"Midwestern Voices" Continues with Jennifer Blackmer and "Alias Grace"

The Midwestern Voices Playwrights Festival, a New Play initiative from Illinois State University in conjunction with the Illinois Shakespeare Festival, brings its second new work to the table tomorrow.

Jennifer Blackmer

Jennifer Blackmer's "Alias Grace" is the second of the three plays being presented under this "Midwestern Voices" umbrella, and like Philip Dawkins' "Miss Marx: The Involuntary Side Effect of Living" before it and Ike Holter's "Hell-Care," coming up in August, "Alias Grace" is a brand new piece being given a staged reading by actors from the Illinois Shakespeare Festival's professional company.

Playwright Jennifer Blackmer is in B-N for a four-day residency that includes the reading tomorrow at 3 pm at Bloomington's historic Vrooman Mansion. The reading is open to the public and free of charge.

"Alias Grace" involves Grace Marks, one of Canada’s most notorious murderers. Grace, an Irish immigrant, maintains that she has no memory of killing her employer or his housekeeper. Raising issues of insanity, memory, culpability, innocence and guilt, "Alias Grace" is described as "a thrilling exploration of... the darkest places of the human mind."

Blackmer is a director and playwright, as well as Associate Professor of Theatre at Ball State University in Indiana. Her work has been produced at at theater and museums in New York, Chicago, Washington DC, Minneapolis and Indianapolis, Ball State University, and the Indianapolis Children’s Museum, where she currently serves as Playwright in Residence for the International Theatre in Museums workshop. Her play, "The Human Terrain," was selected for Playwrights’ Week at The Lark Play Development Center and was a finalist at the Eugene O’Neill Memorial Theater Center. Other recent plays include "Elegy No. 5" (Manhattan Shakespeare Project Emerging Female Voices) and "Delicate Particle Logic" (Playwrights’ Center, Minneapolis). Blackmer also directed the American premiere of Cathy Ostlere’s "Lost at Indiana Repertory Theatre." She is a member of the Dramatists’ Guild, the Mid-America Theatre Conference, the International Museum Theatre Alliance and The Playwrights’ Center.

The staged reading of "Alias Grace" starts at 3 pm on Sunday, July 29, at the Vrooman Mansion in Bloomington. Parking is available on the street.

Midwestern Voices Starts on Sunday With Philip Dawkins and "Miss Marx"

New plays all around! Right now, new one-acts by Midwestern writers are being celebrated in Heartland's "New Plays from the Heartland" project (and what a great forum last night with playwright Doug Post in conjunction with that), and it's almost time for the other new play initiative in town -- the Illinois Shakespeare Festival's Midwestern Voices Playwrights Festival -- to start up, as well.

The Midwestern Voices Playwrights Festival is a way for the Illinois Shakespeare Festival to showcase three up-and-coming playwrights from the region by giving each a four-day residency that includes readings of their new plays as performed by members of the ISF professional acting company. All three readings are open to the public, and they'll take place at Bloomington's historic Vrooman Mansion.

Philip Dawkins

The first chapter in the Midwestern Voices project takes place this Sunday, July 15, with a reading of Philip Dawkins' new play, "Miss Marx: The Involuntary Side Effect of Living," scheduled at 3 pm The Miss Marx in the title is Eleanor Marx, daughter of Karl, the German economist and philosopher who wrote "The Communist Manifesto" and "Das Kapital," defining socialism as an alternative to capitalism and changing the world for generations. From each according to his abilities -- to each according to his needs. Progress can be measured by the social position of the fair sex, the ugly ones included. Workers of the world unite: You have nothing to lose but your chains!

Dawkins' play deals with Eleanor Marx's "efforts to create a world where every human is respected and loved." Even the ugly ones.

A resident playwright at Chicago’s Victory Gardens Theatre, Dawkins is the author of "The Homosexuals," presented by About Face Theatre at Victory Gardens last year in a very well-received production. The Chicago Tribune's Chris Jones called the play, "ambitious, substantial and deeply impressive." Dawkins’ new play, "Failure: A Love Story," will take the main stage at Victory Gardens beginning November 16.

Jennifer Blackmer

Playwright Jennifer Blackmer is the next "Midwestern Voice" to share a reading, as her new adaptation of Margaret Atwood's novel, "Alias Grace" gets the spotlight on July 29 at 3 pm. "Alias Grace" involves Grace Marks, one of Canada’s most notorious murderers. Grace, an Irish immigrant, maintains that she has no memory of killing her employer or his housekeeper. Raising issues of insanity, memory, culpability, innocence and guilt, "Alias Grace" is described as "a thrilling exploration of... the darkest places of the human mind."

Currently living in Indiana and teaching theater at Ball State University, Blackmer is a director, educator and playwright. Her play, "The Human Terrain," was selected for Playwrights’ Week at The Lark Play Development Center and was a finalist at the Eugene O’Neill Memorial Theater Center.

Ike Holter

Ike Holter's "Hell-Care," a provocative new play about the American way of health, finishes up the "Midwestern Voices" season on August 5 at 3 pm. In the play, a Chicagoan almost loses his mind when he tries to jump through all the hoops in his way to get to free health care. In the end, he must choose which is more important, his health or his very sanity.

Holter also wrote "Hit the Wall," which enjoyed a sold-out run at the Steppenwolf Garage and then became a selection for the summer season at Chicago’s Theatre on the Lake. "Hit the Wall" was a production by Chicago's Inconvenience company, where Holter is resident playwright. He is also the Associate Artistic Director at Nothing Without a Company.

The free performances begin promptly at 3 pm. Each will include an artist talkback immediately following the performance.

The Vrooman Mansion is located at 701 East Taylor Street in Bloomington, Illinois. Street parking is available.

If new plays are your thing, if Philip Dawkins is your thing, if you are a student of Marx or Marxism or playwriting or you'd just like to sit inside the Vrooman Mansion and hear some provocative new theater from a brilliant new voice, you'll want to pencil this one in on your schedule.

To recap the important bits for this weekend: Philip Dawkins, "Miss Marx: The Involuntary Side-Effect of Living," 3 pm, Sunday the 15th, Vrooman Mansion.

Brand-New Plays Bring Something Fresh to the Illinois Shakespeare Festival

Yes, the Illinois Shakespeare Festival opens this week. You can see "Othello" tomorrow and "As You Like It" Wednesday if you are in the mood for Special Preview Nights and their tempting two-for-one option. But there is something else, something new and shiny and very exciting, happening at the Festival this year.

We generally associate the Illinois Shakespeare Festival with older plays. Older, as in Elizabethan, of course, with the occasional Restoration comedy or even a little Cavalier fun or the occasional Shakespeare parody tossed into the mix to keep things lively. But last year, the Festival launched something a bit different, offering staged readings of brand-new plays in conjunction with the Shakespeare Festival.

Two new plays were treated to readings in 2011, but this year, the field has expanded to three. Under the umbrella of "The Midwestern Voices Playwrights Festival," the Festival will showcase playwrights Philip Dawkins, Jennifer Blackmer, and Ike Holter with a four-day residency that includes readings of their new plays, as performed by members of the ISF professional acting company. All three readings are open to the public, and they'll take place at Bloomington's historic Vrooman Mansion at 3 pm on July 15, July 29 and August 5.

I asked the ISF's Jesse Cannady, who is working with "The Midwestern Voices Playwright's Project," for some background information on the project and how it all began. Here's what Jesse had to say:

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"'The Midwestern Voices Playwright's Project' began last season as 'The Playground,' which was developed by ISU MFA Jessie Dean and her husband, up-and-coming playwright Gabriel Dean. Janet Wilson asked me to follow up on this program (with a new name) after Jessie and Gabe left Normal for several workshops of Gabe's work... From there I was charged with finding three playwrights.

Ike Holter
(© Ryan Bourque)

"I knew off the bat I wanted Ike Holter in residency. Ike wrote the the smash of Steppenwolf's 2011-12 season, HIT THE WALL. The production was extended twice and sold out within hours each time. It was a stunning piece with a lot of heart. Ike's words are lyrical and beautiful and we cannot wait to workshop his new play HELL-CARE that will be premiering in Chicago this fall.

Jennifer Blackmer

"Jennifer Blackmer joined us next. Jennifer is a friend of mine who has mentored several of my playwright friends and is a professor out of Ball State University. Jenn had a different new play developed this last semester at Illinois Wesleyan under Tom Quinn which I had the pleasure of seeing in performance. The workshop production showed a lot of heart and a brilliant female lead. Jenn let me know she was working on a commission out of LA, and I knew we had our second playwright. Jenn's beautiful adaptation, ALIAS GRACE, will play second."

Philip Dawkins

"We are thrilled to welcome Phil Dawkins to the festival as well. Phil came to us through ISU students currently serving as interns at the About Face Theatre in Chicago. He is currently serving in the Playwright's Ensemble at Victory Gardens where his play THE HOMOSEXUALS played to great reviews last season. Victory Gardens will present the world premier of his new play-with-music FAILURE: A LOVE STORY this holiday season. His play, MISS MARX, will premier this season at an area university.

"We couldn't be more thrilled to work with these three playwrights and present their work on stage.

"While in residency, each playwright will work differently with our actors, directors, and support staff to make any necessary changes to their piece. At the end of the process, each Sunday, we will present a reading at the beautiful Vrooman Mansion with a talk-back session immediately afterwards. These readings will be bare bones, focusing on the text, allowing our playwrights the rare opportunity of hearing their words with out seeing all that other 'stuff' that goes along with a play."

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Thanks, Jesse!

The plays presented will run the gamut from healthcare (HELL-CARE) to revolution and social conscience (MISS MARX) to murder, memory and the nature of guilt and innocence (ALIAS GRACE, based on the book by Margaret Atwood.)

I will give you more information on the individual plays and playwrights as we get closer, but for right now, you'll want to mark your calendars for 3 pm on July 15th, July 29th and August 5th.

Exciting new work that we get in Bloomington-Normal before it hits Steppenwolf or Victory Gardens or The Playwrights Center? That's a do-not-miss!