 The ultimate goal of OKRA is to move a new play onto the main stage. Each year, we conduct Word(s)PLAY!, an intense development workshop for playwrights to refine completed scripts with the help of actors, directors, designers and musicians - readying it for full production. Some of the plays go through this process several times, and some will be presented at Penumbra in the future.
Several plays nurtured through Word(s)Play! have received further production opportunities. These include New York Theatre Workshop and LAByrinth Theatre Company in New York; Providence Black Rep in Providence, Rhode Island; and American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, California. And, the Penumbra 2011-2012 season proudly presents the much anticipated Julius by Design by Kara Lee Corthorn.
Word(s)PLAY! has quickly gained critical acclaim within the industry for the caliber of the playwrights involved and the complexity of the works selected. Visit our website often for the latest updates on this exciting addition to Penumbra's artistic arsenal.
You're invited to Word(s)PLAY! 2011 This three day event will offer a staged reading of each play followed by an open talk back with the playwright, director, artists, and audience. The event is free and open to the public.
Reservations can be made through the Box Office at 651-224-3180 or penumbratheatre.org.
Journey to the Door of No Return by Psalmayene 24
Directed by Dominic Taylor Saturday, July 16th, 7:30pm A struggling music producer and an eccentric novelist meet at a bus stop - a crossroads where they face the demons inside. A mystical tale that explores the process of forgiveness and the cost of redemption. Three recently freed slave girls, stuck in 'the big house', play the only game they know: history. But what happens when the game turns sticky sweet and deadly Inside an African American home, Detroit, 2007 - the nation is embroiled in the presidential campaign. A glimpse into the changing world through the eyes and memories of a devoted and desolate elderly couple.
Playwrights Psalmayene 24 is an actor, playwright and director. He has received playwriting commissions from The African Continuum Theater Company, Arena Stage and Imagination Stage. His one man play, Free Jujube Brown!, is published in the anthology Playz from the Boom-Box Galaxy: Theater from the Hip-Hop Generation (TCG). He has appeared on HBO's critically acclaimed series The Wire and is the writer/director of the award-winning play for young audiences Zomo the Rabbit: A Hip-Hop Creation Myth. He is currently working on an adaptation of Pinocchio that will have its world premiere production at Imagination Stage in Maryland during their 2011-2012 season. Zakiyyah Alexander is a writer and actor. She is the author of 10 Things to do before I die (Second Stage Uptown), Sick? (Summer Play Festival), The Etymology of Bird (Hip Hop Theater Festival, Providence Black Repertory Theatre), Blurring Shine (Market Theater, Johannesburg), Sweet Maladies (Rucker Theatre), Something New, You Are Here, and The Focus. She is currently working on the play Black Picasso and a musical with Imani Uzuri, featuring the poetry of Sonia Sanchez. Ms. Alexander is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama. She is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at Bard College where she teaches undergraduate playwriting. Clinnesha D. Sibley is a published poet and Assistant Professor in Drama at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Her plays have been selected by the Arkansas Repertory Theatre's Voices at the River Playwriting Residency, Theatre Squared's Arkansas New Play Fest, and the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. Her plays have also been selected by the Great Plains Theatre Conference as a part of the 2008 PlayLabs and for the 2011 Main Stage Series. She is the recipient of the 2009 Key Woman Educator in Drama Award from the Iota Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma Society and the 2011 Holland New Voices Award. Dominic Taylor(director) is the associate artistic director of Penumbra Theatre, head of Penumbra’s OKRA New Play Development Program, and an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota. Select directing credits: Black Nativity: A Season for Change at Penumbra, Fresh Faust at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, The Negroes Burial Ground at the Kitchen, N.Y.C., and Uppa Creek at Dixon Place. His published plays include Wedding Dance, Personal History and UpCity Service(s). Mr. Taylor has also worked with Crossroads Theatre, Rites and Reasons Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, The Public Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, Playwrights Horizons, and Ensemble Studio Theatre. |
