We are thrilled to launch the hashtag #WPcommunity to create a gathering space for WP’s ever-expanding artistic community and to celebrate the work of woman+ artists and theatermakers everywhere. Spread the word and start sharing your content with us today…we want to see what you’re working on!
Click here to see what everyone is sharing on #WPcommunity!
WEEK 5: April 21 – April 23
QUEENS
The award-winning playwright Martyna Majok unveils her latest work for Pipeline Festival audiences.
By Martyna Majok
Directed by Tamilla Woodard
Produced by Rachel Karpf Reidy
Starring Sofiya Akilova, Paola Lázaro, Marjan Neshat, Amanda Quaid, Ana Reeder, Andrea Syglowski
Martyna Majok, author of WP’s recent hit IRONBOUND, continues her exploration of the people on the fringes of society through a fierce and funny new play about immigrant women seeking more than the American Dream. Don’t miss this chance to see this award-winning playwright’s newest work in its earliest stages! #QueensPlay
@WomensProject #PipelineFestival / #WPLab
(Producer) Rachel Sussman is a New York-based producer committed to nurturing diverse work through creative collaboration. She serves as the Director of Programming for The New York Musical Theatre Festival and is a co-founder of The Indigo Theatre Project as well as The MITTEN Lab, a new emerging artist residency in her native state of Michigan. Rachel has worked with such companies as Second Stage Theatre, 321 Theatrical Management, RKO Stage, Goodspeed Musicals’ Mercer Colony, Lincoln Center’s American Songbook, The Tony Awards, and CREATE-Ireland in Dublin, Ireland. Producing credits include: Talk to me about Shame (FringeNYC, Overall Excellence Award), Lemon Cake (133rd St. Arts Center), The Imaginary Menagerie (Joe’s Pub), and, most recently, The Woodsman (59E59 & New World Stages). She is currently developing a new musical with composer/lyricist Shaina Taub. Rachel is a trustee for The Awesome Foundation NYC and sits on Advisory Boards for The Musical Theatre Factory and Strangemen & Co. She is a graduate of the Commercial Theater Institute and a University Scholar alumna of NYU Tisch.
When Raba Zacharai suddenly passes away, his daughter Shiraz inherits the prominent Persian rug shop he built in New Haven after leaving Iran in 1979. After diving into a love affair with a dangerously beautiful customer and discovering her mother’s secret longing to return to her homeland after years in exile, Shiraz must negotiate the costly business of carpets, family, duty, and desire. #RugDealerPlay
@WomensProject #PipelineFestival / #WPLab
Teresa Avia Lim (Cydney Hansen) Theatre: NAATCO’S Awake and Sing and Macbeth Mobile Shakespeare Unit at the Public Theater, Peerless at Yale Rep, 4000 Miles at Long Wharf Theatre, Seminar at Philadelphia Theatre Co. Originated her roles in Water by the Spoonful at Hartford Stage, Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them at Humana Festival/ Actors theatre of Louisville and Concerning Strange Devices From the Distant West at Berkeley Rep. Also appeared in productions of Lorenzaccio, Pericles, Macbeth, and the Tempest at The Shakespeare Theatre of Washington DC. Television: “Blue Bloods”, “Limitless”, “Unforgettable”, “Law and Order: Criminal Intent”. Film: Dispatched. Training: Yale School of Drama: An Inaugural Recipient of Jerome L. Greene Scholarship.
@WomensProject #PipelineFestival / #WPLab
Damon Daunno (Jason) is an Actor and Musician from New Jersey. He received a B.F.A. in Drama from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Some acting credits include: Broadway: Kneehigh Theater Co.’s Brief Encounter. Off Broadway: Kneehigh Theater Co.’s Wild Bride (St.Ann’s Warehouse), Tristan and Yseult (St.Ann’s Warehouse). Regional: Oklahoma! (Bard), These Paper Bullets! (Geffen Playhouse), The Last Goodbye (Williamstown), Fly By Night (Dallas Theater Center), Jesus in India (Magic). Film & TV: “The Following” (Fox). He is also a composer and multi-intsrumentalist and has produced scores for short and feature length films. He is represented by Abrams Artist Agency and Authentic Management.
@WomensProject #PipelineFestival / #WPLab
(Director) Lee Sunday Evans is a director and choreographer. Credits Include: Wellesley Girl by Brendan Pelsue at Humana/Actors Theater of Louisville, a workshop production of Miller, Mississippi by Boo Killebrew at Alley All New, D Deb Debbie Deborah by Jerry Lieblich at Clubbed Thumb; A Beautiful Day in November on the Banks… by Kate Benson at New Georges/Women’s Project Theater (OBIE Award), The Play About My Dad by Boo Killebrew at 59E59 Theatres; God’s Ear by Jenny Schwartz at Juilliard; Family Play (1979 to Present) by CollaborationTown; and The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertolt Brecht with original music by Nicholas C. Williams. Additionally, her work has been presented/developed at Baryshnikov Arts Center, Sundance Institute Theater Program, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, CATCH, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and Robert Wilson’s Watermill Center. She is currently developing new projects with Andy Bragen, Kate Benson and Matthew Paul Olmos among others. As the resident director for CollaborationTown, she is currently developing a new musical as part of New Victory’s LabWorks, and working on a commission from LCT3. Upcoming: Macbeth at Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival.
When Raba Zacharai suddenly passes away, his daughter Shiraz inherits the prominent Persian rug shop he built in New Haven after leaving Iran in 1979. After diving into a love affair with a dangerously beautiful customer and discovering her mother’s secret longing to return to her homeland after years in exile, Shiraz must negotiate the costly business of carpets, family, duty, and desire. #RugDealerPlay
@WomensProject #PipelineFestival / #WPLab
(Director) Adrienne Campbell-Holt is the Founding Artistic Director of Colt Coeur, a Brooklyn-based theatre company. Upcoming: world premiere of Cal in Camo (co-pro Rattlestick & Colt Coeur), Dear Elizabeth (Dorset Theater Festival). Recent world premieres: Theresa Rebeck’s The Nest (Denver Theatre Company), One Child Born (Oberon at American Repertory Theater), How to Live on Earth by MJ Kaufman (Colt Coeur @ HERE, September 2015), Chiara Atik’s 52nd to Bowery (EST Marathon), Dry Land by Ruby Rae Spiegel (Colt Coeur @ HERE, NYC), Greg Moss’ REUNION (South Coast Rep), Everything is Ours by Nikole Beckwith (Colt Coeur @ HERE), Recall by Eliza Clark (Colt Coeur @ Wild Project), Fish Eye (Colt Coeur @ HERE). Other productions: Red starring Tim Daly (Dorset Theater Festival, VT), The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Yale), world premiere of Seven Minutes in Heaven by Steven Levenson (Emerging America Festival, Huntington Theatre Company and Colt Coeur @ HERE). Adrienne is a Time Warner/Women’s Project Lab 2014-2016 Fellow. She has developed work with La Jolla Playhouse, Roundabout Underground, Playwrights Horizons, Clubbed Thumb, New Georges, Playwrights’ Center and EST. She is also the director of #makeitfair. BA Barnard College, Columbia University.
@WomensProject #PipelineFestival / #WPLab
WEEK 1: March 24 – 26
CYGNUS
An inexplicable and life-altering event sends Cydney on a search for a divine solution to her earthly problems.
By Susan Soon He Stanton
Directed by Danya Taymor
Produced by Liz Olson
Starring Damon Daunno, Teresa Avia Lim, Kate Rigg
Cydney believes an angel rescued her from an ineffable trauma, and the truth may prove stranger than she imagines. In this mythic, hilarious, and poetic new play, Susan Soon He Stanton spins a dark fairy tale where a burnt feather may illuminate the possibility of a divine intervention. #CygnusPlay
@WomensProject #PipelineFestival / #WPLab
Go Behind the Scenes of the Pipeline Festival Photo Shoot with this slideshow:
@WomensProject #PipelineFestival / #WPLab
(Director) Sarah Krohn’s directing credits include Horse Girls by Jenny Rachel Weiner (the cell), The Pits by Joshua Harmon (Williamstown Theater Festival), You Remind Me of You by Matthew Capodicasa (Fordham/Primary Stages), The Next War by Kate Mulley (Columbia Playwriting); Parade (Yale Dramat), and Victor Frange Presents Gas, which she co-conceived with Dan O’Neil (Incubator Arts). Member of the 2014-16 Women’s Project Theater Lab, Lincoln Center Theater Director’s Lab and Soho Rep’s Writer/Director Lab; recipient of Williamstown Theater Festival’s Sagal Fellowship; co-facilitator of the New Georges Jam writer/director group. Graduate of Columbia University (BA) and Carnegie Mellon (MFA). www.sarahkrohn.com
@WomensProject #PipelineFestival / #WPLab
(Director) Lee Sunday Evans is a director and choreographer. Credits Include: Wellesley Girl by Brendan Pelsue at Humana/Actors Theater of Louisville, a workshop production of Miller, Mississippi by Boo Killebrew at Alley All New, D Deb Debbie Deborah by Jerry Lieblich at Clubbed Thumb; A Beautiful Day in November on the Banks… by Kate Benson at New Georges/Women’s Project Theater (OBIE Award), The Play About My Dad by Boo Killebrew at 59E59 Theatres; God’s Ear by Jenny Schwartz at Juilliard; Family Play (1979 to Present) by CollaborationTown; and The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertolt Brecht with original music by Nicholas C. Williams. Additionally, her work has been presented/developed at Baryshnikov Arts Center, Sundance Institute Theater Program, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, CATCH, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and Robert Wilson’s Watermill Center. She is currently developing new projects with Andy Bragen, Kate Benson and Matthew Paul Olmos among others. As the resident director for CollaborationTown, she is currently developing a new musical as part of New Victory’s LabWorks, and working on a commission from LCT3. Upcoming: Macbeth at Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival.
@WomensProject #PipelineFestival / #WPLab
(Playwright) Susan Soon He Stanton’s plays include Takarazuka!!!, Today Is My Birthday, SEEK, The Things Are Against Us, Cygnus, The Underneath, and more. Her plays have been produced or developed at Clubbed Thumb, East West Players, Playwrights Horizons, New York Theater Workshop, Kennedy Center, The Flea, Washington Ensemble Theater, Joe’s Pub, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and others.
She is a two-time Sundance Institute Fellowship/Residency recipient. Writing groups and residencies include Public Theater’s Emerging Writers Group, Playwrights Center Corewriter, SoHo Rep Writer-Director Lab, Lark Van Lier Fellowship, Hedgebrook, and MaYi Playwrights Lab. Other awards include Southern Rep’s Ruby Prize Runner-up, Susan Glaspell Prize Finalist, Kilroy’s List, a Susan Smith Blackburn nomination, and a NET Partnership Grant with Satori Group. She is a writing consultant for Disney Creative Entertainment. She received a Feature Film Development Grant from the Sloan Foundation. Films include Dress, Dispatched, Good House, and Same Will. BFA: NYU Tisch, MFA: Yale School of Drama.
@WomensProject #PipelineFestival / #WPLab
(Playwright) Riti Sachdeva is a theatre maker, dancer, and cultural worker. She has developed work with the Public Theater, The Civilians R&D Group, PlayWrights Center, National New Play Network, University of Hawaii Asian Theatre Program, American Theater Company, Working Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Works, and Lincoln Center Director’s Lab. Her play Parts of Parts & Stitches received The Kennedy Center’s Quest for Peace award. She is a recipient of a TCG On the Road grant and recently traveled to Kerala, India to start adapting elements of Kathakali to her stage play Other Farmers’ Fields. Acting highlights include work with DisneyChannel, HBO, various awesome indie films, National Hispanic Cultural Center, MTWorks, Honest Aaccomplice, EarSay, Hybrid, and performances of her original works with MidNites cHiLd Productions in LA, Toronto, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and NYC. Riti continues to write, act, and study her beloved flamenco.
When Raba Zacharai suddenly passes away, his daughter Shiraz inherits the prominent Persian rug shop he built in New Haven after leaving Iran in 1979. After diving into a love affair with a dangerously beautiful customer and discovering her mother’s secret longing to return to her homeland after years in exile, Shiraz must negotiate the costly business of carpets, family, duty, and desire. #RugDealerPlay
@WomensProject #PipelineFestival / #WPLab
“Variety excites me. I like seeing atypical stories told from various perspectives.” – Monet Hurst-Mendoza
(Playwright) Monet Hurst-Mendoza is a New York-based playwright from Los Angeles, CA. Her plays have been developed with Rising Circle Theater Collective, |the claque|, Lookingglass Theatre, The Oneness Project, The Other Mirror, The Kupferberg Center, #serials@The Flea, Amios (Shotz!), and Playwright’s Playground at Classical Theatre of Harlem. She is the current Playwright in Residence for The Other Mirror, and a member of the 2016 inaugural Mitten Lab in Detroit, |the claque|’s Octo-Group, the 2017 Emerging Writers Group at The Public Theater, and the 2014-2016 Women’s Project Lab Time Warner Foundation Fellow. Proud member: Rising Circle Theater Collective, and |the claque|. B.A.: Marymount Manhattan College.
@WomensProject #PipelineFestival / #WPLab
The BIG + EXCITING NEWS is OUT! Women’s Project Theater will Present its 2015-16 Season in a New Home on Broadway & 76th Street
By JONATHAN WOLFE AUGUST 24, 2015 5:04 PM
The Women’s Project Theater will begin its coming season in a new home, at the McGinn/Cazale Theater on Broadway, at 76th Street. This Off Broadway company dedicated to promoting female artists announced its three-year residency at the theater along with its 2015-16 season, which includes two New York premieres.
“Dear Elizabeth,” written by Sarah Ruhl and directed by Kate Whoriskey, is based on the correspondence between the poets Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell, and will be the Women’s Project Theater’s inaugural production at the McGinn/Cazale Theater. The play, a New York premiere, will be performed with a rotating cast and is scheduled to open Oct. 26.
“Ironbound,” another New York premiere, is a tragedy about a Polish maid living in the United States. Written by Martyna Majok and directed by Daniella Topol, the play, a co-production with the Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, will open at Rattlestick on March 2.
The Women’s Project Theater also announced on Monday that its season will be capped by the new WP Pipeline Festival, which will feature five new plays by participants in the company’s artist residency program. It will run from March 24 to April 23.
The three-year residency at the McGinn/Cazale Theater will be the company’s longest stretch at one home since it sold the Julia Miles Theater in 2011, said Lisa McNulty, the company’s artistic director. “It’s so powerful that there is a marquee,” Ms. McNulty said, for a company that is dedicated to women. She added, “That feels very powerful and appropriate to the moment we’re in.”
The lack of diversity and women’s participation in New York City theater recently led to an outcry on the Internet after the Manhattan Theater Club’s roster for its 2015-16 season revealed that the majority of its plays were written by white men.
A version of this article appears in print on 08/25/2015, on page C3 of the NewYork edition with the headline: Women’s Project’s New Season and Home.
For more information on WP’s New Season click here.
