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It's all about the process By SUSAN DeROSIA Ashland Daily Tidings The Ashland New Plays Festival offers a first opportunity to hear readings of four new plays. And it offers new playwrights something they really value. Here's how Tilly Gibbs, president of the festival's board of directors describes it. "By reading only unproduced works, we give the playwright an opportunity to seek critical feedback from the actors, director and our 'theater-wise' audience. This is often the first opportunity for the playwright to actually hear his own words and see his own characters come to life. "It's an exciting process and the playwrights leave with renewed enthusiasm, often muttering 'looks like I have some more work to do,' but grateful that they have been treated to an unequaled experience here in Ashland." The festival also offers workshops on play-writing techniques. Festival board member Molly Tinsley describes the winnowing process: A large committee of readers reads each of 200 scripts. "It amounts to reading a play a day for three weeks." The initial readings are done in such a way that the identity of the playwrights remains unknown. The group narrows the list down to ten plays. This year, the process changed slightly, explains Gibbs. "This year we made some changes. We decided to let the directors have more input. We gave the four playwrights all ten plays and then they each chose the one they wanted to direct." Directing this year are G. Valmont Thomas, Wrick Jones, Michael Hume and Liisa Ivary. Now in its eleventh year, the festival will present matinee and evening readings of four new works at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. from Oct. 22 through 26 in the Havurah Shir Hadash on North Mountain Avenue in Ashland. The plays tackle a range of issues. Is magic really mystery? Can love conquer a meddling ghost? What unfolds in a family when the teen-aged son comes out? And what happened before Hamlet arrived home from the university? The answers unfold with the accent of southern California, which is coincidentally the home territory of all four playwrights. The first play is Michael Wolfson's "Legerdemain." From North Hollywood, Wolfson has had work produced in Los Angeles and New York. His play is a twentieth century take on the Faustian bargain and it's his second play to earn a reading at the Ashland Festival. It will be directed by OSF actor G. Val Thomas. Next, San Diego actor-director-playwright James Caputo conjured the wacky triangulations of "Maternal Spirits," which will be directed by Wrick Jones, who most recently directed for Camelot Theatre, formerly Actors' Theatre. Robert Barnett's plays have been produced in his hometown Los Angeles as well as New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and workshopped at Sundance and the Mark Taper Forum. His suburban comedy "Luke's Dad" will be directed by OSF actor Michael Hume. Gary Seger, from Del Mar, a specialist in Shakespeare spin-offs, has created the off-center intrigue of "Alas, Poor Yorick," to be directed by Liisa Ivary. These are all plays-in-progress, and following each reading, the playwright will be available for questions and feedback from the audience. Over the years, the Ashland New Plays Festival has served as a springboard for more than fifty new works, and many have gone on to garner further success in the greater world of theater. Karen Zacarias's "The Sins of Sor Juana" (1999) was nominated for the Helen Hayes award for Outstanding New Play in Washington, D.C. Jamie Pachino's "The Return to Morality" is under consideration for a film adaptation. The world premiere of Mia McCullough's "Cyber Serenade" (2000), directed by Peter Alzado at Actors' Theatre in Talent, won a national award. Andrea Stolowitz's "Knowing Cairo" (2001) had its world premiere at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. In addition to play readings, the festival will offer workshops open to all playwrights, from novice to veteran at 10 a.m., Friday through Sunday. On Friday inimitable actor-director-teacher Carolyn Myers will introduce participants to the inspirational possibilities of improvisation; on Saturday, host playwright David Davalos explores the dynamics of "Beginnings and Endings"; and on Sunday, Maggie McClellan, professor in the theater department at Southern Oregon University, will connect "Movement and Character." Tickets to play readings are $10, and can be purchased at Paddington Station in Ashland or at the door. Tickets to the workshops are $5 and can be purchased at the door. For more information, check out the Web site, www.ashlandnewplays.org, or call 482-4357. LINKS: REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. DAILY TIDINGS: Main | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -