Reading Of Mary T. & Lizzy K. Replaced With Harriet Jacobs 6/29 At Arena Stage

Arena Stage's scheduled reading of Mary T. & Lizzy K. by Tazewell Thompson Monday, June 29 at 7:00pm at Arena Stage in Crystal City has been replaced with Lydia Diamond's compelling new play Harriet Jacobs. Accompanied by the rich musical traditions of slave spirituals, Harriet Jacobs is an inspiring look at a young woman's fascinating journey from slavery to freedom. In her book "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl," Jacobs describes with brutal honesty the hardships she endures under slavery, including the extraordinary choices she makes to be near her children. To survive, she escapes into her imagination and through writing, discovers hope for a better life. Harriet Jacobs recently received a premiere at Steppenwolf Theatre Company.

The Arena Stage's Downstairs Series, produced by Literary Manager Janine Sobeck, is committed to supporting playwrights in the process of creating new work. This season, the Downstairs has presented readings of Seamus Sullivan's Harlan at the Rockpile, and Psalmayene 24's Journey to the Door of No Return: A Hip-Hop Odyssey.

"Plays often develop on their own idiosyncratic schedules and Tazewell Thompson's Mary T. & Lizzy K. has surprised us all, with new discoveries that are not yet fully ready for the Downstairs process," says Sobeck. "We are moving the reading back to a time that will be more beneficial to Taz and the play. After collaborating with Diamond in the Downstairs series previously on The Bluest Eye and with her work Stick Fly being featured in Part Two of Arena Restaged, Arena welcomes this opportunity to further support her work on this exciting new play."

Lydia Diamond's plays include: The Gift Horse, The Bluest Eye, Voyeurs de Venus, Company One, Stick Fly, Harriet Jacobs, Stage Black and The Inside. Diamond is one of several playwrights commissioned by Actors Theatre Co./Humana ‘09 to collaborate on The Anthology Project. She has been commissioned by: The McCarter, Victory Gardens/Humana, The Huntington, Steppenwolf, and Roundabout Theatre Co. The Bluest Eye, The Gift Horse, and Stage Black are published by Dramatic Publishing. The Gift Horse is anthologized in Northwestern University Press' 7 Black Plays, ed. Chuck Smith. Stick Fly, published ‘09, Northwestern University Press. Lydia holds a B.S. in Performance Studies from Northwestern University, is a resident playwright at Chicago Dramatists, a 2006-2007 Huntington Playwright Fellow, an '07/'08 TCG/NEA playwright in residence at The Steppenwolf, and is a TCG Board Member. Diamond is on faculty at Boston University, where she teaches playwriting.

The 2008/09 Downstairs New Play Reading Series is made possible, in part, due to support from The Barbara R. Walton Endowment Fund for New Playwrights. Barbara R. Walton (1920-2003) was very active in the Washington theater community, serving as president of the Little Theatre of Alexandria and secretary of the Board of Trustees at Arena Stage (board member 1957-65). In addition to directing community Theater Productions for the Montgomery Players and The Children's Theatre of Richmond, she wrote six full-length plays and numerous one-acts that were produced throughout the Capitol region. Her most notable works include: Hallowe'en Time, The Wonderful Idababa, Lost, The Gin-Gin Trade and The Red Hat. Her musical The Sing Ling Circus (book and lyrics)was presented on the Fichandler Stage by the Arena Stage repertory company in 1962 to wide audience and critical acclaim.

The 2008/09 Downstairs Series is also funded in part by the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Tickets to the Downstairs New Play Reading Series are free but must be reserved by calling the Arena Stage Sales Office at (202) 488-3300 or in person at Arena Stage in Crystal City (1800 S. Bell St. Arlington, VA 22202).

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Molly Smith and Managing Director Edgar Dobie, Washington, D.C.-based Arena Stage is the largest theater in the country dedicated to American plays and playwrights. Founded in 1950 by Zelda Fichandler, Thomas Fichandler and Edward Mangum, Arena Stage was one of the nation's original resident theaters and has a distinguished record of leadership and innovation in the field. With the opening of the new Mead Center for American Theater in 2010, Arena Stage will be a leading center for the production, development and study of American theater. Now in its sixth decade, Arena Stage serves a diverse annual audience of more than 200,000. For more information please visit www.arenastage.org.

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