Theatre East Announces Innovative Partnership With SMU

Theatre East, a New York City based Off-Broadway theatre company, will be partnering with the Division of Theatre and the Meadows School at Southern Methodist University in Texas to virtually produce readings of new plays by student theatre artists this fall.

The plays will be live-streamed on November 9th and 10th with a mix of student and professional actors and stage managers, directed by NYC based professionals and SMU faculty members. Junior and senior SMU playwrights are writing the short plays based on the prompt inspired by the late John Lewis:

"Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of the day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble."

The partnership offers the college students the rare opportunity to write roles for actors of all ages and see them performed by age-appropriate actors. It also allows the Texas-based students the chance to form a connection with a New York City professional theatre ahead of their graduation. Tickets are free and open to the public.

Since the closing of theatre spaces due to the global pandemic, Theatre East has produced several successful online readings and productions, including their popular 5x5 Drama Series which was live streamed via Facebook and had over 30,000 views, far more than was previously possible. Since 2016, the 5x5 Drama Series has toured all five boroughs, utilizing non-traditional space like bars and rooftops. The move to virtual performance has further expanded accessibility for Theatre East's audience and given them a reputation for excellence in this New Medium.

Theatre East is a 501(c)3 nonprofit theatre company whose mission is to provide the community with a platform to deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world we share through works of theatre that utilize simple storytelling. The New York-based company believes that theatre is not a luxury, but should be accessible to all, regardless of economic or social status.

The company was founded in 2008 by husband-and-wife producing partners, Judson Jones (Artistic Director) and Christa Kimlicko Jones (Associate Artistic Director), along with Joseph Mitchell Parks, after producing such hits as the premiere of Christopher Durang's THE VIETNAMIZATION OF NEW JERSEY (NY Times Critic's Pick", and the premiere of Texas playwright David W. Crawford's HARVEST (BackStage Critic's Pick, Smith & Kraus Best New Plays of 2008), as well as earning a spot as producers to watch in 2008 on PBS's Theatre Talk. Since its founding, Theatre East has mounted such critically acclaimed New York and World Premieres as Tim Blake Nelson's EYE OF GOD, Daniel McIvor's THE SOLDIER DREAMS, Bennett Windheim's NORMALCY, Megan O'Brien's THE JUNGLE BOOK, DEVIL AND THE DEEP with original music and lyrics by Air Supply's Graham Russell, Cindy Williams' A NAME FOR A GHOST TO MUTTER, Lori Fischer's PETIE, and most recently the rare and critically praised revival of Romulus Linney's HOLY GHOSTS.

For more information or to make a reservation, go to www.theatreeast.org/production/wet-ink-series.