Produced with PDC and sponsored in part by the Melissa Lynch Foundation.
The EAR (Emerging Artists in Residence) program is open to playwrights and actors in the Greater Philadelphia area. This year the Melissa Lynch Memorial Acting Residency will be open to two actors and the PDC @ Plays & Players Playwrights Residency will be open to two playwrights.
This 8-month residency, which will run from October 2014 to June 2015, is an exclusive opportunity for actors and playwrights to work on artistic development at one of Philadelphia’s oldest and most respected theaters.
About EAR
The aim of the EAR Residency is to develop theater artists’ work towards goals that they have articulated for themselves. The focus of this program is artist development, not the development of a specific performance or project. Emerging can mean many things to many people, and the applying artists are encouraged to decide for themselves if that is an appropriate label. Most importantly, we request that the artist decide if this is a year where they would want to prioritize the opportunity to step back, ask big questions, examine why they are making the artistic choices they make and to try to find out what kind of artist they want to be.
The residency provides activities designed to inspire, encourages experimentation, offers support and guidance from artistic leaders, and the structure and discipline to really focus on the journey and seek results. While the residency is an educational opportunity by nature, we are happy to offer the opportunity for absolutely free.
Details of EAR
Residents are members of Plays & Players, and the PDC @ Plays & Players Playwrights Residents, if not already PDC members, become members of that organization (www.pdc1.org for more information.) The residency is designed to accompany a full time career, and requires 15 hours commitment per month. Residents are also required to volunteer for 5-10 hours per month at Plays & Players.
The residency breaks down into four topics:
1. Play Another Part (playwrights become actors, actors become playwrights) – October/November
2. Change Your Medium (try on another style, method, or art form you’ve never tried before) – December/January
3. Fight Your Fear (face the thing that scares you most in your artistic journey) – February/March
4. What Is Theater (attempt to figure out who is the theater artist you want to be) – April/May
Each topic involves five activities over the two month period: two individual meetings, two “group shares”, and tech/performance of EAR Fuzz. Once a month, residency leaders lend an “ear” to check-in with the residents and/or arrange private meetings/workshops with other people of inspiration. Also monthly, all the residents gather for field trips to spark creativity followed by “group shares,” all based off of the goals defined on an individual and group basis. Past field trips have included a class at the Philadelphia Circus School, a puppet making workshop with Robert Smythe, a discussion with Isaiah Zagar in his private Philadelphia Magic Gardens studio, a tour of Laurel Hill Cemetery, observing a rehearsal from Headlong Dance Theatre, and meetings with couples therapists, dentists, interpreters, and more. In March specifically, residents take a 24 hour artists retreat as their field trip. This work culminates in an open rehearsal of work conceived on the theme of the period, called EAR Fuzz, sharing the growth that unfolds on stage with an audience of fellow members and the general public. Each EAR Fuzz ends with a “communal ritual” with the audience in celebration of the growth, and an opportunity for audience to share their inspiration from the evening on an arts & crafts style feedback board and casual merriment at Quig’s Pub at P & P.
REQUIREMENTS
Residents must be available to the residency for approximately 20 hours per month and must be able to perform in EAR Fuzz on four Monday nights throughout the experience. Additionally, residents are expected to become an active part of the Plays & Players Membership community and PDC @ Plays & Players Playwright Residents are likewise required, if not already active members of the PDC, to immediately join at a 50% discount ($25) for their residency year. They are encouraged to become involved in their further programs as well (www.pdc1.org.) Applicants must have housing in the greater Philadelphia area.
TO APPLY
Please send the following materials to Producing Artistic Director Daniel Student at dstudent@playsandplayers.org no later than 11:59pm on JULY 20, 2014
1. A statement of purpose of no more than 2 pages in Times New Roman, Size 12 Font, Single Spaced. The statement of purpose is your opportunity to describe how you will make use of the Residency program in your growth artistically and professionally as an artist. What are some things you hope to work on specifically within the topics of the residency? What are your current artistic struggles? What obstacles are you currently facing? What are some adventures you would hope to undertake with us?
2. For actors: a professional headshot & resume. For playwrights: a professional resume AND/OR listing of plays and accomplishments; a playwriting sample of no more than 20 pages, in a standard script format, including a sample from at least 2 plays.
It is highly recommended that materials be submitted in .doc or .pdf formats, though .rtf will be accepted. Please indicate APPLICATION FOR PLAYS & PLAYERS EAR RESIDENCY in the subject line.
Selected applicants will be invited to audition & interview with a three-person panel between August 1 – August 15. The panel will select and announce the residents by September 1, with the residency beginning on October 1.
Hold These Truths, written by Los Angeles based playwright Jeanne Sakata and directed by former Plays & Players Producing Artistic Director Daniel Student (The Disappearing Quarterback, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone), celebrates the triumph of the power one person has to change a nation. The production will be set designed by Colin McIlvaine (MFA, Set Design, Temple University), light designed by 2014 Barrymore nominee Andrew Cowles, costume designed by Rachel Coon (MFA, Set Design, Temple University), and sound designed by Lucas Fendlay (BFA, Art Institute of Philadelphia.) In 2007, Hold These Truths had its critically acclaimed world premiere in 2007 at East West Players, co-presented by the Japanese American National Museum, UCLA Department of Asian American Studies, and the UCLA Asian American Studies Center. In its New York premiere with the Epic Theatre Ensemble in October 2012, featuring Joel de la Fuente and directed by Lisa Rothe, Hold These Truths opened to unanimous rave reviews from The New Yorker, The Washington Post/API, and many other critics, garnering a 2013 Drama Desk Award Nomination for Outstanding Solo Performance.
