Location, location, location.
It’s a critical consideration when opening a restaurant or selling a home.
But … when writing a play?
They're about find out at Serenbe, the sustainable live-work-culture community in South Fulton county. The first annual New Territories Playwriting Residency gets underway there Jan. 17, bringing three well-respected playwrights to Chattahoochee Hills to develop new, outdoor "site-specific" theatre.
Translation: Each will explore Serenbe, looking for an inspiring location in every sense of the word.
"That inspiration will spark their pen to paper creating a work that goes hand in hand with the environment they have chosen," said Brian Clowdus, artistic director of the award-winning Serenbe Playhouse, which is committed to producing site-specific performances that "connect" art, nature and community. "Serenbe Playhouse selects material and performance locations hand in hand. We have a strong mission to expand our support of new works and New Territories will do just that."
The two-week play development program, which also involves AIR Serenbe (the playhouse’s artist-in-residence program) is thought to be the first of its kind. And it’s in keeping with Serenebe Playhouse’s growing national profile, as evidenced by its receipt of a 2015 National Theatre Company grant from the American Theatre Wing, the powerhouse behind the Tony awards.
The three playwrights selected for this inaugural year of New Territories are: Joe Calarco, Liz Duffy Adams and David Hilder. All three will start out with a “blank page,” Clowdus said, but Serenbe Playhouse is committed to further developing one or more of their resulting plays in future seasons.
But the public doesn’t have to wait that long to see what all that “location, location, location” focus has produced. On Jan. 29, the trio of playwrights-in-residence will showcase their new scripts at “Public Readings,” a “rough table read” that is free and open to the public. And on Jan. 23, Serenbe Playhouse and AIR will host another free event, “Speaking of Making,” where the playwrights discuss their other works and creative process.
For more information, check out www.serenbeplayhouse.com or call 770-463-1110.
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