Playwrights' Arena Welcomes New Literary Manager

Jon Lawrence Rivera, Artistic Director of Playwrights' Arena - the first and oldest theater dedicated to discovering, nurturing, and producing original works written exclusively by Los Angeles playwrights - is thrilled to announce the appointment of Jaisey Bates as its new Literary Manager.

Jaisey Bates primarily writes, directs and performs with her multicultural nomadic theater company, The Peoplehood (the-peoplehood.com). A Princess Grace Award and O'Neill National Playwrights Conference finalist and Kilroys List honorable mention, she is a recipient of the Emerging American Playwright Prize from Marin Theatre Company. Development and performance venues for her plays and spoken word have included theaters in LA, NYC, elsewhere in the U.S. (including the OKC Native American New Play Festival -- in which her play was awarded Judges' Choice and Featured Play), Canada and the UK. Her HowlRound blog was selected by the editors as a stand-out blog for the year and was reposted last month on Thanksgiving. Her education includes Georgetown's School of Foreign Service (BSFS), American University in Cairo (Johns Hopkins SAIS/Fulbright) and Loyola Marymount (MA in English). As an actor she's trained with The Shakespeare Theatre (WDC -- summer program) and with Circle in the Square Theater (NYC -- full-time professional program) and has national tour and regional theater experience and some tv and film experience. She is a current member of The Vagrancy Theater's new play development group in which each member writes a new play over the course of 9 months. She is a reader currently with the Bay Area Playwrights Festival.

Ms. Bates will be working closely with Artistic Director, Jon Lawrence Rivera, in reading and curating plays submitted to the organization. She will be responsible for the monthly series NEW PAGES LAB and producing reading and workshop events with goals to further each play's development and, possibly, include them in future Playwrights' Arena seasons.