THE 37 TH ANNUAL PLAYLABS FESTIVAL

OCTOBER 19–25, 2020 Nora Montañez and the cast Pan Genesis by Marvin González De León in movement created by Pedro Pablo Lander, presented in PlayLabs 2019. Photo by Paula Keller THE 37TH ANNUAL PLAYLABS FESTIVAL ROOM ENOUGH (FOR US ALL) we are continuous by Daaimah Mubashshir by Harrison David Rivers Monday, Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. & Friday, Oct. 23 at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 20 at 7 p.m. & Saturday, Oct. 24 at 1 p.m.

Fatimah, a recently widowed matriarch, is determined to have it all. She wants the opportunity When a son reveals that he is HIV positive, his mother must decide how far her unconditional love to set right a 10-year mistake by inviting Jamillah, her queer daughter, to return home after a long forced extends. In this tender autobiographical play, Harrison David Rivers explores how people can change absence. Can she have it all when Abdullah, her son, is driven to fight against this decision even though he and how love can evolve. loves his mother deeply? Room Enough (For Us All) is centered on a contemporary African-American Muslim Family coming to terms with how to treat queerness up against long-standing ideals and faith.

MOTHER OF EXILES BEGIN, BEGIN, BEGIN AGAIN by Jessica Huang by Erin Courtney Wednesday, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. & Saturday, Oct. 24 at 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22 at 7 p.m. & Sunday, Oct. 25 at 1 p.m.

In 1898 , a pregnant Eddie Loi faces deportation. In 1998 Miami, her grandson Braulio In a re-imagining of The Oresteia set in an art museum in the near future, an audio tour guide voice accidentally summons her spirit while patrolling the border. In 2063 somewhere on the ocean, their artist is haunted by the desire to kill her husband. Is it possible to seek justice instead of revenge? In this descendants try to survive the climate crisis. An epic multigenerational tale of sacrifice, love, and formally inventive work, Erin Courtney invites us to see the horror behind the brutality of our current survival that spans 150 years in 90 minutes. justice system and to invite change through collective imagination. PLAYWRITING FELLOWS SHOWCASE Friday, Oct. 23 at 5 p.m.

Join us for an evening of scenes from plays in progress by our 2020-21 Playwrights’ Center fellows and mentees: Cristina Florencia Castro, Gracie Gardner, Marvin González De León, JuCoby Johnson, Candrice Jones, Shannon TL Kearns, Nora Montañez, Savannah Reich, Tylie Shider, and Katie Ka Vang. Welcome And Thank You For Joining Us For Our 37th Annual Playlabs Festival!

We are embracing what it means to create theater during a pandemic and At the heart of PlayLabs is the holistic incubation of new work, and this year is moving the entire process online. While we will miss those personal moments no exception. We are thrilled to bring you these incredible new plays by Erin of connection by being in space together—from the warm greetings in the Courtney, Jessica Huang, Daaimah Mubashshir, and Harrison David Rivers. lobby to that collective gasp at a play’s surprise moment in the theater—we’re Whether beautifully written family dramas or relevant reimaginings of classic grateful that this year, geography will no longer limit who can experience the tales, each story told is both unique and universal. You may see yourself in festival. Whether you’re joining us from across the country, around the world, people you’ve never met or find new laughter and understanding in or just down the street in the Twin Cities, we’re excited you’re here with us to characters you’ve known. celebrate these powerful new stories. These stunning plays accomplish what all good stories seek to do: bring us At Playwrights’ Center, we lead with our values, and this year we are creating closer to our human connection with one another and guide our path to a even more paid artist jobs by expanding the festival. Four playwrights are more equitable, empathetic, and imaginative world. currently developing their new work, partnering with the creative team of their choosing, receiving two full weeks of writing and rehearsal time, and—as So gather your friends or family (if you’re able to in a socially distanced way) always at Playwrights’ Center—being equitably compensated for their time and around the Zoom screen. Sit back. Get comfortable. And experience these new their artistry. Over the course of the festival, nearly 70 paid opportunities for plays along with the rest of the world for the very first time. theatermakers are being created. On behalf of the PlayLabs artists, the Playwrights’ Center staff and board, and the 2,200+ playwright members we serve each year, thank you and enjoy!

Jeremy B. Cohen Robert Chelimsky Producing Artistic Director Managing Director PLAYWRITING FELLOWS SHOWCASE PLAYWRIGHTS Cristina Florencia Castro Shannon TL Kearns Many Voices Fellow Jerome Fellow

Gracie Gardner Nora Montañez McKnight National Residency and Commission Many Voices Mentee

Marvin González De León Savannah Reich McKnight Fellow in Playwriting McKnight Fellow in Playwriting

JuCoby Johnson Tylie Shider Many Voices Mentee Jerome Fellow

Candrice Jones Katie Ka Vang Jerome Fellow Many Voices Fellow ACTING ENSEMBLE Nikomeh Anderson Domino D’Lorion Director Showcase Producer Tlaloc Rivas** Martine Kei Green-Rogers Adlyn Carreras* Ivory Doublette*

Stage Manager Associate Producer Cristina Florencia Castro Becca Hart

Erica Christie Julia Brown Donnie Cianciotto* Maggie Bearmon Pistner Festival Producer Hayley Finn Vinecia Coleman Carley Villanueva Rosefelt

Lily Tung Crystal* Edwin Strout

*Appearing through an Agreement between this theatre, Shanan Custer the Playwrights’ Center, and Actors’ Equity Association,

the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in **Member, Stage Directors and Choreographers Society Michelle de Joya the United States.

PLAY EXCERPTS PA’ FUERA PA’ FUERA PA’ FUERA A.K.A. La Comadre UNTITLED SPANISH CLASS PLAY by Marvin González De León by Nora Montañez by Cristing Florencia Castro

Ana Sepulveda...... Cristina Florencia Castro La Comadre...... Adlyn Carreras* Clara Jordana Ruiz...... Adlyn Carreras* Doña Sarita Rosales...... Adlyn Carreras* Ester...... Ivory Doublette* Jan Olsen...... Shanan Custer Edith Gonzales González...... Carley Villanueva Rosefelt Stage Directions...... Vinecia Coleman Helen Smolenski...... Maggie Bearmon Pistner Stage Directions...... Ivory Doublette* Kylee Anderson-Diaz...... Becca Hart Ernestina Mendoza...... Carley Villanueva Rosefelt Stage Directions...... Donnie Cianciotto* A SERIES OF MEETINGS LEAVING TEACHING by Savannah Reich by Candrice Jones

Facilitator Lauren...... Becca Hart Janae (a.k.a. Falana on OnlyFans)...... Vinecia Coleman Facilitator Corrie...... Carley Villanueva Rosefelt Stage Directions...... Lily Tung Crystal* Facilitator Jay...... Nikomeh Anderson Stage Directions...... Maggie Bearmon Pistner POISON LEFT by Gracie Gardner by Katie Ka Vang

Woman...... Cristina Florencia Castro Ab...... Lily Tung Crystal* Gia...... Michelle de Joya Stage Directions...... Vinecia Coleman THE GOSPEL WOMAN BODY AND BLOOD ...BUT YOU COULD’VE HELD MY HAND by Tylie Shider by Shannon TL Kearns by JuCoby Johnson

Orpah...... Ivory Doublette* Si...... Nikomeh Anderson Charlie...... Nikomeh Anderson Ruth...... Vinecia Coleman Jude...... Edwin Strout Eddie...... Domino D’Lorion Stage Directions...... Carley Villanueva Rosefelt Joshua...... Donnie Cianciotto* Stage Directions...... Edwin Strout Cristina Florencia Castro (Many Voices JuCoby Johnson (Many Voices Mentee) Shannon TL Kearns (Jerome Fellow) is Fellow, ensemble) is a playwright/ grew up in Jacksonville, FL, moved to the a transgender man whose playwriting is performer/teaching artist from San Twin Cities in 2011 and has been creating obsessed with big questions told through Antonio, Texas who has been living and there ever since. He has been seen onstage small stories. He is the founder and Artistic working in the Twin Cities theater at The Guthrie Theater, Cincinnati Director of Uprising Theatre Company in community since her graduation from the Playhouse in the Park, The Jungle , MN. Shannon is a recipient of University of /Guthrie Theater Theater, Theater Latté Da, Theater the Playwrights’ Center Jerome BFA Actor Training Program in 2011. Mu, Ten Thousand Things Theatre Fellowship in 2020–21. He is a Lambda Company, and many more. His plays Literary Fellow for 2019. He was awarded a Gracie Gardner (McKnight National include How It’s Gon Be (Underdog Theater, 2019) and ...but you spot in the HBMG Foundations’ Winter Playwright Retreat in 2018 Residency & Commission) Credits could’ve held my hand (2020 O’Neill NPC Finalist). He is a 2020- and 2019. Shannon’s plays include Body and Blood, in a stand of include Pussy Sludge (Relentless Award, 2021 Many Voices Mentee at the Playwright’s Center in Minneapolis dying trees, Line of Sight, Twisted Deaths, The Resistance of My Skin, Theatertreffen Stückemarkt), I’m Revolting and a recipient of the 2020 New Now Commissions. and Who Has Eyes To See. (Atlantic Theater Company Claire Tow Fellowship), Athena ( Times Candrice Jones (Jerome Fellow) is a Nora Montañez (Many Voices Mentee) is Critic’s Pick), Hate Baby (James Steven- playwright, poet, and educator from an Afro-descendent Indigenous Peruvian son Prize), The Student From New Jersey Dermott, Arkansas. Candrice has been actress, singer, educator, and playwright. (Manhattan Theatre Club Sloan Founda- honored to have been a fellow at Callaloo She was raised in Paterson, NJ, and holds tion Commission), Panopticon (Clubbed Thumb). Development: for poetry at Brown University and in a BFA from Florida Atlantic University. In New Dramatists, Ars Nova Play Group, SPACE on Ryder Farm, London. She has also been a VONA Minneapolis, Nora has worked with Ensemble Studio Theater’s Youngblood, The Old Vic, The New Playwriting Fellow and a CalArts MFA Theater Latté Da, Children’s Theatre, Group, Two River Theater, Williamstown Theater Festival. Critical Studies recipient. Candrice’s Jungle Theater, the Guthrie Theater, Publications: Samuel French, S. Fischer, Cincinnati Review. primary goal as a writer is to write love Theater Mu, Mixed Blood, as well as been letters for and to women of the American South. She is the author commissioned by Penumbra Theatre (Race Workshop), Theatre 45° Marvin González De León (McKnight of the full-length plays Crackbaby (2010 Wasserstein Prize and Exposed Brick Theatre. In , Nora has worked with Fellow in Playwriting) is a Xicano playwright Nomination) and FLEX (developed at the 2020 Humana Festival Congo Square, Chicago Dramatist, and Court Theatre. She is a and educator. His work has been produced of New American Plays). She has been a resident fellow at Ground teaching artist with Upstream Arts and was a 2018 Next Step Grant and developed at Teatro Bravo, Arizona State Floor housed by the Berkeley Rep, the Bay Area Playwrights’ Festival, recipient. Nora is also the Founder of ALMA (Alliance of Latinx University, Teatro del Pueblo, Page 73 and MacDowell’s Colony of the Arts. She is scheduled to be a Minnesota Artists), which facilitates alliances among the spectrum Productions, The Playwrights Realm, and resident playwright at Djerassi’s Colony of the Arts in the fall of Minnesotan Latinx artists. the Playwrights’ Center. His fellowships at of 2020. Candrice, who was a 2019-20 Many Voices Fellow, is the Playwrights’ Center include: the amazed and grateful to have been chosen for a 2nd year fellow at McKnight Fellowship in Playwriting (2020- the Playwrights’ Center, this time as a Jerome Fellow. She believes Actors’ Equity Association (“Equity”), founded in 1913, is the U.S. labor union that represents more than 51,000 2021), Core Writer Fellowship (2019-2023), and the Many Voices Fel- that in these times of peril “story and art matter more than ever.” professional Actors and Stage Managers. Equity fosters the lowship (2018-2019). He is a member of the 2020 Interstate 73 Writers art of live theatre as an essential component of society and Group at Page 73 and is a 2020-2021 Virtual Realm Mentee with The advances the careers of its members by negotiating wages, improving working conditions and providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. Actors’ Equity is a Playwrights Realm. González De León teaches at ASU, where he received member of the AFL-CIO and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of his MFA in Dramatic Writing in 2017. performing arts unions. #EquityWorks Savannah Reich (McKnight Fellow Jerome Fellow, and the 2020-21 The Civilians R&D Group. He holds THE in Playwriting) is a playwright and a BA in journalism from Delaware State University and an MFA in RUTH EASTON screenwriter based in Minneapolis. Her playwriting from New York University. Instagram: @theplaywright screenplay “Beebe and Barton” was the NEW PLAY SERIES winner of the Sloan Student Grand Jury Katie Ka Vang (Many Voices Fellow) is a December, 2020–April, 2021 Prize in 2015. Her plays include Dali’s Hmong American playwright and theater Liquid Ladies (Bedlam Theater, artist. Her work explores the complexities Truepenny Theater), Stupid Ghost of culture, identity, dis-ease, survivorship, (San Francisco Theater Pub, and community. Her plays and works Baltimore Annex Theater, Theater Vertigo), Paradise Park Zoo include WTF (Theater Mu), Hmong (Available Light Theater, Anam Cara, Der Vorfuhreffekt), Bollywood (Pangea World Theater), 5:1 Dec. 9, 2020 Hatchet Lady (Walking Shadow Theater, RhinoFest), and Caveman Meaning of Freedom, 6:2 Use of No Cure Play (FaultLine Theater, Exponential Festival). Her plays have been Sharpening, Fast FWD Motions, In Jake Jeppson commissioned or developed by Walking Shadow Theater Company, Quarantine, FINAL ROUND, and Spirit Trust. She’s received

Jan. 13, 2021 the University of Minnesota, SuperGroup, and the Playwrights’ support from the Jerome Foundation, Knight Foundation, NPN, Getting There Center. She also produces her own work with her company, MRAC, MSAB, and Coalition of Asian American Leaders. She’s the Eternal Cult, and tours it to theaters, warehouses, art galleries, bars Relationship Manager at Springboard for the Arts. She holds an Dipika Guha and basements across the country. She holds an MFA from MFA in Playwriting from Brown University.

Feb. 3, 2021 Carnegie Mellon University, where she studied with Rob Handel. This Much I Know She is a 2020–21 McKnight Fellow at the Playwrights Center. Tlaloc Rivas** (director) creates, writes, Jonathan Spector and directs theatrical experiences. Plays: Tylie Shider (Jerome Fellow) is a 2020-21 Take What You Can Carry; Divisadero;

Mar. 3, 2021 Playwrights’ Center Jerome Fellow and Johanna: Facing Forward, amongst others. Pulp Vérité an I Am Soul Playwright Resident at the Upcoming: writer/director of Maypearl Crystal Skillman National Black Theatre. His plays include for St. Edward’s University (February Parable of the Backyard Roots (2019 Bay 2021) and writer/director of The Apr. 7, 2021 Area Playwrights Festival, Finalist), Bastard, Revolution of Evelyn Serrano (based on Nancy Platform States of Mind, and Talk. His work the novel by Sonia Manzano) for New Rhiana Yazzie has been developed by Liberation Theatre Hazlett Theatre’s CSA Season 8 (June 2021). Tlaloc is a co-founder Company, Dixon Place, La MaMa, Frank of the Latinx Theatre Commons, a member of the Dramatists Guild, Silvera Writers’ Workshop, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Harlem 9, and a member of Stage Directors & Choreographers. Training: B.A. Homebase Theatre Collective, 3:5 Creative[s], Yendor Arts, The w/honors from UC Santa Cruz; M.F.A. Directing from University of Classical Theatre of Harlem, Luna Stage, Joust Theatre co., New ; Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship at Carnegie Mel- York New Works Theater Festival, and The Theater Project. Awards lon University. www.TlalocRivas.com For Information And Tickets include: Drama Desk from Delaware State University, and The Theater pwcenter.org/ruth-easton-series Project’s One-Act competition 2015 Best Play and Audience Favorite. Member: Dramatist Guild of America, 2018 Playwright in residence at

Meghan Kreidler as Volina in Betty Shamieh’s Malvolio, during the February 2020 Ruth Easton New Play Series. Photo by Paula Keller the Liberation Theatre Company, 2019-20 Playwrights’ Center Nikomeh Anderson (ensemble) (also Erica Christie (stage manager) is a National Partners of American Theatre nomination: The Red Nik) is a Multidisciplinary Theater Maker Brooklyn-based theatermaker and arts Pen;Presenting KCACTF Region V John Cauble Short Play award national and Creative, Teaching Artist, Performer, administrator. She recently moved from semi-finalist and Invited Production: Home (The Place Where My and Twitch Streamer. They are a mover, Minneapolis, where she served as an StuffUNIVERSITY Resides). choreographer, actor, director, facilitator, Artistic and Administrative Apprentice musician, vocalist, poet, and neurodiversity at the Playwrights’ Center. She is on the COURSES and healing justice advocate. They went to board of Table Work Press, a play press NYU for Drama, studying at Stella that advocates for reading plays as a Adler, RADA in London, ITW in Amsterdam, viable means of engaging with the theater. CAP 21, Stonestreet Studios, and Viewpoints Intensive with Mary She is a graduate of Kenyon College, where she earned a BA in Drama. Overlie. They were an actor and intimacy co-captain within the ensemble of Orchid Receipt Service at MITU580. They are Literary Donnie Cianciotto* (ensemble) (he/ Associate at EST, and teach regularly with Stella Adler Studio and they) is the creator and director of Trans Opening Act. IG: @WickedSirNik and linktr.ee/wickedsirnik Voices Cabaret, and has been seen as Sam in Southern Comfort at The Public Adlyn Carreras* (ensemble) was born Theater, Charlie Brown in A Charlie and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She Brown Christmas at The Secret Theatre, came to St. Paul, Minnesota on and in multiple performances at 54 scholarship to study at Macalester Below, The Duplex, Joe’s Pub, and other College, where she majored in Latin cabaret venues throughout NYC. He has American Studies with a core concentration also been featured on VICE News, Buzzfeed, NowThis, and most in Latin American Literature and a recently in The Washington Post, appeared on panels at BroadwayCon Minor in Biology. After traveling and and #IdentityWeek, and is the subject of an Emmy award-winning living in Hawaii, Washington D.C., and documentary about his life as a transgender man. Follow him on Puerto Rico, Adlyn returned to Minnesota and began acting in the Instagram @thedonniecianciotto. Twin Cities. She has performed at the Jungle Theater, Park Square Theater, Pangea World Theater, Mixed Blood, Penumbra Theater, Vinecia Coleman (ensemble) After the and Teatro del Pueblo. She has also been in various commercials and Fires (Transatlantic Love Affair), Jimmy industrial films. Adlyn is Office Manager and Ensemble Member at and Lorraine: A Musing (Pillsbury House Pangea World Theater, a past Teaching Artist for the Neighborhood Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream Bridges program at Children’s Theater Company, and is one of the (Black Ensemble Players); Antigone (Park The Playwrights’ Center, in partnership with Monologue Artists for Penumbra Theater’s Race Workshop. She was Square); The Visit (Frank Theatre); The Augsburg University, is offering online, accredited recently hired as Adjunct Professor at Augsburg University and is Odyssey (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); playwriting courses taught by today’s leading writers currently working on her first one-woman performance, If My Bones Love’s Labour’s Lost (The Lonely Many); in the field, creating unparalleled arts education Could Speak, commissioned by the Alternate Visions program at Womyn’s Mysteries (See-Saw Lab access for aspiring writer! Learn more at Pangea World Theater. Theatre). Training: MFA Theatre Arts, University of Idaho, BS pwcenter.org/univeristy-programs Microbiology, State University. Awards: Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Rex Rabold Acting Fellowship; KCACTF Region VII Jerome Fellow Tylie Shider teaches Playwriting II at Augsburg University. Photo Paula Keller (Coleman cont’d) National Partners of American Theatre Michelle de Joya (ensemble) is excited Ivory Doublette* (ensemble) has performed nomination: The Red Pen; KCACTF Region V John Cauble Short to be working again with Playwrights’ regionally with MainStreet Theatre in Play award national semi-finalist and Invited Production: Home Center! Michelle is a Twin Cities based Rancho Cucamonga, CA; The Marriott (The Place Where My Stuff Resides). Actor/Playwright/Acrobat. Her past Theatre in Lincolnshire, IL; and locally with credits include Theater Latté Da: Chicago; Frank Theater, Jungle Theater, Theater Lily Tung Crystal* (ensemble) (she/her) Jungle Theater: The Wolves; Penumbra Latté Da, Penumbra Theatre, Ordway Center, is an actor/director and the artistic director of Theatre Company/Theater Mu: The Park Square Theatre, the Playwrights’ Theater Mu. Acting credits include: Mrs. Brothers Paranormal; Park Square Center, History Comes to Life, Intermedia Shin/God #2/Niece (Good Person of Theater/Theater Mu: Flower Drum Song, Arts, Children’s Theatre Company, Szechwan, Cal Shakes), Mother (Interstate, Mixed Park Square Theatre: A Midsummer Nights’ Dream; Flying Foot Chanhassen Dinner Theatre, Old Log Theatre, Nautilus Music- Blood Theatre), Prosecutor Li (Chinglish, Forum: Heaven, and many more. She graduated from the University Theater, Interact Theater, and Illusion Theatre. Ivory is a Faculty Portland Center Stage/Syracuse Stage), of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater BFA Actor Training Program, and member at MacPhail Center for Music. She also sings with her Amanda (Private Lives, Whirligig Theatre), studied Drama at The South Carolina Governor’s School for the family’s Gospel Quartet, SeVy (Say-V) sevygospelquartet.com. Ivory Lulu (Cabaret, SF Playhouse), Mrs. Park Arts and Humanities. Keep up with her other projects at has a Bachelors in Theatre Arts from the University of Minnesota-Twin (Jay Kuo’s Homeland, Magic Theatre; New World Stages), Korean facebook.com/dejoya.michelle Cities. She is an AEA member. #2 (Songs of the Dragons, Crowded Fire; BATCC nomination). Lily is a 3-time Theatre Bay Area Award finalist for Outstanding Direction. Domino D’Lorion (ensemble) (he/him/ Becca Hart (ensemble) is an actor and She is a 2016 YBCA 100 honoree, named by Yerba Buena Center for his) is an actor, writer, educator, and a drag singer in the Twin Cities. A transplant the Arts as a “creative pioneer making the provocations that will queen in the Twin Cities. Originally from from Tulsa, Oklahoma, she attended St. shape the future of culture.” lilytungcrystal.com, theatermu.org Chicago, Domino is an alum of The Chicago Olaf College, learned of the incredible Academy for the Arts, Northwestern’s NHSI theater scene in Minnesota, and decided Shanan Custer (ensemble) is a theater Theater/Musical Theater program, and to stick around (much to the chagrin of maker, writer, and improviser in the Twin holds his BFA degree from the UMN/Guthrie her warm-weathered parents). Hart has Cities who has worked with Park Square Theater BFA Actor Training Program, with worked with several theaters in town Theatre, Interact, History Theatre, Frank a BA in Business Management. Domino has including The Jungle Theater and The Theater, Theatre Pro Rata, The Mystery appeared in Boudica in the Dowling Studio at the Guthrie Theater, Children’s Theatre Company. Though she herself is not an author, Café, Theater Mu, and the Brave New his award-winning original show STOOPIDITY at the Minnesota she greatly admires the Playwrights’ Center, a hub of support and Workshop. Shanan is a member of the Fringe Festival, Hit the Wall at the Southern Theater with Mixed resources for playwrights as they craft their stories. When Hart is not Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society Precipitation, and After The Fires at the Illusion Theater with acting, she assists authors at Beaver’s Pond Press, a publishing house. and an actor/writer for Sue Scott’s Island Transatlantic Love Affair. of Discarded Women podcast. Her play Bad Things, Good Whis- key (with Carolyn Pool) will open 2021 at Park Square Theatre or when the world is open again to play.

Maggie Bearmon Pistner (ensemble) is excited to be part of this Playwrights’ Center virtual workshop. Maggie is a local PLAYWRIGHTS’ CENTER talent, having worked at the Jungle, Minnesota Jewish Theatre, Walking FELLOWSHIPS Shadow Theatre, Gremlin Theatre, Theatre Unbound, Theatre Pro Rata, Red Eye, PlayLabs, Park Square, and Artistry. She is also a voiceover, film, and commercial talent.

Carley Villanueva Rosefelt (ensemble) is a Minneapolis based artist of Jewish and The Playwrights’ Center’s fellowship programs offer Mexican descent. She is a 2018 graduate of holistic support to some of the most talented early- the University of Minnesota/Guthrie to-mid-career playwrights in the country. Thanks Theater BFA Actor Training Program. to partnerships with the McKnight and Jerome Previous credits include the Henry VI’s Foundations, the Center gives over $315,000 each Trilogy: UMN/Guthrie Program (Joan of season in financial support, championing over 13 Arc), Agamemnon: UMN/Guthrie Program playwrights a year through stipends, residencies, (Cassandra), South Pacific: Guthrie commissions, and development funds. The Center also works tirelessly to promote and connect these Theater, and West Side Story: Guthrie Theater. She has participated playwrights to the wider industry, helping to forge in previous readings at the Playwrights’ Center and is so grateful to the collaborative relationships that will advance their be back. professional careers.

Edwin Strout (ensemble) is delighted to be returning to the PlayLabs Festival. In “I know I’ve grown deeply as a person and writer this Fellowship year. I understand myself both creatively and personally in a way I’ve never experienced before. It feels like a rapid-pace the 29 years that Edwin Strout has been experience of the self: the gift of solitude, searching, space to work, think, breathe, understand performing in the Twin Cities theater what I’m interested in writing and sharing with the world. The art I wish to create and consume. community, he has worked with over 46 I’ve learned more about myself as a person and a writer than I have in my entire life.” different theater companies in over 100 —Sofya Levitsky-Weitz, Jerome Fellow, 2018-19 roles. Most recently, he has performed as Don Pedro in Much Ado About Nothing at Zephyr Theatre; Scheffler in The Ugly One FOR INFORMATION AND TO APPLY, VISIT: pwcenter.org/programs for Walking Shadow Theatre; MacDuff in Macbeth for Wayward • Applications for the 2021-22 Jerome Fellowship are due Thur, Nov 19, 2020 Theatre Company; Bob in Caught for Full Circle Theater; and • Applications for the 2021-22 Many Voices Fellowship and Mentorship are due Thur, Dec 3, 2020 Robert Hooke in Isaac’s Eye for Theatre Pro Rata.

Sofya Levitsky-Weitz in a rehearsal of her 2019 PlayLabs workshop of Cannabis Passover. Photo by Paula Keller PLAYWRIGHTS’ CENTER THANK YOU DONORS The Playwrights’ Center gratefully acknowledges the following individuals and organizations who have financially supported MEMBERSHIP our work. The following names represent gifts given between August 1, 2019 and October 15, 2020. GOVERNMENT, FOUNDATIONS, AND ORGANIZATIONS $100,000

$50,000–$99,000

$25,000–$49,999

The Harold & Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust We serve a worldwide network of over 2,250 member playwrights through a collection of robust and ever-expanding resources, $2,500-$24,999 Up to $999 INDIVIDUALS including: ArtSpace Projects, Inc. Actors’ Equity Foundation, Inc. $10,000+ Boss Foundation AmazonSmile Eric Anderson and Roger Beck • Seminars and multi-week classes on craft Bush Foundation The Benevity Community Impact Fund Barry Berg and Walter Tambor Patrick & Aimee Butler Family Foundation GiveMN.org and the industry Lee Blessing and Melanie Marnich Dual Citizen Brewing Co. Jamf • • Access to experienced actors for private Jeffrey Bores and Michael Hawkins France 44 Wines & Spirits Network for Good Mary Beidler Gearen• new play development readings The Head Family Foundation Seagate Technology LLC Christina Ham • One-on-one dramaturgical support KNOCK, Inc. US Bank Foundation MaryAnn Lippay Kanee and Stephen Kanee Family • Member-centered play readings and Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) YourCause Fund Piper Sandler & Co feedback sessions Jennifer Melin Miller and David Miller City of St. Paul (Cultural STAR) In-Kind Wayne Zink and Christopher Schout• • Connection to the world’s largest and Tides Foundation Alma Dana and Stephen Strand most curated database of play submission Trader Joe’s opportunities. $1,000 - $2,499 Learn more at Faegre Drinker Foundation Securian Financial Foundation pwcenter.org/join Whole Lotta Future Foundation •denotes Playwrights’ Center Board Member THANK YOU DONORS Individuals (contINUEd)

$5,000-$9,999 $1,000 - $2,499 Michelle Vaught Peter Brosius and Rosanna Staffa Anonymous Anonymous Barbara Weber Robert P. and Debbie A. Brown David Chelimsky and Flor Pinho dik Bolger and Carmen Gutierrez-Bolger Suzanne Weinstein and Danny Levey Mary and Mike Burke Barbara Davis Peter and Maura• Brew Joan and Scott Wilensky Bob and Carolyn Bye Robert P. Englund Jeremy Cohen and Michael Elyanow Jamie Wilson and David Ericson Allene Cohen Barbara Field Jeanne Corwin Robert Dorfman Larissa Kokernot and Karl Gajdusek• Dan Dietz $250 - $499 Marilyn J. Doyle John Geelan and Megan Feeney Nancy Engh Patricia Barrier Robert C Droddy Elizabeth Grant Chelle and Mike Gonzo George Brant and Laura Kepley Bonnie S. Dudovitz and Jean K. Quam Jeff Hedlund• and Amy Apperson Dan Hedlund and Robin Preble Carlyle Brown• and Barbara Rose-Brown Paul Eiding David and Leni Moore Family Foundation Charlyne Hovi• Sarah and Matt Chaplin Scott Elyanow Peter and Carla• Paulson Family Fund Marlon James Sarah Cooke and Adam Lowe Nancy Finn Diane and Mark• Perlberg Janet Jones and Rob Reul Mary Dolan Tiffa Foster The Racciatti Family Fund Miriam and Erwin Kelen Adam Rao and Elizabeth Emery Seth Freeman Marcia and John Stout Anita Kunin Liz Engelman Robin Gillette John Sullivan Firouzeh Mostashari Lesley Ferris Carol Grady Margaret VB Wurtele Wendy Nelson Jeffrey Grover Josh and Pamela Gruber Kira Obolensky and Irve Dell Kathleen Hansen Rossi and Penelope Snipper $2,500 - $4,999 George Steitz Ross Johnson Scott Halle Harrison David Rivers and Christopher R. Bineham Weiser Family Foundation Willard Kitchen Craig Harris and Candy Kuehn James and Julie Chosy Sally and Jonathan Lebedoff W. Blake and Erin Herron Geoffrey M. 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AMPLIFY VITAL STORYTELLING THROUGH GIVING Social justice is at the heart of the Playwrights’ Center’s work. We strive for it by actively supporting equitable theater-making practices that shift the paradigm, uplifting unheard stories and sharing them with the world. With your support, the Center can provide the greatest diversity of artists with the time, tools, and space to tell their truths and reshape audiences’ perspectives. Make a gift and amplify vital storytellers today! pwcenter.org/donate STAFF BOARD THE 2020–21 Carla Paulson, President Jeremy B. Cohen, Producing Artistic Director Harrison David Rivers, Vice President FELLOWS AND CORE WRITERS Robert Chelimsky, Managing Director Maura Brew, Secretary May Adrales, Artistic Associate Kelly Renee Armstrong Sofya Levitsky-Weitz Adam Rao, Treasurer Alayna Barnes, Membership Programs Associate Lee Blessing Nora Montañez Jeffrey Bores Julia Brown, Artistic Programs Manager Sharon Bridgforth Daaimah Mubashshir Carlyle Brown Hayley Finn, Associate Artistic Director Carlyle Brown Kira Obolensky Geoffrey Curley Martine Kei Green-Rogers, Fellowship Associate Darren Canady John Olive Karl Gajdusek H. Adam Harris, Engagement Associate Cristina Florencia Castro Marisela Treviño Orta Mary Beidler Gearen Katie Hey, Director of Development Jodi Grundyson Erin Courtney Savannah Reich Jasmine Johnson, General Manager Jeff Hedlund Mashuq Mushtaq Deen Stacey Rose Hannah Joyce, Director of Membership Programs Jessie Houlihan Emily Feldman Andrew Rosendorf Emily Mathees, Executive Staff Administrator Charlyne Hovi Gina Femia Riti Sachdeva Sarah Myers, Director of University Programs and Partnerships Jonathan Jensen Barbara Field Tylie Shider Daniel Rech, Director of Marketing and Communications David Kim Gracie Gardner Charly Evon Simpson Whitney Rowland, Institutional Development Manager Rebecca Krull Kraling Teri Schafer, Development Assistant Marvin González De León Crystal Skillman Annie Lebedoff Sonitha Tep, Marketing Communications Graphic and Media Designer Jeffrey Hatcher Jonathan Spector Mark Perlberg Kaitlyn Boyer, Artistic and Administrative Apprentice Rachel Jendrzejewski Ariel Stess Christopher Schout Roshni Desai, Artistic and Administrative Apprentice Jake Jeppson James Anthony Tyler Leah Spinosa de Vega Ashe Jaafaru, Artistic and Administrative Apprentice JuCoby Johnson Katie Ka Vang Cecilia Stanton Adams Isabella Star LaBlanc, Artistic and Administrative Apprentice Candrice Jones Abbee Warmboe Paul Stembler Nicholas Kaidoo Talvin Wilks Harry Waters Jr. Shannon TL Kearns Ray Yamanouchi Ginger Wilhelmi Keyanna Khatiblou Stefanie Zadravec Michael Winn Jeremy B. Cohen, ex officio Kurt Kwan Robert Chelimsky, ex officio THEATER BEGINS HERE ARTISTS IN “Stories give us chances to see ourselves and what we could hope to be.” CONVERSATION —2020–21 Jerome Fellow, Candrice Jones Building on our sold-out Public Discussion series from past seasons, Artists in Conversation offers a uniquely We start with the storytellers. intimate look at playwrights and their process. Unlike the Center’s many The playwrights. scripted events throughout the year, these conversations offer audiences a The artists. chance to connect directly with writers, hearing artists’ thoughts on craft, the field, and the world through their own As we continue to meet the challenges of these unfiltered words. Past conversations times, the Playwrights’ Center seeks to reimagine have featured acclaimed theater artists, including Migdalia Cruz, Lisa D'Amour, what is possible in theater; both in this moment and Daniel Alexander Jones, José Rivera, beyond. Throughout our 2020–21 Season we are and Paula Vogel, among others. intensifying our efforts, investing even more deeply Specific participants, topics, and dates will be announced in creative process, arts education, and access to throughout the year. opportunity. We are working to amplify unheard Stay tuned! voices and promote equitable spaces, allowing for the greatest diversity of artists to make plays around the world. Through additional fellowships and IN THE LAB increased public programming, we are creating new New worlds require new ways. And the Playwrights’ Center is stepping up our support channels of support for thousands of writers—from to meet this moment, launching a brand new online paid opportunities that will sustain playwrights and development and performance project called In the Lab. theatermakers, to expanded educational resources Through this innovative program, three writers will develop that will enhance online learning tools and connect wildly experimental new works, pushing the boundaries of form university students from around the world. We are and content, and revolutionizing the way we experience stories. inspiring a whole new generation of theater artists. TOMORROW CELL SURFACE VAPOR TRAIL It all begins here. WILL BE SUNDAY by Dominic Taylor by Ken Urban by Heather Raffo

Meiyin Wang, Producing Director at The Ronald O. Perelman Performing Arts Center joins Philip Bither, Dates and times to be announced soon. McGuire Director and Senior Curator, Performing Arts at Walker Art Center for a sold-out Public Discussion. Visit pwcenter.org for more information. Join us! Photo by Josh Olson