documentary play, based on interviews the playwright conducted with 118 women, is about modern childbirth in America.
INCOMING , by Kathy Anderson (Audubon, NJ USA) Directed by Matthew Singletary.
A lesbian couple is having a baby in an unusual way, involving an inverse gravity board, a game of Red Rover, and an ex-lover trapped in a hospital bed.
THE NUCLEAR SECRET, by Lucia Verona (BUCHAREST, ROMANIA).
Directed by Gregory Gerhard.
This play presents the "huis clos", the confidential moment of the face-to-face discussion between the acting President of a country and the new President-elect. The acting President has to tell his successor the most important state secrets.
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B4, by Kathy Hsieh (Seattle, WA USA). Directed by Kimberly Senior.
Three couples. Three time periods. One NYC apartment. Japanese-American couple Grace and Jimmy are re-starting their lives after being interned in WWII. Walter Weissman and his wife Rachel struggle to break the blacklist in the 1950s. Christina desperately searches for her husband after he leaves for the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
MANHATTAN CASANOVA by Jenny Lyn Bader (New York, NY USA). Directed by Linda Roberts.
Dr. Charlotte Kaplan is a skeptical psychiatrist, attuned to trends, noticing that all of her patients and friends are falling in love even more quickly than usual. Could one man be responsible? A comedy about compulsive seduction.
GRIEVING FOR GENEVIEVE by Kathleen Warnock (Astoria, NY USA). Directed by Thrisa Hodits.
The Peck sisters and their mother gather in Baltimore for Delilah's wedding. A stroke of bad luck changes their plans, and the sisters have to take charge of the mother who's always tried to run their lives.
DARLIN' , by Charlotte Samples (Torrance, CA USA). Directed by Renee Gorka.
The anticipated arrival of a government photographer to an "Okie" migrant worker camp in the midst of the Great Depression brings forth a little girl's dream of having her picture taken in her deceased mother's one good, store-bought dress.
WHY'D YA MAKE ME WEAR THAT, JOE? , by Vanda (New York, NY USA)
Directed by Scott Bishop.
Two women fall in love with each other while their men are off fighting in the South Pacific in World War II.
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Playwright Biographies:
LUCIA VERONA (Bucharest, ROMANIA; author of THE NUCLEAR SECRET)
Born in Arad, a town in the West of Romania, Lucia Verona studied at the Music Academy in Bucharest, wishing to become an opera singer, but as she soon realized that she would never be a second Callas, she moved on and started writing. She writes plays - mostly comedies, some of which were produced or awarded major prizes -, novels and short stories. Lucia is also a translator of drama from Hungarian, French and English. A member of the Romanian Writers' Union, she is currently president of the playwriting and theatrical criticism of the Bucharest Writers' Association (which is the Bucharest branch of the Writers' Union)
KAREN JEYNES (Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA; author of EVERYBODY ELSE IS FUCKING PERFECT) is a 25-year-old writer, director, producer and stage manager with an unfortunate tendency towards comedy. She studied English and Drama at University of Cape Town. Her plays include "Laying Blame", "sky too big", "Backwards in High Heels" (co-authored with the cast), "Don't Mention Sex", "Kiss Kiss" and the multi award-winning "Everybody Else (is Fucking Perfect)". She has also directed "The Best Man", "Pillow Talk" and "Txt Me". Her adaptation of Thomas Rapakgadi's "The Purse is Mine" aired on South African Bush Radio in 2006, and she is busy writing a radio drama series for SAFM with Nkuli Sibeko, tentatively entitled "Office Hours". Her teenage novel "Jacques Attack" (also co-authored with Nkuli Sibeko) was published in 2004 as part of the Siyagruva Series for New Africa Books, and her new book, "Flipside" co-authored with Eeshaam September, is due for release this year.
NARANJARGAL KHASHKHUU (Ulaanbaatar, MONGOLIA; author of EMPTY FRIDGE, CARROTS, AND TOMATOES) Ms. Khashkhuu is profiled in The Best 100 Mongolian Women (1996); a chapter of "Who is Who?" in the Encyclopedia Mongolia and the Best 108 Mongolian Women (2004). She initiated the Mongolian Friends of Shakespeare program, and the Globe Art Centre in Mongolia, organizing Shakespeare Festivals and the International forum of women filmmakers The World with Women Eyes. Playwriting Awards include The Leon Prize for Best Play ( Love Hidden in the Heart). A Mongolian journalist, Ms. Khashkhuu set up the NGO Globe International, promoting and supporting media freedom; she speaks at International events on the Mongolian media situation; and is involved in training, advocacy and lobbying for media freedom. Ms. Khashkhuu has visited more than 30 countries. She teaches television theory and practice at Mongolian universities and colleges; has published a book on TV journalism; and has received 10 journalism awards.
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KRISTEN LAZARIAN (Sherman Oaks, CA USA; author of PUSH) is a Los Angeles-based playwright who has had her full-length and short plays at many venues in L.A., including the Geffen Playhouse, First Stage, East-West Players, Theatre Geo, the Road Theatre, Pacific Resident Theatre, 68 Cent Crew, and the Blank Theatre. Her works have also been staged across the United States, including New York City, and international productions in Holland, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada. Her play PUSH swept the 2006 Fritz Blitz Awards for New Plays, winning in every category including Outstanding Playwright. Her plays have been published by Smith & Kraus and the Laguna Review. In addition to writing plays, Ms. Lazarian is a published theater critic and poet. She has also written for television animation.
MARIE KOHLER (Milwaukee, WI USA; author of BOSWELL'S DREAMS) co-founded Milwaukee-based Renaissance Theatreworks in 1993 and currently serves as its Co-Artistic Director and Resident Playwright, having written three of the company's five original works. Her play COUNTING DAYS earned a nomination as the American Association of Theater Critic's "Best New Regional Play" in 1995 and was a finalist in the Charlotte Repertory Theater's Best New Plays Competition. Her play MIDNIGHT AND MOLL FLANDERS was named "Best New Play of 2000 by Milwaukee Magazine. BOSWELL'S DREAMS was also named "Best of the Year" by Milwaukee Magazine. Ms. Kohler was honored with the Milwaukee Arts Board 2005 "Artist of the Year" Award, and recently served as Professional Guest Playwright Respondent at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF). She holds a BA from Harvard University and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
KAREN BRODY (Accord, NY USA; author of BIRTH) is a playwright, journalist, and mother. Ms. Brody began her professional career with two years in the Peace Corps and went on to work in international development primarily with women's groups in Kenya, Guatemala and New York City. In the early 1990s, Brody's passion for storytelling kick-started her career as a journalist, writing on health and women's issues for Mothering Magazine and several other publications. After having delivered her two children at home with midwives in 1999 and 2001, Brody became a passionate advocate for pregnant mothers. She began interviewing mothers about their birth experiences and in 2005 wrote her first play, a documentary-style piece called BIRTH. By 2006, BIRTH has received scores of productions nationwide and is commercially successful primarily among birth professionals. Ms. Brody also founded Birth on Labor Day (BOLD) as a way to raise awareness about the global maternity care crisis.
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CAROLYN NUR WISTRAND (Flint, MI USA; author of EVEN THE DIRT BLEEDS DOWN HERE) Ms. Nur Wistrand's plays have been staged at the Nat Horne Theatre, Harold Clurman Theatre, Playwrights Preview Productions and Open Eye: New Stagings in New York City; The Bilingual Foundation for the Arts in Los Angeles; The Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia; The Phoenix Civic Plaza, and at numerous educational and community venues. She is a faculty member in the Department of Africana Studies, University of Michigan-Flint. Her plays are published by Africa World Press, One Act Play Depot, Contemporary Drama Service, and Carmel Publishers in Chandigarh, India. She is a member of ICWP, the Dramatists Guild, and BAFA International Organization for the Arts.
KATHLEEN WARNOCK (Astoria, NY USA; author of GRIEVING FOR GENEVIEVE) is a playwright from New York City's borough of Queens. Her full-length play ROCK THE LINE was produced by Emerging Artists Theatre (NYC) and published by United Stages. She received the Robert Chesley Award for Emerging Playwright in 2006. GRIEVING FOR GENEVIEVE was produced by En Avant Playwrights at the Midtown International Theater Festival (NYC) in 2005. Her other plays have been produced in New York City and regionally around the country, as well as international productions in London and Dublin. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild, Emerging Artists Theatre, TOSOS II Theatre, and En Avant Playwrights, as well as ICWP. By day, she proudly edits Frommer's Travel Guides.
KATHY HSIEH (Seattle, WA USA; author of B4) is an award-winning playwright, actor, and producer based in Seattle, Washington. Her scripts have received premier productions with SIS Productions, Northwest Asian American Theatre and Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre. As an actor, she has worked on workshop productions of new works with playwrights such as Chay Yew, Philip Kan Gotanda, Julia Cho, Alvin Eng, Jose Cruz Gonzalez, and others. She has also performed with the Tony Award-winning Seattle Repertory Theatre and Intiman, as well as ACT, Book-It, Empty Space, Group Theatre, Tacoma Actors Guild, Freehold, ReAct, Living Voices, and SIS Productions.
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CHARLOTTE SAMPLES (Torrance, CA USA; author of DARLIN') Charlotte began her playwriting career in the Advanced Playwrights' Workshop at South Coast Repertory Theatre in Costa Mesa, California under the tutelage of John Glore. She has won a number of playwriting awards, including First Prize in the 2002 William P and Arlene R Lewis Playwriting Competition; First Prize in the 2001 Sprenger-Lang Foundation New Play Competition; and she was a Finalist for the 1999 Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center National Playwrights' Conference. She was also the recipient of a 1998 grant to the Shenandoah International Playwrights' Retreat in Staunton, VA. By day, she does toy-brand copywriting for MGA Entertainment, Mattel Toys, Wham-O, and other toy companies, and she has contributed articles to The Los Angeles Times , Westways , and many other publications.
P.H. LIN (New York City, NY USA; author of SWEET GINGER, HOT AND BLUE) Ms. Lin has had her plays produced and/or workshopped in NYC by Women's Project and Productions; The Lark; Pulse Ensemble Theatre; Nomad Theatre Company; and Diverse City Theatre Co. Her work has also received productions and staged readings by various theatres in Washington, DC; Michigan; North Carolina; Ohio; Pennsylvania; and Virginia. She holds an MFA in Theater Arts from the Catholic University of America, and is also a Woodrow Wilson Fellow. In addition, she has received numerous individual artist awards from the State of Maryland and Montgomery County, Maryland. Ms. Lin is the winner of George Mason University's Mary Robert Rinehart Award as well as Dayton FutureFest National Playwriting Competition.
EM Lewis (Santa Monica, CA USA; author of HEADS) Ms. Lewis is a member of Moving Arts Theater Company, the Alliance of LA Playwrights, ICWP and the Dramatists Guild. Her plays have been read and produced all over the United States. Her newest play, HEADS, was read at Pacific Resident Theater and The Blank Theater, both in Los Angeles; and at the hotINK International Festival of New Plays at NYU. It is also the winner of Coe College's New Works For The Stage competition, and was a semi-finalist for the 2007 O'Neill Playwrights Conference.
VANDA (New York City, NY USA; author of WHY'D YA MAKE ME WEAR THAT, JOE? Vanda's play VILE AFFECTIONS played to sold-out audiences at the New York International Fringe Festival in 2006. WHY'D YA MAKE ME WEAR THAT, JOE is nominated for this year's Susan Smith Blackburn Award, and also won Honorable Mention in the Writer's Digest Playwriting Contest, as well as being a winner in the Ashland New Plays Series. WHY'D YA MAKE ME WEAR THAT, JOE is also a finalist or semi-finalist in a number of other playwriting contests, including the Reva Shiner Award, the Panowski Playwriting Award, Playlabs at The Playwrights' Center, the O'Neill Playwrights Conference, and the Cherry Lane Alternative Mentor Program. Vanda won an Edward Albee Fellowship for her play SCREAMING IN THE WILDERNESS. Vanda's one-act plays have been produced all over the world. She is a member of The Actors' Studio in New York City.
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MADELYN SERGEL (Gurnee, IL USA; author of ANOTHER PIECE OF CAKE) Madelyn Sergel is a playwright and freelance writer. Recent staged readings include THREE CUPS, directed by Gift Theatre ensemble member Alexandra Main, and ANOTHER PIECE OF CAKE, both seen at Citadel Theatre. Her play TALK received a staged reading at the Gurnee Theatre Company, directed by GTC Artistic Director and Shattered Globe ensemble member Doug McDade. A graduate of Syracuse University with a degree in theatre, Ms. Sergel acted professionally for many years with theatres throughout Chicagoland. A member of SAG/AFTRA, she also worked in commercials, industrials, and print.
CARMEN BETANCOURT (Queens Village, NY USA; author of THEIR WINGS WERE BLUE) Carmen draws inspiration for her plays from the nooks and crannies of New York City, where she has lived most of her life, as well as South America, land of her roots. She is a graduate of NYU and has attended various theater playwriting schools. Carmen enjoys gardening, traveling, doing volunteer work at literacy centers, and most of all, letting her imagination roam wild as she concocts her plots.
JENNY LYN BADER (New York City, NY USA; author of MANHATTAN CASANOVA) Recent productions of Ms. Bader's plays include MANHATTAN CASANOVA (Hudson Stage Company), NONE OF THE ABOVE (New Georges), and OUT OF MIND (NYU/Strasberg). Ms. Bader's plays have also been produced at Center Stage NY, Vital Theatre, HERE Arts Center, The Humana Festival of New American Plays at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, Florida's City Theatre, and many other theatres around the United States. Her plays and other writings have been published by Vintage Press, Smith & Kraus, Dramatists Play Service, Warner Books, and other publishers. She has received an Edith Oliver Award from the Eugene O'Neill Center and a "Best of the Fringe" selection at the New York International Fringe Festival, and a Lark Playwriting Fellowship, for which she was nominated by Wendy Wasserstein. Ms. Bader graduated from Harvard University, where she received the Whitehill Prize for humane letters and arts. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild, Writers Guild- East, and the Authors Guild.
KATHY ANDERSON (Audubon, NJ USA; author of INCOMING) Kathy has been a writer of plays, essays, and short stories for more than three decades. Her plays have been produced at Brooklyn Arts Exchange, Philadelphia Theatre Workshop, and the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia SPARK Festival, among other venues. Her writing has also been published in The Advocate and Antietam Review . She is a recipient of a New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowship (1999) and was a participant in the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference fiction workshop (2003).
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