THEATRE NEWS * * * FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SOUTHERN REP MARKETING AND DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR, RACHEL GORMAN 504.943.5203 / pr@southernrep.com TW/NOLF MEDIA CONTACT, ELLEN JOHNSON 504.283.3227 / ejjester@aol.com SOUTHERN REP AND THE TENNESSEE WILLIAMS/NEW ORLEANS LITERARY FESTIVAL ANNOUNCE SCHEDULE OF EVENTS FOR THE NEW PLAY BACCHANAL NEW ORLEANS (December 18, 2013) -- Southern Rep and the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival are pleased to announce the full schedule for the upcoming THE NEW PLAY BACCHANAL at the Marigny Opera House in New Orleans, January 10-11, 2014. Featuring a 6x6 Playslam, Ruby Prize Staged Readings, a Ruby Playwright Masterclass Discussion, special presentations of THE PANAMA LIMITED by Gabrielle Reisman, THE GRANDE DAMES OF NEW ORLEANS by Greg Herren, and FIVE BY TENN (five scenes by Tennessee Williams), and the famed BACCHANAL Toga Party, THE NEW PLAY BACCHANAL will be two day play extravaganza - an engaging, entertaining and educational experience for theatre professionals and theatre lovers alike. THE NEW PLAY BACCHANAL SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
Friday, January 10, 2014: 2:00 pm Ruby Playright Masterclass Discussion with Ruby Winner Kimber Lee and Finalists Hansol Jung and Jackie Sibblies Drury about their inspiration, process, and how they secure that all important payday. Moderated by Gabrielle Reisman 4:00 pm Ruby Prize Staged Reading: NO MORE SAD THINGS by Hansol Jung (finalist). Directed by Laura Hope 7:00 pm GRANDE DAMES OF NEW ORLEANS by Greg Herren, based on his novel Dead Housewives of New Orleans. Directed by Aimée Hayes and featuring Janet Daley Duval, Peggy Scott Laborde, Nell Nolan, Trixie Minx, Francine Segal and more! 8:00 pm VIP Reception & Silent Auction with The Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival Saturday, January 11, 2014: 10:00 am Breakfast and a Ruby Prize Staged Reading: REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY by Jackie Sibblies Drury (finalist). Directed by Pamela Davis Noland 12:00 pm State of the Theatre Forum: "Beyond Grassroots: The Future of New Orleans Theatre." A discussion exploring the theatre ecology of our nation's finest theatre towns and how we might continue to grow our own. Featuring Aaron Carter, Literary Manager, Steppenwolf (Chicago), Andrea Hiebler, Artistic and Literary Coordinator, Lark Play Development Center (NYC), and Peter Sinn Nachtrieb, Playwright-in-Residence, Z Space and playwright of THE TOTALITARIANS (San Francisco). Moderated by Aimée Hayes 2:00 pm Ruby Prize Staged Reading: brownsville song (b
side for tray) by Kimber Lee (WINNER). Directed by Ashley Sparks 4:00 pm THE PANAMA LIMITED by Gabrielle Reisman. Directed by Will Davis 6:00 pm 6x6: SPLITTING THE NEUTRAL GROUND 8:00 pm FIVE X TENN: A unique curation of five scenes both famous and rare from Tennessee Williams-- from THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA to CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF to THE MUTILATED! 10:00 pm Toga Party at The Shadowbox with booze, beer and a live DJ to cap off the event! ABOUT THE NEW PLAY BACCHANAL: THE NEW PLAY BACCHANAL is a multi-faceted annual play festival that gathers local artists, playwrights, directors, and the theatre community together to exchange and produce ideas, and to encourage the development of new work, nurture local playwrights and support New Orleans' creative community at large. Presented by Southern Rep in partnership with the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival, THE NEW PLAY BACCHANAL will be hosted at the Marigny Opera House (with the exception of the Toga Party, hosted at The Shadowbox), January 10-11, 2014. TICKET INFORMATION: Ruby Prize Staged Readings: $5/reading THE PANAMA LIMITED: $5
6x6: SPLITTING THE NEUTRAL GROUND: $10 Ruby Playwright Masterclass Discussion: $10 THE GRANDE DAMES OF NEW ORLEANS: $20 FIVE BY TENN: $20 VIP Party (available at the door): $20 Toga Party (available at the door): $5 All-access pass (including VIP reception and Toga Party): $75 All-access pass (including VIP reception and Toga Party) for Southern Rep Priority Patrons: $60 Both individual event tickets* and all-access passes will be sold at the door and available for advanced purchase beginning Wednesday, December 18, 2013 at southernrep.com *excepting individual VIP party tickets and Toga Party tickets ABOUT THE TENNESSEE WILLIAMS/NEW ORLEANS LITERARY FESTIVAL: The Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival is approaching its 28th annual celebration, which takes place March 19-23, 2014. The five-day event honors the legendary Tennessee Williams, his works, and literary life in the adopted city he called his "spiritual home" and features two days of master classes; a roster of lively discussions among distinguished panelists; celebrity interviews; theater, food and music events; a scholars' conference; short fiction, poetry and one-act play competitions; a breakfast book club; French Quarter literary walking tours; a book fair; and special evening events and parties. The programming schedule is still taking shape but some of the illustrious participants on board to share their diverse talents are: Dorothy Allison, Hilton Als, Alicia Anstead, Adrienne
Barbeau, John Freeman, Diane Ladd, Kiese Laymon, Laura Lippman, Julia Reed, Dani Shapiro, and many more. Theater events include a full production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, a Williams classic presented by The NOLA Project. "The Hotel Plays," a special opening event, features Williams' short plays set in hotel rooms. A collection of them will be performed in the historic Hermann-Grima House with the audience moving from room to room. Several blocks away, on Elysian Fields, award-winning Southern Repertory Theater will stage The Night of the Iguana, considered by many to be Williams' last great play. Most of the events take place in New Orleans' historic French Quarter. Sites providing generous support and hosting events include Hotel Monteleone, The Historic New Orleans Collection, Williams Research Center, Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre, Tableau Restaurant, Muriel's Jackson Square Restaurant, Palm Court Jazz Café, Hermann-Grima House, Beauregard-Keyes House, among others. ABOUT SOUTHERN REP: Southern Rep Theatre enters its 27th season as the region's preeminent professional theatre, producing bold world and regional premieres under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director, Aimée Hayes. Southern Rep's Mainstage Season work also includes the best of Broadway, off-broadway and classic plays, and its Lagniappe Series DEBAUCHERY!, 6x6, 3x3, and Pints and Plays reflect the company's ongoing commitment to new play development. Southern Rep's innovative "school to stage" arts education programs, YONOLA and AcademySRT, serve as a pipeline for New Orleans' students and youth interested in pursuing their creative ambitions, and The Ruby Prize, a new play award (named in honor of civil rights veteran Ruby Bridges that honors women of color playwrights) supports a more diverse theatre community. This year's Mainstage Season is being
presented "on the road," with each production presented at a different venue to offer a more all-engrossing event experience for audience members. It includes 33 VARIATIONS at the Contemporary Arts Center, PRIDE & PREJUDICE at Ursuline Academy, the National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere of THE TOTALITARIANS at Mid-City Theatre, and THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA at The Art Klub. Southern Rep is also working to keep theatre as accessible as possible by providing senior discounts, free student matinees, $10 student rush tickets, discounts for theatre professionals, a Blue Star Network discount for military families, and a "pay what you can" night to keep its productions affordable for New Orleanians of every income level. "Southern Rep continues to show that it is staging the most important, challenging, and downright mesmerizing pieces of theater New Orleans audiences are graced to experience." - The Times-Picayune ###