(Sarasota, FL) – Playwright, Rich Orloff, will be in residence at Florida Studio Theatre from November 8 through the 13. His play, Chatting with the Tea Party, was part of the Burdick Reading Series in 2013 and has had previous readings. FST has hosted Orloff for several in-house readings and workshops over the past few years to help develop shows such as Shedding Light, Guy Stuff, Jennifer’s Birth, Pool Party, and Come Again.
As part of New Play Development, FST often hosts playwrights and guest artists. By having playwrights in residence, FST builds relationships with new artists and provides them with a place to develop their work. The playwright has a process that is often longer and more solitary than any other theatre artist, often taking years of rewriting and reimagining. FST is dedicated to nurturing this process.
Associate Artist, Jason Cannon describes the unique nature of this series stating, “This November we are thrilled to be hosting Rich Orloff for a week. The most important resource to a writer is the developmental process that gives them time to imagine, draft, rewrite, and edit. By hosting playwrights, FST provides them with the resources to actually see and hear their work. By investing in playwrights, FST invests in new plays.”
New Play Development provides a forum for playwrights of all ages to develop plays that can be fully produced. From young playwrights to our emerging adult playwrights, and seasoned play-writing veterans, FST broadens the breadth and depth of thought in American theatre by encouraging people of all ages and perspectives to write plays. Associate Artist, Catherine Randazzo speaks to the importance of New Play Development at FST, “FST’s New Play Development program makes a commitment to continue the life of new plays and their playwrights. This commitment reaches into all genres of playwriting as the art of live theatre evolves.”
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
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ich Orloff is one of the most popular unknown playwrights in the country. His plays have received over 1400 productions, numerous awards, and oodles of laughter. From his documentary-style plays such as Chatting With The Tea Party to his comedic explorations of such topics as disability (Funny As A Crutch) and lust among the senior set (Advanced Chemistry), Rich’s plays range widely in style, but they all combine irreverence and compassion. Rich’s full-length plays have been presented across the country at such theaters as Arizona Theatre Company, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Dayton Playhouse, Florida Studio Theatre, In Tandem Theatre (Milwaukee), New Jersey Rep, Next Act Theatre (Milwaukee), Phoenix Stage Company (Connecticut), Phoenix Theatre Company (Arizona), Phoenix Theatre Company (Indianapolis), Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey, West Coast Ensemble, WorkShop Theater Company (New York), and in Canada, England, Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Israel, South Africa, India, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand. Author of over a dozen one-acts and 80 short plays, Rich’s short works have had over 1200 productions on six of the seven continents… and a staged reading in Antarctica! Rich’s short comedies have been published seven times in the annual Best American Short Plays series, more than any other playwright in the last twenty years. They’ve also been included in the bilingual collection An Anthology of Contemporary American Plays (published in China), in The Bedford Guide to Literature, and in anthologies published by Random House and Western Michigan University Press. Playscripts has published eight volumes of his plays. (For details, visit Playscripts.com.) Before becoming a playwright, Rich wrote for newspapers, magazines, radio, TV, industrial films and educational videos. While in Kosovo in 2000, Rich wrote the children’s play Snow White and the Seven Dwarves Fight Tuberculosis for Doctors of the World. Born and raised in Chicago, and a graduate of Oberlin College in Ohio, Rich currently lives in New York City. He likes to get out of town frequently to remind himself what the rest of the world is like.
About Florida Studio Theatre
Known as Sarasota’s Contemporary Theatre, Florida Studio Theatre was founded in 1973 by Jon Spelman. Starting out as a small touring company, FST traveled to places such as migrant camps and prisons. The company then acquired the former Woman’s Club building, becoming the first permanent venue. Shortly after Richard Hopkins arrived, the building was purchased and renamed The Keating Theatre. In the years that followed, Florida Studio Theatre established itself as a major force in American Theatre, presenting contemporary theatre in its five theatre venues: the Keating Theatre, the Gompertz Theatre, the Parisian style Goldstein Cabaret and John C. Court Cabaret, and Bowne’s Lab Theatre.
Even with its growth, Florida Studio Theatre remains firmly committed to making the arts accessible and affordable to a broad-based audience. FST develops theatre that speaks to our living, evolving, and dynamically changing world. As FST grows and expands, it continues to provide audiences with challenging, contemporary drama and innovative programs.
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