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.

 

 

Here is a brief write up about the reading of my play, Black Triangle, at the Visual Arts Collective, by Boise Weekly.

Here is the Toto Puppet I created for the production of The Wizard of Oz at Lawrence Arts Center, in Lawrence, KS.

Here is a video of the puppet in action.

I will be spending the month of February in Garden City, ID, as a writer-in-residence at Surel’s Place.

I will be teaching a workshop titled, Tackling the Ten-Minute Play.

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 will explore 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.

A reading of my dark comedy, The Black Triangle will take place on Feb 22nd at the Visual Arts Collective in a collaboration between Surel’s Place and Alley Repertory Theater’s series “The Age of Women.” Doors open at 7:30pm and the reading will begin at 8pm. This reading is free and open to the public (21-and-over only).

Here are photos from my puppetry class’ performance themed around “Solidarity.”  The  children studied how solidarity has been explored by other artists, including visual artists and poets, wrote poetry inspired by the theme, designed and constructed puppets, and devised their own production.  They performed the work in front of after school and loved ones, as well as, lead a solidarity march with their community.

Cecilia Roberts and I created a giant Mother Earth Puppet and Lady Liberty Puppet for Water Family Day, an activity-filled exploration of water and climate change issues for kids of all ages, at Saint Pauls Chapel in New York City.

Mother Earth Puppeteer: Chrissie O’Heron

Lady Liberty Puppeteer: Krystal Sobaskie

Special Thanks: Wendy Claire Barrie

March 25, 2017