My one-act play A Skewed Nude premiered at the 2004 Pittsburgh New Works Festival where the production won several awards including Outstanding Contribution by a Playwright. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Pittsburgh New Works Festival they are producing four past best play winners in addition to their usual line up of new plays. I am thrilled that A Skewed Nude is one of the previous winners they selected to produce again.
A Skewed Nude is about three strangers whose different perceptions of one notorious painting entwine with their misconceptions of each other. After its premiere at Pittsburgh New Works A Skewed Nude became the Montgomery Playhouse’s entry in the 2007 Maryland Community Theatre Festival where it won the award for Outstanding Original Script. The play was read at the 2007 Great Plains Theatre Conference. A Skewed Nude became the first play for which I had to negotiate royalties.
I am quite fond of this play not only because of its successes but because I still enjoy it, which is impressive for something I wrote over a decade ago.
I’m excited when anyone wants to produce one of my plays, but I’m particularly honored to be a part of the Pittsburgh New Works Festival again.
I’ve been involved with play festivals where one theatre picks and produces all the plays. I’ve also been involved with play festivals where multiple theatres pick and cast plays independently, then the productions are marketed as part of a single event. Pittsburgh New Works is the only play festival I’ve seen where over a dozen theatre groups pick plays from the same group of scripts and cast their shows from the same pool of actors. The Pittsburgh New Works Festival brings the theatre community together (and then throws them one kick ass party).
In addition to A Skewed Nude,three other of my plays have been performed at the Pittsburgh New Works Festival: Indiscriminate Avocados (2005), Claire’s Departure (2007), and Pump (2011). Prior to discovering my love of playwriting I had participated in the festival as an actor, director, and producer. I’m proud to be a part of Pittsburgh New Works again.
A Skewed Nude and three other best play winners will be performed for two weekends only: July 31 and August 1, 2, 7, 8, and 9. Performances are at the CCAC South Campus Theatre at 7:30 pm on Fridays and Saturdays and at 3 pm on Sundays. Tickets are $15 in advance or $17 at the door. Purchase tickets and find more information here.
After that the usual Pittsburgh New Works Festival program begins with staged readings on August 23 and 30th followed by 4 weeks of full productions of new plays from September 3-27. A different 3 plays are presented each week. A full list of plays and other festival details can be found here.
RELATED POST: In my old school: Memories of my college theatre
PREVIOUS POST: I don’t meditate, but I do breathe
Get notified of new posts by email. Type your email address in the box and click the “create subscription” button. My list is completely spam free, and you can opt out at any time.
You can also keep up with Kim Z. Dale on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ .
Kim Z. Dale 