The Missoula Colony 14


July 18-26, 2009
Montana Theatre, PARTV Center
The University of Montana

Montana Rep is delighted to announce the fourteenth annual Missoula Colony: A Gathering of Artists in Support of the Writer's Craft! Playwrights returning to the Colony this summer include Roger Hedden (Bodies, Rest and Motion and Hi-Life); James McLure (Laundry and Bourbon); Jessica Goldberg (Ward 57); Ron Fitzgerald (Cyclone and Weeds); and Barret O’Brien (Yale School of Drama).

New Colony participants include Julie Jensen, Rob Caisley, Richard Warren, Marcus Olson, and Lauren Feldman, this year's recipient of The Agnes Ranjo Capps Award for promising playwright. Lauren recently graduated from the Yale School of Drama playwriting program.

Creating and Marketing New Plays
Panels / July 18 and 19 / 10:00 AM-1:00 PM / Montana Stage / PARTV
Julie Jensen will lead two panels focusing on moving a play from development to production. She will be joined for panel discussions on July 18 and 19 by playwrights James McLure, Jessica Goldberg, Patrick Sutton, Ron Fitzgerald, and Roger Hedden, along with directors Greg Johnson and Jere Hodgin.

Julie Jensen, the resident playwright at Salt Lake Acting Company, is the recipient of the Kennedy Center Award for New American Plays, the Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New Work, and the L.A. Weekly Award for Best New Play. She has received the McKnight National Playwriting Fellowship, a TCG/NEA Playwriting Residency, and a major grant from Pew Charitable Trusts. Her plays have been produced London, New York City, and theaters nationwide, as well as at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She has been commissioned by eleven different theaters, and her work has twice been nominated by American Theatre Critics for best new play produced outside New York.

The Butte Trilogy / Sunday / July 26 / 12:00 PM, 3:00 PM, 6:00 PM
As part of this year's Colony gathering, Montana Rep, An Rí Rá Festival, and Culture Ireland will present staged readings of The Butte Trilogy, a three-play cycle chronicling the Irish experience in Montana. The trilogy will also be presented later this summer in Butte.
More about The Butte Trilogy (PDF)

Staged Readings:
Actors from Missoula, New York and Los Angeles will help bring these new works to life, and visiting directors will oversee the readings.

A total of 21 plays will be read, making the week a unique immersion in the art and craft of playwriting. Staged Readings Schedule (PDF)

Tickets:
All-inclusive admission pass: $50 (includes both panels and all 21 readings)
Panel discussions: $20 (includes both sessions, July 18 and 19)
Admission to all readings: $40 (all 21 afternoon and evening readings)
Individual afternoon readings: $5 (one or more readings each afternoon)
Individual evening readings: $10 (one reading each evening)

All readings and panel discussions will take place on the stage of the Montana Theatre (PARTV Center, The University of Montana campus)

To learn more about The Missoula Colony 14, please contact Salina Chatlain, assistant to the Rep's artistic director, at (406) 243-6809 or by e-mail.