The Farm Theater Presents 7TH AND 11TH DIMENSIONS, Announce College Collaboration, Tonight

The Farm Theater will launch its innovative programming Wednesday, January 15, 2014 at The Wild Project (195 East 3rd Street, New York City). The event will present Brian Luna's award-winning solo show 7th and 11th Dimensions followed by the announcement of the company's College Collaboration project.

Named after baseball's farm system that develops new talent into Major League prospects, The Farm Theater cultivates artists, companies, and projects through workshops, productions and mentoring. The company has partnered with three colleges-Centre College in Danville, Kentucky; Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts; and Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio-to commission emerging playwright Lindsay Joy (The Rise and Fall of a Teenage Cyberqueen) to write a play. In summer 2014, Ms. Joy's play will receive a workshop with professional actors, director, and dramaturge. During the following school year (2014-2015), each university will independently produce the play. The process will be documented on a blog hosted by Indie Theater Now, which will also publish the play upon completion of the process.

The university partners are committed to this program which offers their students a rare exchange with a playwright and insight into the play development process.

"Our partnership with The Farm Theater provides us not only with high-level writing to work with but access to the playwright throughout the process," ravEd Matthew R. Hallock, Chair of Centre College of Kentucky's Dramatic Arts Program. "This kind of opportunity is nearly unheard of at the undergraduate level. We are very excited to throw our energies into this program.This is a possible game-changer for the education we offer our students."

Gino Dilorio of Clark University stated, "Clark University is committed to the development of undergraduate and professional playwrights and this is an important step in that process. We're looking forward to working with Padraic Lillis and playwright Lindsay Joy on this initiative."

Professor Scott Hudson at Ashland University believes this opportunity to be a great opportunity for all participants-the universities, The Farm Theater and playwright Ms. Joy. "This collaboration conducts our students and faulty with a community of talented emerging and established theatre artists in New York City," he explained, "as well as with other developing theatre students and research faculty at Clark University and Centre College. "

Tickets to tonight's event, January 15th, are free and available on a first come, first served basis. Reservations may be made at info@thefarmtheater.org. For more information on The Farm Theater, visit www.thefarmtheater.org.

Playwright Lindsay Joy was born and bred on the mean streets of rural New Hampshire and has since become a Brooklyn transplant. She is a proud graduate of the University of New Hampshire, and currently serves as Co-Artistic Director to the Award Winning LabRats Theater Company in New York City.

The Rats production of her full length play, The Rise and Fall of a Teenage Cyberqueen, garnered two New York Innovative Theatre Awards Including Outstanding Premiere Production of a Play and Outstanding Director for Padraic Lillis. Her new play, In the Family Way, was workshopped at Labyrinth's Intensive Ensemble in the Spring of 2013. Lindsay is a finalist for the Heideman Award at the Actor's Theatre of Louisville for her short play Travelin' Show. Her play, The Unearthing, was a part of the newTACTics festival in the summer of 2012 and was presented in the GroundUP New Works Festival the winter of that same year. Vertigo Theater Company has produced two readings of Lindsay's work, Severance and The Cleaners (a part of COLLAB). She frequently works with aMios Theater company for their monthly short play bonanza, SHOTZ, at the Theatre Under St. Marks. Her short pieces have been seen all over the country- from the Bowery Poetry Club to the Boston Playwright's Theater. Her collaborative piece The Apartment: a Play with Four Sides was featured in the 2011 New York International Fringe Festival. In 2001, Lindsay won the award for best short play at the Kennedy Center's American College Theater Festival for her piece Life, Love and a 7-11.

For the past ten years, artistic director Padraic Lillis has been dedicated to the development of new plays, artists, and companies. A few of the plays that he has worked on from inspiration to production are Lindsay Joy's Rise and Fall of the Cyberqueen (Awarded New York Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Director and Outstanding Production), Lee Kaplan's award winning solo show Bully (awarded NY International Fringe Festival's Overall Excellence Award for Directing), Scott Hudson's play Sweet Storm, Adina Taubman's award winning solo show A Line in the Sand (a docudrama based on the school shootings at Columbine), and he directed the premiere production of Spare Change Productions, The Dirty Talk at Center Stage, New York (nominated for New York Innovative Theatre Awards, including Outstanding Director), As a playwright he has been produced nationally. His play Two Thirds Homeis published by Dramatists Play Services, his solo show How to Survive Crack Addiction is published by Indie Theater Now, and Lights Up on the Fade Out was awarded top 10 plays of 2011 in L.A. He has taught his play development workshop since 2009, and is an adjunct professor with NYU's Department of Dramatic Writing. He helped design and has overseen the education program for LAByrinth Theater Company. Padraic was awarded the Dayton Hudson Distinguished Artist Fellowship to be in residence at Carlton College.

He is a Founding Partner of Creation IN Common, a consulting organization for nonprofits, that strengthens communities through shared creativity. Creation IN Common designed and delivered training on how to build participation in the arts for all of the arts organization of Minnesota when the MSAB was awarded a Statewide Audience Development Grant from the Lila Wallace Foundation. Padraic and Creation IN Common, with The McKnight Foundation, authored BRIGHT STARS:Charting the impact of arts on rural Minnesota! a research report which was awarded the Wilmer Shields Rich Silver Award for Excellence in Communication by the Council on Foundations. He served on the board of Obie Award-winning Vampire Cowboys, and is currently an advisor to LabRats Theater Company and Vertigo Theater. He is a graduate of SUNY New Paltz and a life long Yankee fan.