City Theatre to Host Playwright Steven Dietz in Mini-Residency

City Theatre is excited to welcome playwright Steven Dietz for a writing residency October 31-November 1, 2016.

Launched in the 2015/2016 season, the mini-residency program offers individually tailored space for writers to work on script development. Dietz will work on two separate projects during the residency, which will culminate in a free public reading of his play This Random World on Tuesday, November 1st from 4 - 6 p.m. in the City Theatre Rehearsal Hall.

Through a swirl of nearly-missed connections, This Random World follows a series of intersecting lives: a mother determined to maintain her independence, a daughter longing for adventure, two sisters seeking common ground, and an internet prank gone awry. At turns warmly humorous and lyrically bittersweet, the story investigates what it is to love, to lose, and to be touched by the myth of serendipity.

The reading of This Random World is directed by Artistic Director Tracy Brigden. The cast includes JD Taylor, Mary Rawson, Tressa Glover, Sharon Washington, Siovhan Christensen, Erika Cuenca, Brett Sullivan Santry, and Billy Hepfinger. It is free and open to the public; reservations are requested through the City Theatre box office or CityTheatreCompany.org.

In addition to the public reading of This Random World, the residency will include an in-house reading of Dietz's play Mad Beat Hip & Gone, a love letter to the beat generation. Dietz and director Brigden will be joined by the composing duo of Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen (Broadway credits include No Man's Land and Waiting for Godot), laying the groundwork for a musical adaptation of the piece.

"The mini-residency program is at the heart of City's commitment to new work," said Director of New Play Development Clare Drobot. "Each residency offers a playwright space, time, and support from the City's artistic staff. We are thrilled that our first residency of the 2016/17 season will bring Steven Dietz back to Pittsburgh."

"City Theatre has provided a generous and supportive home to my work since my first play there-at the old theatre in Oakland, in the late 1980s," Steven Dietz explained. "Tracy Brigden and her team of world-class collaborators challenge, inspire, provoke, and inform my work in rigorous and lasting ways. I'm delighted to be back."

Steven Dietz's thirty-plus plays have been seen at over one hundred regional theatres, as well as Off-Broadway, and in over twenty countries internationally. Recent premieres include Bloomsday (2016 Steinberg New Play Award Citation), This Random World (2016 Humana Festival of New American Plays), and On Clover Road (National New Play Network rolling world premiere). Other widely produced plays include Fiction, Yankee Tavern, Becky's New Car, Last of the Boys, Lonely Planet, Private Eyes, Still Life with Iris, God's Country, and The Nina Variations. Mr. Dietz and his family divide their time between Seattle and Austin, where he teaches playwriting and directing at the University of Texas.

City Theatre has previously produced several of Dietz's plays, including Shooting Star (2010), Honus and Me (2006), and Fiction (2005). Fulfilling its mission that emphasizes new play development, City Theatre commissions works by diverse writers and produces world premieres, including this season's Feeding the Dragon, written and performed by Sharon Washington, running October 22 - November 20, 2016, and the theatre's annual Momentum Festival, which showcases new plays at different stages of development in June of every year.

Public Reading:

THIS RANDOM WORLD

WHEN:

Tuesday, November 1 at 4:00 p.m.

WHERE:

City Theatre, 1300 Bingham Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15203 (South Side)
Patron parking is available in the lot across from the City Theatre entrance for $8.

TICKETS:

Free. Reservations requested at 412.431.CITY (2489) or citytheatrecompany.org

City Theatre is now in its 42nd season. Located in the historic South Side, City Theatre is Pittsburgh's home for bold new plays, commissioning and producing work by playwrights including Daniel Beaty, Jessica Dickey, Christopher Durang, Michael Hollinger, Willy Holtzman, Tarell Alvin McCraney, and Madeleine George. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Tracy Brigden, Managing Director James McNeel, and the Board of Directors, City Theatre's mission is to provide an artistic home for the development and production of contemporary plays of substance and ideas that engage and challenge a diverse audience.