Mega congrats to playwright Dominique Morisseau, who has been awarded the Playwrights of New York (PONY) Fellowship – an award that Katori Hall (The Mountaintop) is a past recipient of; so Dominique is certainly in good company!
The coveted PONY Fellowship includes: 1 year of housing in a 1-bedroom doorman apartment in the heart of the theater district in New York City; A $2,500 per month stipend for 12 months; Reimbursement for 3 years of health insurance; Active membership at the LARK Play Development Center, which includes a seat in the renowned Playwright's Workshop, led by award-winning playwright Arthur Kopit, and programmed roundtable sessions. Both provide the writer the opportunity to hear their new work read by actors on a regular basis, and have in-depth discussions with other writers, actors, directors, and artistic leaders.
In essence, the goal of the PONY Fellowship is simply to encourage the playwright to create new work.
The 1-year fellowship begins in October.
Before that however… and speaking of new work… Ms Morisseau's new play titled Sunset Baby, premiering at the Gate Theatre in London, UK this fall (its world premiere), needs your assistance – contributions that will go towards ensuring that the project is fully and properly realized.
The synopsis for Sunset Baby (courtesy of the Gate Theatre's website) reads:
Kenyatta Shakur is alone. His wife has died, and now, this one time Black Revolutionary and political prisoner, is desperate to reconnect with his estranged daughter Nina. If Kenyatta truly wants to reconcile his past, he must first conquer his most challenging revolution of all – fatherhood.
Dominique needs to raise $5,500 for accommodations, transportation, and food allowance, since the theatre will not be able to fund her trip and stay in London while she participates in the full rehearsal process for the play (August 13th through opening, September 13th).
Thankfully, in the few days that the campaign has been live, she's already raised, at the time of this posting, $4807, and with 50 days still to go, she only needs to raise another $700 to meet her objective; however, something tells me that she'll blow past that figure by the time the 50 days is up!
Don't let that stop you though; head on over to www.indiegogo.com/sunsetbaby to contribute to the campaign! I'm sure it'll all be appreciated.
One more thing… her latest completed work (prior to Sunset Baby) titled Detroit '67, will make its World Premiere at the Public Theater here in NYC, running from February 26 to March 17, 2013.
The synop for that play reads:
It’s 1967 in Detroit. Motown music is getting the party started, and Chelle and her brother Lank are making ends meet by turning their basement into an after-hours joint. But when a mysterious woman finds her way into their lives, the siblings clash over much more than family business. As their pent-up feelings erupt, so does their city, and the flames of the ’67 Detroit riots engulf them all. DETROIT '67 is presented in association with the Classical Theatre of Harlem.
Busy, busy, busy…!
Watch Dominique's pitch below for Sunset Baby (Gate Theater poster underneath):
