Seven Devils Playwrights Conference Announces 2015 Writers; Runs 6/8-20

Five playwrights from across the country have been selected to develop and present their plays as part of the 15th Seven Devils Playwrights Conference. These writers, selected from over 450 open submissions are: Robert Caisley, who will also serve as the 2015 Conference's Featured Playwright with his play The Open Hand, Jennifer Blackmer with her play Unraveled, Bernadine Cockey with her play Relative Madness, J. Joseph Cox with his play Koalas and Sara Jean Accuardi with her play <3.

The Conference, a project of id Theater, will take place June 8-20 in McCall, Idaho. Since 2001, the Conference has developed more than 140 new plays by some of the most exciting voices in American Theater, including Sam Hunter (The Whale), Eric Coble (The Velocity of Autumn), Kimber Lee (brownsville song: b-side for tray) and Tom Coash (Veils).

Plays developed at Seven Devils have gone on to Broadway and to theaters all over the country including Playwrights Horizons, Long Wharf Theater, Actors Theater of Louisville, Denver Center Theater, South Coast Rep, Roundabout Underground, Trinity Rep, Barrington Stage Company, Chicago's Gift Theater, Montana Rep and Boise Contemporary Theater among others; have garnered awards such as M. Elizabeth Osborn Award (Veils by Tom Coash), The John Gassner Playwriting Award (Faith by James McLindon), The Woodward/Newman Drama Award (Lemonade by Mark Krause), and the ACTF/Kennedy Center National Student Playwriting Award (In the Sawtooths by Dano Madden).

The writers will come together with actors, directors and dramaturgs from around the country to develop and present their work at McCall's Alpine Playhouse. The Conference will also include readings of work by local writers, a workshop for local high school students and free workshop hosted by Robert Caisley who is a Professor of Theatre and Head of Dramatic Writing at the University of Idaho. His play Happy was seen across the country in 2012/2013 as a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere.

"This is an exceptional group of writers," says id co-Artistic Director Sheila McDevitt. "We're looking forward to a very special Conference!"

All Conference events are free and open to the public at all times. More information about schedules, events and travel can be found at: www.idtheater.org/this-years-conference.html.

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHTS:

Robert Caisley (The Open Hand) is Professor of Theatre and Head of Dramatic Writing at the University of Idaho. His latest play Lucky Me is being produced this season at New Jersey Repertory Theatre, Curious Theatre in Denver, Riverside Theatre in Iowa City, 6th Street Playhouse in Santa Rosa, CA, Oregon Contemporary Theatre, and The Modern Theatre in Spokane. His play Happy, first presented at the 2011 National New Play Network Annual Showcase of New Plays at InterACT Theatre in Philadelphia, was a 2012 Finalist for both the prestigious Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center's New Play Conference and the Woodward/Newman Award for Drama at Bloomington Playwrights Project, and was selected for a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere in the 2012/2013 season at New Theatre (Miami, FL), Montana Repertory Theatre (Missoula, MT), 6th Street Playhouse (Santa Rosa, CA), New Jersey Repertory and Redtwist Theatre (Chicago, IL) where it was named by Chicago Magazine as one of the "Nine Best Comedies" of the season. Happy was nominated for a 2014 Bay Area Critics Circle Award for Best Original Script and won the 2014 SOTA Award for Best Play in Northern California, and the 2014 BroadwayWorld New Jersey Theatre Award for Best New Work. His brand new play, The Open Hand, has been commissioned by the Clarence Brown Theatre in Knoxville, TN where it will premiere in the Spring of 2016.

Jennifer Blackmer (Unraveled) is a playwright based in the Midwest, and Associate Professor of Theatre and Director of Immersive Learning at Ball State University. Her plays have been seen in New York, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Berkeley and St. Louis, and include Human Terrain (The Lark, Mustard Seed Theatre, 5th Wall Theatre, IAMA Theatre Company), Unraveled (Theatre Unbound, Tennessee Repertory Theatre Ingram New Works Lab), Alias Grace (Illinois Shakespeare Festival) and Delicate Particle Logic (Indra's Net, The Playwrights' Center, CUNY Graduate Center, NYC). Unraveled was recently honored with second place in ATHE's Excellence in Playwriting Competition, and was also named one of the ten best productions in the Twin Cities in 2013 by Lavender Magazine. Her work has been a finalist for the David Charles Horn Prize for Emerging Playwrights (Yale Drama Competition), the Fratti-Newman Political Play Contest, the Firehouse Festival of New American Theatre, and The O'Neill National Playwrights' Conference. Jennifer has been a semi-finalist for both the Princess Grace Award and the Shakespeare's Sister Fellowship. She is currently developing Human Terrain as a motion picture with B Powered Films in Los Angeles. Recent directing credits include the American premiere of Lost: A Memoir at Indiana Repertory Theatre, and numerous productions at Ball State University. Visit Jennifer's website at www.jenniferblackmer.com.

Sara Jean Accuardi's (<3) plays have been read, workshopped, and developed at Portland Center Stage, Victory Gardens, Chicago Dramatists, Northwestern University, and through Remy Bumppo Theatre Company. Her plays That Water Moment and Portrait of the Widow Kinski have been featured in the JAW Playwright's Festival at Portland Center Stage, and her play Love Scenes was produced as part of the Fertile Ground City-Wide Festival of New Works in 2012. She holds an MFA in Writing for the Screen and Stage from Northwestern University.

Bernadine Cockey (Relative Madness) spends two weeks each June working with the Seven Devils Playwright Conference in McCall where she has been selected twice as a featured playwright. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America, the International Centre for Women Playwrights, and the Idaho Writers Guild. Her play, A Question of Grace was produced at Boise State University; A Little Time in the Fall was presented at the Playwrights Showcase in Denver; Night Among the Hunters was awarded a Writer's Digest Playwriting Prize. She lives in Boise, Idaho where she works as Prop Master for Boise Contemporary Theater, and Assistant Prop Master for the Idaho Shakespeare Festival.

J. Joseph Cox's (Koalas) plays and screenplays have been produced and developed throughout the US and the UK. His full-length plays include Thirst (Cold Basement Dramatics), St. Paulie's Delight (Finalist Dayton Playhouse's FutureFest, Semi-Finalist National Playwrights Conference, Great Plains Theatre Conference), and Koalas (Little Festival of the Unexpected, Something Marvelous Fest, Finalist National Playwrights Conference). His one-act plays include A Very Busy Man and The 800 Pound Gorilla, both produced by The Artistic Home Studio in Chicago. He recently finished post-production for the film adaptation of A Very Busy Man. He is a graduate of the Second City Writing Program, a former Artist-In-Residence with the Jamestown (N.D.) Arts Center and is currently a Network Playwright with Chicago Dramatists and a member of the Dramatists Guild of America.

 

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