{"id":4053,"date":"2020-05-08T13:01:51","date_gmt":"2020-05-08T20:01:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/play4keeps.scarabmedia.com\/?page_id=4053"},"modified":"2024-03-08T13:37:24","modified_gmt":"2024-03-08T21:37:24","slug":"season","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ashlandnewplays.org\/season\/","title":{"rendered":"Season"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\n\t\tOur 2024 Season\n\t<\/h1>\n\t

Featuring a Community Playwriting Retreat, a new take on Hamlet, and our annual Fall Festival.<\/em><\/h1>\n

Ashland New Plays Festival is expanding its offerings in 2024 with a new Community Playwriting Retreat, designed to give writers of any level a chance to develop their craft among fellow artists. The retreat will take place April 26-28 in beautiful downtown Ashland, Oregon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Join host playwright and teacher E. M. Lewis<\/a> for a long weekend of writing and community building. “We’ll cover everything,” Lewis shares, “from the fundamentals of playwriting to strategies for delving deep into your own experience to craft your stories and add magic to your plays. Come with an idea, or just an open mind – and leave with the first pages of your new play!”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lewis, ANPF’s former Fall Festival Host Playwright, is the Mellon Foundation Playwright in Residence at Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland, and her award winning plays include Song of Extinction, The Gun Show, and Magellanica.<\/i><\/p>\n

Beyond the classroom, retreat participants will also enjoy a playwrights’ tea and Q&A with renowned playwright Octavio Solis<\/a> (at Lovejoy’s Tea Room<\/a>), a wine reception and Q&A with another of our regional playwright luminaries, Lisa Loomer,<\/a> and will see Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s \u00a0Born with Teeth<\/i><\/a> and Macbeth<\/i><\/a> (tickets included in retreat admission). The retreat weekend experience is open to just 16 writers and priced at $195 general admission per person, or $175 for Rogue Valley residents. See our website<\/a> for tickets and more information.<\/p>\n

“Every year, I am approached by people eager to learn more about playwriting,” says ANPF Artistic Director Jackie Apodaca. “They ask how ANPF can help them develop their own writing skills. I’m gratified that our focus on playwrights has sparked local interest in the art, and looking forward to bringing E.M. Lewis to Ashland to shepherd the workshops. Major thanks to Oregon Shakespeare Festival for welcoming participants into two of their productions over the weekend, to further spark creative fires. The retreat playwrights are going to have a wonderful time creating and connecting in our beautiful town. ”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Next up in June, ANPF will partner with Play On Shakespeare<\/a> to present a developmental reading of UNIVERSES’ translation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet<\/i>. Play On Shakespeare commissions playwrights from around the world to tackle Shakespeare’s work through a contemporary lens. UNIVERSES<\/a>, Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s former Ensemble in Residence, is a New York-based company of multidisciplinary writers and performers who create their own unique brand of theater-based performances. This will be the second partnership between ANPF and Play On, which have previously joined forces to develop Octavio Solis’ translation of Edward III. <\/i>ANPF will present readings of Hamlet<\/i>, still in development, in early June at the Southern Oregon University Main Stage Theater.<\/p>\n

“We’re excited to work with ANPF again,”\u00a0 says Play On Shakespeare President Lue Douthit. “The process to create these translations incorporates all the elements of new play development, and we know that UNIVERSES will benefit from ANPF’s stewardship.”<\/p>\n

Finally, ANPFs centerpiece, the annual Fall Festival, will take place from October 16-20, also on SOU’s Main Stage. This year’s festival will feature the four winners of this international new plays competition. The reader process leading toward the selection of winners is currently underway-with more than 60 reader volunteers reading 350 scripts, ultimately selecting 12 finalists. Artistic Director Apodaca will then choose the four winning playwrights and invite them to town for the event.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

“ANPF exposes me to theatre as it is evolving,” <\/i>commented a 2023 Fall Festival attendee. “The plays are taking leaps in new directions through topics addressed, approaches to storytelling, or validations of social changes.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Named by Oregon Arts Watch<\/em> writer Brett Campbell as his “most memorable theatre experience of 2023<\/a>,” the festival is a longstanding Rogue Valley tradition, bringing new works to the stage through dramatic readings. Each year, the winning playwrights come to Ashland and work with world-class directors and actors to develop their scripts and share them with the community in evening and matinee readings, followed by audience talkbacks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Another 2023 audience member summed up the company’s work this way, “ANPF is consistently moving theatre forward.”<\/p>\n

\n\t\tPast Events\n\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\"Jackie\n\t

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\t

Tune in!\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>ANPF Artistic Director Jackie Apodaca talks about the 2023 Fall Festival on JPR’s The Jefferson Exchange: Ashland New Plays Festival features a play about here: Ashland<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tListen Here\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\"ANPF\n\t\t\t\t\"Lyons\n\t\t\t\t\"Ashland\n\t\t\t\t\"A\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLearn More About the Play\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLearn More About the Play\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLearn More Abouth the Play\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\"ANPF\n\t\t\t\t\"Jackie\n\t

When: Tuesday, September 27, at 6:30 pm<\/strong><\/p>\n

Where: Oregon Cabaret Theatre, 241 Hargadine St, Ashland<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tickets: $10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Note: Masks are required. We can provide you with one if you do not have it at the door.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tInside ANPF: A conversation with ANPF Artistic Director Jackie Apodaca\n\t<\/h2>\n\tJoin us on Tuesday, September 27,\u00a0at the nationally recognized and celebrated Oregon Cabaret Theatre for an in-depth conversation with ANPF Artistic Director Jackie Apodaca, interviewed by John Rose.\n

Jackie took over the helm during the unprecedented global pandemic and kept the focus on creating new work, nourishing both the creative process and the writers to create it. She was able to pivot productions to be online, thereby keeping our regular audience engaged and reaching new fans who hadn’t had access to the Fall Festival before.<\/p>\nJackie will share her thoughts about Ashland New Plays Festival: the history, the luminaries who have had work produced here, and what her vision is for the future. There will be an overview of the upcoming Fall Festival and the opportunity for you to ask questions about the curation of a season, what it takes to build a play, and where works can go from here.\nInside ANPF<\/a> is a community engagement opportunity for fans, friends, members, readers and donors to connect more deeply with the art we collectively create. It is a forum for hearing about big ideas from inspiring artists. We look forward to welcoming you into the ever-evolving dialogue.\nThe doors will open at 6:15 for seating; the talk will begin at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $10.\n\t\t\t\t\"New\n\t

We launched our 30th anniversary season with the return of the New Voices Emerging Playwrights Retreat June 2-5. Hailing from Ashland, Portland, Rainier, and Banks, this year’s retreat cohort features Oregon playwrights Mikki Gillette<\/strong>, Lindsay Partain<\/strong>, Lorenz Qatava<\/strong>, Leslie Slape<\/strong>, and Ken Yoshikawa<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLearn More About the 2022 Cohort!\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\"Ashland\n\t

Emerging playwrights Kathryn de la Rosa<\/a>, Ty Greenwood<\/a>, Heesun Hwang<\/a>, Jasmine Sharma<\/a>, and Carlos-Zenen Trujillo<\/a> are the inaugural cohort of ANPF’s New Voices Retreat 2021. The virtual retreat, running August 1-7, will allow the artists to fully engage with the writing process. They are paired with established theatre professionals as mentors who will assist with the development of a script in progress, and special guest artists will meet with them to share their experiences and insight.<\/p>\n

Mentors for the week include: comedy writer and playwright Sarah Cho; playwright and TV writer Inda Craig-Galv\u00e1n; theatre director, adapter, and activist Lavina Jadhwani;\u00a0Senior Cultural Strategist and Dramaturg for Play On Shakespeare\u00a0Amrita Ramanan; and, Artist Repertory Theatre’s Director of New Play Development and Dramaturgy Luan Schooler.<\/p>\n

The guest artists include:\u00a0Octavio Solis, nationally renowned playwright and ANPF associate artist; Oregon Shakespeare Festival Literary Manager Paul Adolphsen; Dana Lynn Formby, playwright and faculty member at Chicago Dramatists; actor, director, and cofounder of UNIVERSES Steven Sapp; and ANPF Host Playwright Beth Kander, a Chicago-based playwright and author.<\/p>\n

The playwrights also receive a $500 stipend and will return to ANPF for a live virtual conversation during the Fall Festival. The retreat is funded in part by a grant from the Kinsman Foundation.<\/p>\n

“These young playwrights are passionate, generous, and original artists poised to make big waves in the future of theatre,” says ANPF Artistic Director Jackie Apodaca. “We are thrilled to be able to support them as they develop new works for the stage.”<\/p>\n

Click below to read each playwright’s Q&A playwright profile to learn more about them and their work.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"De\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"Greenwood\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"Hwang\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"Sharma\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"Trujillo\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\"New\n\t\t\t\t\"Berth\n\tBerth Breach\/Breech Birth<\/i><\/b>
\nBy Inda Craig-Galv\u00e1n
\nDirected by Kyle Haden
\nLead sponsor: Donna Ritchie
\nFeaturing:\u00a0Christiana Clark, Desean K. Terry, Shaun Heard, Josie Seid, and Samantha Wynette Miller\n

During a house call for a pregnant mare, a veterinarian discovers an entire ship filled with\u00a0enslaved people, inside the horse’s uterus. And one enslaved man sees her, too. Is she\u00a0imagining it all? Can she get them out? And if she can, what happens to them then? What has\u00a0happened to any of us? This play explores the world of a Black farming community in America\u00a0and examines how cycles of birth, life, and death look much different to those of the African\u00a0Diaspora.<\/p>\n

Berth Breach\/Breech Birth was performed on Saturday, April 24, and Sunday, April 25, 2021.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLearn more about the play\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRead Q&A with the playwright\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t