The Artist Co-Op to Workshop New Plays By Christin Eve Cato, SMJ, and Dave Osmundsen

The Artist Co-Op is set to present three 29-Hour Workshops of new work by the first cohort of resident playwrights Christin Eve Cato, SMJ, and Dave Osmundsen. The three playwrights have spent the last 6 months developing new work in TAC's first New Play residency, the Cold Read Residency. The three-day series of presentations will feature full-length readings of Osmundsen's The Wonderful Out There, SMJ's yo ho. (a pirate play about anne bonny and mary read), and Cato's O.K.!. While all wholly original and uniquely their own work, each piece confronts the dark corners of today's society in their own vibrantly imaginative ways. These workshops will be presented at The Chain Theatre over the course of three days from October 13th through October 15th, 2022, as The Artist Co-Op's Second Annual Cold Read: Development Series. All readings begin at 7:30pm and are attended by reservation only, by emailing coldread@theartistco-op.com.

 

The plays are the product of the first residency organized by The Artist Co-Op. The inaugural residency has been led by Steph Miller, actress and founder of the Cold Read program, alongside actor and writer Robert Riley French and actor and writer Frank Murdocco. French and Murdocco's plays were both workshopped in last year's Development Series. Of the work, the three said "We have been so floored by the wealth of talent these playwrights brought to this year's residency. It has been nothing short of a privilege to watch them create work that is so prescient, vital, and all around captivating."

The Second Annual Cold Read: Development Series kicks off on Thursday, October 13th with Dave Osmundsen's The Wonderful Out There directed by Allen MacLeod. The work follows four kids living in a group home for neurodivergent children- as they embark on their own journeys of personal discovery, they begin to uncover secrets of their own existence. When the home transforms into a liminal space, they are forced to confront the harrowing truth about their reality. Osmundsen's newest play comes on the heels of the world premiere and publication of his play, Light Switch. A graduate of the Arizona State University MFA playwriting program, Osmundsen's work has been workshopped or produced by KCACTF Region 8, the Kennedy Center/NNPN MFA, Playwrights Workshop, Purple Crayon Players, B Street Theatre, the William Inge Theatre Festival, the Midwest Dramatists Conference, Phoenix Theatre Company, Clamour Theatre Company, Premiere Stages, amongst others. His plays have been published by or are forthcoming in The Dionysian, Canyon Voices, Exposition Review, Concord Theatricals, and Broadway Play Publishing. He earned an MFA from Arizona State University.

The series continues with SMJ's yo ho. (a pirate play about anne bonny and mary read) directed by Emily Bubeck on Friday, October 14th. Inspired by the lives of Anne Bonny and Mary Read, this reimagining and re-examination of the famous marauders investigates gender, queer love (both in behind closed doors and in public), role-playing, trust, and pirates. SMJ is an NYC-based, mixed-race, and Trans non-binary playwright, educator, and theatermaker, whose work will be seen in 2022 at Carnegie Mellon University, Fort Salem Theater, The Flea Theater, The Tank, The Chain Theatre, and The Artist Co-Op. Their work has been seen in various forms throughout the US and the UK including the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, The Workshop Theater, DR2 Theatre, Art House Productions, Access Theater, Fresh Ground Pepper, and the HMBG Foundation. SMJ is a resident artist with Ars Nova's CAMP, and has been a semifinalist for the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's National Playwrights Conference, the Princess Grace Award at New Dramatists, and the R&D Group as well as a finalist for the Doric Wilson Independent Playwright Award, and The 5th Avenue Theater's First Draft Commission. SMJ is a member of the Dramatists Guild and Ring of Keys.

The series closes out with Christin Eve Cato's O.K.!, directed by Brisa Ariel Mun?oz, on Saturday, October 15th. In this new work, three Latinas prepare for a bilingual performance of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma, playing at a regional theater in Oklahoma. When one of the women discovers she is pregnant, the three band together as they navigate a post-Roe America. In their dialogue comes revelations about their careers, their personal lives, and their relationship to a society that has become desperate to discount their own humanity. Christin Eve Cato is a playwright and performing artist from the Bronx. She holds an MFA in Playwriting from Indiana University and completed her BA in Political Science and Philosophy at Fordham University. Cato is also a graduate of Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School for Music and Art and the Performing Arts. She is affiliated with NYC theater companies, Pregones/PRTT (ensemble member & former Resident Dramaturg), INTAR Theatre (UNIT 52 ensemble member), and the Latinx Playwrights Circle. Cato's artistic style is expressed through Caribbean culture and the Afro-Latinx diaspora, honoring her Puerto Rican and Jamaican roots. Cato is also the 2020 Greater Good Commission recipient for Afro-Latinx writers and the 2021 ReImagine New Plays in TYA grant. She is a 2021-2022 PWC Core Apprentice Playwright. An aspiring screenwriter, she is currently represented by 3 Arts Entertainment. She is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild of America.

THE ARTIST CO-OP's mission is to create a thriving environment to nurture the innate multi-disciplinary nature of the artist community. TAC is a not-for-profit community and platform for artists, uniting all actors, directors, dancers, playwrights, musicians, and more with supportive programs and services. Founded in 2017 by Rachel Berger-Rosas, TAC was initially formed to provide creatives with workspace and community. Functioning out of Hell's Kitchen, by March of 2020, TAC had over 170 members. With the onset of the Covid-19 Pandemic, TAC shifted its focus to creating a virtual community of creatives in unprecedented times. Growing its member base to provide support to artists based in D.C., Wisconsin, California, Illinois and Alaska, among other states, TAC's nationwide community has continued to meet weekly, create, produce, and connect.

The Cold Read Series is TAC's flagship New Play Development program. Established in 2019 by TAC member Steph Miller, the program initially presented cold readings of new plays and development workshops written, performed, and directed by TAC members. Since March of 2020, the Cold Read Series has hosted weekly online development meetings among TAC writers and actors.