JUMP By Charly Evon Simpson - The 86th NNPN Rolling World Premiere - Rolls Into Portland

National New Play Network, the country's alliance of nonprofit theaters that collaborate in innovative ways to develop, produce, and extend the life of new plays, celebrates the next leg of its 86th Rolling World Premiere (RWP): Jump by Charly Evon Simpson. The Roll continues this week in Portland, OR and a co-production between NNPN Core Member Milagro and Confrontation Theatre (March 21-April 13, 2019). Jump began its Roll in Chapel Hill, NC at PlayMakers Repertory Company and heads to Austin, TX and Shrewd Productions (May 10-26, 2019), before concluding at Actor's Express (June 1-23, 2019).

An NNPN Rolling World Premiere (RWP) models a process for developing and producing new plays that results in stronger work overall and the momentum needed for a play to join the repertoire of frequently produced new American works. Each Rolling World Premiere connects three or more NNPN Member Theaters that choose to mount the same new play within a 12-month period, allowing the playwright to develop the work with a new creative team in each theater's community. To date, NNPN has championed RWPs with over one million dollars in financial support. Alumni plays have received hundreds of subsequent productions, recognition in markets across the world, been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, won Steinberg/ATCA, Stavis, PEN and Blackburn awards, and been adapted into feature films.

A bridge that spans a deep gorge draws tourists, joggers, and more than a few wandering souls. Reeling from the death of her mother, twenty-something Fay comes to the bridge looking for solace and a good place to vape, but what she finds is a journey of self-discovery. In the whimsically theatrical world of Jump, lights flicker, hearts heal - and you never know what surprises will literally fall from the sky.