OJAI PLAYWRIGHTS CONFERENCE Announces 2010 Season Of New Works 8/3-15

THE OJAI PLAYWRIGHTS CONFERENCE (OPC) is thrilled to announce its 2010 Season - 13th Annual program of playwrights, readings and special performances featuring some of the most talented, established and up-and-coming playwrights writing today. This year's Conference includes new works by Jon Robin Baitz, Kate Fodor, Mona Mansour, Len Jenkin, Trieu Tran, Bess Wohl, Thomas Higgins, Leslie Carrara-Rudolph, and Ben Rosenthal. There are two special performance events called "Intersections"-- the first will feature a brand new work by "Brothers & Sisters" creator Jon Robin Baitz called Other Desert Cities; the second will feature some of the best solo performers ever assembled for a one-of-a-kind evening in Ojai. OPC is also planning its second annual "Family Theatre Day," a full day of activities devoted to families and younger audiences with two special events especially designed for them. The Conference will begin on Tuesday, August 3 and run through Sunday, August 15 at various venues in Ojai. The public presentations - the OPC "Summer New Works Festival" - will take place August 10 through August 15. See page eight for festival schedule and ticket info.

THE OJAI PLAYWRIGHTS CONFERENCE is an annual event fully centered around playwrights and the development of their new plays. The OPC was founded on the belief that gathering a community of world-class theatre artists together in a place of extraordinary beauty can lead to a collaborative process that enables these artists to qualitatively rework and refine their dramatic vision.
Every summer, theatre professionals and enthusiastic audiences from Southern California converge in the magical Ojai Valley to participate in the development of new plays for the American theatre. Under the direction of Artistic Director/Producer Robert Egan, carefully selected playwrights from all over the world join together for an intensive two-week, in-residence workshop that enriches the cultural life of Southern California and beyond. This process culminates in OPC's popular public performance series - now known as the OPC Summer New Works Festival.

In addition to the presentation of new play workshops, prominent artists from the theatre community appear in engaging public performances for an exchange of ideas on a range of cultural and artistic subjects in the "Intersection Series." The Ojai Playwrights Conference is also committed to nurturing the writing talents of Southern California youth. Through its Youth Workshop, junior high and high school students participate in a mentoring program with visiting theatre professionals and create their own dramatic works, which are performed during the Festival.

Many plays developed at OPC have gone on to prominent productions at theatres throughout the United States and the world, from the Mark Taper Forum, Goodman Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Broadway, London's West End and theaters in Asia and Africa.

Playwrights developed at OPC include: Luis Alfaro, Jon Robin Baitz, Doris Baizley, Neena Beber, Stephen Belber, Lee Blessing, Keith Bunin, Bill Cain, Leslie Carrara-Rudolph, Julia Cho, Rick Cleveland, Steve Connell, Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig, Heather Dundas, Christopher Durang, Jessica Goldberg, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Danai Gurira, Cody Henderson, Danny Hoch, Linda Hunt, David Ives, Elroyce Jones, Julia Jordan, Arthur Kopit, Sherry Kramer, Mary Lathrop, Deborah Zoe Laufer, John Rafter Lee, David Lindsay-Abaire, John Quincy Long, Lisa Loomer, Joe Loya, Lynn Manning, Rogelio Martinez, Susan Miller, T.D. Mitchell, Peter Morris, Kira Obolensky, Peter Parnell, Adam Rapp, Ben Rosenthal, Ari Roth, Nikkole Salter, Sekuo (tha Misfit), Bernardo Solano, Kelly Stuart, Lloyd Suh, Annie Weisman, David Wiener, and Charlayne Woodard.

OPC 2010: THE PLAYS AND PLAYWRIGHTS

Rx by Kate Fodor

Once a promising poet, Meena now edits American Cattle & Swine Magazine. She weeps every day and really wants to stop feeling so awful. Once an idealistic physician hoping to help the needy, Dr. Phil now runs clinical trials for Schmidt Pharma and really wants to help Meena. And Schmidt Pharma really wants a long-term revenue stream. They all pin their hopes on Thriveon®, an experimental drug for the "new disease," Workplace Depression. It should be a win-win-win, right? A sharp comedy about big dreams, big love and Big Pharma.

Kate Fodor's plays have been produced by Playwrights Horizons, Epic Theatre Ensemble, San Jose Rep, Actors Express, London's Courtyard Theatre, and Chicago's TimeLine Theatre among others. She is a recipient of the Kennedy Center's Roger L. Stevens Award, the National Theatre Conference's Stavis Award, a Joseph Jefferson Citation, an After Dark Award, and was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Kate's work has been developed at the Steppenwolf Theatre, Center Theatre Group, Hartford Stage, and Chautauqua Theatre Company.

WILD ANIMALS YOU SHOULD KNOW by Thomas Higgins

"I mean, don't you ever want to do something just because you can?" Great grades in school, a letter in soccer, a popular Boy Scout -- everything is so easy for Matthew. Handsome, clever, charming -- he's bored and restless. His father has lost his job and he suspects his scoutmaster is gay. Matthew wants to destroy someone. Sexual tensions churn in this wickedly funny coming of age story about the very young and the very middle aged -- who discover the little beast in us all.

Thomas Higgins is the author of many plays, including The Blasphemy Tree (Naked Angels Lab), The Family Dungeon (Columbia Arts Initiative), The Home Front (Columbia Arts Initiative), The Wild Life (Source Theatre) and The Dying Breed (Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Winner). His full-length plays, This Modern House, The Elephant Party and The Homemaker have been nominated for the L. Arnold Weissberger Award at the Williamstown and the Cherry Lane Mentor project. He graduated from Northwestern University and received his MFA in Playwriting from Columbia University on the Dean's Fellowship.

PSALM 151: HEAVEN HAVE MERCY by Len Jenkin

A new American psalm in nine scenes. A couple is stressed to the breaking point by their autistic son, money troubles, and suburban life. The American recession has hit them hard. An old woman at the end of her life tries to make sense of the world and her place in it as wife, mother and lover. Ordinary human beings are shadowed by fate and circumstance -- yet somehow do their best to give some kind of love, have some kind of life in the spirit, and act with some nobility in the midst of a country's meltdown.

Len Jenkin is one of America's most distinguished playwrights having received three OBIE awards, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Rockefeller Foundation Award, an Emmy nomination, and four National Endowment Fellowships. Plays include Port Twilight: A History of Science, Margo Veil, Dark Ride, Pilgrims of the Night, Careless Love, My Uncle Sam, Limbo Tales, and Like I Say. Adaptations include Voltaire's Candide (Guthrie Theater), Aristophanes' The Birds (Yale Rep), and Kafka's A Country Doctor (CSC, NY). His plays have been seen in the United States, England, France, Denmark, Germany and Japan.

URGE FOR GOING by Mona Mansour

Seventeen-year-old Jamila studies for the exam that could get her to college, away from Lebanon, and out of the Palestinian refugee camp that is home. Her father, Adham, has nurtured his daughter's dreams. After all, he made it to London in 1967 to lecture on Wordsworth. Does he now have the courage to support his daughter's fight for a future he has abandoned? An intimate family portrait fused with fierce global politics.
Mona Mansour's The Hour of Feeling was in the Public's EWG Spotlight Series, and its sequel, Urge for Going, in the Public's New Work Now Series. A Core Writer at the Playwrights Center in Minneapolis, she trained as an actor at UCSD and SMU. She began writing with L.A.'s Groundlings Theater. Girl Scouts of America (written with Andrea Berloff) read at NYTW and produced in NYC Fringe. Television writing includes "Dead Like Me" (Showtime) and "Queens Supreme" (CBS). Monsour curated Nuff Said (with Lisa Kron) -- a play for gay, lesbian, and transgender youth at Dance Theater Workshop in NYC.

UNCLE HO to Uncle Sam by Trieu Tran

A Vietnamese boy journeys with his mother -- from the fall of Saigon, to a Viet Cong re-education camp in the jungle, to a refugee camp in Thailand, and, finally, to America. But in the New World this boy faces a turbulent passage to manhood shaped by his estranged father and by his own estrangement in the land of snow, hip-hop, urban gangs and clashing cultures. A riveting immigrant drama of becoming American while being haunted by the ghosts of Vietnam.

Trieu Tran appeared as an actor for OPC in T.D. Mitchell's Beyond The 17th Parallel. He has appeared in numerous theatrical productions through the years. Favorite roles include Alan Strang in Equus and Richard the Third. He won the Dean Goodman Award for his acting in The Legacy Code. On TV he has been seen in Malcolm in the Middle, I'm in the Band, and Men, Women, and Dogs. Films: Tropic Thunder, Hancock, Barry Munday, Last Call, How High, The Chaos Factor.

BARCELONA by Bess Wohl

Late night in Barcelona. A drunken, careless American woman leaves her own bachelorette party with a tall, dark stranger -- an older Spanish man. She goes with him to what was -- his daughter's apartment. An intense, carefree one-night stand? Perhaps. But each has hidden reasons for being here. He must teach an American a lesson in consequences. She must learn to tell the truth. And both must let go of someone they love. A surprising and sexy "pas de deux" -- as the personal and political passionately intertwine.

Bess Wohl has been at OPC as an actress working with Bill Cain, Lee Blessing and Stephen Belber. Her plays have been developed or produced at the NYC Fringe Festival (Best Overall Production), the Vineyard Theater, the Pittsburgh Public, the Northlight Theater, TheaterWorks Festival, the Geffen Playhouse, and the Pioneer Theater. Upcoming productions include the world premiere of her play IN at the Pioneer Theater. Recent commissions include the book for a new musical about the adult entertainment industry by CTG in Los Angeles and The Civilians. Wohl is a MacDowell fellow.

WAKE UP YOUR WIERD by Leslie Carrara-Rudolph - FAMILY EVENT

Wake Up your Wierd is an interactive performance style workshop that uses puppets, storytelling, live music, improvisation, art, and movement to help the young and young-at-heart discover their own unique creative gifts. Sesame Street puppeteer Leslie Carrara-Rudolph highlights the power of the voice, the body and the imagination as the three main resources for "spreading joy" and "waking up your weird."

A multifaceted performer and puppeteer Leslie Carrara-Rudolph currently performs the fairy puppet "Abby Cadabby" on Sesame Street for which she was nominated for an Emmy. A graduate of San Francisco State University, Carrara-Rudolph designed her major in Child Development Through the Arts to combine her love for theater with her desire to help challenged kids discover and celebrate their unique gifts. She started puppeteering with the Jim Henson Company on Muppets Tonight and toured with their improv group, Puppet Up. For the Disney Company, she created a live show featuring her and her original characters that played at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood. Leslie is a proud cast member of "The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd". Her newest play, Entertaining A Thought, was developed in 2009 at the OPC.

OPC 2010: WRITERS IN RESIDENCE

Jon Robin Baitz is one of the most celebrated playwrights in contemporary American theater. His first play, Mizlansky/Zilinsky, originated at LA Theatre Works was ultimately produced by the Manhattan Theater Club. His second play, Film Society, premiered in Los Angeles and went on to London and New York. In 1990 he wrote and directed his first television script, Three Hotels, for American Playhouse (Humanitas Prize). He later reworked it for stage and it was produced throughout the world. Baitz has created many critically acclaimed plays focusing on family dynamics, including The Substance of Fire, adapted into a 1996 film, and A Fair Country that made him a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Baitz's television credits include The West Wing and Alias. He created the current TV series, Brothers & Sisters. At OPC he developed both Chinese Friends and The Paris Letter. Both went on to major productions in New York. He is on the faculty of the Graduate Division of the New School in New York. Baitz will be working on his newest play, "OTHER DESERT CITIES" which will have a special presentation in the 2010 Ojai Playwrights Conference.

Ben Rosenthal is one of the most promising young theatrical voices in the country. He has developed two plays at the Ojai Playwrights Conference: The Monkey Puzzle Tree directed by Hal Brooks, and The Bog Lacuna directed by Michael Garces. Rosenthal's play Safe debuted in the 2010 one-act play Marathon at New York's Ensemble Studio Theatre of which Ben is a lifetime member. It was also produced on EST's Main Stage. He is the recipient of a New Voices Fellowship in playwriting, was nominated for a PONY fellowship in 2008, and his play Welcome Back, Buddy Combs was published by Dramatists Play Service. Rosenthal did his undergraduate work at SUNY Purchase and received an MFA in Dramatic Writing at the New School for Social Research in 2000. At the 2010 Ojai Playwrights Conference Mr. Rosenthal will be working on his new play, Neptune Kelly.

OPC BEHIND THE SCENES: ABOUT THE PRINCIPALS

Robert Egan (Artistic Director/Producer) served as the Producing Artistic Director for twenty years at the Mark Taper Forum where he was Director of New Play Development and the Founder and Producing Artistic Director of its prestigious New Work Festival. He has produced, directed, and dramaturged over 300 new plays in the United States and Europe, and has served as Artistic Director/Producer of OPC since 2002.
VITO ZINGARELLI (Producing Director) has been working in North America for the past thirty years as a Stage Manager, Production Manager and Producing Director at theatres across the United States and Canada. Having returned to Whidbey Island most recently from NYU-Tisch School of the Arts, he has put together seasons and mounted over 150 productions of classical, contemporary and musical theatre during this time. He has been with OPC for three years.

CYNTHIA FRITTS STILLWELL (Coordinating Producer) is a producer, independent casting director, arts consultant and teacher based in NYC with ties to Atlanta, Savannah, and Los Angeles. For the past seven years, she has worked with the Ojai Playwrights Conference. She is currently a principal with Stillwell-Lester, a full service intellectual property development company based in NYC. This is her second season with OPC.

KIM MAXWELL (Youth Workshop Director) has appeared in numerous plays, commercials, TV shows and films. Expanding her passion towards producing, directing, writing and teaching, Kim co-founded and served Ojai's Theater 150 as one of its Artistic Directors for eleven years. She is a co-founder of the Ojai Playwrights Conference, and has been involved since its inception.
CATHERINE KIMMEL (Literary Manager) has served as Literary Manager for OPC for the past five years. Her responsibilities include acquisition of scripts, building relationships with artists, agents, and other theatrical entities. She has her own company, Contagionfilms,
where she develops scripts for film and television.

CHARLOTTE STOUDT (Resident Dramaturg) brings a background in film and TV work that includes Saved (TNT) and New Amsterdam (Fox) as well as several films in development. Theater projects include Lisa Kron's Well (Broadway, 2006) and Alladeen, which premiered at BAM in 2003 and toured worldwide. She writes regularly for the Los Angeles Times.

CHRISTOPHER BREYER (Resident Dramaturg) is a writer and consultant on script, story and concept development and performance for theatre, film and television as well as non-entertainment enterprises. His dramaturgy background includes positions as Literary Manager/Dramaturg for New York's The American Place and WPA Theatres, and a long association with L.A.'s Center Theatre Group.

OPC 2010: SUMMER NEW WORKS FESTIVAL - SCHEDULE & PRICES

Tuesday, August 10
7:30 PM, Matilija Auditorium, 703 El Paseo Rd., Downtown Ojai
Intersections #1: Special Performance Event
OTHER DESERT CITIES by Jon Robin Baitz
Premiere reading of this exciting new play by one of America's greatest living playwrights -- with special guest artists to be announced!
Ticket Price: $20

Thursday, August 12

7:30 PM, Matilija Auditorium, 703 El Paseo Rd., Downtown Ojai
Intersections #2: Special Performance Event
AN ALL-STAR EVENING OF SOLO PERFORMANCE
An ensemble of the top solo performers in the country will perform their best dramatic and comedic scenes. Meet the artists in a post-show discussion about theatrical creation and performance.
Tickets: $20

Friday, August 13
7:00 PM, Zalk Theatre at Besant Hill, 8585 Ojai Santa Paula Rd., Ojai
New Play Workshop #1: PSALM 151: HEAVEN HAVE MERCY by Len Jenkin
Tickets: $25

9:00 PM, Zalk Theatre at Besant Hill, 8585 Ojai Santa Paula Rd., Ojai
New Play Workshop #2: UNCLE HO AND Uncle Sam by Trieu Tran
Tickets: $25

Saturday, August 14
10:00 AM, Zalk Theatre at Besant Hill, 8585 Ojai Santa Paula Rd., Ojai
WAKE UP YOUR WIERD by Leslie Carrara-Rudolph - FAMILY DAY EVENT
Tickets: $20 Adults; $5 Children 17 & under

1:00 PM, Zalk Theatre at Besant Hill, 8585 Ojai Santa Paula Rd., Ojai
OPC YOUTH WORKSHOP PERFORMANCE - FAMILY DAY EVENT
Tickets: $20 Adults; $5 Children 17 & under

4:00 PM, Zalk Theatre at Besant Hill, 8585 Ojai Santa Paula Rd., Ojai
New Play Workshop #3: BARCELONA by Bess Wohl
Ticket Price: $25

8:00 PM, Zalk Theatre at Besant Hill, 8585 Ojai Santa Paula Rd., Ojai
New Play Workshop #4: URGE FOR GOING by Mona Mansour
Ticket Price: $25
Reception immediately following the evening performance.

Sunday, August 15
1:00 PM, Zalk Theatre at Besant Hill, 8585 Ojai Santa Paula Rd., Ojai
New Play Workshop #5 - Rx by Kate Fodor
Ticket Price: $25

4:00 PM, Zalk Theatre at Besant Hill, 8585 Ojai Santa Paula Rd., Ojai
New Play Workshop #6: WILD ANIMALS YOU SHOULD KNOW by Thomas Higgins
Ticket Price: $25

FOR TICKETS
An All Access Pass, that includes admission to all performances in the OPC Summer New Works Festival, is $190. Tickets are available by calling 805.640.0400 or visit www.ojaiplays.org.

FOR HOTELS and VISITOR INFORMATION
Contact the Ojai Visitors Bureau at www.ojaivistors.com or call 1-888-OJAINOW.