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Posts from the ‘Residencies’ Category

Feb 7

Trans Lab Fellowship

I’m happy to share that I’m a member of the inaugural Trans Lab Fellowship! Last month we four playwrights/playwriting teams and two directors of Trans Lab had our very first meeting, led by MJ Kaufman. Over the course of the year, we’ll continue to meet monthly to share and strengthen our work.

In just under two weeks time, on Monday, February 19th, we’re having a Launch Party and Fundraiser, and you’re invited! (Click the link above to get your tickets. The theme is Lunar New Year Prom, and you don’t want to miss it.)

Plays by trans and gender nonconforming (TGNC) writers are a rarity in American theater. As transgender stories are co-opted, commercialized, and misrepresented by cisgender writers, Trans Lab will support the creation of a critical mass of TGNC plays by TGNC writers.

Trans Lab’s programming, which is supported by WP Theater and The Public Theater, will include professional development sessions for fellows, and the year-long program will culminate in a series of readings of works developed in the lab. More details on those sharings of work as I have them. For now, like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram!

Jan 21

Glass in The Fire This Time Festival

12471625_10107081994513100_8235387723456818332_oThe first full reading of my new play GLASS will take place on January 25th as part of The Fire This Time Festival. Some of you may have attended readings of excerpts of this work over the past year, most notably as part of Keep Soul Alive! Mondays at National Black Theatre and Everybooty at BAM. After spending some quality time with the text at the Lambda Literary Retreat in June, I came back to Brooklyn and finished the first draft of GLASS. Come see how it all shakes out!

GLASS
Written by Azure D. Osborne-Lee
Directed by Stevie Walker-Webb

Featuring: Simone Leanora, Kirya Yvonne Traber, Alicia Raquel, Ramad D. Carter, Erin Margaret Pettigrew, Ariel Joshua Domingo, Jak Watson, Jordan E. Cooper, Cameron Mitchell Mason, Raven Cassell, and Antonio Lyons

Two figures meet at a crossroads and strike a bargain. Lightning splits the ground between them, and a handful of witnesses creep forward to claim pieces of lightning-forged glass. Elsewhere, in Mississippi, Early May tends to his deeply depressed wife as he watches the roads leading into town.

Admission is FREE, but please do make a reservation so we know you’re coming.
http://www.horsetrade.info/event/12cd0d7b774fd2802b2c6c8785b92b3d

May 19

Introducing Voicebox Writing Workshops

I am pleased to announce that I’ll be facilitating a series of writing workshops this coming June and July in London in collaboration with New Shoes Theatre. New Shoes Theatre is a provocative and vibrant theatre company which confronts social and environmental issues. Below you’ll find all the juicy details about how you, or somebody like you, can sign up for the Voicebox Playwriting Workshop. This year I’m planning to offer these workshops in Mexico, New York City, and Texas. Although the workshops I’m facilitating with New Shoes are geared specifically towards playwriting, future Voicebox workshops may also cover other forms of creative writing. So do you know an organization that’s in need of a writing workshop? Or are you interested in taking one yourself? Use the contact form on my the homepage and tell me about it!

In other news, I am now serving as editor for an exciting new piece of theatre by Mingyu Lin called AWAKE. This production about space, grief, guilt, and how we negotiate them will open in London in July. Stay tuned for more details about AWAKE.

Additionally, the writing workshop series that I’ve been leading at Central School of Speech & Drama is coming along quite nicely. We’re now meeting every week to write, share, and support one another. This series will culminate in a by invitation only reading at the school at the end of June.

And now without further ado, I give you the Voicebox Playwriting Workshop.

A three-Saturday workshop on characterisation and dialogue designed for new
playwrights as well as people looking to find their voices or reinvigorate their writing practices.  The workshop is led by Azure D. Osborne-Lee (2010 resident playwright at Freedom Train Productions in Brooklyn, NY) who has a particular interest in the way women are represented in theatre.

This is an excellent opportunity for writers of all experience levels.

The playwriting workshop will take place over three Saturdays in London.

Dates: 18th & 25th June & 2nd July 2011.
Time: 2pm – 6pm
Cost: £100
Where: The first two sessions will be held in Pimlico, London. Full address will be supplied once booking is confirmed. The final session will be in London, venue TBA.

Limited places available on a booking only basis.

For more information and to book contact New Shoes Theatre
T: 07972 395634
E: bookings@newshoestheatre.org.uk
http://www.newshoestheatre.org.uk/Workshop.html

Jul 17

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MIRRORS in FIRE! New Play Festival

 

Summer is flying by and things are heating up here in Brooklyn, NY. I happily returned to New York City on July 4th to a city in the middle of a heat wave and intense revelry. Here I’ve been writing and collaborating with brilliant artistic minds, not to mention enjoying some satisfying NYC take out.

Next week my newest play, MIRRORS, will receive a staged reading as part of Freedom Train Productions’ FIRE! New Play Festival and in culmination of my playwriting residency. I became really inspired to write about the world of MIRRORS when I went with a friend to see a photography exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art this winter. One photograph in particular really grabbed me. It was an image of a hair salon in the front room of a shotgun house somewhere down South. The photographer captured the house from the outside of the screen door, and you could see the photographer’s reflection in the door as well as the sprawling contents of the house. The layers drew me in. As I stood gazing at this photograph, the sights and sounds of a childhood spent in the South came back to me. I could feel the relentless summer heat and hear the tree insects calling. I felt like I knew who these people were and what story they needed to tell.

Here’s a super succinct synopsis of what MIRRORS is all about: Two women mourn the loss of a loved one while sifting through the secrets of their shared past.  If you’re anywhere in the New York City area on Friday, July 23rd, you should most definitely come on down to Fort Greene, Brooklyn and check it out. I hope to see many of you there!

MIRRORS  by Azure D. Osborne-Lee
Directed by Mekeva McNeil
Featuring Suzanne Darrell, Treasure Davidson, Shereen Macklin, Tish Mann, Mekeva McNeil, and Lori Parquet

Friday, July 23rd @ 7:30pm
South Oxford Space
138 South Oxford Street
Fort Greene, Brooklyn
Tickets $5-10, available in advance at Brown Paper Tickets.

Photo of roses by flickr user Beverly & Pack

Jan 13

Freedom Train Productions Residency

I’m proud to announce that I have been selected as one of the 2010 resident playwrights at Freedom Train Productions! With them I’ll be continuing the development of my one act play CROOKED PARTS. I cannot say enough how excited I am that I’ll be continuing my growth as a playwright with Freedom Train Productions.

In case you didn’t know, Freedom Train Productions is at the forefront of the theatre scene, commissioning and producing the development of new work featuring black, queer protagonists. FTP’s programming includes playwriting workshops, staged readings, and Offstage Forums, just to name a few. Check FTP out and find out how you can get involved at http://www.freedomtrainproductions.org/.