Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company

March 4, 2010

With sadness weighing heavy within my heart I share with you the abrupt passing of our friend and fellow thespian Mark D. Smith. We last saw him this past Saturday at our event at the August Wilson Center. He's been a great friend for over 25 years. He's graced our stages and has done many heroic behind the scenes feats that has helped us greatly. Mark had a cerebral hemorrhage two days ago and did not recover. He moved on to join our ancestors early this morning.

Our good friend and actor Rico Parker from Dayton Ohio was present and delivered the final prayer at his bedside amongst friends and family members. Details will follow including a potential fundraiser to cover funeral cost. Feel free to forward this to our theatre community.

Mark Clayton Southers
Founder / Producing AD
Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company

Please if you can toward Mark Smith's funeral expenses

March 13th - March 28th, 2010 (Previews March 11th and 12th)
VALU-MART by Sean O'Leary (Guest Playwright)
Directed by Mark Clayton Southers

VALU-MART, by Sean O'Leary (our guest playwright for this season), examines the art of self-preservation. A display case key has gone missing at a mass merchandise department store. Five employees are suspected of taking the key and are detained in a break room for questioning. Humiliated and fearful that they will all be fired if the key and the person responsible are not found, the five employees struggle to find a way out. Their struggle exposes the hopes, fears, aspirations, and resentments that arise from five very different lives.

Featuring:
Bill Dalzell
Tommy LaFitte
Suzie McGregor-Laine
Kelly Marie McKenna
Rico Parker
Genna Styles

TICKETS

ADVANCE PURCHASE through ProArtsTickets:
In Advance: $17.50
At the Door: $22.50
Runs March 11th-28th, 2010
Thursday-Saturday 8 pm and Sunday 2 pm

Click here for more on our current season.

Conveniently located in the Cultural District
Built into the Jackman Building Parking Garage - Only $5 any time

Pittsburgh Playwrights Proudly Announces Its 7th Season

Individual tickets are now on sale from ProArts.

VALU-MART
by Sean O'Leary (Guest Playwright)
Directed by Mark Clayton Southers
March 13th - March 28th, 2010

A display case key has gone missing at a mass merchandise department store. Five employees are suspected of taking the key and are detained in a break room for questioning. Humiliated and fearful that they will all be fired if the key and the person responsible are not found, the five employees struggle to find a way out. Their struggle exposes the hopes, fears, aspirations, and resentments that arise from five very different lives.

Buy individual tickets.

The Ancestor Series
by P. J. Gibson
Directed by J. Deen, Kim El and Leslie 2x Smith
April 8th - April 24th, 2010

The Ancestor Series, written by Pittsburgh born playwright P.J. Gibson, is a trilogy of three works The Taking Circle, Blood on the Seats, and Weeding. In each play, women call upon their African ancestors to help them make difficult decisions.

Buy individual tickets.

Funding provided by

Jitney
by August Wilson
Directed by Mark Clayton Southers
May 8th - May 30th, 2010

Set in the 1970’s in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, and depicting gypsy-cab drivers who serve black neighborhoods, Jitney is the seventh in Wilson’s ten-play cycle (one for each decade) on the black experience in 20th century America. A thoroughly revised version of a play Wilson first wrote in 1979, Jitney was produced in New York for the first time in spring 2000, winning rave reviews and the accolade of the New York Drama Critics Circle as Best Play of the Year. In its seventh season, The Pittsburgh Playwrights proudly presents Jitney in keeping with its mission of producing each play of Wilson's ‘Pittsburgh cycle’ in the order in which they appeared on Broadway, featuring an all-star cast of some of Pittsburgh’s favorite actors.

Buy individual tickets.

Earlier this season:

The Revenants
by Scott T. Barsotti
Directed by Mark Whitehead
October 16th - 31st, 2009

Two married couples become barricaded in a basement during a violent uprising of zombies, Pittsburgh's favorite villains (or heroes to some). As supplies run low and hopes dwindle, it is revealed that two of the spouses are infected and getting...hungry. Faced with the true meaning of commitment, husbands and wives must ask of each other: When does love die?

Review: City Paper

This season continues PPTCO's commitment to bringing together playwrights and artists of all backgrounds that have some sort of connection to Pittsburgh. Scott T. Barsotti is a playwright originally from Pittsburgh, now based in Chicago, whose plays have played in Chicago, New York, and New Orleans. His work has been seen at the New York International Fringe Festival, the Rhinoceros Theater Festival, and Collaboraction’s Sketchbook, and has been produced and/or developed by WildClaw Theatre, Curious Theatre Branch, Chicago Dramatists, and The Route 66 Theatre Company among others. Scott was recently named a Resident Playwright at Chicago Dramatists.

Sean O'Leary is PPTCO's guest playwright this season, and he makes his home near Harpers Ferry, WV. He is the author of five plays, two of which have previously appeared on Pittsburgh stages. His play VALU-MART is the 2007 winner of The Ruby Lloyd Apsey Award for plays confronting racial issues, the winner of the West Virginia Writers Conference 2007 Best Play award, and was a finalist in the National Arts Club's Playwrights First competition. He is also the recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts "Access to Artistic Excellence" award and the Ostrander Award for Best New Play of the 2007 Memphis theatre season.

And of course, the Pulitzer Prize-winning August Wilson was born and raised in Pittsburgh, and is recognized as one of the most influential writers in American theater. He is best known for his unprecedented cycle of 10 plays, including the acclaimed Fences, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, and The Piano Lesson, all of which have been produced by PPTCO in the past. These plays chronicle the tragedies and aspirations of African Americans during each decade of the 20th century, and have appeared in theaters across the world

Click to order individual tickets from ProArts, or call ProArts Tickets at 412-394-3353. For group sales, contact Twanda Clark at 412-708-1503.

Dear Fans of Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre:

I hope you saw the recent Sunday Post-Gazette where Two Trains Running, by August Wilson, and directed by our own Mark Clayton Southers, was named one of the top ten plays of the DECADE by Chris Rawson. That’s right, one of the top ten plays from the past ten years of theatre in Pittsburgh. And, it was the only August Wilson production in Pittsburgh to win such recognition. Wow! What an honor. Thanks!

Thank you to all of you who have supported Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Co. in the past and helped make this great moment possible. We all know PPTCO produces great theatre inexpensively. In fact, I would bet out of all of the top ten plays, we had the smallest production budget. This challenge to produce great works with few dollars isn’t by choice! PPTCO is awarded grants from foundations and the state, but we still need our friends’ support to pay our actors and run our stage.

Let’s reward Mark for his hard work by making a donation today to Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre. You will give Mark the kudos he deserves, and you will boost his budget for our next August Wilson play, Jitney, which he will direct at the end of our season this spring.

Please join me in supporting Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre by clicking a link below to donate now.

$25 will send a congratulations to Mark for his great honor

Please, everyone join me in sending him congratulations!!

$50 will buy a costume

$100 will help pay for an actor

$250 will help pay for great directors

$500 will help pay for a new playwright to come to town

$1000 or more will boost PPTCO to great new heights!

Visit this link to donate some other amount, or for our mailing address if you'd rather mail a check.

Thanks so much for helping Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company!

Happy New Year,

Elizabeth Reiss, Board Member and Director of Fundraising