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CINCINNATI PLAYHOUSE IN THE PARK ANNOUNCES TWO PLAY COMMISSIONS (CINCINNATI) – The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park announced today the first two playwrights who will receive commissions as part of the theatre’s Jerome Fey Endowment for New Plays. Award-winning playwrights Kia Corthron and Cincinnati native Theresa Rebeck have been selected to write plays that may receive premieres in future Playhouse seasons. Jerome Fey got his start at the Playhouse while he was in high school in the 1960s. He both attended and volunteered at the theatre, and this early exposure grew into a life’s passion. He moved to Los Angeles as an adult to pursue a career in playwriting, authoring Oxford's Will, Blind Faith and others produced at the Sundance Festival and several West Coast theatres. He also mentored other playwrights, founded the Golden West Playwrights’ Workshop, taught playwriting at the University of California — Los Angeles and was the literary manager of Colony Studio Theatre. Mr. Fey never forgot where his love of theatre was born. Before he passed away in 1992, he made provisions for a significant gift from his estate to allow the Playhouse to found the Jerome Fey Endowment for New Plays. The endowment monies now will allow the theatre to commission two new plays each year, continuing Mr. Fey’s commitment to nurturing other playwrights. Playhouse Producing Artistic Director Edward Stern has chosen initially to focus the commissions predominately to honor playwrights who are women or persons of color. According to Mr. Stern, “Thanks to Jerome Fey, the Playhouse now is able to expand a longstanding commitment to the development of new plays for the American theatre. We are very grateful for his generosity and proud to have the opportunity to honor his legacy in this way.” Kia Corthron is the author of plays including Breath, Boom; Force Continuum; The Venus De Milo is Armed; and Slide Glide The Slippery Slope. She is the recipient of the Mark Taper Forum’s Fadiman Award, a National Endowment for the Arts/Theatre Communications Group residency, a Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays grant and Callaway Award. She has developed work through the National Playwrights Conference, A Contemporary Theatre, Intiman Theatre, Crossroads Theatre Company’s Genesis Festival and Actors Theatre of Louisville. Her work has been produced at the Manhattan Theatre Club, the Goodman Theatre in Chicago and the Royal Court Theatre in London, among others. Theresa Rebeck is a Cincinnati native. Her plays have been produced off-Broadway and regionally and include Bad Dates (one of the most popular plays in recent Playhouse history), The Butterfly Collection, View of the Dome, The Family Of Mann, Loose Knit and Spike Heels, as well as Omnium Gatherum, which premiered as part of the Humana Festival at Actors Theatre of Louisville and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. She is also well known for her writing for television, including shows such as Dream On, Brooklyn Bridge, LA Law, NYPD Blue, Third Watch and Law and Order, for which she also served as a producer. As part of the commission, each playwright will choose the subject of her choice. The Playhouse has the right to premiere the commissioned plays in upcoming seasons if the theatre chooses to do so. Artists fly to and from Cincinnati on Delta Connection Comair, the Playhouse’s official airline. The Playhouse is supported, in part, by the generosity of the tens of thousands of individuals and businesses that give to the Fine Arts Fund. The Ohio Arts Council helps fund the Playhouse with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. The Playhouse also receives funding from the City of Cincinnati. ###
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