Wilbury Group to Welcome Ben Jolivet as Playwright-in-Residence

The Wilbury Group has announced area playwright Ben Jolivet as the Group's first Playwright-in-Residence.

An instructor at The Wilbury Group, Ben Jolivet's plays have appeared on the East, West, and Gulf Coasts. His recent play Fragile Thing Cracks received its world premiere with Pandora at Long Beach Playhouse in March of this year and will receive its regional premiere at Acadiana Repertory Theatre in Louisiana this fall. His work Medea of the Big Box Store will appear in Acadiana Rep's new works festival this summer, and Summer-Something Might- Have-Been, a play for young audiences, was commissioned and premiered by the Delta Grand Youth Company. In 2013 This Broke-Down Communion received a developmental reading as part of Wilbury Theatre Group's new works program, directed by Susie Schutt.

"We're thrilled to have Ben onboard as our first Playwright-in-Residence," said Wilbury Group Founding Artistic Director Josh Short. "In addition to being an incredibly talented and prolific playwright, Ben has demonstrated a commitment to creating space and resources for all playwrights that we as a theatre company have found inspiring. We look forward to working with him to continue to develop new works and new opportunities in the year to come."

In addition to continuing to develop his own work, as the Playwright-in-Residence at The Wilbury Group Jolivet will work closely with the Artistic Director and the Director of New Works to develop New Works initiatives and aid in efforts to further establish The Wilbury Group as the home for new works and emerging artists in Rhode Island.

Ben Jolivet's plays have appeared on the East, West, and Gulf Coasts. Fragile Thing Cracks, developed in readings at Argos Productions in Boston, MA, and Panndora Productions in Long Beach, CA, received its world premiere with Panndora at Long Beach Playhouse in March of this year. The play will receive its regional premiere at Acadiana Repertory Theatre in Louisiana this fall. Medea of the Big Box Store will appear in Acadiana Rep's new works festival this summer. Summer-Something Might- Have-Been, a play for young audiences, was commissioned and premiered by the Delta Grand Youth Company. This Broke-Down Communion received a developmental reading as part of Wilbury Theatre Group's new works program, directed by Susie Schutt.

Haunted was a finalist for Sanguine Theatre's Project Playwright and a semifinalist for the Eugene O'Neill conference. Motif Magazine called Ben's comedy, Get Rough With Me!, "one of the funniest and simply enjoyable pieces of theater that has been presented in RI in quite some time." Short plays have appeared across the country, including the Pick of the Vine Festival at Little Fish Theatre in San Pedro, and at the Boston Playwrights Marathon.

Ben holds a BA in writing from SNHU and was named a 2013 Massachusetts Cultural Council Dramatic Writing Fellow.

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