ATC Awarded Grant From Edgerton Foundation

Jeffrey Hatcher's new play, Ten Chimneys, which was commissioned by Arizona Theatre Company, is a recipient of the 2010 Edgerton Foundation New American Plays Award. This grant will provide Arizona Theatre Company with financial resources for additional rehearsal time for the creative team. The world premiere production of Ten Chimneys will be directed by Arizona Theatre Company Artistic Director David Ira Goldstein, and will run in Tucson from January 22-February 12, 2011 and in Phoenix from February 17-March 6, 2011.

Ten Chimneys is a story of love, intrigue, romance and theatre. In the late 1930s, Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, the two most revered stars of the Broadway stage, decide to perform Chekhov's masterpiece The Sea Gull. But first they must retreat with their company to 'investigate' the play at Ten Chimneys, their legendary Wisconsin estate, where they are surrounded by actors, family and hangers-on. When a young actress named Uta Hagen arrives, a romantic triangle begins to mirror the events in Chekhov's play about passion and art. The result is a sweet, sad, funny and revealing look at the private lives of artists who are always on the stage.

This grant from The Edgerton Foundation will allow ATC to rehearse and develop Ten Chimneys in an exceptional way. Hosted by the Ten Chimneys Foundation, the artists will have extra rehearsal time in December 2010 at the Lunts former home in Genesee Depot, Wisconsin on the Ten Chimneys Estate as well as extra time in Arizona. In 2004 the Lunts' estate was formally dedicated as a National Historic Landmark. Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne are widely considered the greatest acting team in the history of American theatre. Summer after summer, the Lunts came to Ten Chimneys to retreat, relax, and rejuvenate. Because the Lunts were so widely loved and respected, "anyone who was anyone" in theatre, arts, and literature wanted to come to Ten Chimneys to be with and work with the Lunts. The estate, almost inevitably, became an important place for artistic creation, discussion, and inspiration. More than just the Lunts' home, Ten Chimneys was a home for the arts-literally and metaphorically.

Director David Ira Goldstein acknowledges, "In a very real way, the opportunity afforded us by the Edgerton grant could not be more fitting. Jeffrey Hatcher's Ten Chimneys is about the Lunts spending the summer at their estate in Wisconsin 'investigating' Chekhov's play, The Seagull, before facing the quick and sudden rigors of New York rehearsals. In the same way that the Lunts appreciated the need for time and space to "ripen" the work they were tackling, the Edgerton grant will allow the ATC artists the benefit of time for further rehearsal and investigation. Receiving this Edgerton grant will allow the artists and the creative team invaluable time to immerse themselves more fully in the world of the Lunts in the late 1930's and the themes of Jeffrey's play. It will add to the authenticity and veracity of the work."

The Edgerton Foundation New American Play Award began as a pilot program in 2006 with the Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles by offering plays in development an extended rehearsal period for the entire creative team. Those first two plays, Curtains and 13 both went on to successful runs on Broadway. Dr. Edgerton launched the program nationally in 2007 by funding 21 plays, continued in 2008 by supporting 23 plays, and in 2009 supported a record 27 plays. This year, 38 awards were granted to TCG member theatres across the country providing a grand total of $924,000.

Two other 2010 Edgerton recipients have connections to ATC. City Theatre Company (Pittsburgh, PA) received a grant for the play Louder, Faster by Jeffrey Hatcher and Eric Simonson, which was co-commissioned by Arizona Theatre Company and City Theatre; and Kitchen Dog Theater (Dallas, TX) for the play Ponzi, written by ATC's playwright-in-residence Elaine Romero.

For more information about the Edgerton Foundation New American Play Awards, visit www.tcg.org.

For more information about Arizona Theatre Company's 2010-2011 Season, including the world premiere of Ten Chimneys, visit www.arizonatheatre.org.

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