Festival Exposes Student Work to Distinguished Playwrights

Contact: Maureen Wagner, (740) 593-9355

ATHENS, Ohio (May 21, 2001) -- Love, motherhood, Hollywood, dreams.

Athens residents can see and hear it all at the Seventh Annual Ohio University School of Theater Playwrights Festival Thursday, May 24, through Saturday, May 26, in the Forum Theater, located in the Radio Television Building.

Ten graduate students in the Professional Playwriting Program at Ohio University will read their plays for professional playwrights including Todd London, the artistic director of New Dramatists, the nation's leading center for the support and development of playwrights; Ellen McLaughlin, an internationally known playwright and winner of the 2000 Berilla Kerr award for playwriting; Milan Stitt, head of playwriting at Carnegie Mellon University and author of Back in the Race and The Runner Stumbles; Vincent J. Cardinal, chair of the Professional Playwriting Program at Ohio University; and Charles Smith, head of the Playwriting Workshop at Ohio University. The professionals will provide constructive criticism and advice on craft, style, content and production of the individual pieces.

Among the plays scheduled for reading are "The Motherline" written by Chantal Bilodeau, a story about the connections between a classical bass player, a lesbian couple, a Buddhist cat and an unborn woman who must convince her chosen mother to get pregnant so she can be born. Another play is "His Eye Is On the Sparrow," written by Erin Mansur-Smith a poignant drama about the strong bonds of sisterhood.

The three-day festival is free, and community members are encouraged to attend and respond to the works. The complete schedule of performances is as follows:

Thursday

Addeae Moon, "She Calls Up the Sun," at 1 p.m.

Brian Lindecker, "Closure," at 3 p.m.

Chantal Bilodeau, "The Motherline," at 8 p.m.

Justin Boyd, "Blood in the Water," at 10:30 p.m.

Friday

Qui Nguyen, "Becoming American: A Gook Story Part Two," at 3 p.m.

Steven Svoboda, "The Death of the Good Doctor," at 8 p.m.

Sarah Zettler, "The Whooping Hour," at 10:30 p.m.

Saturday

Mark Snyder, "Lila Cante," at 10 a.m.

Erin Mansur-Smith, "His Eye is on the Sparrow," at 1:30 p.m.

Jennifer Ricciardi, "Morning Coffee," at 3:30 p.m.