By Byrne Harrison
Last week I had a chance to interview Jennifer Conley Darling of terraNOVA Collective about their Groundworks New Play series, which runs through today.
Jennifer,
I'm excited to see that another Groundworks New Plays series is underway.
How many years has terraNOVA Collective been producing this series?
Groundworks
has officially existed for 5 years. The program grew organically through a need
for playwrights to have a support network and not feel as if they were working
in a bubble. When Jessi Hill joined the team five years ago, she saw what we
had and helped us formalize the program. The way it has grown is largely due to
her dedication and vision and the program is stronger than its ever been under
her leadership.
I
see several familiar names among the playwrights and directors. How did
you choose this year's plays?
Groundworks
has taken a bit of a new form this year with the addition of the soloNOVA Arts
Workshops. The series now showcases the work we are developing in both our
Groundbreakers Playwrights Group (for multi-character plays) as well as
soloNOVA ARTS (for solo shows). With terraNOVA long history of supporting and
presenting solo work, this was a natural progression to add a layer of
development for this wing of our company as well.
Each
year, we have a submission process to select the plays. We have a reading
committee of directors, dramaturgs and playwright alumni that help us select
our top 12 contenders. From there, Jessi Hill and I interview the finalists and
come up with the group. It becomes harder each year to select the group with so
many talented people out there!
How
can artists get involved with your Groundbreakers Playwrights Group?
Our
submission process will be announced on our website in the coming months and
outline what is to come for next season, so stay tuned!
The series is nearly over. How has the audience response been so
far?
The responses have been amazing. Each
playwright has stepped up their game and the directors and actors have been
absolutely stellar. I am so thrilled each writer is thriving in this
environment. I look forward to seeing where these plays and these writers will
go from here.
What
else is coming up for terraNOVA in 2014?
The final two readings are on Monday @ the Cherry Lane Theatre.
RUNBOYRUN
Written by Mfoniso Udofia
Directed by Awoye Timpo
Monday, June 23rd at 3 pm
WHERE DID WE SIT ON THE BUS
Written by Brian Quijada
Directed by Matt Dickson
Monday, June 23rd at 7 pm
*A soloNOVA ARTS Workshop
