For Immediate Release

 

Shadowland Theatre Presents

2nd Annual Ulster County Playwright Festival

Featuring the First Staged Readings of 3 New Plays   

 

ELLENVILLE, NY, November 30, 2009 - During December and January, Shadowland Theatre will present the 2nd Annual Ulster County Playwright Festival, fulfilling an integral part of its mission when it stages a free series of readings featuring new plays, including those by Ulster County playwrights Jack Wade, C.C. Loveheart and John Simon.  The first of the readings in the series will be presented on December 5, 6 and 13 and will feature professional actors drawn from New York City.

 

The three new plays this December are “Red Masquerade” by Jack Wade, “Jackass Flats” by C.C. Loveheart and John Simon and “The Jag” by Gino Dilorio.   

 

For 25 years, the mission of Shadowland Theatre has been to offer the residents of the Hudson Valley and visitors to the area the full range of professional theatre at an affordable price.  In achieving this mission, the theatre strives to produce a mixture of classics, contemporary and new plays, including thought-provoking, socially relevant work with vision.

 

To present this staged reading series – available to the public free of charge – Shadowland Theatre has received assistance from the Ulster County Cultural Services and Promotion Fund administered by the Dutchess County Arts Council.  According to Brendan Burke, producing artistic director at Shadowland, “We are very grateful to Ulster County Cultural Services and its promotional fund.  Without their assistance, we would not be able to present these three developmental readings that will assist these local playwrights develop and improve their work, and allows Shadowland to invest in new plays for the long-term sustainability of the theatre.” 

 

“Red Masquerade” will be presented on Saturday, December 5 at 5:00 pm.  Developed at SUNY New Paltz where Jack Wade is an associate professor of theatre, this is a new play about the real-life story of Angela Calomiris, a tough Greek-American photojournalist recruited by the FBI in 1942 to infiltrate and spy on the American Communist Party in midtown Manhattan. Calomiris was a key witness in the trial of the "Communist 11" convicted of trying to overthrow the U.S. government in 1949.  The play received its world premiere in October of 2009 at SUNY New Paltz, launching their 2009-2010 Mainstage season, and received a reading in May 2009 in New York City at The Studio Theatre at Theatre Row.  Wade is a recipient of the Theatre Crafts International Award for outstanding achievement in theatrical design and technology.  The reading will be directed by Stephen Kitsakos.

 

“Jackass Flats” by Ulster County residents C.C. Loveheart and John Simon will be staged on Sunday, December 6 at 4:00 pm, directed by Brendan Burke.  The play is based on personal reminiscences of Loveheart, who grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada during the period when the hotels and casinos were being built, the A-bomb was being tested and, according to the playwright, “life was great for a nine-year old.”  “Jackson Flats” won the Maxwell Anderson Award for the Best Unproduced Play of 1994.  A married couple and longtime Ulster County residents, Loveheart and Simon live in the world of show business, she an actor, he a musician, both writers.

 

On Sunday, December 13 at 4:00 pm, “The Jag” by Gino DiIorio will be read, directed by James Glossman.  The play is the story of 70-year old “Chick” Chicarella and his one prized possession, a 1966 Jaguar Sedan in need of repair.  When his son suggests they finish the car to finally sell it off, old family wounds and failures rise to the surface.  They employ a talented but strange woman to help them complete the project and, together, the three learn some hard lessons about repairing cars and smoothing out life’s jagged edges.  DiIorio, an award-winning playwright whose work has been produced Off-Broadway, regionally, and internationally, is an associate professor of theatre at Clark University where he also serves as theatre program director.  Last year, Shadowland staged a reading of his romantic comedy, “Centennial Casting.”

 

Admission to all three staged readings is free.  Reservations are recommended and tickets are available now at the 157 Canal Street box office or by phone at 845-647-5511.   

 

About Shadowland Theatre

Shadowland Theatre is the leading professional nonprofit Actors’ Equity company in the Lower Hudson Valley/Catskill Mountain region. Located only 90 miles from New York City in Ellenville, NY, Shadowland was named “Best of the Valley” by Hudson Valley magazine in 2004, 2005 and 2007; “2006 Cultural Business of the Year” by Ulster Development Corporation and Ulster County Chamber of Commerce; “Best Theatre 2006” by the Times Herald Record; and “Best Drama of the Year” by The Daily Record in NJ for The Good German.  Founded in 1984, Shadowland performs in a restored 1920’s Art Deco vaudeville/movie house converted to a 148-seat theatre.  For more information, visit http://www.shadowlandtheatre.org.    

 

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