The Bridge Initiative Announces Playwright Semifinalists

With a total submission tally of close to 170 plays and musicals, The Bridge Initiative has announced 40 plays as semifinalists for this year's new work contest. The semifinalists hail from as far away as Australia, as well as more than ten states, with four playwrights local to Arizona.

The next step for the semifinalists will be another judging round. Finalists will be announced by December 1st, with the winner announcement in January 2017. Readers are theatre practitioners from both Arizona and nationwide who judge the plays on criteria such as originality, voice, character complexity, and X factor.

The winning playwright will be in residence at Mesa Community College to workshop her play with a New York-based director and local Arizona dramaturg and actors February 21-26. Details on auditions and other information about the workshop to be announced in January.

The full list of semifinalists is: Portrait of the Widow Kinski by Sarah Jean Accuardi, Embers of Tent City by Tita Anntares, Out of Time by Rachel Atkins, Don't Kill the Angels by Claudia Barnett, Two Men Walk Into a Bar by Monica Bauer, Honor Killing by Sarah Bierstock, The Captives by Barbara Blumenthal-Erlich, Welcome Home, Roberta DuCant by Larissa Brewington, When Colossus Falls by Eugenie Carabatsos, Last Nights of Sheherezade by Paula Cizmar, Tribe by Judith Collins, Sunset Artists of the American West by Shualee Cook, Los Samaritanos by Sandra Daley, Terra Incognita by Lauren Ferebee, Gertrude by Susan Ferrara, W.A.S.P. by Zanne Hall, Annie Jump and the Library of Heaven by Reina Hardy, Pacific Northwest Play by RN Healey, Second Skin by Kristin Idaszak, White Pearl by Anchuli King, Porch Play by Kate Kremer, September and Her Sisters by Jennifer Lane, Nothing but the Truth by Eve Lederman, Skeletons by Amy da Luz,Abortion Road Trip by Rachel Lynnett, The Flora and the Fauna by Alyson Mead, Pope Joan II by Pat Montley, City of Ladies by Amanda Prahl, Modern Slave by Elaine Romero, Circular by Laura Shamas, Sex and Other Disturbances by Marisa Smith, We, the Invisibles by Susan Stanton, Reflections in a D'Backs Eye by DeAnne Stillman, Falling Slanted, Sad & Crazy by Chelsea Sutton, What Actually Happened Was by Stephanie Swirsky, Naming True by Natalie Symons, The Women of 4G by Amy Tofte, 72 Objects by Lolly Ward, Death Wings by Bess Welden, and Horse Thief by Christine Whitley.

The Bridge Initiative is an Arizona nonprofit working to identify and empower female artists in the Southwest region, with the aim of gender parity across all theatrical disciplines. Its mission also includes bridging the gap between academia and the professional world to encourage students to envision a clearer path to becoming lifelong artists.