I am pleased to announce that my 10 minute play, “A Reason for Play,” was one of six plays selected from over 500 to be performed as part of the Bismarck State College Theatre’s Short Play Festival, “What Happened to the American Dream?” coming this May.
https://bismarckstate.edu/communi…/humanities/theaterevents/

I had a really magical time in Hilo, Hawaii  with the community-oriented artists collective, The New Alchemists, in partnership with Full Life Hawaii and the East Hawaii Cultural Center.  The Live Aloha Festival brought art, joy, celebration, and social justice to the community of Hilo from January 11-12.  I  facilitated puppet building workshops at the East Hawaii  Cultural Center and the Hilo Public Library.  Local artist Lee Michael Walczuk and I facilitated community members in creating giant parade puppets for “A Puppets 4 Peace Parade,” in partnership with Full Life Hawaii.

 

 

Wassaic Project

Wassaic Project, Wassaic, NY, Dec. 2018

Here is Maxon Mills, where all the studio spaces are located and where all kinds of awesome art installations happen!

Here are images of my studio space.

Here is the very sweet and snug school house, were I stayed.

Here are images from my favorite places to walk around the artist residency.

Paul Artspace

Paul Artspace, St. Louis, MO, Nov. 2018

I spent a restful and productive month at Paul Artspace as a writer-in-residence with local visual artists Alexis Riviera and Steven Coplin.

The one woman show I worked on, Raise Less Corn and More Hell:  Annie Diggs, A Prairie Populist, will be included in the Paul Artspace: 2018 Year In Review Exhibition starting December 1st at Bermuda Projects in Ferguson, MO.

I enjoyed the open studios and the opportunity to engage with local creatives and the Paul Artspace community at the bonfire on Nov 4.

Here are images of the inside of the house.

Here was my studio space.

Here are some of the photos of the Paul Artspace grounds.  When I arrived, the fall foliage was fantastic.

Also, towards the end of my stay, it snowed!

 

Excited that my monologue “Selfie,” will be included in “Monologues for Headspace Theatre: Radical Thinking Inside a Box,” published with Smith and Kraus Publishers, coming out 2019.

Special thanks to the talented creative team and The Center at West Park for an amazing reading.

The Center at West Park’s FURNACE FESTIVAL presents: [Un]Earthed

Written by Lavinia Roberts.
Directed by Michael Padden
Starring: Guto Carvalho, Ziaphora Dakile, Fortuna Gebresellassie, Celester Rich, Krystal Sobaskie

[Un]Earthed

Some are considered lucky when they find themselves in a refugee camp after the destruction. But in the struggle to build a new life, Myra and her father have to find a way to pick up where they left off on Earth. How will they thrive when all they’ve known is lost in order to begin again? Find out what happens when everything becomes [Un]Earthed.

All tickets to the Furnace Festival are just $10 and include an ice-cold Beer*, Soda, Water, or Wine* to help you beat the heat.

The Center at West Park’s Balcony Theater is located on the second floor of the historic landmark West Park Presbyterian Church at 165 W 86th Street in Manhattan.

 

I am really excited to share “A Little Drama: Playful Activities for Young Children,” published with Redleaf Press.  This labor of love is scheduled to be released early July. I hope that this educational resource book will bring more theatre into early childhood spaces and be an easy-to-use resource for busy educators and caregivers.

 

 

My ten-minute play, “The Reason for Play” will be part of Potluck Productions First Friday Play Reading Series. The reading will feature the work of four women playwrights. The reading will be Friday night, June 1.
The show begins at 8 p.m. at the Uptown Arts Bar, 36th & Broadway. There will be a musical prelude starting at 7:00 p.m. Tickets: $5. If you are in the Kansa City area, I hope you can make it!

 

Surel’s Place

Surel’s Place, Garden City, ID, Feb. 2018

I spent a creatively nurturing and productive month as a writer-in-residence at Surel’s Place.

While I was there, I taught a workshop titled, Tackling the Ten-Minute Play.

Synopsis of Workshop:
Ten-minute play festivals, produced by many theatre companies, provide an opportunity
for playwrights in all stages of their career to share their work with an audience and create community with other theatre artists. In Tackling the Ten-Minute Play we explored the various components of a strong ten-minute play including: play structure, creating conflict, crafting characters, and developing dialogue. This workshop will also explore tips for editing and refining your final manuscript and navigating the submission process when you are ready to submit your work.

There also was a reading of my dark comedy, The Black Triangle on Feb 22nd at the Visual Arts Collective.  The staged reading was a collaboration between Surel’s Place and Alley Repertory Theater, for their series “The Age of Women.”   We received a great write-up in Boise Weekly.

There additionally,  was a reading at Surel’s Place with Treasure Valley Children’s Theatre of two of my new plays for young audiences.