Playwrights Local Announces The Mac Wellman Homecoming Festival
Three-day celebration of the groundbreaking Cleveland-born playwright runs March 23 through 25, 2017, at Cleveland State University and secondary locations.
- Cleveland-Lorain-Elyria, OH (1888PressRelease) October 27, 2016 - Playwrights Local announces The Mac Wellman Homecoming Festival, a three-day celebration of the widely renowned, groundbreaking playwright who was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. Running March 23 through 25, 2017, the Festival provides long-overdue recognition of one of the city's most-lauded literary products. Most events are free and do not require reservations, and will be held at Cleveland State University, a major partner in the event. Playwrights Local proudly welcomes Mr. Wellman himself to the proceedings, thanks in part to funding provided by the Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts (NEOMFA) creative writing program. Complete information on the Festival can be found at http://www.playwrightslocal.org/.
As a playwright, Mac Wellman has been described as an "avatar of alternatives to the well-made play" (American Theatre) and "James Joyce reborn as a rap artist" (The New York Times). As a professor of playwriting, he has been praised by prominent former students as "a teacher who changed my life" (Annie Baker) who "explodes all the boundaries" (Sibyl Kempson) and "extends the limits of what's possible on stage" (Sarah Ruhl). He has received multiple Obie awards along with NEA, Guggenheim, and Rockefeller fellowships; had hundreds of productions in the U.S., U.K., Europe, and Asia; and founded one of the country's most prestigious Master of Fine Arts programs at Brooklyn College. The Festival is the first Cleveland-based event in honor of this tireless theatrical innovator, who moonlights as an accomplished writer of poetry and fiction.
The Mac Wellman Homecoming Festival features productions and readings of classic plays including Cleveland, Bitter Bierce, Harm's Way, and The Sandalwood Box. There will be a Q&A with the playwright, an exhibit of memorabilia, a panel discussion, and an open wrap party. Special sessions include Bad Scenes, a collection of short plays by local writers responding to a signature Wellman exercise. Additional partners for this event are Cleveland State University's Department of English and Michael Schwartz Library. Along with Playwrights Local, performers include Theater Ninjas, convergence-continuum, Baldwin Wallace University Department of Theatre and Dance, and Cleveland State University Department of Theatre and Dance. The Festival was curated by David Todd, Artistic Director of Playwrights Local in Cleveland.
"Playwrights Local was founded to raise the profiles of dramatists in Northeast Ohio," says Todd. "Drawing attention to the lineage of playwrights from the area is an important part of that. Mac Wellman is certainly one of the most influential playwrights of our time, having inspired so many others through his writing and sage-like encouragement. We're glad to finally showcase him here in Cleveland."
The Festival's primary locations will be Drinko Hall and the Michael Schwartz Library, both on the campus of Cleveland State University (2121 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH 44115). All events at those locations are free and open to the public, with no tickets or reservations required. Tickets for the March 25 performance of Harm's Way at The Liminus can be purchased through convergence-continuum at http://www.convergence-continuum.org/. A final gathering at The Tremont Tap House also will be free. Complete information, including a schedule and a Mac Wellman press pack, is available on the Festival website at http://playwrightslocal.org/mac-wellman-homecoming-festival/.
"Mac Wellman is the present-day experimental theatre's wily uncle," says Clyde Simon, Artistic Director of convergence-continuum theater in Cleveland. "His plays are roller-coaster rides across this strange landscape we call America, and the Mac Fest is a rare chance for us all to hop on."
Clyde Simon speaks as a veteran performer and director of Mac Wellman's works, dating back to his tenure at The Flea Theater in New York City, which Wellman co-founded. "Since coming to Cleveland, I've directed and acted in six Wellman plays at convergence-continuum," Simon reports. "I'm looking forward to directing Harm's Way in this festival. It's big, boisterous, provocative, unsettling, funny, and strange. In short: pure Mac."
FESTIVAL INFORMATION
WHAT
The Mac Wellman Homecoming Festival
WHO
Presented by Playwrights Local, in partnership with Cleveland State University and the NEOMFA Creative Writing Program. Featuring performances by Playwrights Local, Theater Ninjas, convergence-continuum, Baldwin Wallace University Department of Theatre and Dance, and Cleveland State University Department of Theatre and Dance.
WHEN
March 23 - 25, 2017
WHERE
Drinko Hall at Cleveland State University [Primary Location]
The Michael Schwartz Library at Cleveland State University
The Liminis
The Tremont Tap House
COMPLETE INFO
Festival website: http://playwrightslocal.org/mac-wellman-homecoming-festival/
EVENT LISTING
The Mac Wellman Homecoming Festival is a three-day celebration of groundbreaking Cleveland-born playwright Mac Wellman, widely recognized as among the most influential figures of the Off-Off-Broadway era. Mr. Wellman has authored dozens of plays, with productions in North America, England, Germany, China, and Japan. In addition, he is regarded as a significant teacher of playwriting, and has impacted many of today's most important writers as head of the Master of Fine Arts program at Brooklyn College. Mr. Wellman is a major figure in American letters and an essential presence in the lineage of playwrights from the Cleveland area.
The Mac Wellman Homecoming Festival is presented by Playwrights Local in partnership with Cleveland State University and the NEOMFA Creative Writing Program. The event features performances by Playwrights Local, Theater Ninjas, convergence-continuum, and Baldwin Wallace University's Department of Theatre and Dance. Special sessions include a Q&A with the playwright, an exhibit of memorabilia, and readings of short plays by local writers responding to a signature Wellman exercise. Most events are free and do not require reservations, and will be held at Cleveland State University.
ADMISSION
All events at Cleveland State University and The Tremont Tap House are free, with no tickets or reservations required. Tickets for the March 25 performance of Harm's Way at The Liminus can be purchased through convergence-continuum at http://www.convergence-continuum.org/.
ABOUT PLAYWRIGHTS LOCAL
Playwrights Local is a theater company based in Cleveland. Billed as a playwrights' center, the organization's goal is to provide a home base for novice and experienced dramatic writers in Northeast Ohio. They offer classes and workshops, produce original plays, provide professional development opportunities, and engage the community through site-specific projects. Tax-deductible contributions to this 501(c)(3) group can be made at Playwrights Local's website: http://playwrightslocal.org/donate/.
CONTACT
Tom Hayes
Managing Director
Playwrights Local
(216) 302-8856
hayes ( @ ) playwrightslocal dot org
FEATURED EVENTS
Exhibit: Damnable Artifacts: Production Memorabilia from the Plays of Mac Wellman
Ongoing Throughout Festival
Featuring set models, posters, programs, scripts, props, photos, postcards, T-shirts, and vintage reviews from productions spanning the career of playwright Mac Wellman. All items are original artifacts from the collections of lighting/set designer Kyle Chepulis and graphic designer David Prittie (both of the Flea Theater, NYC) and director/performer Clyde Simon (of convergence-continuum theater, Cleveland).
Production: Bitter Bierce (2003)
Written by Mac Wellman and directed by Christopher Johnston
Presented by Playwrights Local
Friday, March 24 at 8:00 pm
Saturday, March 25 at 3:30 pm
Journalist. War Veteran. Cynic. Author. Ambrose Bierce invites audiences into the depths of his eventful life, lacing his tale with his sarcastic definitions from "The Devil's Dictionary." Rich with history, humor, and tragedy, Bierce tells us the tumultuous story of his life and times, from his experiences in the Civil War and his newspaper career, to his travels and amusing run-ins with famous public figures.
Production: Harm's Way (1978)
Written by Mac Wellman and directed by Clyde Simon
Presented by convergence-continuum
Saturday, March 25 at 8:00 pm
"Harm's Way" takes place in a mythical American West where every action is more than it seems. These are the fantastical adventures of Santouche, a very angry person, as he attempts to make sense of his understanding of law and order in a world of other angry persons. The action does not unfold in any specific time or place. However, all the characters drink from the same poisoned well, which is recognizably American and western. The time might be anytime in the last seventy years, or even not impossibly in the next.
Production: The Sandalwood Box (1996)
Written by Mac Wellman and directed by Les Hunter
Presented by Baldwin Wallace University Department of Theatre and Dance
Friday, March 24 at 7:30 pm
Saturday, March 25 at 3:00 pm
Student Marsha Gates has lost her voice to the great Unseen, but on her way to speech therapy, she becomes entangled with Professor Claudia Marshall, a mysterious collector of catastrophes. This surreal and unsettling short explores themes of trauma and violence inside a fantastical world that is at once familiar and strange.
Staged Reading: Cleveland (1986)
Written by Mac Wellman and directed by Allan Byrne
Presented by Cleveland State University Department of Theatre and Dance
Thursday, March 23 at 7:30 pm
In the heady days before her prom, young Joan finds it hard to concentrate on anything but the upcoming dance, even as the front porch falls off her house and her mother struggles to unclog the kitchen sink. But soon, their relatively normal lives begin unraveling into alien territory, as Joan makes some startling discoveries about her family and the world.
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