Congratulations to Shan Ayres

Shan Ayres, a founding member of KPW and its first Board Secretary, has been appointed Director of Theatre and Program Coordinator for the Berea College Theatre. So, in addition to teaching and designing he will also be Berea's production manager and department chair. Consequently, while Shan intends to remain a member of KPW he has said that he would not be able to serve another term as Secretary. Best wishes and Congratulations Shan!

About Our Playwrights

The playwrights whose plays will be read on Sunday November 14, 2010 at the Bards Town, a restaurant and entertainment complex on Bardstown Road in Louisville, Kentucky are listed below. The second half of the list of playwrights will go up later in the week. Please come out and support these playwrights whose work the Kentucky Playwrights Workshop, Inc. would like to produce as part of the Kentucky Festival of New Plays in the spring of 2011, at the Bards Town.

Shan R. Ayers, author of the play Draped in Honor, holds an MFA and is a Professor of Theatre at Berea College. He teaches courses in design, script analysis, theatre history and playwriting. Twice he has taught playwriting for the Kentucky Institute for International Studies summer program in Japan and will be again in the 2011 summer program in Italy.

Trish Ayers, author of the 10-minute play Judging Quilts in this year's festival is co-artistic director and resident playwright of Mountain Spirit Puppets with her husband Shan Ayers. Her plays have toured the United States and Japan. She has been a guest artist at Iowa State and Western Illinois University and has won numerous playwriting awards from the Appalachian Writers Association. Ms. Ayers originated the Kentucky Women Playwrights’ Seminar, which has twice been funded by the Kentucky Foundation for Women (KFW). Currently she is editing the full-length play, “Taking Stock” with funding from the KFW Artist Enrichment Grant. She is a member of The Dramatists Guild.

James Hamblin, co author of Digging for Diamonds is an actor, writer and director from Georgetown, Kentucky. He has a BA in Communications from Georgetown College, and spent 2 years in the MFA Acting program at the University of Florida. James has performed off-Broadway, off-off-Broadway, and throughout New England. He has worked in independent film and television, and works as a writer, director, actor and teacher all over the country; regionally, James has worked with Lexington Children’s Theatre.

Rose-Mary Harrington, author of There is No Dash, is from Ashland, Oregon. She holds a B.A. from New College of Speech and Drama, England and an M.A. from the University of Arizona in Theatre/Playwrighting. Ms. Harrington's efforts have been generously rewarded, they run the gamut from Pulse Ensemble in New York to the Kennedy Center and to being awarded honors by the Pacific Northwest Writers Association. Rose-Mary was the 2009 recipient of the Oregon Literary Fellowship in Drama. Rose-Mary is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America.

Organizational Meeting Held

A meeting to formally organize the Kentucky Playwrights Workshop, Inc. was held on the afternoon of August 15, 2010 at Common Grounds Coffee House in Lexington, KY. At that meeting the KPW adopted Bylaws, a policy manual and the membership elected a Board of Directors and approved dues for 2010 - 2011 of $10. Members who pay their dues on or before September 30, 2010 will be recognized as KPW's "Founding Members."

Individuals elected to the first Board of Directors are: Shan Ayers, Berea (Secretary); James Brown, Lexington (Treasurer) and Bill McCann, Jr., Lexington (President). The Board members will serve until the Annual Meeting of Active Members in September 2011, or until their successors are elected or appointed.

Membership in the Kentucky Playwrights Workshop, Inc. is open to any Kentuckian interested in the production of new works for the stage.

KPW is organized as a non-profit corporation under the laws of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Membership and Board Meetings are open to the general public. Copies of the Bylaws as amended and approved at the Organizational meeting on August 15th are available upon request by sending a request to ky.playwright@yahoo.com

Couple to Headline New Plays Festival

Berea residents and playwrights Shan and Trish Ayers, are headlining this year's Kentucky Festival of New Plays November 18-21, 2010 at The Bardstown Theatre, 1801 Bardstown Road in Louisville, KY.

Trish Ayers, author of the 10-minute play JUDGING QUILTS in this year's festival is co-artistic director and resident playwright of Mountain Spirit Puppets with her husband Shan Ayers. Her plays have toured the United States and Japan. She has been a guest artist at Iowa State and Western Illinois University and has won numerous playwriting awards from the Appalachian Writers Association and was a finalist in the 2009 Heartland Ten-Minute and One-Act Play Festival.

Ms. Ayers originated the Kentucky Women Playwrights’ Seminar, which has twice been funded by the Kentucky Foundation for Women (KFW). Currently she is editing the full-length play, “Taking Stock” with funding from the KFW Individual Artist Grant. She is a member of The Dramatists Guild.

Shan R. Ayers, author of the play DRAPED IN HONOR, holds an MFA and is a Professor of Theatre at Berea College. He teaches courses in design, script analysis, theatre history and playwriting. Twice he has taught playwriting for the Kentucky Institute for International Studies summer program in Japan and will be again in the 2011 summer program in Italy.

The Kentucky Festivla of New Plays is in its second year; in 2009 the festival was known as the Midway Festival of Plays and was produced at the Thoroughbred Communuity Theatre, Midway, KY.

Candidates for the KPW Board of Directors

The following individuals-- listed alphabetically-- are candidates for election to the Board of Directors of the Kentucky Playwrights Workshop, Inc. at the meeting to be held on Sunday August 15, 2010 at Common Grounds Coffee House, begining at 2:00 pm.

Board members elected at this Sunday's meeting will be responisble for the financial and administrative management of the KPW until thier successors are elected or appointed. Term of office is one year. From among themselves the Board will elect a president, secretary and treasurer to serve until the Annual Meeting 0f Active Members in September 2011.

Candidates for the Board are:

Shan R. Ayers, a Professor of Theatre at Berea College, holds an MFA in Theatre Design. He has been on the faculty at Berea College since 1984. He joined 517Playwrights this past Spring. Shan currently teaches playwriting courses at Berea and has twice taught playwriting while abroad with the Kentucky Institute for International Studies. He has also served as the playwriting judge for the Appalachian Writers Association and as a judge for the Berea Arts Council's Ten Minute Play Festival during their Quilt Extravaganza. He is currently reformatting and editing a collection of short plays written by Kentucky women playwrights. Shan's play, DRAPED IN HONOR, was selected for this year's Kentucky Festival of New Plays.

James Brown joinied KPW in February 2010. He will be producer of this year's festival of new plays. In addition to KPW James is a playwright and actor who is also working on an MFA in creative writing. James' play HIGHER EDUCATION was produced this past winter at the Lexington Public Library Theatre. Most recently, ames was in BCTC's play A FEW GOOD MEN in which he played Major Markinson.

Bill McCann, Jr. is co-founder (with Greta Fields) of 517 Playwrights and a Founding Member of Kentucky Playwrights Workshop, Inc. In addition to doing much of the work necessary to beocome an IRS sanctioned non-profit Bill has served as Contest Coordinator for both of the 517 Playwrights 10-minute play contests. This year Bill is also serving as Executive Producer (chief fundraiser) for the Kentucky Festival of New Plays. Beginning on August 16th Bill is going to be starting work on a MA in Theatre at the University of Kentucky. Bill is a playwright and actor. Most recently Bill played Charlie Martin in ON GOLDEN POND with the Little Colonel Playhouse in Pewee Valley, KY. His play, THERE IS NO WRIGLEY FIELD, will be in the Kentucky Festival of New Plays.

Steve Taylor attended the very first meeting of 517 Playwrights in 2008 and has been an active and enthusiastic member since writing the initial draft of the organization's Bylaws and helping KPW become incorporated as a non-profit. For both play contests Steve has been a judge; this year he also submitted two scripts for consideration. In addition to his work with KPW Steve is a playwright, a lawyer and, with a partner, an owner of a small press that specializes in publishing poetry.

Additional nominees will be accepted from the floor the day of the election.