Playwrights Foundation Announces the 2nd Annual SF One-Minute Play Fest

Playwrights Foundation (PF) today announced the second annual SF One-Minute Play Festival (SF OMPF), a two-day event on December 17 & 18, 2011 showcasing the talents of 32 Bay Area playwrights, along with the region's leading directors and actors. Each of the 32 participating playwrights was chosen from among the local community by the Playwrights Foundation, and has been paired with top-notch local director and cast of actors who all offer their talents and skills to craft a fast and furious evening of more than 70 one-minute plays commissioned specifically for the festival.

The SF OMPF is a partnership with the New York based One-Minute Play Festival, led by Dominic D'Andrea, who has built a wildly popular, and unique template that he has replicated in theaters throughout the country including Boston at Boston Playwrights' Theatre, New York at Primary Stages, Chicago at The Tony Award- Winning Victory Gardens Theatre and most recently, Los Angeles at Cornerstone Theater. Mr. D'Andrea attests to the strength of the Bay Area's theater community: "I believe the Bay Area has one of the strongest, tightest, most unique artistic cultures of any city in the country, and the dialogue from last year's festival is still continuing. It's been a blast."

Reflecting on the ever-evolving trends of the new play movement, PF Artistic Director Amy Mueller muses that "The OMPF seems to be a part of a growing National movement in the theater to create self-sustaining, multi-city theater by and for its community - all connected by a singular leading voice. Similar to Erik Ehn's Soulographie Cycle, Dominic D'Andrea and the OMPF brings artists together in a meaningful way unique to each community it reaches."

As the most comprehensive New Play Development lab on the West Coast, Playwrights Foundation is uniquely positioned to produce the SF OMPF. Playwrights Foundation Festival Producer Jill MacLean affirms, "The opportunity to partner with the One-Minute Play Festival allows us to connect to a National explosion of new voices and new theater, as well as expand our circle of Bay Area playwrights to celebrate the extraordinary talent in our community." PF's Artistic Director, Amy Mueller adds: "The One Minute Play Festival galvanizes the community, audiences and artists, in a unique evening that celebrates the talent of local writers."

The 2011 SF OMPF Playwrights include:
Trevor Allen, Crish Barth, Tim Bauer, Erin M. Bregman, Eugenie Chan, Christopher Chen, Anthony Clarvoe, Megan Cohen, Bennett Fisher, Elizabeth Gjelten, Philip Kan Gotanda, Garret Jon Groenveld, Lauren Gunderson, Daniel Heath, Joan Holden, Robert Henry Johnson, Aaron Loeb, Jonathan Luskin, Patricia Milton, Marisela Treviño Orta, Evelyn Jean Pine, Kenn Rabin, Geetha Reddy, Kate E. Ryan, Andrew Saito, Steven M. Salzman, Marissa Skudlarek, Michael Gene Sullivan, Tom Swift, Brian Thorstenson, Steve Yockey & Ignacio Zulueta.

The 2011 OMPF Directors include:
Jessica Heidt, Jon Lowe, Jill MacLean, Evren Odcikin, Ben Randle & Christine Young.

About the One-Minute Play Festival
The One-Minute Play Festival (OMPF) is an NYC-based theatre company, founded by director/dramaturg Dominic D'Andrea, working in partnership with institutional theaters and collectives across the country who share playwright or community-specific missions. OMPF creates local playwright-focused community events, using a specific playmaking process, with the goal of promoting the spirit of radical inclusion by representing the culture of playwrights of different age, gender, race culture, and points of career. OMPF attempts to reflect the theatrical landscape of local artistic communities by creating a dialogue between the collective conscious and the individual voice.

OMPF has partnered with theaters in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, New Brunswick, Atlanta, South Florida, Boston, and New York, where it is now an annual tradition, and will be partnering with theaters in up to ten cities this season.

Since 2007, OMPF has commissioned and produced close to 1,000 new one-minute plays by close to 300 playwrights using a specific playmaking methodology and process developed for this work.*

Notable OMPF Alumni include: David Henry Hwang, Neil LaBute, Tina Howe, Rajiv Joseph, Kristoffer Diaz, Lisa Loomer, Donald Margulies, Jason Grote, Mike Daisey, Erik Ehn, Michael John Garces, Rachel Axler, Elizabeth Meriwether, Migdalia Cruz, Qui Nguyen, Craig Lucas, Michael Hollinger, and others.

About Playwrights Foundation
Founded in 1976 by RoBert Woodruff, the Playwrights Foundation is now recognized as one of the top new play development centers in the country, and the only one of its size and scope on the West Coast, serving writers at all levels of career placement and artistic maturity. Through our programs we actively nurture and support exceptional contemporary playwrights at every stage of a play's development and help them forge connections to producers. Our mandate is to offer a full range of programs that provide multiple points of entry for a diverse range of playwrights--at a low cost or free of charge--so they can readily access our services; take advantage of our expertise, resources, and connections across the nation; and learn from their artistic peers.

For three decades we have discovered and supported over 300 writers who have gone on to infuse the American theater with vitality, innovation and relevance. Our award-winning alumni, first discovered early in their careers, include Sam Shepard, Philip Kan Gotanda, Amy Freed, Anne Galjour, Octavio Solis, John OKeefe, Mac Wellman, Brighde Mullins, Bill Irwin, Migdalia Cruz, Anna Deaveare Smith, Paula Vogel, Maria Irene Fornes, David Henry Hwang, Naomi Iizuka, Brian Thorstenson, Claire Chafee, Prince Gomolvilas, Liz Duffy Adams, Christine Evans, Marcus Gardley, Sheila Callaghan, and Pulitzer Prize winner Nilo Cruz, among many others.

To learn more about the One-Minute Play Festival and the Playwrights Foundation, visit the Playwrights Foundation website at http://playwrightsfoundation.org/.