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Doubtful Provenance Named Semi-Finalist in the Ashland New Plays Festival 2017

March 6, 2017 / / 0 Comments

On Monday, March 6, word came that Doubtful Provenance, the full-length stage play by award-winning playwright Kevin Rush, has been selected as a semi-finalist for the Ashland New Plays Festival 2017, to be held in Ashland, Oregon, October 15 through 22. Only six percent of the submitted scripts advanced.

Here’s how the ANPF website describes the festival: “Founded in 1992 and managed by a volunteer board of directors, Ashland New Plays Festival is a nonprofit organization that encourages playwrights in the creation of new works through public readings.”

“ANPF has given scores of playwrights from far and wide the forum to have their fledgling works read before a supportive, knowledgeable, and insightful audience.”

“[I]n October, the winning playwrights are in residence for an entire week. During this fertile time, they talk with other playwrights, receive counsel from our host playwright, and have ample opportunities to discuss their plays in informal social settings.”

Having made it through the initial round, where 94 percent of scripts were eliminated, Doubtful Provenance now goes to the full reading committee. Final notifications go out in July. Winner received free room and board and a $1,000 stipend to cover travel expenses to the festival. Mr. Rush, who has never been to Ashland, and hasn’t even been to Oregon since 1994, would welcome the opportunity to attend. Fingers crossed.

Doubtful Provenance of Haverford College antiquities

May 13, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Where did I get my inspiration to write Doubtful Provenance? Not on the bucolic campus of Haverford College.

But, as it turns out, my alma mater has several antiquities of doubtful provenance due to its close connection to one of the world’s most notorious traffickers in looted artifacts. Here’s an interesting article on fellow HC alum Robert Hecht who had quite a career as a black marketeer. I didn’t know about Mr. Hecht when I wrote Doubtful Provenance, though I was working on it before he passed away in 2012. He could have been quite a resource, but alas, we never met, nor did I know of his reputation. I’ll have to remind myself more often to exploit my alumni network.

News for Doubtful Provenance

May 12, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Monday night (5/11/15) I had the pleasure of talking to a dramaturg who is well-regarded in the Manhattan theatre community. She’d read my play, Doubtful Provenance, not once, but twice, and was trying to get a very busy director to read it. While I can’t go into all the details of our discussion, I will say I was encouraged that she embraced the intelligence of the script, the depth of the characters and the substance of the ideas. About my lead female, she said, “A lot of people try to write that character, but they get her wrong. You got her right.” The character is complex, but as the dramaturg said, “She’s someone who exists in the world,” meaning she’s real and she resonates. When we left off our discussion, we shook hands enthusiastically, and I felt that, finally, the play has the strong advocate it deserves.

I’ll keep reporting on any progress we make bringing Doubtful Provenance to the New York stage.

Crossing Event Horizon

May 9, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Winner of the Chameleon Theatre Circle 2007 New Play Contest

Crossing Event Horizon is a humorous and heart-warming dramedy about a Catholic high school guidance counselor’s midlife crisis. Frustrated by his inability to get his students to face reality, Thom Gilmer must separate fantasy from reality in his own life when a DVD of a lost Hollywood film mysteriously surfaces, and presents him (the film’s breakout star) with a Faustian bargain.

Synopsis

Thom Gilmer is an over-worked, 45 year-old failed-actor-turned-high school Guidance Counselor. His students love him but won’t take his advice. His Vice Principal is an out-of-control adolescent who leans so heavily on Thom, he prevents him from doing his job. His stodgy-cleric-boss wants Thom to stop rocking the boat. And his wife can’t understand why Thom is so emotionally entangled with his students, but won’t engage with his own kids.

Thom is collaborating with the California State Police to stage a dramatic fantasy re-enactment of a drunk driving car crash to deter the student body from drinking and driving. Since none of his over-the-top ideas have yielded tangible results, the school President (Monsignor), criticizes Thom’s “flair for the dramatic,” and urges him to drop the “bells and whistles.” As Thom pushes forward with his “event” he feels increasing pressure to “produce a hit.”

Amidst this pressure, Thom receives a mysterious DVD, apparently of a major Hollywood film, previously unreleased, in which he co-starred twenty years ago. The star of the film, Lance Ransome, died shortly after shooting. Thom tries to wrap his head around the possibility that despite destroying his burgeoning acting career with cocaine, he had made an impressive debut that got shelved, and this has enormous implication for his future. After the drunk-driving event hits an embarrassing speed-bump, Thom decides to retrace his steps to see if he can have a second chance at the acting career he almost died pursuing.

Availability

Theatre groups wishing to perform Crossing Event Horizon can contact the playwright directly through this website for further information. The play will shortly be released in paperback and e-book formats.

 

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