Announcing the NNPN Rolling World Premiere of RELATIVITY by Mark St. Germain

Washington, D.C. - The National New Play Network, the country's alliance of nonprofit theaters that champions the development, production, and continued life of new plays, announces the 59th NNPN Rolling World Premiere (RWP) of Relativity by Mark St. Germain. The Roll includes NNPN Core Members Florida Studio Theatre (Sarasota, FL, June 24-July 2), who originally commissioned the play, and Riverside Theatre (Iowa City, IA, March 31-April 15, 2017), as well as Associate Members Taproot Theatre Company (Seattle, WA, March 26-April 29, 2017) and Northlight Theatre (Skokie, IL,  May 11-June 18, 2017).

NNPN provides production support to the playwright and the partnering theaters, including assistance with the creation and the contracting of the premiere agreement, collaborative interactions between the theaters, and funds for the playwright's residency in each city to further develop the play.

Florida Studio Theatre’s Associate Artist, Jason Cannon, who will also direct their lead production in the RWP of Relativity, says, “The RWP program addresses the biggest obstacle new plays face:  landing productions after the world premiere. By expanding and sharing the cache that comes with the label “world premiere,” new plays are given significantly more time and support to reach an audience, polish rough edges, and grab the interest of other potential producers. This program makes it far less likely that a play will simply submerge after that world premiere, that it can indeed have an on-going life!”

ABOUT RELATIVITY

In 1949, a young Albert Einstein had a child with his future wife, Mileva. After 1951 their daughter Lieserl was never heard of again. Years later, in residence at Princeton University, Einstein is visited by a Reporter determined to solve that mystery. What follows is the struggle between a man desperate to conceal the truth and a woman who has her own secrets. Relativity is a journey through one of the greatest minds in history as two adversaries grapple with the meaning of Family, Love and the Question, “Does a Great Man have to be a Good Man?”

ABOUT MARK ST. GERMAIN

Mark has written the plays Freud’s Last Session (Off-Broadway Alliance Best Play), Becoming Dr. Ruth, Camping with Henry and Tom (Outer Critics Circle Award and Lucille Lortel Award), Out of Gas on Lover’s Leap, Best of Enemies, Forgiving Typhoid Mary (Time Magazine’s “Year’s Ten Best”), Ears on a Beatle, The God Committee, and Dancing Lessons.

Mark co-wrote the screenplay for Carroll Ballard’s Warner Brothers film, Duma. He directed and co-produced the documentary, My Dog: An Unconditional Love Story. My Dog features Richard Gere, Lynn Redgrave and Glenn Close among many others. Television credits include Writer and Creative Consultant for The Cosby Show, and Dick Wolf’s Lifestories and Crime and Punishment.

With Randy Courts, he has written the internationally produced musical The Gifts of the Magi, Johnny Pye and the Foolkiller, winner of an AT&T “New Plays for the Nineties” award and Jack’s Holiday at Playwrights Horizons. His musical, Stand by Your Man: The Tammy Wynette Story was created for Nashville’s Ryman Theater and has toured nationally. He co-wrote the libretto for Charles Strouse’s American Tragedy.

Mark wrote the children’s book Three Cups, illustrated by April Willy, published by Thomas Crown. He is an alumnus of New Dramatists, where he was given the Joe A. Callaway Award, a member of the Dramatists Guild, the Writer’s Guild East and an Associate Artist of the Barrington Stage Company. He was awarded the “New Voices in American Theatre” award at the William Inge Theatre Festival. He is represented by Susan Gurman of the Gurman Agency.

ABOUT FLORIDA STUDIO THEATRE

Florida Studio Theatre (FST) is Sarasota’s contemporary theatre, located in the heart of downtown. It has been in operation in Sarasota since 1973. The Florida Studio Theatre campus is a village of theatres – the historic Keating and Gompertz Theatres, the Parisian-style Goldstein and John C. Court Cabarets, and Bowne's Lab Theatre. Near the Sarasota bayfront, FST brings an energy and vitality to the downtown area. Each theatre is small in size and large in impact – providing an intimate and engaging setting for high-quality, professional performances. Hip and historical, entertaining and challenging, we are the theatre where the street meets the elite, where everyone is welcome to come and engage in the art of theatre.

ABOUT RIVERSIDE THEATRE

Riverside Theatre is a professional theatre in Iowa City, IA that connects artists and audiences through intimate, engaging, and provocative productions from the classics to new works, and provides an artistic home for regional theatre professionals. Founded 1981, we’re currently in our 35th season. We believe the shared experience of live theatre is magical and important. Community members, artists and collaborators are our life blood. From September through April we produce a full season of work at our theatre on Gilbert Street. In June and July, we produce a summer season centered around the classics.

ABOUT TAPROOT THEATRE COMPANY

Taproot Theatre Company creates theatre experiences to brighten the spirit, engage the mind and deepen the understanding of the world around us while inspiring imagination, conversation and hope. Taproot Theatre Company was founded in 1976 by six friends, five of them graduates from Seattle Pacific University. From its humble beginnings as a touring group, the company is now Seattle’s largest mid-size theatre company. Today Taproot Theatre serves over 150,000 people annually throughout the Pacific Northwest with its Jewell Mainstage season, Isaac Studio Theatre season, Touring programs and Acting Studio.

ABOUT NORTHLIGHT THEATRE

Northlight Theatre aspires to promote change of perspective and encourage compassion by exploring the depth of our humanity across a bold spectrum of theatrical experiences. Founded in 1974, Northlight is one of the the Chicago area's premiere theatre companies, serving audiences totaling over 50,000 each season. Northlight mounts five mainstage productions each season and also serves nearly 4,000 students in Chicago area schools through our expansive and comprehensive arts education outreach programs. Northlight is a regional magnet for critical and professional acclaim, and has a strong reputation for commissioning, developing, and producing new work through Interplay, our new play development program.