David Henry Hwang Writers' Institute

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DAVID HENRY HWANG WRITERS INSTITUTE

FALL 2011 New Works Festival
December 11-15, 2011

Click here for Readings Schedule & Descriptions

About the Institute:

ENROLL NOW IN THE DAVID HENRY HWANG WRITERS INSTITUTE!

The next playwriting workshop at the David Henry Hwang Writers Institute begins on SAT 3/17/12!

Join the most active Asian Pacific American playwright development program in the country, which has nurtured works read and produced at theatres nation-wide. Classes meet in downtown Los Angeles.

PLAYWRITING

This 10-week workshop is designed to help new and experienced writers start or develop new plays into scripts that are ready to be put on stage. Each 4-hour session includes: a warm-up writing exercise, reading and discussion of works in progress, reading assignments from dramatic literature to inspire writers with their work, and a closing exercise to focus on the next week's work. The workshop culminates in staged readings of the works in progress at East West Players' David Henry Hwang Theater.

Instructor: DORIS BAIZLEY

Date: March 17, 2012 - June 16, 2012

Time: Saturdays from 10 am - 2 pm
(No class on 4/7 and 5/26, plus two more Saturdays off TBA)

Staged Readings: June 26 - July 3, 2012

Location: Maryknoll Japanese Catholic Center

222 S. Hewitt St., Los Angeles, CA 90012

Fee: $400 (ACTS members $375)

Doris Baizley is a founding member of LA Theaterworks. Her plays MRS. CALIFORNIA, SHILOH RULES, and A CHRISTMAS CAROL have been produced in many U.S. regional theaters. Recent documentary plays are: PEACE CRIMES and SISTER KENNY'S CHILDREN at The History Theatre in St. Paul MN; ONE DAY/SARAH HOUSE, winner of a 2009 Santa Barbara Independent Press Award for original script; and SEXSTING, winner of the first Guthrie Theatre/Playwrights Center Two-Headed Challenge Grant. She has recently story-edited Anne Makepeace's documentary feature film WE STILL LIVE HERE!, winner of the 2011 Full Frame Documentary Festival Inspiration Award and the 2011 Telluride Moving Mountains Award. She is also currently leading a documentary theater workshop as part of the new "Voices of Justice" curriculum at Loyola Marymount University.

To ENROLL, please contact EWP Literary Manager Jeff Liu at jliu@eastwestplayers.org. Please note that enrollment is first come, first serve, and you do not have a space in the workshop unless you personally receive an enrollment form via email.

The deadline to apply for the scholarship is Friday, 3/2/12. Download scholarship application here.

In 1991, playwright David Henry Hwang (F.O.B., THE DANCE AND THE RAILROAD, M. BUTTERFLY) and East West Players joined together to create the David Henry Hwang Writers Institute. The Institute provides a series of writing classes designed to foster new work for the stage. It is a nationally recognized force in the creation of plays that embrace the voice of a multi-ethnic America. We as a multicultural community need to speak out, tell the world who we are, where we came from, and most importantly where we are going. In doing this, we affirm the legacy of our individual and shared histories in America. The Institute is administered by East West Players' Literary Manager, Jeff Liu.

Instructors have included playwrights such as Doris Baizley, Paula Cizmar, Prince Gomolvilas, Amy Hill, Silas Jones, Annette Lee, Peter Sagal, Rick Shiomi, Judy Soo Hoo, Kelly Stuart, Alice Tuan, Elizabeth Wong, Chay Yew, and Brian Nelson, a founder of the Institute. Guest lecturers have included playwrights such as Philip Kan Gotanda, Amy Hill, Desmond Nakano, Wakako Yamauchi, Chay Yew, and David Henry Hwang himself. One-act and full-length plays of all genres are created by writers in the Institute, and each session of classes culminates in public readings of these works, staged by professional actors and directors.

Countless works by writers in the Institute have been read, developed, and produced by theatres around the country, and Institute writers have won awards and fellowships. Among them:

Paul Kikuchi's WRINKLES received its world premiere at East West Players in 2011. His IXNAY received its world premiere at East West Players in 2009.

Les Thomas' CAVE QUEST, which received honorable mentions in EWP's Playwriting Competition 'Pacific Century', received its world premiere at East West Players in 2010.

Tim Toyama & Aaron Woolfolk's BRONZEVILLE received its world premiere production by The Robey Theatre Company at the Los Angeles Theatre Center in 2009. His YURI & MALCOLM X won the Ruby Yoshino Schaar Playwright Award in 2008. His VISAS AND VIRTUES was adapted into a short film, directed by Chris Tashima, which won an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film in 1997.

Aurelio Locsin's HELLTOWN BUFFET received its world premiere at Rude Guerrilla Theater Company in Santa Ana, CA, in 2008

Ken Narasaki's INNOCENT WHEN YOU DREAM received its world premiere at Electric Lodge in Venice, CA, in 2007; it also received a staged reading at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. His GHOSTS AND BAGGAGE received its world premiere at the Los Angeles Theatre Center in 1998.

Mark Jue's CHINATOWN CORRESPONDENT received its world premiere by Chinatown 90210 at the Luna Playhouse in Glendale, CA, in 2007. It also won a C.Y. Lee Playwriting Award in 1997.

Judy Soo Hoo's REFRIGERATORS received its world premiere production by Lodestone Theatre Ensemble at East Los Angeles College in 2002. Her TEXAS received its world premiere at Lodestone in 1999. Her TWICE TOLD CHRISTMAS TALES received its world premiere at East West Players in the 1994, and she was a contributor to 29 1/2 DREAMS, which was produced at EWP in 1993. She was also a winner in the 1999 Yukon New Plays Contest. She was a 1999 PEN West Fellow. Contact: judeskye@yahoo.com
Sujata Bhatt's QUEEN OF THE REMOTE CONTROL received its world premiere at East West Players in 2002; it was subsequently produced at Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis; it also received staged readings at the Lark Play Development Center in New York City and the Asian American Theater Company in San Francisco. Contact: ebik@attbi.com

Annette Lee's A DIRTY SECRET BETWEEN THE TOES received its world premiere production by Lodestone Theatre Ensemble at East Los Angeles College in 2001.

Jason Fong's FENTOR received its world premiere production by hereandnow at East Los Angeles College in 2001; it was subsequently produced by the San Diego Asian American Repertory Theatre.

Daniel Cariaga's SLEEPWALK received its world premiere production by Playwrights' Arena at [INSIDE] the Ford in Los Angeles in 2000. It also received a staged reading at A.S.K. Theatre Projects and won an award in the Latin Playwrights Competition at Stages Repertory in Houston. Contact: danielcariaga@earthlink.net

Lucy Kim's LEON AND CLARK received its world premiere production by Playwrights' Arena at Moving Arts in Los Angeles in 2000. Contact: pigggylu@aol.com

Dennis Escobedo's THE POET OF COLUMBUS AVENUE received its world premiere production by Pan Asian Repertory Theatre at Theater Four in New York City in 2000. Contact: dennisescobedo@hotmail.com

Euijoon Kim's MY TIRED BROKE ASS PONTIFICATING SLAPSTICK FUNK received its world premiere at East West Players in 2000. His KARAOKE STORIES won an award in the East West Players AT&T New Voices Playwriting Competition in 1997. Contact: euijoon_kim@newline.com

Noel Alumit's THE RICE ROOM received its world premiere at Highways Performance Space in 1999; it was subsequently performed in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, and other cities. He was a 1998 PEN West Fellow.

Garrett H. Omata's MYSTERY PLAY received its world premiere at Actors Playhouse in Long Beach, CA, in 1998. His S.A.M. I AM received its world premiere at East West Players in 1995; it was subsequently produced in Seattle, San Francisco, Minneapolis, San Diego, Sacramento, and beyond.

John Song's DREAMS OF MY FATHER'S MUSIC won first place in East West Players AT&T New Voices Playwriting Competition in 1997, as well as an award in the C.Y. Lee Playwriting Contest. He was a 1997 PEN West Fellow. Contact: jsong@kingseal.com

Denise Uyehara's HIRO received its world premiere at East West Players, as part of the AT&T: On Stage program, in 1994.

Soji Kashiwagi's THE GRAPEVINE received its world premiere production by Cold Tofu at Los Angeles Theatre Center in 1993.

Pictured: John Cho (L) and Leilani Murakami (R) in My Tired Broke Ass Pontificating Slapstick Funk.
Photo by Michael Lamont.

The David Henry Hwang Writers Institute has been made possible through the generosity of
The James Irvine Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.

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