Our Voices

Our Voices V Featured Artist, Kelly DuMar

2011 Participating Playwright Artist Statement

Your Gullibility & Your Free Sample (Selected ENVIA! Episodes), by Kelly DuMar

Our Voices Festival V

March 26, 2011

Fine Arts Center, Black Box, Regis College

Artist Statement

The character of ENVIA!, and her entire show, Gifts for the Goddess of Illusion, from which these two monologues are drawn, was inspired by a voice in my head, answering my spontaneous question - what if there was an actor - a character - who was regularly cast in people's dreams. . . which became the first ENVIA! Episode: Your Dream of Me.

One thing that suprises me about ENVIA! is how clearly I hear her voice speaking to me - as if her thougts are fully formed, waiting for me to translate them to the page.

ENVIA! is a play which is built upon my strong belief (or faith) in the power of getting a DO-OVER!

If my play could change something, it would encourage people to be more confident in expressing their dreams and vulnerabilties.

One thing I've learned from writing this play is how much I enjoy working one-on-one with a single actor, as the director and playwright.

A block or resistance I have had to overcome in creating this play is my fear that one actor would be unable to memorize the entire script. Aimee Rose Ranger is currently working really hard to overcome my concern!

A wish I have for this script is to have it produced with audience-involved post-performance creative explorations using elements of psychodrama and playback theatre. I would also be interested in seeing it produced with many different actors playing ENVIA! in the 19 episodes.

Cast

Aimee Rose Ranger as ENVIA!

Directed by Kelly DuMar

Playwright Bio

Kelly DuMar is a Boston area playwright and member of the Dramatists Guild whose plays have been produced around the US & Toronto & published by Heuer, Brooklyn, & Smith & Kraus. Kelly’s full-length play,Weekend at the Dreaming Cloud, winner of the Susan McIntyre Play Festival, had a workshop production with Yellow Taxi in Nashua, NH, and was selected for New Plays at the Nora, Central Square Theatre, Cambridge, MA.  The Adventures of Rocky & Skye is published by Youth Plays. Most recently: her one-act romantic comedy, Amber & Air, will have a staged reading on April 7, 2011 as part of the Double XX Fest, Stone Soup Theatre, Seattle, and her one-woman show, Gifts for the Goddess of Illusion, will be performed at the ASGPP Annual Conference in Clearwater, Florida, April 2011.  Kelly is founder and co-producer of the Our Voices Festival of Boston area Women’s Plays, now in its sixth year. She is a certified psychodramatist, a Fellow in the ASGPP, a member of the Small Theatre Alliance of Boston and a Playback Theatre Artist. 

Our Voices V Featured Artist, Geralyn Horton

 

2011 Participating Playwright Artist Statement

Kiss The Twins For Me, (A 10-minute Play), by G.L. (Geralyn) Horton

Our Voices Festival V

March 26, 2011

Fine Arts Center, Black Box, Regis College 

Artist Statement

 

This play was inspired by: An item I read + my grandmother

 

One thing that surprises me about this play is: How judgmental audiences can be re: adult children's concern for parents

 

This play is built upon my strong belief (or faith) in: How little we know about even those we are close to.

 

One thing I have learned (about myself or my writing) from this play is: How hard it is to portray inner changes that are not verbalized: subtextual shifts.

 

A block or resistance I have had to overcome in creating this play or monologue was (is still?) my fear/belief/concern that: Nobody cares.

 

My wish for this play is that it will connect with readers, actors, audiences.

 

CAST

 

Directed by: Jerry Bisantz

Jerry Bisantz - Steve,

Phyllis  Rittner - Diane

Jay Newlon - Jeffrey
 

Our Voices V Featured Artist - Wendy Lement

2011 Our Voices Participating Artist Statment

Wedding Dreams by Wendy Lement

Our Voices Festival V

March 26, 2011

Fine Arts Center, Black Box, Regis College

Artist Statement

This play was inspired by my personal journey and coming to terms with choices that I’ve made.

One thing that surprised me about this play is that I started writing it as a one-woman piece.  I lost interest and put it down for several months. Then I started having dreams. Incorporating those dreams and characters from them into the play entirely reshaped the structure of the piece and made it a joy to write.

This play is built upon my belief that humor can help us put our lives into perspective.

If my play could change something it would help brides to stop stressing about their weddings and focus on the marriage they are about to enter.

One major resistance I had to overcome was my fear that a self-scripted piece wouldn’t be of interest to the general public.

My three wishes for this play are:

1. That the play is funny.
2. That the play strikes a cord with the audience.
3. That the dreams are woven into the text in a way that furthers the action.

Staged Reading Cast

Directed by: Wendy Lement

Susan Lombardi Verticelli - SHELLY

Shelly Bolman - DAN

Daniel Bolton - MICHAEL

Derek Nelson - RICHARD

PLAYWRIGHT BIO

Wendy Lement is co-founder and Artistic Director of Theatre Espresso, a theatre-in-education company that tours to schools, museums, and courthouses with interactive historical dramas that explore issues of human rights, social justice, and constitutional law. She is also a Professor and Chair of the Theatre Program at Regis College in Weston, MA, where she has directed over thirty productions, including: Dancing at Lughnasa, Importance of Being Earnest, The Good Woman of Setzuan and Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet), and Steel Magnolias, which won a Moss Hart Award. Her production of The House of Bernarda Alba won the 2000 New England Region’s American College Theatre Festival, sponsored by the Kennedy Center. She is co-author of And Justice for Some: Exploring American Justice through Drama and Theatre, published by Heinemann Press (2005). Wendy’s children’s book, Keri Tarr: Cat Detective, was published by Breakaway Books (2004). She has written numerous plays including, Woman with the Red Kerchief (selected for the 2010 New England Russian Theatre Festival), Salem’s Daughters, King George III vs. Ruth Blay, Remember Last Night, Dolphins: The Myth of Persephone, The Legend of the Christmas Rose, and Keri Tarr: Cat Detective (based on her children's book), which won the American Alliance for Theatre and Education’s 2002 Unpublished Playreading Project. Wendy holds a Ph.D. in Educational Theatre from New York University.

Our Voices, March 26, 2011, Regis College, Weston, MA

CELEBRATE SWAN DAY IN MASSACHUSETTS! Dear Kelly, Happy Support Women Artists Now Day to all of my friends in Massachusetts! I will be in San Francisco for SWAN Day this year, but I just wanted to let you about some great events happening in your area this weekend. I have listed 3 of them below, but there are over 170 SWAN Day events this year, so be sure to check our SWAN Day Calendar to see if there are any others near you. Thanks to all of you who have been so supportive for so many years.  Happy SWAN Day 2011! Martha Richards, Executive Director WomenArts NORTHAMPTON ACADEMY OF MUSIC - Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice Northampton Academy of Music Theatre is launching its new Women's Initiative on Saturday, March 26 at 8 p.m. with a SWAN Day production of Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice directed by Linda McInerney with original music by Paula Kimper. The original tale of Orpheus and Eurydice focuses on the great Greek musician Orpheus who was so overcome with grief by his wife's death that he journeyed to the Underworld to get her back. He was able to charm Hades and Persephone with his music, and they told him that he could lead Eurydice out of the Underworld on one condition - he had to walk in front of her and he could not look back until both of them were completely in the upper world. Unfortunately, Orpheus turned around as soon as he was on solid ground, and so Eurydice had to return to the Underworld forever. Sarah Ruhl, a playwright who won a MacArthur "genius" Fellowship in 2006 at age 32, tells this story from Eurydice's point of view.  It is a meditation on loss, but it is also full of warmth, humor, and Ruhl's unique theatrical sensibility. Location:  274 Main Street, Northampton, MA Tickets: $20 General; $18 Students and Seniors Box Office: 413-584-9032 x104 Box Office Email:   [email protected] Website:    http://www.academyofmusictheatre.co  OUR VOICES PLAYWRIGHT'S FESTIVAL - Weston, MA Our Voices V is the fifth annual celebration of staged readings of new short works by Boston Area Women Playwrights with a whole day of workshops for playwrights and actors on Saturday, March 26 from 10:30 a.m. to 9:45 p.m. The event will be held in the Black Box Theatre at Regis College Fine Arts Center in Weston, MA.  The organizers are Kelly DuMar, Ann Garvin, and Wendy Lement. This is a free event and no reservations are required.  There is more information available on their website:  http://www.diarydoor.typepad.com/our_voices  FIVE WOMEN PLAYWRIGHTS IN 24 HOUR PLAY FESTIVAL IN TROY, NEW YORK Playwrights, directors, designers, crew and actors from both the Berkshires and the Capital Region will mount five new short works by five women playwrights in the 24 Hour Capital Region/Berkshires Theatre Project on Saturday, March 26 at 8 p.m. in the Arts Center of the Capital Region, 265 River Street, Troy, NY. Kristen van Ginhoven (WAM Theatre), Kat Koppett (MOPCO) and Jill Rafferty-Weinisch (Arts Center of the Capital Region) joined forces to kick off this colossal artistic adventure. WAM Theatre produces theatrical events with a focus on women theatre artists and/or stories of women and girls, and they donate a portion of the proceeds to organizations that benefit women and girls.  When Koppett suggested the 24-hour Theater Project to van Ginhoven, she agreed, with one stipulation - that all five playwrights be women.  How it works:  On Friday evening, March 25, five playwrights will receive the number of actors they are writing for and a theme and they will then have 12 hours to write a short script. The following morning, Saturday, March 26, directors, actors, stage managers, designers and technical staff will gather and rehearse those new scripts. At 8:00pm on Saturday night, those five new scripts will be shared with the public.  The playwrights will be: Linda Bidwell Delaney (Capital Region); Kat Koppett (Capital Region); Nahal Navidar (Capital Region);  Jamuna Yvette Sirker (Berkshires); Susan Dworkin (Berkshires). Location:  The Arts Center of the Capital Region, 265 River Street, Troy, NY 12180-3215 http://www.artscenteronline.org/ Date and Time:  Saturday, March 26, 2011 at 8 p.m. Tickets:   $15 More Information: http://www.wamtheatre.com/events/2011events/24-hour-theatre-project/ Purchase Tickets Online:   http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/153810  SPECIAL THANKS WomenArts is supported by generous grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Nathan Cummings Foundation, the Meyer Levy Charitable Foundation, the Peace Development Fund, East Bay Community Foundation, the Leo S. Guthman Fund, the Do A Little Fund, and by gifts of time, energy and money from artists and arts supporters around the world. ABOUT WOMENARTS WomenArts is a community of artists and allies dedicated to celebrating and supporting art by and about women. For an overview of our programs and services, please see the "About Us" section of our web site at http://www.WomenArts.org/about.

WomenArts 3739 Balboa Street #181 San Francisco, CA 94121 Phone: (415) 751-2202 Website: www.womenarts.org Contact Us>>

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Mass. Women Playwrights Celebrated in Fem Noire Festival, Lowell, MA, March 11 & 12, 2011, 8 p.m.

Fem Noire, The Festival of Women Playwrights, will conclude the weeklong festivities of Lowell Womens Week  with plays  performed in downtown Lowell, the new home fo the Artists League of Lowell. Show is at 8:00 p.m.

Image Theater is proud to present short plays and monologues by: June Bowser- Barrett, Kelly DuMar, Melinda Lopez, Karla Sorenson, Leslie Powell, Hortense Gerardo, Gail Phaneuf, Anne Furtado & Sarah Coakley, Monica Bauer, and Debbie Roy.The plays will be performed at the (Artist
League of Lowell) ALL Arts Gallery, literally surrounded by the original visual artwork by local women artists. ALL Arts Gallery is located at 22 Shattuck Street, Lowell.

All tickets are $15, or $10 with a “Lowell Women’s Week” button.

For more information about Fem Noire, or tickets, call 978-441-0102.

Our Voices V, A Celebration of Boston Area Women Playwrights, Sat. March 26, 2011, Regis College, Weston, MA

Free & Open to the Public

Produced by:  Kelly DuMar, Ann Garvin, Wendy Lement

Guest Playwright/Dramaturge: Sybil Roberts Williams

A Swan Day Event

Support Women Artists Now

Workshop Readings: (Partial List) Black Box, 10:30-12:15

Leanne Calderone, Does Fate Exist? (Short play) 

Sandra Weintraub, Coffee Shop Romance, (Short play)

Phyllis Rittner, Cheryl Ann, (Monologue)

Participating Playwright~Actors~Workshop, Black Box 1:30-3:30 p.m.

Staged Reading Rehearsals 3:45-6:30

Playwright~Actor~Director Green Room Refreshments 5:30-6:30 p.m.

Audience~Playwright Cheese & Fruit Reception 6:30-7:00 p.m.

Staged Readings with Audience Talk-back: 7:00-9:45 p.m.

Kelly DuMar, ENVIA! Episodes (Selected Monologues)

Deirdre Girard, Defensive Wounds, (10-minute play)

G.L. Horton, Kiss the Twins, (10-minute play)

Madge Kaplan, The Last Appointment, (Excerpt)

Wendy Lement, Wedding Dreams, (Excerpt)

Lida McGirr, Poker God, (Monologue)

Phyllis Rittner, Going Down, (10-minute Play)

Sybil Roberts, Zimbabwe: Or She Talks To Bob Marley, (10-minute Play)

Ellen Davis Sullivan, Here’s the Deal, (10-Minute Play)

For More Information Contact:

[email protected] or www.diarydoor.typepad.com/Our_Voices

www.regiscollege.edu/campus_community/fac_schedule.cfm,

www.imagetheater.com

 

Check Out This Play Submission Notice

Samuel French, Inc. proudly announces... Submissions for the 36th Annual Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival are now being accepted!

Dear Playwright, Submissions for The 36th Annual Samuel French Inc. Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival are now being accepted! Visit www.samuelfrench.com/oobfestival for application and submission details. Additionally, a printable PDF version of the application form and Festival guidelines can be found here. This year we will accept electronic submissions! Be sure to read the submission guidelines before sending us anything. We will only accept complete entries.   Submissions must be postmarked or emailed no later than March 11th to be considered for this year's Festival. The Festival will feature a selection of 40 short plays and musicals, chosen from hundreds of submissions by playwriting workshops, university theatre programs, professional companies and self-producing playwrights both in the US and abroad.   The 36th Annual Samuel French Inc. Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival will take place July 19th - 24th at the Lion Theatre in Theatre Row on 42nd Street. The week-long Festival features a full program of the selected plays and musicals performed for a panel of judges comprised of established playwrights, literary agents and artistic directors who nominate one or more of each evening's plays as finalists. Out of these plays, six finalists will be chosen by Samuel French, Inc. to receive publication and licensing contracts.   Samuel French Inc. was founded in 1830 with offices in New York City, Los Angeles and London, and retail bookstores in Hollywood and Studio City making it the oldest and largest publisher and licensor of plays and musicals in the world.    Questions? Email [email protected]   Be a part of one of the most prestigious short play festivals in the world!   - The Samuel French Off Off Broadway Festival Staff

Our Voices V - Call for Play Submissions for Short Readings of Boston area Women Playwrights

 Our Voices Festival V

5^th Annual Celebration of Boston Area Women Playwrights!

March 26, 2011 – 10 a.m. - 10 p.m.

Fine Arts Center, Black Box, Regis College, Weston, MA

Highlights of this year’s festival:

Morning & Afternooon Workshops for Participating Playwrights & Actors (TBA)

Tech Rehearsal & Food for evening performance participants 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.

Welcome Reception in Lobby for friends/audience 7:00 – 7:30 p.m.

Staged Readings of New Plays by Women:  7:30 - 9:15 p.m.

OVERVIEW:  The 5th Annual Our Voices Festival will be produced by Kelly DuMar, Ann Garvin of Image Theater, and Wendy Lement, Regis College Theatre Dept. Chair, faculty member and participating playwright.  The festival will include free workshops for playwrights & actors (topic & format announced soon!) and discussion with Guest Playwright & Dramaturg Sybil Roberts from Washington, D.C. There will be an actiing workshop with guest presenter, actor, producer and coach Lau Lapides of Wellesley.  Thanks to the generosity of Regis College for the use of the Black Box, the festival will be free & open to the public!

Submission Guidelines – Two Opportunities!

For the Evening Staged Readings: 

• E-mail submissions only of short plays, scenes, monologues or performance poems, 10 minutes or less – sorry, nothing longer can be considered, and playwrights should submit only the selected portion if the piece is from a longer work.  We’d like to include as many playwrights as possible.
• Please be sure to include your contact info, title of your piece, and production history (if any). 
• No published scripts; scripts that have had a prior staged reading are preferred.  (Please don’t send one that has been done a lot in the Boston area).
• Selected playwrights will be responsible for arranging for director & actor(s)
• No set items, minimal tech requirements; lights up, lights down.  We’ll have a designated volunteer to read any and all stage directions.
• Selected playwrights must be willing to participate in a morning or afternoon workshop as well as tech rehearsal, reception & evening of readings
• Content is open
• There is no budget at all to pay playwrights, actors or directors!  This is an all volunteer festival with a spirit of building networking and community support.
• Deadline:  Please send in ms. Word or pdf to [email protected] no later than January 12, 2011, sooner the better.  Selected playwrights will be notified by February 1, 2011 and a required production meeting will soon follow.

For the Morning Critique Group

• New work – these are new works that have not had a prior reading that you will present informally and there will be the opportunity for feedback & discussion.  Short plays, scenes, monologues or performance poems, 10 minutes or less – sorry, nothing longer can be considered, and playwrights should submit only the selected portion of the piece.
• Deadline:  Please send in ms. Word or pdf to [email protected] no later than February 15, 2011.  Selected playwrights for the critique group will be notified by March 1, 2011.

 For more information, contact Kelly DuMar ([email protected]), (508) 647-0596, or visit: www.diarydoor.typepad.com/ourvoices

  

 

Our Voices Festival V, 2011 - A Celebration of Boston Area Women’s Plays

 
Black Box Theatre, Regis College Fine Arts Center

March 26, 2011, 10:00 a.m.- 10:00 p.m.

Free and Open to the Public

The annual Our Voices Festival supports new dramatic writing by Boston area women with staged readings of short plays directed by exceptionally talented local directors and actors. This all-volunteer festival features three components:

• A morning workshop with readings of new scripts; an afternoon workshop for participating playwrights devoted to exploring and supporting her creative process
• An evening of staged readings of plays selected from submissions by Boston area women playwrights
• An audience involved feedback session with playwrights, directors and actors following the readings facilitated by guest dramaturg and playwright Sybil Roberts who teaches playwrighting at American University.

The list of participating playwrights will be announced soon.

Many of the plays developed at Our Voices go on to production around Boston and beyond.  The 5th annual Our Voices Festival will be co-produced by festival founder and playwright Kelly DuMar, Ann Garvin of Image Theatre, and playwright Wendy Lement of Regis College.  For more information, contact Kelly DuMar.

Our Voices 2011 Will be March 26, 2011 at Regis College!

The 5th Annual Our Voices Festival of Boston area women playwrights will be held at the Regis College Fine Arts Center Black Box Theatre, Weston, MA, on Saturday, March 26, 2011.  Once again, the festival will be produced by Kelly DuMar, festival founder, Ann Garvin of Image Theater in Lowell, and Wendy Lement, Regis College Theatre Dept. Chair. 

More details on submission information for playwrights will be announced soon!