PlayPenn to Present New Readings by Thomas Gibbons & Willy Holtzman, 7/22-23

PlayPenn is pleased to announce two additional events for its 2013 Conference, readings of works-in-progress by playwrights Thomas Gibbons (Uncanny Valley) and Willy Holtzman (The First Mrs. Rochester) on Monday, July 22 and Tuesday, July 23, respectively. These works are presented in addition to the public readings of the six plays receiving the full resources of PlayPenn's 2013 Conference, which are scheduled for July 25-28. Both playwrights will benefit from hearing their plays read before a live audience, which will inform the future evolution of their scripts.

"This year we identified two plays by writers who are familiar to us and who will benefit immeasurably from a public reading of their work," said Artistic Director, Paul Meshejian. Philadelphia-basEd Thomas Gibbons is the author of 6221, Bee-Luther-Hatchee, Black Russian and Permanent Collection, among others. Willy Holtzman's other work includes The Closer, Bovver Boys, Sabina, Hearts, Something You Did, and G.O.B, which was one of the featured plays at PlayPenn's 2012 Conference.

Other playwrights who have been offered readings of works-in-progress at past Conferences include Bruce Graham (Any Given Monday, The Outgoing Tide), Seth Rozin (Two Jews Walk Into a War), Deborah Margolin (Imagining Madoff), Willy Holtzman (The Morini Strad), and others.

The chosen playwrights are provided with 5-10 hours of rehearsal time with a professional director and professional actors from the Philadelphia theatre community, and given dramaturgical assistance. The process culminates in a public staged reading.

Uncanny Valley by Thomas Gibbons, will be read on Monday, July 22 at 7:30pm. Willy Holtzman's The First Mrs. Rochester will be read on Tuesday, July 23 at 7:30pm. Both readings take place at the Adrienne Theatre, 2030 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19103.

More information about the 2013 Conference, including a calendar of events, is available on our website, www.playpenn.org.

PlayPenn is an artist-driven organization dedicated to improving the way in which new plays are developed. Employing an ever-evolving process, PlayPenn creates a relaxed tension within which playwrights can engage in risk-taking, boundary-pushing work free from the pressures of commercial consideration. As a non-profit organization PlayPenn is made possible through the generous support of individuals as well as by substantial support from, among others, the Wyncote Foundation, the William Penn Foundation, the Dramatists Guild Fund, the Samuel S. Fels Fund, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the Philadelphia Cultural Fund, and The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage through the Philadelphia Theatre Initiative, and the Shubert Foundation.

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