BEING ILLYA KURYAKIN
by Mary Ethel Schmidt
WHEN: Wednesday, April 10, at 7:30 PM
WHERE: The Lackland Center, 715 Grand Ave., Hackettstown
The performance will be followed by talk-back with the playwright and cast and light refreshments.
ADMISSION: by donation and reservations are requested. For reservations and information contact the Centenary Stage Company Box Office at 908.979.0900, or visit online at www.centenarystageco.org
The 21st season of the Centenary Stage Company Women Playwrights Series kicks off with a highly theatrical, comic journey through one woman’s life, guided by a cast of eccentric and hilarious characters who help her to make a life changing decision.
About the Playwright
Mary Ethel Schmidt received her MFA from Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University, where she was the recipient of the Levin Scholarship for three years. In New York City she studied at the Classic Stage Company, was a founding member of the Metropolitan Playhouse and worked at the Director’s Company, where she received a Revson Fellowship to study directing and then continued on as Associate Artistic Director. While in New York, Schmidt was member of the Associate Faculty at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, where she taught acting and directed over 50 productions. She has acted in and directed numerous productions in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, including several projects with the Centenary Stage Company. An accomplished playwright, her plays have been performed in New York City, Seattle, and Kansas City. Internationally she has studied at the National theatre, directed the Swedish Premiere of Nicky Silver’s Raised in Captivity and performed The Belle of Amherst and Wenceslas Square in Vilnius, Lithuania. She is a member of Actors Equity Association and The Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers.
Now in its 21st year, the CSC Women Playwrights series, led by Catherine Rust, is dedicated to providing a working forum for the unique and underserved voice of women writing for the theater today. The WPS offers emerging playwrights a chance to work with professional directors and actors in a short rehearsal period, followed by a staged reading of the work in front of a live audience, with audience feedback and discussion. Each presentation features refreshments for all, and lively “talk-backs” with the playwright and cast following the performance. The Series features the finalists in the Centenary Stage Company Susan Glaspell contest, which offers the winner further development support worth $30,000 in a full production on the CSC professional Equity main-stage, as well as a cash payment to the author.
Centenary Stage Company is an affiliate member of the National New Play Network (based in Washington, D.C.), and participates in the “Extended Life” and “Rolling World Premiere” programs, designed to give playwrights larger exposure and sustained life throughout the country in their first year of production.
This 21th anniversary season of the CSC Women Playwrights Series is made possible in part through the generous support of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation , the NJ State Council on the Arts, Heath Village Retirement Community, and the many CSC members and sponsors.
