SONG FOR THE DISAPPEARED and More Set for Goodman Theatre's 2012 NEW STAGES AMPLIFIED, 12/8-23

Five new plays (two fully staged workshop productions performed in repertory plus three staged readings) comprise Goodman Theatre's free 2012 New Stages Amplified in the Owen Theatre, a series that since 2004 has given audiences a first look at more than 50 new plays in development.

The workshop productions that appear December 8 - 23 are Song for the Disappeared, in which Chicago-based writer Tanya Saracho continues her examination of life on the US/Mexican border, and The World of Extreme Happiness by Wasserstein Prize winner Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig about migrant workers in China. In addition, three staged readings of plays by Philip Dawkins, Keith Reddin and Martín Zimmerman appear December 15 - 16-a weekend in which theatergoers and industry professionals can see five new plays in two days. Tickets are free, but reservations are required: 312.443.3800, GoodmanTheatre.org/NSA or visit the box office (170 N. Dearborn).

"New Stages Amplified has become the centerpiece of the Goodman's numerous programs that support living American Playwrights. Many works that audiences see on our mainstages have emerged from this program-including this season's Black n Blue Boys/Broken Men by Dael Orlandersmith and Teddy Ferrara by Christopher Shinn," said Director of New Play Development Tanya Palmer. "We are particularly proud to feature three commissioned works, including Tanya Saracho's Song for the Disappeared and two new plays by Martín Zimmerman and Philip Dawkins which were developed during their time as members of the Playwrights Unit, our annual residency program."

Over the past three decades, Goodman Theatre has produced more than 100 premieres-approximately one third of which are authored by playwrights of color. Working with Artistic Director Robert Falls, Tanya Palmer oversees the Goodman's efforts to develop new American plays with contemporary theater artists, including: New Stages Amplified, the Playwrights Unit and the theater's new works commissioning program. In addition, Palmer's work as production dramaturg for new plays includes the Pulitzer Prize–winning Ruined by Lynn Nottage; Chinglish by David Henry Hwang and The Long Red Road by Brett C. Leonard, among many others. Palmer previously served as the director of new play development at Actors Theatre of Louisville, where she led the reading and selection process for the Humana Festival of New American Plays.

Pictured: Tanya Saracho