National New Play Network Announces 33rd Rolling World Premiere: MANNING UP by Sean Christopher Lewis

The NATIONAL NEW PLAY NETWORK (NNPN), the country's alliance of non-profit theaters that champions the development, production, and continued life of new plays, announces its 33rd Rolling World Premiere: Sean Christopher Lewis' Manning Up will receive three productions through the Network's Continued Life of New Plays Fund in the 2012/13 season, the Network's 15th. Manning Up will begin its Rolling World Premiere at Riverside Theatre (Iowa City, IA, October 12 – 28, 2012), followed by performances at Salt Lake Acting Company (Salt Lake City, UT, November 7 – December 9, 2012) and Actors' Summit (Akron, OH, May 16 – June 2, 2013). Lewis – a former NNPN Playwright-in-Residence – kicks off the festivities by directing the Riverside production.

ABOUT THE PLAY
Somewhere in a man cave in middle America, two soon-to-be dads wrestle with hopes, fears and each other as fatherhood creeps ever closer. Lewis' warm-hearted comedy introduces us to long-time friends Donnie and Raymond, trying to balance competing needs as 21st century husbands, dads, friends, and men.

ABOUT SEAN Christopher Lewis
Sean Christopher Lewis is the Artistic Director of Working Group Theatre. He is a contributor to NPR'S This American Life and his plays have been awarded the National New Play Network Annual Commission, the Kennedy Center's Rosa Parks Award, the National New Play Network Smith Prize, NEA Voices of Community Award, the William Inge Fellowship, a National Performance Network Creation Fun Grant, a Barrymore Award, two Central Ohio Critic Circle Citations and a National New Play Network Emerging Playwright Residency. His plays and solo pieces include KILLADELPHIA (Available Light Theatre, Baltimore CENTERSTAGE, Drilling Company NYC, Gerald W. Lynch Theatre, InterAct Theatre, Hartbeat Ensemble, Touchstone Theatre, Riverside Theatre, Legion Arts, Empty Boat Theatre, Adirondack Theatre Festival and more); JUST KIDS (Pontine Theatre, Sandglass Theatre, Working Group Theatre); I WILL MAKE YOU ORPHANS (Galapagos Art Space, Riverside Theatre, Uno Festival of Solo Performance, Hyde Park Theatre); MILITANT LANGUAGE (Know Theatre; Halcyon Theatre); THE APERTURE (Cleveland Public Theatre) and MAYBERRY (Hancher Auditorium; Bucksbaum Performing Arts Center and Iowa Arts Center).

ABOUT THE CONTINUED LIFE OF NEW PLAYS FUND
NNPN's flagship program, the Continued Life of New Plays Fund supports three or more theaters which choose to mount the same new play within a twelve-month period. The result is a Rolling World Premiere through which the playwright develops a new work with multiple creative teams, for multiple communities of patrons, ensuring the resulting play is of the highest possible quality. And with a minimum of three productions in a single year, the play attains the momentum it needs to join the repertoire of frequently-produced new American works. NNPN provides grants of $7,000 to the first three participating theaters in each Rolling World Premiere; to date, NNPN has championed the continued life of 29 new plays in nearly 100 productions, with over a quarter-million dollars in grants.

ABOUT RIVERSIDE THEATRE
Now in its 32nd season, Iowa City's Riverside Theatre is one of only three professional, Equity affiliated theatre companies in Iowa. Its year-round programming includes an indoor season of mostly contemporary works, an outdoor summer season of classic works, and education and outreach programs for all ages. A proud Core Member of NNPN since 2011, the theatre's long-time commitment to developing new work has resulted in over 20 premieres of original scripts.

ABOUT SALT LAKE Acting Company
Founded in 1970 to present innovative and thought provoking plays for Utah audiences and to nurture a community of local professional theatre artists, SLAC is committed to presenting a year round season of regional and world premieres as well as commissioning, developing and producing the work of emerging playwrights. SLAC has been a Core Member of NNPN since 2002.

ABOUT ACTORS' SUMMIT
Actors' Summit was established in 1999 by Neil Thackaberry and MaryJo Alexander as a professional theater committed to providing an artistic home for Ohio theater artists. It has produced 110 full length plays including the English language world premiere of a recently discovered short play by Chekhov, two commissioned translations of classics (Oedipus Rex & Tartuffe) and eight world premieres. Located in the heart of downtown Akron in a century old building it serves a diverse population.

ABOUT NNPN
The National New Play Network (NNPN) is the country's alliance of non-profit professional theaters that champions the development, production, and continued life of new plays. Since its founding in 1998, NNPN has commissioned almost two dozen playwrights, provided nineteen MFA graduates with paid residencies, and supported more than 100 productions nationwide through its innovative Continued Life of New Plays Fund, which creates "rolling world premieres" of new plays. Hundreds of artists have gained employment through these efforts in the dozens of regions of the country where NNPN member theaters are located. NNPN receives substantial support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, the Shubert Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. The Network is comprised of a relatively small group of Core Members, who pioneer and implement collaborative new play strategies, and a growing group of Associate Members, who disseminate the Network's programs and strategies nationwide.

NNPN's Core Member theaters are: Actor's Express Theatre (Atlanta), Actor's Theatre of Charlotte (Charlotte, NC), Borderlands Theater (Tucson), Curious Theatre Company (Denver), Florida Studio Theatre (Sarasota), Fountain Theatre (LA), Horizon Theatre Company (Atlanta), InterAct Theatre Company (Philadelphia), Kitchen Dog Theater (Dallas), Magic Theatre (San Francisco), Marin Theatre Company (Mill Valley, CA), Mixed Blood Theatre Company (Minneapolis), New Jersey Repertory Company (Long Branch), New Repertory Theatre (Watertown, MA), New Theatre (Coral Gables, FL), Orlando Shakespeare Theater (Orlando), Performance Network Theatre (Ann Arbor, MI), Phoenix Theatre (Indianapolis), Playwright's Theatre of New Jersey (Madison), Prop Thtr Group (Chicago), Riverside Theatre (Iowa City, IA), Salt Lake Acting Company (Salt Lake City), San Diego REPertory Theatre (San Diego), Southern Rep (New Orleans), Unicorn Theatre (Kansas City, MO), and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company (Washington, DC).

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