katharine clark gray
playwright, etc.

The Lark Play Development Center’s 18th annual Playwright’s Week is upon us, and my play TIMBER LAND and I will be joining them! As most of you with occasion to visit this site know, the Lark has long been a haven for playwrights to foster new material. What makes Playwrights’ Week special is the intense, focused development work that happens when you’re given a cast, a director and 10 hours of rehearsal. Oh, and y’all get to hang out with us! The talented David Hilder will be at T.L.’s helm, and fellow Philadelphia scribe Jacqueline Goldfinger will be making the NYC commute as well with her play Slip/Shot.

Check out the 2011 Playwrights’ Week press release here
Make a reservation

Let me know if you’re coming– I will be at every single event. So say hi!

What’s that, New York? You missed 516 (five sixteen) when it went up at the NY Fringe? Couldn’t make it down to Philly for the official World Premiere? Never fear: GroundUP Productions is here! Join this critically acclaimed ensemble for their “From the Ground Up” New Works Reading Series. My play goes up Monday Feb. 21st at 8 pm at Theaterlab. See you there!

My short play PUSSYCAT opens the Estrogenius Festival at Manhattan Theatre Source. The festival, now in its 11th year, is a five-week “celebration of female voices”. Week 1 runs Wednesday Sept. 29 to Friday Oct. 1 at 8pm Saturday oct. 2 at 3pm & 8pm. Tickets on sale here and now.

PUSSYCAT
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but a certain word will get you a face full of pepper spray.
Directed by Jennifer Bronstein
Starring Charley Layton and Olivia Roric
Week 1 Producer: Jen Thatcher

See you there!

It’s true: I have managed to sneak into this year’s Philadelphia Fringe Festival (with almost no effort on my part)! No, the toil and sweat has been on the part of Secret Room Theatre, whose night of laundry-themed one-acts, DIRTY LAUNDRY, opened to a sold-out house on September 4th. My contribution to the program: “Mr. Squee-Kee’s Super Ultra Clean Laundromat of Waking Dreams”, a musical with quasi-Sondheimian aspirations and Brechtian brutality. Also, there’s some talking quarters.

Don’t wait– buy your ticket before they have to go SRO again!

August 5 -8. Be there.
All you technogeeks glued to Ars Technica instead of TMZ may remember when my play USER 927 got some mention there for being the first– possibly only?– play based on a search log. Well– the play has at long last hit New York, and will be appearing as part of HERE Arts Center’s Summer Sublet series.

The show is presented by Reverie Productions. It is directed by David Hilder and features Kelly McAndrew (Still Life), Erika Rolfsrud (Misalliance), Alvin Keith (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), Anna Kull (Milk), Jake Paque, Gerry Lehane, Arielle Lever & David-Julian Melendez. Video design by A Chip & A Chair Films.

As I said: COME SEE IT!

In the words of Jim Anchower, it’s been a while since I rapped at ya.  But hang on: three new shows are on the way!

1) “PUSSYCAT” – one of the selected plays for the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia’s Spark Showcase, co-produced by Luna Theater Co. and Philadelphia Dramatists Center. Starring Bethany Ditnes and Ethan Lipkin.  Directed by Aaron Oster.
June 25 @ 7 pm  at Plays & Players, 17th & Delancey Sts. Philadelphia.  Four shows vie for the Hotel Obligado Audience Choice Award for New Work.  Come and support!

2) USER 927 is back, baby!  And this time it’s taking NY.  Reverie Productions will present this 2009 Next Generation Playwriting Contest Winner August 5-8th at HERE Arts Center.  Directed by David Hilder.  Full cast to be announced. All shows at 8:30 pm, plus a Sunday matinee @ 4 pm.

“Mr. Squee-Kee’s Super Ultra Clean Laundromat of Waking Dreams”
Secret Room Theatre presents this, and four other stellar short works, as part of Dirty Laundry.  At the Philadelphia Fringe Festival September 4-12. Directed by Todd Holtsberry, musical direction by Daniel Palmieri.  AUDITIONING SOON!  Write info@katharineclarkgray.com if you’re between 20 and 50 and can sing.

Check it out: I am part 165 of Adam Szymkowicz’s blog “I Interview Playwrights”.  Mr. Szymkowicz is a graduate of Juilliard and Columbia’s MFA program, and is the author of Nerve, Pretty Theft and others.  He’s been doing this interview gig for a while now and I think it’s an awesome idea.

For all of my thrifty Philly peeps: Philadelphia Theatre Workshop, producers of my next play 516 (five sixteen), have an awesome offer on the table to see the play for free.  It involves postcards.  Read on…
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Do you have 30 minutes to spare?  Do you like to see great theatre for free?  If so, you can get 2 tickets to PTW’s upcoming World Premiere of 516 (five sixteen) by Katharine Clark Gray simply by helping us pass out some postcards for the show.  We will be targeting the following areas:

• Northern Liberties
• Old City
• South Street/Queens Village
• Walnut Street Theatre Area
• Rittenhouse Square
• Fairmount/Art Museum
• University City

If interested, please respond to Administrative Manager Howie Brown (hbrown@philadelphiatheatreworkshop.org) for more info on obtaining a stack of postcards, instructions on where to deliver ‘em, and how to secure seats to 516 (five sixteen).

www.philadelphiatheatreworkshop.org

The latest news is all about NYC.  Two plays of mine will be presented at Reverie Productions’ 2010 Wet Ink festival in March!  On Monday 3/1, a short of mine will appear in the lasciviously titled  ”Monday Night Sex” reading series, and on Wed. 3/3 my full-length Timber Land will be read with what is promised to be a stellar cast.  How do I know?  Because Reverie produced the June ‘09 reading of User 927 with Kelly McAndrew, Keith Randolph Smith, and a host of other scary-talented actors.   Timber, like User, will be directed by David Hilder, fresh off a hot stint AD’ing for Doug Hughes on The Royal Family. It is not to be missed.

Hey folks: there’s lots of stuff in the works for the new year, including five, count ‘em, five productions of my work!  But you’ll be hearing about all that soon enough– like when said productions are formally announced by the producing orgs.  In the meantime, here’s something you can put in your day planner:

516 (five sixteen) auditions
February 7 & 8 in Philadelphia
Details here

Auditions are in preparation for 516 (five sixteen)’s WORLD PREMIERE production at Philadelphia Theatre Workshop.  I’ll let you know how it goes!