NNPN Announces the Rolling World Premiere of NOT MEDEA by Allison Gregory
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 Not Medea by Allison Gregory as its 58th Rolling World Premiere. It will receive productions at NNPN Associate Member B Street Theatre (Sacramento, CA, May 14-June 11, 2016) and Core Members Contemporary American Theater Festival (Shepherdstown, WV, July 8-31, 2016), and Perseverance Theatre (Juneau, October 14-November 6/Anchorage, AK, November 11-20, 2016).
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
ABOUT NOT MEDEA
This heartbreakingly beautiful new work by the award-winning playwright of Forcing Hyacinths straddles the world of myth, magic and the deeply personal story of one woman. Fiercely funny and brutally raw, her story is one of love, tragedy, and ultimately, hope.
ABOUT ALLISON GREGORY
Allison Gregory is a playwright and theatre collaborator. Her plays have been produced all over the country and she has received commissions, grants, and development from Oregon Shakespeare Festival, South Coast Repertory, The Kennedy Center, Indiana Repertory Theatre, the Skirball-Kenis Foundation, ACT Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, The Empty Space, Seattle’s Arts and Cultural Affairs, LATC, The New Harmony Project, Seattle Dramatists, Northwest Playwright’s Alliance, Amphibian Stage Productions, ZACH Theatre, and Austin Scriptworks. Her work has been the recipient of the Julie Harris Playwriting Award (Forcing Hyacinths), South Coast Repertory Theatre’s Playwrights Award (Forcing Hyacinths), Garland & Dramalogue Awards (Fall Off Night, Breathing Room, L.A.), and Seattle Times Best New Play Award (Burning Bridget Cleary), as well as finalists for the O’Neill Playwright’s Conference, Bay Area Playwright’s Festival, and Harriet Lake PlayFest. Her play Not Medea, an O’Neill finalist, will receive a 2016 National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere at B Street Theatre, Contemporary American Theatre Festival, and Perseverance Theatre. uncertain terms was developed at Hedgebrook Women Playwright’s Festival and premiered at ArtsGarage, directed by Louis Tyrrell. She is currently working on a play about race and motherhood in America, titled Motherland.
Allison also writes for young audiences; those plays include Go Dog. Go!, adapted from the P.D. Eastman book, co-written with Steven Dietz; Even Steven Goes to War (“Zoni” Best New Script Award; AATE and UPRP awards; Kennedy Center New Visions/New Voices selection); Peter and the Wolf (National tour), and Junie B. in Jingle Bells, Batman Smells! (over 150 professional productions). Her play Ronia: the Robber’s Daughter, adapted from Astrid Lindgren’s story, was recently licensed internationally and premiered at Teatr Pinokio in Poland, and Junie B. is Not A Crook, adapted from the beloved book series by Barbara Park, will premiere this fall at Childsplay. Her plays are published by Playscripts, Smith & Krauss, Dramatic Publishing, and Rain City Press.
Allison is an alumni of LATC’S Wordsmiths, and a former Hedgebrook resident. She lives in Austin where she is the co-founder of Austin ‘Wrights, an awesome playwright collective.
ABOUT B STREET THEATRE
B Street Theatre is a non-profit, professional theatre company producing primarily new work for adults, families and children. The two-theatre playhouse on B Street in Midtown Sacramento, California is home to the Mainstage Series, B3 Series and Family Series, each created to feature intimate, quality theatre for audiences year-round. Recognized as one of the nation’s top professional theatres, B Street Theatre has produced more than 100 new plays, 60 of which are world, national, West Coast or regional premieres. B Street Theatre was originally founded in 1986 by brothers Timothy and Buck Busfield for the purpose of bringing the excitement of live performance to children through the B Street Theatre School Tour. This educational outreach program serves over 200,000 students in Northern California annually. Buck Busfield still serves as the Theatre’s Producing Artistic Director. B Street Theatre programs include the Mainstage Series, B Street Theatre Family Series and Family Series Student Matinees (for school field trips), the B3 Series, B Street School Tours, Sketch Comedy, B Street Acting Conservatory and Studio for Young People, and the B Street Theatre Internship program for pre-professional and post-college training. B Street Theatre has produced over 250 professional productions since 1986. 2016 marks B Street’s 30th anniversary season.
ABOUT CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN THEATER FESTIVAL
The Contemporary American Theater Festival, founded by Producing Director Ed Herendeen in 1991, is dedicated to producing and developing new American theater. It is hosted on the campus of Shepherd University, a state liberal arts institution located in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. CATF intersperses established voices with emerging ones and is committed to telling diverse stories. To date, it has produced 110 new plays, including 40 world premieres, by 77 writers, 40% of whom are women—nearly twice the national average. CATF is a well-respected playwrights’ forum, with a bent toward championing challenging, culturally relevant work.
ABOUT PERSEVERANCE THEATRE
Perseverance Theatre’s mission is to create professional theatre by and for Alaskans. We value community engagement, cross-cultural collaboration, professional rigor, and regional voice. The theatre was founded in Juneau, Alaska in 1979 by Molly Smith, and today is led by Executive Artistic Director, Art Rotch. Perseverance Theatre has grown over 38 years into Alaska’s largest professional theatre, serving over 25,000 artists, students, and audiences annually. The theatre prioritizes education and training programs for youth and adults, providing learning opportunities across the state, and as the resident theatre at the University of Alaska Southeast. Perseverance has an established actor-in-residence program and beginning in 2016, a new playwright-in-residence funded by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon foundation. At Perseverance Theatre, we believe theatre-going creates community. It fosters empathy, builds relationships, cultivates our ability to interact with each other, and in so doing – better equips us all to work out problems and create more vital and just communities. In the upcoming 2016-2017 season, Perseverance Theatre is producing musical, contemporary, and world premiere productions in Juneau and Anchorage.