Three New School Grads Receive Honors At Sam French Play Festival

.The New School for Drama was well represented in the 33rd Annual Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway Short Play Festival, which featured a selection of 40 plays this past month at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre in New York City. Three plays by New School Drama students and alumni, out of six total, achieved top honors: Juniper; Jubilee by Janine Nabers ('08); F**king Art by Bekah Brunstetter ('07), whose work Sick also took top prize in 2006; and The Grave by Gabe McKinley ('09) will be licensed and published by Samuel French Inc.

"At The New School for Drama we challenge our students to become courageous, informed writers who are able to thrive in the professional world," said Robert LuPone, Director of The New School for Drama. "These achievements in the Samuel French Festival are an addition to a long list of accomplishments that reflect the talent of our students and alumni: the voices and faces of tomorrow's theater."

Established in 1975, the Samuel French annual weeklong festival – which ran July 15-20 – culls its selections from nationwide submissions from playwriting workshops, university theatre programs and professional companies. Forty productions were selected and presented to a panel of judges composed of playwrights, agents and Samuel French editorial staff, who then selected six finalists to have their works licensed and published by Samuel French, Inc.

Of the 40 works selected for presentation, seven were from New School Drama students and alumni: in addition to the three winners, these include Good Enough by Kitt Lavoie ('01)); The Visit by DeLora Whitney ('07), directed by Graeme Gillis ('01); A New Shade of Red by Jessica Hinds ('10); and wild follows the queen by Matthew Paul Olmos ('04). Thirteen plays were then selected as finalists from which the winners were chosen. These included the submissions by Whitney, Nabers, Brunstetter, and McKinley.

The cast of Naber's Juniper; Jubilee included a number of New School Drama students and alumni: Brittany Bellizeare ('09), Andreas Tselepos ('08), Grace Evans ('08), Rena Krumholz ('08), LaChrisha Brown ('10), Mia Kristen Smith ('10), and Ayo Cummings ('10). In addition, the play was directed by Alexandra Hastings ('08). This reflects the collaborative nature of The New School for Drama. Playwriting students build a portfolio of a produced 10-minute play, two one-acts, a work-shopped or produced full-length play, a screenplay, and a sample television script in the course of three years. Their fellow students and peers act and direct their work in studios. This strong commitment to collaborative work stems from the New School for Drama's philosophy that the best theater emerges from an intelligent and passionate fusion of writing, directing, and acting.

The achievement at The Samuel French Festival coincides with a period of continuing success for the playwriting MFA program, which is chaired by Pippin Parker. This includes previous wins in the festival: The New School for Drama's Director of Academic Affairs and playwriting alumnus Matthew Kelty's ('02) Opening was selected for publication in 2007; while Ted Nusbaum's ('06) The Pischer achieved top honors in 2006. Other recent achievements include alumnus Jason Holtham ('00) whose work will be developed and produced as part of the new Time Warner Commissioning Program at Second Stage Theater. Alumnus Jerry Kareken ('00) recently won the fourth annual Two-Headed Challenge co-sponsored by the Playwright's Center and Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis.

At The New School for Drama, the instinct to create is revered. Through its interrelated, three-year MFA program in acting, directing, or playwriting, the school is forging the next generation of dramatic artists. A faculty of working professionals brings to the fore each student's unique and original voice, and helps them establish a rooted sense of who they are as individuals and as artists. The New School's history in the dramatic arts began in the 1940s, when the Dramatic Workshop, led by founder Erwin Piscator and a faculty including Stella Adler and Lee Strasberg, fostered artistic voices as distinctive as Tennessee Williams and Marlon Brando. For more information, visit www.drama.newschool.edu.

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