Rover Dramawerks Presents Festival of New Plays By Women

For the second year, Rover Dramawerks is pleased to partner with the playwrights' group 365 Women a Year to present a festival of plays by women, about women, for everyone. From May 5-14, his international playwriting coalition, founded by Jesslynn Eisenberg Chamblee, involves playwrights across the world who have signed on to write one or more plays about extraordinary women in both past and present history. The project's ambitious yet focused goal is to write women back into the social consciousness, as well as empower and promote female playwrights, and plant seeds of herstory around the country.

Fifteen staged readings and performances by playwrights from seven states will take place Thursdays and Fridays at 8 p.m., and Saturdays at 2 and 8 p.m. May 5-14, at Rover Dramawerks, located in Ruisseau Village at 221 W. Parker Rd, Suite 580, at the northwest corner of Parker and 75.

Last year's festival featured a weekend of 10 plays from playwrights from all over Texas. This year's festival has expanded to two weekends and features 15 playwrights from seven states. Paula J. Sanders and Carol M. Rice are local to D/FW, and Rita Anderson (Austin) and Donna Latham (Houston) join Ms. Rice as those playwrights returning from last year's festival.

The plays and their playwrights and directors are listed below. The exact run schedule has not yet been determined.

"The Dance Maker" by Susan Shafer (New York, NY), directed by Glynda Welch
"Don't Know No Jokes" by Annie Wood (Burbank, CA), directed by Matt Stepan
"First Day in Trade" by Jennifer O'Grady (Pelham, NY), directed by Kayla Freeman
"First Woman of Industry" by Nancy Gall-Clayton (Jeffersonville, IN), directed by Matt Stepan
"Fly Girl" by Renee Lucas Wayne (Philadelphia, PA), directed by Buster Spiller
"Fossil Lady" by Claudia I. Haas (White Bear Lake, MN), directed by Libby Mitchell
"Future Girl Visits Barbie's Mom" by Ellen Davis Sullivan (Andover, MA), directed by Glynda Welch
"Homespun Webs" by C.J. Ehrlich (Chappaqua, NY), directed by Shanna Threlkeld
"(Mama) King Chronicles" by Rita Anderson (Austin, TX), directed by Brandi L. McDowell
"Never Forget" by Donna Hoke (Buffalo, NY), directed by Kayla Freeman
"Phillis Wheatley: Twas Mercy Brought Me..." by Paula J. Sanders (Dallas, TX), directed by Buster Spiller
"Push Boldly Off" by Donna Latham (Houston, TX), directed by Libby Mitchell
"Recipe for Espionage (Before She Was Julia Child)" by Carol M. Rice (Plano, TX), directed by Kevin Westbrook
"She Was Never Lost" by Allie Costa (Los Angeles, CA), directed by Kevin Westbrook
"Soraya's Eyes" by Rhea McCallum (Downey, CA), directed by Lindsey Humpries

Plays range from long monologues to large casts and cover the last 300 years to present day and everywhere in between. Likewise, they will range in length from about 10 minutes to about an hour.

365 Women a Year involves playwrights from around the world. They are not a business or even a non-profit. They simply want to get more plays written about women. 2016 marks the third year for the playwriting coalition and no repeats are allowed, so by the end of this year, there will be over 1,000 new plays about unique women in history!

Tickets for the 365 Women a Year Festival are $14 for adults and $12 for students/seniors and may be ordered online at www.roverdramawerks.com.

For more information about Rover Dramawerks, call 972-849-0358 or visit http://365womenayear.wordpress.com. /