Playwrights' Center Awards Sarah Saltwick a Jerome Fellowship for Emerging Playwrights

The Playwrights' Center announces 2013-14 playwriting fellows and Core Writers

05/15/2013

Applications and award funds at an all time high.

The Playwrights’ Center is pleased to announce its 2013-14 roster of playwriting fellows and new Core Writers, who together will receive more than $200,000 in awards and additional development funds. This is the largest amount ever awarded by the 42-year-old Playwrights’ Center, an internationally renowned theater laboratory and artist service organization dedicated to promoting playwrights and new play development.


“With nearly all of our fellowship programs hitting their highest application numbers to date, I am emboldened by our efforts to support this current body of American playwrights, and very inspired by the slate of playwrights that were chosen for our 2013-14 season,” says Producing Artistic Director Jeremy B. Cohen. “From the launch of the newly-expanded Many Voices program, to supporting the incredible Jerome Fellows whose work is already making an impact across the U.S., to the recognition of such consistent excellence in our McKnight Fellows, we are poised to see a huge explosion of great new work across American stages. As always, we’re deeply indebted to both the Jerome and McKnight Foundations for their support of our fellowships, and to the Mellon Foundation for their ongoing visionary support of the Playwrights’ Center.”

Jerome Fellowships

For emerging national playwrights ($16,000 award)
Jake Jeppson, Basil Kreimendahl, Sarah Saltwick, Deborah Yarchun

Sarah Saltwick

Jerome Fellows spend a year-long residency in Minnesota. The Playwrights’ Center has awarded these fellowships in partnership with the Jerome Foundation since 1976, increasing the number of fellowships from three to four in 2011. The Playwrights’ Center’s 2013-14 Jerome Fellows are Jake Jeppson, whose plays include Fox Play, The Clearing and Turtle and whose work has been produced in New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Estonia and Latvia; Basil Kreimendahl, a 2012-13 Playwrights’ Center Core Apprentice whose play Sidewinders will have its world premiere at The Cutting Ball Theater in San Francisco next season; Sarah Saltwick, whose play She Creatures was produced by Nouveau 47 in Dallas this season and whose adaptation of The Scarlet Letter was recently featured on the University of Texas at Austin’s mainstage; and Deborah Yarchun, whose work has been produced at theaters across the United States and Canada and whose plays include The Aleph Complex, The Man in the Sukkah, Portmanteaux and FreezeFrame.

A PERFECT ROBOT, staged reading, University of Texas New Works, April 20 and 27, 2013

(University of Texas theatres, Winship Drama Bldg. (WIN), near 23rd St. and San Jacinto, Austin)

presents a reading of

A Perfect Robot
Written by Sarah Saltwick
Directed by Andrew Carlson
April 20 and 27 at 11:00 a.m.
Lab Theatre

The reading of “A Perfect Robot” is FREE. Tickets will be distributed beginning at 10:00 a.m. at the Lab Theatre Box Office.

About the play
Believe Alan Turin — that girl is really a robot. It’s just that Mollybot’s face is uncannily human. She hasn’t been so perfect since her creator went missing and there’s only one chance left to convince the investors of her worth. One far away woman holds the key to unlocking it all. A play about robots and octopi, consciousness and programming, passwords and ghosts.

About the playwright
Sarah Saltwick is a playwriting and fiction Michener Fellow and a graduate from Hampshire College. Recent work includes The Scarlet Letter on UT’s B. Iden Payne Stage. Her plays have been a finalist for the Heideman Award and Bay Area Playwrights Festival and twice nominated for Best New Play by the Austin Critics Table. She’s written plays inspired by giant rabbits, Texas, guacamole, Dolly Parton and more.

UTNT (UT New Theatre) is curated by Steven Dietz and Brian Kettler.
(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

UT New Theatre plays announced for April, 2013, University of Texas

UTNT (UT New Theatre), the annual showcase of new plays from the UT M.F.A. Playwriting Program, returns this spring April 18 - 28 in the Lab Theatre with four dynamic works by emerging playwrights. UTNT (UT New Theatre) is curated by Steven Dietz and Brian Kettler. Specific dates, times and ticketing information will be available in January 2013. For additional information, call 512-471-5793.


Now in its sixth iteration, UTNT 2013 presents the following:


Staged Works:
 
70 Secrets of Marmalade Kittens by Gabrielle Reisman

Seduced by a pair of ceramic figurines, Quinn wrestles with abandoning her husband, her young children, and their lonely life on an Iowa hog confinement farm. Ten years later her now grown children - with the counsel of an aging pet goose - must choose between selling off their father's business, and tracking down the ghosts of their mother's desires.
 
Dream of Perfect Sleep by Kevin Kautzman
Mary and Gene are old. Mary suffers from severe vertigo and just wants to watch her show, gosh-darn-it. Gene has some big news for their middle-aged kids. When new-ager Melissa and recovering-addict Robert return to a home decorated for the holidays (when it's not the holidays), the family must make a hard decision about what it means to exit this world with grace.
 
The Kingdom by Andrew Hinderaker
A Catholic priest of 22 years has stopped taking confession. He has stopped delivering mass. Hiding out in the basement of his church, he seeks to perform miracles of his own making. What becomes of a priest who has lost his faith in us all?

Reading:
 
A Perfect Robot by Sarah Saltwick
Believe Alan Turin - that girl is really a robot. It's just that Mollybot's face is uncannily human. She hasn't been so perfect since her creator went missing and there's only one chance to convince the investors of her worth. One far away woman holds the key to unlocking it all.

Video: Reviving the Scarlet Letter at the University of Texas

Posted by the University of Texas Department of Theatre and Dance, November 5:

A behind the scenes look at The University of Texas at Austin Department of Theatre and Dance's upcoming all new adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne's canonical novel The Scarlet Letter. Protagonist Hester Prynne comes to the stage in a reimagining of the classic tale.

Featuring studio rehearsal and warm up footage, as well as interviews with director Steven Wilson, playwright Sarah Saltwick, and child actor Cara Spradling who portrays Pearl.

For more information about the production of The Scarlet Letter visit UT Performing Arts.

THE SCARLET LETTER 

by Hawthorne, adapted by Sarah Saltwick
directed by Steven Wilson
November 16 - December 7

B. Iden Payne Theatre, University of Texas, 300 East 23rd Street 78712

Tickets: http://www.texasperformingarts.org/event/the-scarlet-letter-ut-austin-theatre-dance  or  512-477-6060

“There was a wild and ghastly scenery all around her, and a home and comfort nowhere.”
Sin. Guilt. Judgment. Love.
Protagonist Hester Prynne comes to the stage in a reimagining of Hawthorne’s classic tale.


ENGAGEMENT EVENTS

“A” if for ______: Filling in the Blanks and Leaving Empty Spaces in The Scarlet Letter

Sunday, November 18 at 3:45 pm, immediately following the performance of The Scarlet Letter

Sunday, December 2 at 3:45 pm, immediately following the performance of The Scarlet Letter

Audience members are invited to a post performance discussion surrounding the Department of Theatre and Dance’s production of The Scarlet Letter. Join the playwright, director, and members of the cast, and explore the process of bringing this cherished novel to the stage in Sarah Saltwick’s new adaptation.


(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

University of Texas Announces 2012-2013 Production Season and Subscription Model

Published by the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Texas. Click on titles to go to UTTAD's description with poster image.

We invite you to join the drama this season and become a Subscription Series holder!

As a subscriber, you will enjoy:

• BIG SAVINGS! 20% off Theatre and Dance performances.
• BEST SEATS! Guaranteed preferred seating for B. Iden
  Payne Theatre performances.
• EASY AND FREE TICKET EXCHANGES of lost tickets.

The Cataract
By Lisa D’Amour

October 19 – 28, 2012

Set in Minneapolis in 1883, this poetic drama explores one week in the lives of Cyrus and Lottie Finch, a stalwart couple who take in two vagabond lovers from the South.

The Scarlet Letter
Adapted by Sarah Saltwick

Based on the novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne

November 16 – December 7, 2012

Sin. Guilt. Judgment. Love.

Hester Prynne comes to the stage in a reimagining of Hawthorne’s classic tale.

The Edge of Peace
By Suzan Zeder

World Premiere
February 1 – 10, 2013

A play for all ages, The Edge of Peace tells the touching story of Buddy, a young boy struggling to make sense of a world at war.

Intimate Apparel
By Lynn Nottage

March 1 – 9, 2013

It’s 1905 in Manhattan. A gifted seamstress, Esther dreams of marriage and longs to open a beauty parlor. She meets George, and her aspirations appear within reach.

Roots and Wings
Artistic Directors David Justin and Charles O. Anderson

April 19 – 21, 2013

Standing on a tradition of excellence, the award-winning ensemble Dance Repertory Theatre takes flight.

Purchase your subscription online today or call the subscriber hotline at 512.471.4454.

Individual ticket sales begin in August.

Upcoming: Picnic Plays, Sunday readings by Paper Chairs, May 13, 20, 27

Picnic Plays

readings by Paper Chairs

With great pleasure, paper chairs announce, THE PICNIC PLAYS: READINGS ON SUNDAYS IN MAY. We invite you give listen to some deft drafts of new work by local playwrights Elizabeth Doss, Sarah Saltwick, and Jason Tremblay. Join us these final spring Sundays to experience each play in a unique location accompanied by refreshing cocktails and snacks to complete an ideally idle Sunday afternoon.

This is a FREE event series. The paper chairs will bring the plays and some potluck libations to share, if you bring two open ears, a blanket, and any BYOP (Bring-Your-Own-Picnic) items you like. Family friendly (with a warning, the content may be PG-13 & White Horse is 21+) & dog friendly at Big Stacey only (sorry). Informal chats will follow each read.

Mark your calendars:
Sunday May 13th 4pm:
MAST by Elizabeth Doss at the historic home of Tammy Shaklee and Cliff Mitchell 712 W 16th Street

Sunday May 20th 3pm:
A Perfect Robot by Sarah Saltwick at Big Stacey Park (Between Annie St and Live Oak St.Park on East Side Drive)

Sunday May 27th 2pm:
Boom for Real by Jason Tremblay at the White Horse 500 Comal St

Muses III: Memories of a House, Vestige Group at private residence, August 20 - 30

Pocket theatre.

Home theatre; intimate theatre.

Theatre for no more of you than can fit comfortably into a 12x15 room with the actors.

Muses III by the Vestige Group puts you into a small group for this experience. They have concessions available on the lawn beforehand, under the tall and twisty live oaks. They suggest that you get to know the persons in your group.

You probably won't, because your guide is not going to push the touchy-feely approach among your dozen faces. You'll be up close and personal with the actors soon enough.

The evening reminded me very strongly of those odd national day receptions we attended in central Africa. For one thing, the proprietors have acquired an eclectic houseful of handicrafts, art, masks, textiles and textures from across the world. We strangers carefully tramped through the house, settled on sofas as directed, slipped along the corridors and lingered out by the pool. As in a diplomatic reception, our mission was to get to get acquainted -- in this case, not with one another but with this odd collection of characters dreamed up by the writers.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Upcoming: Lines and Curves by Sarah Saltwick, staged reading at City Theatre, August 26 & 29

Received directly:

Lines & Curves
staged reading of
a brand new play by Sarah Saltwick

Directed by Bethany Perkins
Starring Zeb West & Lynn Burnor

City Theatre, 3823 Airport Road
Wednesday, August 26, 7:30 p.m. and
Saturday, August 29 at 3 p.m.

"Are you like this with everyone?"

Max thinks it may be time for a change in his life. Tessa thinks she could be that change. But they both have a lot to learn about dating, affairs, honesty, living rooms and bedrooms. Funny, heartbreaking, sweet, familiar and strange.

A modern love story about two people and the things between them...

Two Workshop Performances with Talkbacks
Come and Comment! A great date play!
Tickets are Only $5 Buy them at the door (cash or check only!)
or online:





Sarah Saltwick is a playwright relatively new to the Austin theatre scene. You can see her short play "Wet" in upcoming Muses III, produced by The Vestige Group. In September, she'll be spending another night writing with The Loaded Gun Theory for her second Slapdash FlimFlam 24 hour play festival. Her play "Low Hanging Stars" was selected for the upcoming America Rising reading series at the Bristol Riverside Theatre in Pennsylvania. She spent last summer creating a video game inspired play during ArtSpark called "Sublimation." In Austin, her work has been selected for FronteraFest Best of Week: "She Creatures:Mythic Women" (2009) and "Parents are People" (2008, ASW Commission). Her play "Cecilia" was nominated for Best New Play 2008 by Austin Critic's Table and was originally created for ASW's out of ink festival. She is a graduate of Hampshire College. She has worked as a barista, crew member at Trader Joes and high school creative writing teacher. She now works as a booking agent at Holden & Arts Associates and always seems to have more ideas than time.

Time Steps, Austin Scriptworks at the Blue Theatre, March 26 - April 4

The gathering for Time Steps at the Blue Theatre last Thursday felt like skit night at the close of summer camp. Friendly excitement, lots of young adults, and a program based on games, brainstorming and collaborative action, intended to amuse and astound us over the course of a short evening. The Blue Theatre itself, tucked away behind the Goodwill warehouses in East Austin, is a found venue of sorts, redolent of much earnest make believe.

Austin Scriptworks stirred the pot and furnished the ingredients. At its annual Weekend Fling earlier this season, participating writers were given two days and three "ingredients" with which to build a ten-minute play:

- - The play must move backward, from end to beginning;
- - The play must include a dance break which causes a shift in the action;
and
- - The play must include three things your mother told you not to do.

The harvest was eight winning scripts, presented by Austin directors and actors in six performances. By my subjective taxonomy, these included two relationship dramas, two stories of misfortunes or crimes, one fantasy drama, and three nutsy pieces. Dialogue was strong in all of them. Available actors were parceled out so that almost every face showed up in two roles during the event.

Read More at AustinLiveTheatre.com. . . .