THE HUNTINGTON LAUNCHES WINTER NEW PLAY INTENSIVE, EMPOWERING BOLD VOICES AND NEW STORIES
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Gabrielle Jaques, Publicist
617-273-1520
Free event registration HERE
THE HUNTINGTON LAUNCHES WINTER NEW PLAY INTENSIVE, EMPOWERING BOLD VOICES AND NEW STORIES
In December 2024, The Huntington will host public readings and open rehearsals, as well as closed-door play development activities, featuring work by seasoned and emerging theatre makers
(BOSTON) – The Huntington announces the bold launch of The Winter New Play Intensive, a new work development series where writers, theatre makers, and other performance artists convene and collaborate on new projects. Select readings and open rehearsals will be open to the public and take place in December 2024 at either Deane Hall in the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA (527 Tremont St) or the Maso Studio at the Huntington Theatre (264 Huntington Ave).
During this focused time, The Huntington will be developing recent commissions, bringing writers to work in mini-residencies, and making new artistic relationships on projects that the theatre is considering for future production. The intensive is designed for cross-pollination between artists: a writer may be hearing their brand-new play for the first time while somewhere else in the building, another artist is preparing a production draft. Artists are encouraged to interact when possible and, in many cases, to support and see each other’s work in rehearsal.
“Having all kinds of artists in the building has tremendous power and, in this first year of this new intensive at The Huntington, we are focusing on risk, imagination, and epic modern stories,” says Huntington Artistic Director Loretta Greco. “What makes a play resonate now? How can we commune with artists and make the space for their work to grow and gestate and take the next step — whether they are generating new material for the first time or continuing a process that started years ago? We are thrilled to be joined by each of these extraordinary artists, and hope you will come hear their work in a public reading or open rehearsal.”
The Winter New Play Intensive’s public events will feature works by playwrights John Kolvenbach (Stand Up If You’re Here Tonight at The Huntington), Mahira Kakkar, and Lenelle Moïse (K-I-S-S-I-N-G at The Huntington, winner of the 2023 Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding New Script). Private development activities will involve playwrights and creatives including Huntington Artistic Director Loretta Greco, director Danilo Gambini, dramaturg Karina Gutierrez, playwright Joshua Harmon (Prayer for the French Republic at The Huntington), playwright Melinda Lopez (Mala, Becoming Cuba, and Sonia Flew at The Huntington), dramaturg Amrita Ramanan, and playwright Lloyd Suh (The Heart Sellers at The Huntington).
Supporting playwrights’ voices in the creative ecosystem and empowering seasoned and acclaimed creatives to take risks are core pillars of The Huntington’s mission to encourage theatre makers who innovate and generate incredible storytelling. This new intensive will provide space, opportunities, and resources to celebrate and amplify important voices, and it solidifies The Huntington’s role as a vibrant hub for creativity and a leader in shaping the future of theatre in Greater Boston and beyond. The Winter New Play Intensive’s public events are free to attend, and the dates fit squarely into The Huntington’s robust 24-25 season, ensuring that audiences have ample opportunity to attend and celebrate this crucial process of theatre craft without missing out on the rest of the season’s offerings.
ABOUT THE PUBLIC READINGS AND REHEARSALS
Tuesday, December 10, 2024 at 7pm, Deane Hall, Calderwood Pavilion
Reading of Aunt Jo
written and directed by John Kolvenbach (playwright and director of Stand Up If You’re Here Tonight)
Both of Jo’s brothers are a mess, her mother is losing it, and Jo’s charge, her eighteen-year-old nephew, has fallen dangerously in love. And it’s Christmas. Olivier Award-nominated playwright John Kolvenbach is back at The Huntington with a brand new play after the acclaimed 2023 production of Stand Up If You’re Here Tonight. Aunt Jo beautifully explores our desperate need for intimacy, the janky harmony of family, and our stumbling attempts to show up for one another.
Monday, December 16, 2024 at 7pm, Deane Hall, Calderwood Pavilion
Reading of Draupadi
written and performed by Mahira Kakkar
performer/Singer: Sara Haider
dramaturgy by Amrita Ramanan
directed by Danilo Gambini
Performer and writer Mahira Kakkar reimagines a powerful thread of the Mahabharata, the ancient South Asian epic of feuding royal families. Draupadi — a woman born from fire and never asked what she wants — navigates a life where she is given to five husbands and gambled away in a game of dice. In this retelling, she takes control of her story, boldly claiming her own desires. In the first of a series exploring frequently overlooked Mahabharata characters, Kakkar creates a searing, sensuous, and funny portrait of what it means to be human in an often inhumane world.
Thursday December 19, 2024 at 7pm, Maso Studio, The Huntington Theatre
Open rehearsal with Lenelle Moïse (Elliot Norton Award-winning playwright of K-I-S-S-I-N-G)
With loop machines and a laptop, playwright Lenelle Moïse composes a story and sound collage inspired by the femme saints of Haitian Vodou. How will the audience be a part of the action? You’re invited to an open rehearsal to join her choir and find out! Be ready to hum and tune in as Moïse creates new characters for a hybrid theatre piece celebrating the spirits of love, strength, pleasure, departure, and destiny.
ABOUT THE CLOSED-DOOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES
Joshua Harmon (Tony-nominated playwright of Prayer for the French Republic) will be in residence finishing the second act of his new play.
Melinda Lopez (Elliot Norton Award-winning playwright of Mala, Becoming Cuba, and Sonia Flew) will continue work on a contemporary translation of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night through Play On with dramaturg Karina Gutierrez. In December, she’ll be working on honing a production script by making cuts for the first time and shaping a new streamlined draft.
Playwright Carmen Pelaez and director Loretta Greco will continue work on Tiga, a Miami-set adaptation of the Greek classic, Antigone.
Lloyd Suh (Steinberg/ATCA Award-winning playwright of The Heart Sellers) will hear the very first draft of his new play Three Bears, a co-commission between The Huntington and Manhattan Theatre Club. In 2023, The Huntington produced an acclaimed staging of Lloyd’s play The Heart Sellers — the final play of a series he created exploring Asian American history — and now he is turning his attention to the future.
Projects by Carmen Pelaez, Lloyd Suh, and Lenelle Moïse are all commissioned by The Huntington with the support of the Barr Foundation. Lloyd Suh is co-commissioned with Manhattan Theatre Club. Melinda Lopez is commissioned by The Huntington with additional support from the Hitz Foundation and Play On Shakespeare.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Danilo Gambini is the Associate Artistic Director at Studio Theatre in Washington, DC. Gambini is a native of São Paulo, Brazil, and received acclaim for directing the one-person show, Ni Mi Madre, at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. The production was nominated for a Drama Desk Award, a Drama League Award, and an Outer Critics Award and was selected as a New York Times Critic’s Pick and a TheaterMania Editor’s Pick. Danilo has worked as both a director of opera and musical theatre, and as a casting director for film and television in Brazil before entering the directing program at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale.
Karina Gutierrez is a Latinx director, scholar, and performing arts consultant in the Bay Area. An assistant professor at UC Berkeley, her work focuses on the intersection of politics and performance, with a concentration on how digital interventions, institutionalization efforts and historical narrative have affected the development and sustainability of social and politically engaged performance companies and collectives throughout the Americas. Gutierrez earned her doctorate in theatre and performance studies with a minor in feminist, gender, and sexuality studies from Stanford University in 2020, upon which she was awarded the Carl Webber Prize for integration of Creative Practice and Scholarly Research. Outside of academia, Gutiérrez works as an actor, director, and dramaturgist throughout the Bay Area, in addition to co-founding BALTAN, or the Bay Area Latino Theatre Alliance Network.
Sara Haider is a singer and actor from Pakistan. She has received numerous awards and accolades in her home country and across South Asia. She has been performing on stage and screen since 2012 for audiences in Pakistan, Australia, India, Mexico, United States, Thailand, Hungary, and Sri Lanka to name a few; in several different languages and vocal styles. Recent credits include Attorney Wendy Stratford (Law & Order, Season 23), Kate Rolling (Partnership at Theater Row), and Meg (Hood The Musical at 42nd St Playhouse). Coke Studio S6/7/8, SZABIST BA Econ, Juilliard MFA. Represented by Mark Armstrong, Steve Caserta, and Katie Britton at BuchwaldNY/PrincipalLA.
Joshua Harmon’s plays include Bad Jews, Significant Other, Admissions, Skintight, and Prayer for the French Republic. He and Sarah Silverman co-wrote the libretto for The Bedwetter based on her memoir. His plays have been produced on Broadway and the West End; Off Broadway at Roundabout Theatre Company, Lincoln Center Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club, and Atlantic Theater Company; across the country at Geffen Playhouse, SpeakEasy Stage, Studio Theatre, Theater Wit, About Face, Actor’s Express, and The Magic, among others; and internationally in a dozen countries. He is a two-time MacDowell fellow, an Associate Artist at Roundabout, and a graduate of Juilliard.
Mahira Kakkar is a New York City-based actor who has worked in film, television, and theatre. Born in Kolkata, India, she is a proud graduate of Jadavpur University (B.A. English Literature, gold medal) and The Juilliard School’s Drama Division. Since then, she has appeared in numerous plays both in New York and around the world, and in many television shows and films. She is drawn to wit, humor, and physical and language-driven pieces. She speaks Hindi and English and is happy to call both the United States and India home. Mahira is also a dialect coach (specifically for Indian accents) and a writer.
John Kolvenbach is a playwright. His latest play, Stand Up If You’re Here Tonight premiered in LA, played at American Blues in Chicago, then in Paris, and at The Huntington in February of 2024. On the West End: Love Song (Olivier nomination, Best New Comedy, directed by John Crowley) and On an Average Day (with Woody Harrelson and Kyle MacLachlan, also directed by Mr. Crowley.) Love Song premiered at Steppenwolf in 2006, directed by Austin Pendelton. It has been produced in New York, Zurich, Melbourne, Sydney, Wellington, Seoul, and Rome. There have been over fifty productions in the U.S. Average Day was produced in Los Angeles by VS. (with Johnny Clark and Stef Tovar) and in Chicago by VS. and Route 66. Average Day has been produced in Tel Aviv, Buenos Aires, and Lisbon. Goldfish premiered at South Coast Repertory and then at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco, directed by Loretta Greco. The play was done in repertory with Mrs. Whitney, which was directed by the author. Reel to Reel received its premiere at the Magic. Sister Play received its premiere at The Harbor Stage Company and at the Magic, both productions directed by the author. Stand Up If You’re Here Tonight opened in the summer of 2021 at The Harbor Stage and, simultaneously, in Los Angeles with VS. and Circle X. The LA production went on to American Blues in Chicago and then to Paris. Other plays include: Fabuloso (Premiered at WHAT, subsequent productions in San Juan and Zurich, in Spanish and Swiss German), Bank Job (Amphibian Stages), and Marriage Play or Half ‘n Half ‘n Half (Merrimack Rep). Film: Clear Winter Noon, an original screenplay, was selected for the Blacklist. Kolvenbach has a new play, recently completed or nearly completed. It will be a family play, with seven characters in three acts.
Melinda Lopez was the inaugural playwright-in-residence at The Huntington, 2013-2019, as part of the Mellon Foundation’s National Playwright Residency Program. She is the recipient of the 2019 Mass Cultural Council Award in Dramatic Writing, and the 2019 Elliot Norton Award for sustained excellence celebrating her 20-year career as a playwright, performer, and educator. Huntington playwright credits include: Twelfth Night (current commission for Play On!); Black Beans Project, Mala (also: Arts Emerson, The Guthrie Theatre, Old Globe, and others, Elliot Norton Award, Best New Play) available on Audible in Spanish and English; Yerma (also University Illinois, Chicago); Becoming Cuba (also North Coast Rep); Sonia Flew (also: Steppenwolf, Coconut Grove Playhouse, the Contemporary American Theatre Festival, and many others, Elliot Norton Award, Best New Play); and Dream Boston. Melinda is a PROUD founding member of the Huntington Playwrights Fellows. Away from The Huntington, her most recent play Stir (Old Globe,) opened spring, 2024. Huntington acting credits: A Month in the Country, Persephone, The Rose Tattoo, Our Town, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. She has also been seen on many stages across Boston and the US. melindalopez.com
Lenelle Moïse is a poet, playwright, and screenwriter. She wrote the romantic comedy K-I-S-S-I-N-G (The Huntington), winner of the 2023 Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding New Script, a national finalist for the 2024 Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award, and an international finalist for the 2024 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Moïse wrote, composed, and co-starred in the critically acclaimed show Expatriate (Off Broadway, Culture Project). Her full-length script Merit won The Ruby Prize. The New Black Fest, National Black Theatre, and Baltimore Center Stage produced her short play San Francisco Cab. An accomplished solo performer, Moïse has been a guest artist at dozens of colleges and arts venues such as Poets House, Lincoln Center, the Norton Museum, and the International Museum of Women. Her book of poems, Haiti Glass, won the PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Literary Award. Her writing appears in POETRY Magazine and many anthologies, including Word Warriors: 35 Women Leaders in the Spoken Word Revolution. lenellemoise.com
Carmen Pelaez is a Cuban American playwright, actor, and filmmaker. Her work is usually inspired by her mercurial and surreal hometown, Miami. She is currently adapting her play, The Cuban Vote, into a screenplay as well as developing bilingual television series, Ventanita. Her essays have appeared in The New York Times, NBC Latino, and Marie Claire. Pelaez was awarded the 2020 Drama League Award for her work in 7 Deadly Sins. While at MacDowell, Pelaez worked on a new full-length play, Caridad, in which the staff of one of the last Cuban cafeterias in Miami is forced to come to terms with each other and the city they built when an employee who is undocumented is targeted by DHS. Caridad will premiere at Miami New Drama. Pelaez also worked on a short film based on the play Colada, which received an Ellie Award from Oolite Arts and was produced in 2024; and she completed a ten-minute play commission for the Museum Plays, which premiered at the Rubell Museum February of 2024.
Amrita Ramanan is a multidisciplinary artistic leader who holds the values of anti-racism, anti- colonialism, equity, access, diversity, and inclusion at the core of her practice. She formerly was the Director of Literary Development and Dramaturgy at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and wholistically supported new play commissioning and development for the Festival. She served as the production dramaturg for OSF’s productions of Cambodian Rock Band, Snow in Midsummer, Oklahoma!, As You Like It, Macbeth, Alice in Wonderland, Henry V, and Henry IV Parts 1 & 2; produced and curated the Black Swan Lab for New Play Development; and created the first-ever OSF Writer’s Group. Prior to OSF, Amrita was the Literary Manager/Artistic Associate at Arena Stage and, for three years, she was the Associate Producer and Resident Dramaturg at Double Edge Theatre. As a project-based dramaturg, Amrita’s credits include Sitayana by Lavina Jadhwani (East West Players, EnActe Arts, and Hypokrit Theatre Company) and BULL: a love story by Nancy García Loza (Paramount Theatre). Amrita received a BFA in Dramaturgy and Theatre History from the University of Arizona. She is a board member for the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americans and the Network of Ensemble Theaters.
TICKETS
Tickets are free with registration.
- online at huntingtontheatre.org
- by phone at 617-266-0800;
- or in person at the Huntington Theatre (264 Huntington Ave) or Calderwood Pavilion (527 Tremont Street)
The Huntington asks that any patron experiencing illness stay home and contact ticketing services for more information about exchanges.
MEMBERS OF THE MEDIA
Any members of the media who are interested in speaking with the artists of the Winter New Play Intensive, please contact Publicist Gabrielle Jaques at gjaques@huntingtontheatre.org or 617-273-1520.
ABOUT THE HUNTINGTON
Celebrating over 40 years of outstanding theatre, The Huntington is Boston’s theatrical commons and leading professional theatre company. On our stages and throughout our city, we share enduring and untold stories that spark the imagination of audiences and artists and amplify the wide range of voices in our community.
Under the leadership of Norma Jean Calderwood Artistic Director Loretta Greco and Executive Director Christopher Mannelli, The Huntington is committed to welcoming broad and diverse audiences, provides life- changing opportunities for students through its robust education and community programs, is a national leader in the development of playwrights and new plays, has acted as the host organization for a multi-year residency of The Front Porch Arts Collective, a Black theatre company based in Boston, and serves the local arts community through our operation of The Huntington Calderwood/BCA.
The Huntington reopened the historic Huntington Theatre in fall of 2022 after its transformational renovation, and is currently in phase two of the project; the renovation and building project of this storied venue with a bold vision for the future will allow us to innovatively expand our services to audiences, artists, and the community for generations to come. For more information, visit huntingtontheatre.org.
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