First Draft to Present SHE SAID/SHE SAID, 9/13 & 20

First Draft at Charter Theater - a nonprofit organization devoted to developing theater audiences alongside new plays; supporting local artists; and partnering with theaters looking to produce new work - announced today that it will present two readings of the new play, "She Said/She Said," by Rebecca Gingrich-Jones, a recent graduate of the Catholic University's graduate playwriting program. The play - which follows the story of two women locked in a battle over their marriage, their sexual identities and the custody of their child - was inspired by an actual child-custody case in Vermont.

"First Draft aims to play a role in introducing emerging Potomac-area playwrights to local audiences," said First Draft Artistic Director Leslie A. Kobylinski. "Many of the DC area's colleges and universities are producing rising artistic stars and we feel very fortunate when we can provide a platform to support their work and the starts of their professional careers."

The September First Draft readings will take place at 7 :30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 13, at Theater on the Run in Arlington; and at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 20,, at the Arts Club of Washington. Each reading is followed by a guided, post-show, audience discussion.

Rebecca Gingrich-Jones is a DC-area playwright whose plays have been produced locally at the Capital Fringe Festival and Active Cultures Theatre; and developed at the Kennedy Center Page to Stage Festival, the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, Theater J, and Young Playwrights, Inc. Her play "Asshole" was voted best of Theater Roulette 2004 at MadLab Theater in her hometown of Columbus, Ohio. Other plays of hers include "The Teacher's Lounge," "Accidental Activist," "The Furies," "Unforgivable," and the book and lyrics for "Singing Eggs and Spermless Babies." Rebecca has taught playwriting at Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School and Camp in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild and the Playwrights' Center. She received her MFA in Playwriting in 2011 from the Catholic University of America, and her BA in English from Oberlin College.

First Draft at Charter Theater is supported in part by Arlington County through the Cultural Affairs Division of the Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources and the Arlington Commission for the Arts. The First Draft Reading Series is also made possible in part by the warmth and generosity of the Drama Committee of the Arts Club of Washington, and The Share Fund of The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region. For more information, visit First Draft online at www.firstdraft.org.