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Link to company quotes from WordBRIDGE '07

The following playwrights were selected to participate in WordBRIDGE 2007. Click on a play for a synopsis and photo.

These six playwrights worked with over sixty artists, including WordBRIDGE alums KC Davis, Michael Evenden, Chuck Kartali, Erik Ramsey, Mimi Rice, Rich Rice, Jim Wicker and Jeff Wirth. The WordBRIDGE tradition of providing resource artists from a variety of disciplines continued as we had the privilidge of hearing from Jerry Meyer (psychoanalyst and visual artist), Crosby Hunt (storyteller), Karen Ardis (physician), Chris Benson and Daniel McCoy (musicians), David Hartmann (scenic design), Rebecca Eastman (costume design), Carrie Ann Collins (movement) and Eliza Jane Schneider (voice and dialects).

The Tribute to Playwrights hosted two thought provoking solo performance pieces: The Rambling Nut by Eric Love and Freedom of Speech by Eliza Jane Schneider (of television's Beakman's World and South Park).

Resource Artists

Dr. Karen Ardis · Chris Benson · Carrie Ann Collins · KC Davis
Rebecca Eastman · David Hartman · Crosby Hunt · Daniel McCoy
Jerry Meyer · Barton Palmer · Tony Penna
J Rannelli · Eliza Jane Schnieder · Jeff Wirth

Guest Artists

Jamaly Allen · Terry Brannen · Carrie Ann Collins · Richard Cowan
Jonathan Escobio · Michael Evenden · Andrew Herrera · James Holbrook
Crosby Hunt · Charles Kartali · Eric "Doc" Love · Will Manning
Stephen Conrad Moore · London Morris · Bob Mussett · Erik Ramsey
Mimi Rice · Rich Rice · Eliza Jane Schneider · Erin Smith
Adrienne Thompson · Jon Tuttle · Michele Vazquez
Jim Wicker · Jen Wineman · Dawn Youngs

Staff

Jonathan Escobio		Artistic Associate/Project Coordinator
Lauren Halvorsen		Script Coordinator
Chris Jaynes		Artistic Director Assistant/Technical Support
Jeff McLaren		Artistic Director Assistant/Meal Coordinator
Michael Vandercook		Technical Director/Lab Manager

Student Artists and Interns

John Barber · Chris Bellinger · Anna Chovanec · Elizabeth Finley
Anthony Goodin · Elizabeth Harvey · Laurie Jones · Lisa Justice
Max LeBron · Corrina Miller · Aimee Pavlich · Meg Pierson
Philip Poole · Grayson Powell · Jeff Russell · Shayan Shojaee

Readers

Rebecca Eastman · Jonathan Escobio · Jeanette Farr · Roger Hall
Eric Love · Rich Rice · Jon Tuttle · Mike Vandercook · Dawn Youngs

For more information on any of the plays developed at WordBRIDGE 2007, send inquiries to

Kendall Sherwood, Clemson University This Side Up This Side Up is a series of relatively unconnected scenes and monologues following a number of different characters and using metaphor to gain a new perspective on life.  The connecting through-line is the fact that each scene contains a box, either literal or metaphorical.  Each storyline contains commentary on what is important and universal in everyday life.  This Side Up conveys that, despite our differences, humans are all connected by the human condition and experience.

KT Peterson, Towson University The Sunman of Molon The Sunman of Molon takes place in the small island village of Molon where a community has suddenly been plagued by nightmares.  These dreams have a crippling effect on the psychology of the village and eventually people begin going mad.  Sunman explores the haunting effect dreams can have on our waking lives and the crippling ability of fear to turn people against each other.

Hank Willenbrink, University of California - Santa Barbara Songs for Songbirds Songs for Songbirds is a thriller about infidelity, rare birds, chanteuses, and failed theories for the creation of the universe. James, a police officer, is haunted by the ghost of the woman who will kill him.

George Brant, University of Texas - Austin Elephant's Graveyard Elephant's Graveyard follows a group of itinerant circus folk and the townspeople of 1916 Erwin, Tennessee while exploring the motivation behind the only known lynching of an elephant in America. The play combines historical fact and legend as it explores the deep-seated American craving for spectacle, violence and revenge. UPDATE: George Brant's Elephant's Graveyard had its world premiere in Austin, Texas. You can read a review here.

Merri Biechler, Ohio University Confessions of a Reluctant Caregiver As Merri moves back home to care for her terminally ill father, she imagines moments of reconciliation and grace. But good intentions quickly deteriorate into a battle of wills over doctors, treatment options, and dad's daily delivery of merchandise from the TV Shopping Channel. As her father's health declines, his obsession with the Sci-Fi Network and creating a machine to deliver him to another dimension intensifies. Using the machine, Merri summons her mother for guidance, and with humor and compassion strives to reach her final goal…to give her father a good death. UPDATE: Merri Biechler’s Confessions of a Reluctant Caregiver had a reading in New York and is a finalist for the Alliance Theatre’s Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Competition.

Eric Winick, Guest Playwright Zizmor/Dermatology Tucked away at a writer's conference in upstate New York, an acclaimed novelist in the midst of a creative crisis finds himself consulting a unconventional dermatologist when his marriage runs aground and his skin begins mysteriously peeling away.

If you would like more information on any of the playwrights or their plays, please contact us atand we will happily forward your request.

WordBRIDGE 2007 Playwrights and Artistic Directors