One of the winning playwrights in Catawba College’s Theatre Arts Department’s Peterson Emerging Playwrights Competition will be in town while his play, All of the Above, is workshopped next week at the College.   Playwright Tom Sime will be on hand for the public readings of his script and the discussions and open forums which will follow them.

The readings are scheduled at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, January 19 and at 1 p.m. Saturday, January 22, in the Florence Busby Corriher Theatre on campus.   Both readings will be followed by discussions and open forums, slated for 8:30 p.m. on the 19th and 3 p.m. on the 22nd.   The public is invited to attend these freeEvents.

Last spring, for the first time ever in the in the history of the Catawba College Theatre Arts Department Peterson Emerging Playwrights Competition, officials announced a tie.   All of the Above by Tom Sime and Bastards and Fools:   A Hopeful Tragedy in Three Acts by Liam Macik were both winners.   Other finalists include Jeanmarie Williams’ Vanishing Marion and Dwayne Yancey’s The Making of the King, 1483-1485.   The plays were chosen from nearly 300 entries in the competition.

The Peterson process is a national competition sponsored by Catawba’s Theatre Arts Department.   Thanks to this program, Catawba College students get a chance to work with emerging professional playwrights, workshop new plays, and have professional critiques of their work.   The Marian Peterson Emerging Playwriting program provides opportunities Catawba students need in order to succeed in the fields of theatre, television, and film.

Past winners of the Peterson Emerging Playwrights Competition include:   2003/2004, ISLAND by Kevin Brewer, 2002/2003 (a state KC/ACTF winner and regional competitor), The Clown Family Murders by Jonas Oppenheim; 2001/02, Let the Rocks Speak by Lily Thomassian (selected by Region IV of the Kennedy Center’s American College Theatre Festival, based on its development at Catawba College, to represent the region in the David Mark Cohen National Playwriting Award competition); 2000/2001, John Doe #2 by Robert McAndrew (its production was strongly recommended for performance at the regional Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival); 1999/2000, China Doll by Elizabeth Wong (winner of the David Mark Cohen National Playwriting Award competition based on its development at Catawba College); and 1998/1999, Interior Lines by Denise Laughlin (her acceptance into her M.F.A. playwriting program at the University of Virginia was partially based on the writing of this play).

The Peterson Emerging Playwriting Competition is open to all unproduced, unpublished, full-length plays as written by emerging (not yet fully established) playwrights.   The submission deadline for the recent cycle was December 1, 2004.

One of the winning playwrights in Catawba College’s Theatre Arts Department’s Peterson Emerging Playwrights Competition will be in town while his play, All of the Above, is workshopped next week at the College.   Playwright Tom Sime will be on hand for the public readings of his script and the discussions and open forums which will follow them.

The readings are scheduled at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, January 19 and at 1 p.m. Saturday, January 22, in the Florence Busby Corriher Theatre on campus.   Both readings will be followed by discussions and open forums, slated for 8:30 p.m. on the 19th and 3 p.m. on the 22nd.   The public is invited to attend these freeEvents.

Last spring, for the first time ever in the in the history of the Catawba College Theatre Arts Department Peterson Emerging Playwrights Competition, officials announced a tie.   All of the Above by Tom Sime and Bastards and Fools:   A Hopeful Tragedy in Three Acts by Liam Macik were both winners.   Other finalists include Jeanmarie Williams’ Vanishing Marion and Dwayne Yancey’s The Making of the King, 1483-1485.   The plays were chosen from nearly 300 entries in the competition.

The Peterson process is a national competition sponsored by Catawba’s Theatre Arts Department.   Thanks to this program, Catawba College students get a chance to work with emerging professional playwrights, workshop new plays, and have professional critiques of their work.   The Marian Peterson Emerging Playwriting program provides opportunities Catawba students need in order to succeed in the fields of theatre, television, and film.

Past winners of the Peterson Emerging Playwrights Competition include:   2003/2004, ISLAND by Kevin Brewer, 2002/2003 (a state KC/ACTF winner and regional competitor), The Clown Family Murders by Jonas Oppenheim; 2001/02, Let the Rocks Speak by Lily Thomassian (selected by Region IV of the Kennedy Center’s American College Theatre Festival, based on its development at Catawba College, to represent the region in the David Mark Cohen National Playwriting Award competition); 2000/2001, John Doe #2 by Robert McAndrew (its production was strongly recommended for performance at the regional Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival); 1999/2000, China Doll by Elizabeth Wong (winner of the David Mark Cohen National Playwriting Award competition based on its development at Catawba College); and 1998/1999, Interior Lines by Denise Laughlin (her acceptance into her M.F.A. playwriting program at the University of Virginia was partially based on the writing of this play).

The Peterson Emerging Playwriting Competition is open to all unproduced, unpublished, full-length plays as written by emerging (not yet fully established) playwrights.   The submission deadline for the recent cycle was December 1, 2004.