cassidy mitchell 4/17/24 cassidy mitchell 4/17/24

New Works Festival 2024: New Voices, New Narratives

…From the Artistic Director

There's so much going on at The Shattered Glass Project. We are in full swing of rehearsals for the 2024 New Works Festival, which now features FOUR never-before seen works of theatre focusing on New Voices and New Narratives! Get your tickets today! Festival passes are $40.

We are also looking for volunteer ushers for the Festival - support TSGP with four hours of your time, see the shows for free, and help pass out the popcorn for some of them! Sign up here!

Don't forget that GiveBIG is coming on May 7-8, 2024. We would love to have your volunteer time, but we can also use your financial support. Check out our GiveBIG page!

To give you an update on what's going on in the rehearsal room, we wanted to share a note from our Production Stage Manager Jasmine Ritter.

Thanks so much - we'll see you at 18th and Union on May 9th!

—Rebecca

The 2024 New Works Festival is Nearly Here!

Jasmine Ritter - Stage Manager

“The real magic of this program is seeing how in depth the process can be with the payright and directors both in the room with the actors. There's a sense of support that goes on in the room. It's an intense process to get four shows going all at the same time, but the rehearsal rooms stay light due to the hard work of the entire team. It might be a whirlwind, but it is also fun and creative.”

THE PRODUCTIONS

The Uterine FileS, Episode One: Voices SPitting out the rainbow by Jourdan Imani Keith, Directed by Rebecca O’Neil

The first part of a trilogy telling the story of Virgina Mary, an enslaved African American woman transformed after her death by an unquiet and demanding dybuuk. Virginia Mary’s trauma haunts her descendants throughout time. Through her voice and vignettes of women in her family, this choreopoem, rooted in dance, music, and the lineage of African American narratives, explores the connections between the stories and histories our bodies tell, demanding an answer to the question, “What are they doing with our uteruses?”

1st read-through take from the Stage Manager:

“The beauty of The Uterine Files is watching the actors, director and the playwright really getting to take the time to go so in depth with this piece. This is a piece that really needs care in the rehearsal room, and this team is taking the time to set that safe space up. I'm excited to see how the choreopoem aspects of the piece come into play.”

On the Train by Lisa A Price, Directed by Christie Zhao

Shortly after the overturning of Roe, political correspondent Nia Anderson has a brief confrontation with Senator Chad Fox, the pro-abortion ‘face of morality’, about the pending increase in African-American maternity and infant mortality rates; his public insult leads to the damaging of her career. A serendipitous meeting between Senator Fox’s estranged daughter and his African American campaign assistant facilitates possible retribution as Nia seeks a second interview with the politician. The three conspire, exposing the ways in which the Senator has been clandestinely incorporating a new form of eugenics into his legislation. Years of dishonesty, hypocrisy and sinister politics finally catches up with Senator Fox at the hands of three women.

1st read-through take from the Stage Manager:

“On The Train from the beginning has really been taking its time to delve into the material, and being able to have the playwright in the room with the actors. There's been a lot of collaborative background work put into this piece. Christie, the director, has really had a focus on bringing the realness to each of these characters.”

Carmilla by S.W. Jones and Mariah Lee Squires, Directed by Aidan Stevens

While Count Dracula is often seen as the father of the modern vampire, Carmilla is the 1872 Gothic novella by Sheridan Le Fanu that inspired his inception - predating Bram Stoker's Dracula by 25 years. Based on the book of the same name, Carmilla tells the tale of the isolated Laura and the mysterious young woman she falls in love with. But what happens when infatuation turns into obsession? Shattering the mold of male protagonists in horror, the mother of the modern monster is waiting for you.

1st read-through take from the Stage Manager:

“The first time I was in the Carmilla rehearsal room with the actors, director, and the playwriting team there was so much energy. Everyone is so committed to the humor of the show and the teamwork to make these big physical moments. Just from the read-through there has been a lot of laughter and hard work going on in every rehearsal.”

Out of TIme by Rachel Atkins, Directed by Divya Rajan

Moving back and forth through time and place, 3 different pairs of women fight for their lives. Angelina and Sarah are immigrant sweatshop workers who have both escaped dire circumstances in their home countries, trying to escape the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. A century later, Angelina’s great-granddaughter Angie is trapped with co-worker Miranda in a post-9/11 office skyscraper disaster. Angie’s Muslim-American roommate Sera and Miranda’s sister Trish struggle to make sense of their losses together. All are strangers forced to develop connections under extraordinary circumstances—each, in their own way, in the wrong place at the right time. It’s a play about life and death, choices and consequences, chance, hope, grief, loss and survival. And sometimes, it’s funny. Really.

1st read-through take from the Stage Manager:

“There is a real feel of collaborative work with this piece. The whole team has been focused on bringing together a sense of comradery to bring this piece up. Balancing the darkness and the humor of the piece while keeping the energy up in the rehearsals.”

Alison Kozar, 2020/21 Cohort Alum

on Returning as a designer

Ever come back to school after having graduated? It's weird, right? There's this feeling that it's past you, a sense of not belonging, not anymore. Coming back to the I/M program in its latest incarnation as a designer hasn't felt anything like that.
New works are always exciting; there's an energy to collaboratively birthing a new world that's addictive. Add to that working with directors and playwrights who are coming fully into their power as creatives and it's energizing in a way I can't describe. It's like they're leaping off a cliff with us standing on the ground, eager to catch them. We're helping them learn to fly.

TICKETING

There are several flexible options and packages available so you can mix and match your viewing experience - see just one, all four, or anything in between.

Click HERE for all possible ticketing packages!

Through the Window

Journal by Miriam Tobin

We made it! We're finally at our first major deadline! Carolynne and I have been writing, both together and alone, for the past four months. We meet in coffee shops to compare drafts, give one another feedback, and go back to our own spaces to revise. And now, after all these months, we have completed drafts to share! We've sent them off to Rebecca for review, and she's working on finding actors to read them. Our next step is to gather together with the actors and listen to our plays out loud. Carolynne and I need to hear them out loud before we know how to get to the next draft.

Shall I give you a little preview of what we're cooking? Well, think apocalypse. Only not really. Imagine a cabin by a lake in the woods, but a little creepier than that. Sisters, mothers, the planet Venus, a childhood dog named Lacey . . . get ready, friends, these plays are gonna take you somewhere new.

Runs & Openings

Don’t miss all the live theatre happening in Seattle in April/May, including offerings from our friends and associates. Two more weekends of performance for The Plague Master General, featuring SGP Associate Artist & donor Sara Schweid (Nevertheless, She Persisted); and Fat Ham is up and running at Seattle Rep, featuring SGP Associate Artist, Jasmine Lomax (All New Cells) & The Savannah Sipping Society opens at Driftwood Players in May, featuring SGP Associate Artist Kirsten McCory (A Series of Small Cataclysms) - go support these local companies both large and scrappy - these stories are sure to resonate!

cassidy mitchell 3/6/24 cassidy mitchell 3/6/24

Reawakening into Spring

From the Artistic Director…

Technically, it’s somehow supposed to be Spring - I would argue that our Seattle weather doesn’t agree with this statement since I ran a race on Sunday in sporadic snow! - but nevertheless Spring is coming.

Spring is a time of rebirth and renewal and the sprouting of new things. In the case of The Shattered Glass Project, we are holding auditions for the three remarkable new plays written and directed by the Incubator/Mentor Cohort for our 2024 New Works Festival: New Voices, New Narratives. Many of the cohort members attended and participated in the Theatre Puget Sound Unified General Auditions and callbacks for the Festival will be this coming weekend! Casting a play is a bit like putting seeds into the fresh earth in the garden - you have seeds, you roughly know what the plant will look like when it grows, but you must add the actors to actually move onto the sprouting and growing part. I’m super excited to find out who the actors will be in each one of the shows.

I’m thrilled to announce that TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE (https://www.shatteredglassproject.org/ticketsales) for the 2024 New Works Festival. Please! Buy your tickets today! Let us know how excited you are to see our new works sprout and grow!

Lastly, GiveBIG will be coming soon! This is another fine way to show your support for the work being done by The Shattered Glass Project and our unique theatremakers. Please help us kickstart our fundraising goal of $8000 for GiveBIG by making your gift today. Click here to donate!

Warmth and sunshine!

Rebecca O’Neil, artistic director, TSGP

From the Cohort

Christie Zhao - director, 2023-24 Cohort:

What new thoughts, ideas, projects, space-learnings (etc) are you cultivating for the future?
I am thinking of directing something from Brecht with Yun's ensemble! Maybe Fear and Misery in the Third Reich, maybe The Exception and the Rule. I am thinking about translating it to Mandarin and presenting the show in Mandarin with English subtitles. I think it would work very well for the alienation effect and people can watch it and think and reflect on their lives in this chaotic and turbulent capitalistic world. I also crave ENSEMBLE.

Rachel Atkins - playwriting mentor, 2023-24 Cohort:

What new work is coming up for you?

I'm doing 14/48 next weekend, March 8-9 2024, as well as State of the Students at Seattle Rep, including these upcoming performances:

More information is available here.

Mariah Lee Squires, Playwright, 2023-24 Cohort

What are the ways you have been “reborn” as an artist in the past or recently?

I was “reborn” as a theatre artist when I became a playwright in 2020. Playwriting had been no part of my artistic life, even academically, before I jumped right in and began writing almost 3 1/2 years ago.

Through the Window Journal Update

by Carolynne Wilcox - SGP Associate Artist

It never ceases to amaze me, as a playwright, how things invariably always seem to come together as you slowly plug away at them. This project has thankfully been no different!

We all have our own process and ways of working…I know many playwrights who scoff at anyone who doesn’t use an outline, for example, and I’m COMPLETELY the contrary. I often like to write in what I call a “collage-y” process: if I have an idea about something that is kind of fuzzy in many parts, I’ll start writing the scenes I know about, no matter what part of the story they’re in. Much of the time, I like the characters to do the talking…I just open up a blank document and see what they might have to say to each other, and more often than not, they reveal things to me that maybe I didn’t know before. Of course, they talk a lot of nonsense in between, as we figure out the story together, but the beauty of editing is, you can cut, paste, and condense this nonsense later, if it doesn’t serve the script, and stick with the revealed golden nuggets that do.

Miriam and I met in West Seattle at C&P coffee in late February to share and reflect upon our developing scripts. At this point, Miriam had written one first draft and completely scrapped it (it took place in winter, and this project will be performed in the summer, so she didn’t want actors to have to sweat in heavy coats!), then brought something new to our meeting. I continued to write and refine what I started at our previous meeting. Was excited for the meeting, as the characters had finally revealed to me what was at the center of their BIG BEEF!

It's always fun to come together and share/discuss, because invariably, we end up with many weird similarities, which we can then choose to lean into even more (or not). We both left feeling inspired and energized with new ideas and directions to go in for further development. I was able to finish a first draft of my piece, and am excited to share it tomorrow at our next meeting. It is definitely a first draft, though...things still need to be tweaked and refined, ideas and metaphors need to marry more closely together, but again: it never ceases to amaze me how a thing that was born from the ether with a deadline will come together as readily as something you’ve got more time on...probably even faster and more succinctly, because of that deadline!

We’re getting excited to share these with the SGP community later on this year. Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to develop these playlets!

Coming Soon

14/48 is this weekend, boasting several SGP-associated artists past and present - it’s the toast of the town, so go check it out!

More info/tix available here.

Playwrights! There’s still time to submit to Driftwood Players’ (Edmonds, WA) Festival of Shorts - March 17 is the deadline!

More info/guidelines available here.

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Things we LOVE

From the Artistic Director

If January is a month to look forward to new things, February is a month to consider and reflect on the things we already love. I love live theatre. Live theatre is tactile and visceral - it is an experience which is deeply felt in all my senses. This is not just true when I’m onstage, embedded in the character, and reveling in the response of the audience, but also true when I am one of the connected threads in the audience. I love being in the audience responding to the story being told in front of me AND to the joy, tears, enlightenment, and other emotions my fellow audience members are projecting.

I love making theatre because I learn more about other people and about myself in the process of creating than in any other environment. I’m a performer at heart and every character I play is a new part of myself which I have had the opportunity to discover - some of whom I keep and some of whom I may ultimately reject. Live theatre is the methodology for that discovery. It is a place for honesty and for celebration and for telling stories new and old.

This month we wanted to share more with you about Things We Love in live theatre, from our playwrights, directors, mentors, and associate artists. For those of you who support and love the live theatre in general or the theatre we create at The Shattered Glass Project specifically, take a moment to think about what you revel in when you are attending a play. We would love to hear from you. Send us a note at info@shatteredglassproject.org.

With love,

Rebecca O’Neil, artistic director, TSGP

What the Cohort Loves!

Christie Zhao, Director Cohort

What play(s) do you love and why?

These contemporary plays are deeply rooted in their ability to present diverse perspectives and humanize individuals across cultures. They stand out for their relevance and the compelling way they challenge audiences to think and feel deeply about the world around them. They artfully center human experiences in a turbulent global context, addressing a spectrum of social, political, and cultural themes. Their experimental approach to theatricality breaks conventional barriers. What resonates with me is how these plays foster a deeper understanding and empathy across different cultures, drawing people into shared experiences and discussions, and in doing so, narrowing the gaps that often divide us.

What has been your favorite part about creating/directing a new play during your process so far in the SGP cohort?

My favorite part of directing a new play in the SGP cohort has been the rich collaborative experience with various playwrights. The diversity within the cohort has been incredibly enlightening, allowing me to see a range of directing styles and approaches. This exposure has not only broadened my own perspective but also fostered a supportive and trusting environment within our group. Being able to be honest and authentic in my approach has been both liberating and deeply fulfilling.

Adrian Prendergast, Playwriting Cohort

Which playwright(s) do you love and why?

I love so many playwrights! It's such a personal medium, I love to see how different styles and voices come together. Some favorites floating around in my head right now are Jessica Moss, Maggie Lee, Sarah Kane, and my fellow cohort members Jourdan and Lisa.

What play(s) do you love and why?

I just recently had the chance to see Once More, Just for You at Seattle Public Theatre. Maggie Lee writes such gorgeous stories, and I'm always a sucker for Sci-Fi.

Which play(s) are you itching to direct and why?

I would love to direct I will miss you when you're gone by Jessica Moss. I was able to direct a staged reading of the script for Macha's Distillery Series last year, and haven't been able to get it out of my mind since.

Is there a playwright/director whose style you’ve emulated? What inspires you about their style/process?

Sarah Kane and Sarah Ruhl's stage directions. It feels like part of the collaboration- a non-verbal extension of the world and storytelling that's just as important as the dialogue.

What do you love about the writer/director collaboration?

I love the opportunity to build on each other and see how different interpretations feed a greater collaborative story.

What has been your favorite part about creating/directing a new play during your process so far in the SGP cohort?

Honestly the chance to meet everyone in the cohort and get to know them. Everyone has such unique perspectives and I love getting to see their work develop through the process.

Aidyn Stevens, Director Cohort

What do you love about the writer/director collaboration?

What I love about the writer and director collaboration is getting to work with people who are so passionate about their creative work. It is so exciting to be a part of a project where the people who have made it are full of knowledge about the entire world of their play. It’s an adventure to dig into the nuances of a new work. And that adventure is made even better by getting to have the playwrights as a resource.

Thru The Window Project Journal

by Miriam Tobin

After a couple weeks of writing independently, Carolynne and I met over lattes and raspberry scones to share our work. We had each written a hearty chunk of a play that incorporated the setting and themes we had chosen in our previous session. We had also selected several writing prompts at random to give us a starting off point. Here are those elements and the work we made with them:

Setting: cabin by a frozen lake in the woods in winter

Themes: aging, immigration, communication, technology, passing on knowledge

Prompts: footsteps leading to nowhere, a happily miserable marriage, close call, monster under the bed

Carolynne is all about dystopia! Her play begins with a mystery: a world where winter feels like summer, where technology isn’t working, and where people are scared of something they can’t name. A family gathers in a cabin and two strangers show up needing help . . . but maybe they aren’t strangers after all? Her play is rife with suspense, secrets, and family drama.

My play is all about the absurdities of family! It begins in the dead of winter with a family gathering after a terrible tragedy. No one’s on their best behavior, the grandmother keeps getting confused, the grandfather would rather not wear his hearing aids, their daughter’s angry at the world, and their grandchild would prefer to be on their phone. But then, something happens, and their world becomes bigger than just them. To rescue themselves they must come together to rescue someone in need.

After reading both plays out loud, we marveled at how different our writing voices are but also at how many similarities we have. We’re both interested in interpersonal relationships, memory, environment, and emotional truths.

Then we started all over again! Ha. Playwrights: always making more work for themselves. We refined the four characters we're writing (two plays, same characters, totally different scenarios) and discussed how to make their motivations and actions more specific. I’ve decided to start a completely new play see what happens, whereas Carolynne is revising the work she already started.

Next step: We come together with two new scripts and read them again.

Yun Theatre - COMING SOON: Young People Social Death Archive written by Siming Lu, directed by current directing cohort member Christie Zhao
Who: Yun Theatre, www.yun-theatre.com
What: 年轻人社死档案室 (Young People Social Death Archive); in Mandarin with English subtitles
When: Feb 16 (Fri) at 8:00 PM, Feb 17 (Sat) at 2:30PM & 8:00 PM, Feb 18 (Sun) at 2:30 PM.
Where: Theatre Off Jackson (409 7th Ave S, Seattle, WA 98104)
Ticket Info: https://yuntheatre.simpletix.com/ ($16 - $35 sliding scale)

Edmonds Driftwood Theatre - CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Playwrights! 13th Annual Festival of Shorts , “Silver Linings: A consoling or hopeful prospect.”Edmonds Driftwood Players is a volunteer-based nonprofit community theatre based in Edmonds, WA that has been entertaining and educating the community since 1958, making EDP one of the oldest continually operating community theaters in Washington State.We are pleased to announce our theme and call for submissions for our 13th Annual Festival of Shorts. Our annual playwriting festival provides an opportunity for playwrights to have their works brought to life on stage, as well as gain recognition and potential awards. Some past winners have later been developed into full-length award-winning plays! The Festival this year will be presented in five performances June 27-30, 2024, featuring eight shorts finalists. The theme for 2024 is “Silver Linings: A consoling or hopeful prospect.” We would love to see both comedic and dramatic stories with uplifting endings. The finalists are selected from submissions from around the globe. Our volunteer readers and judges are local Seattle-area theatre lovers and playwrights. To keep the process as fair as possible, our readers are given blind copies of script submissions for judging. Deadline for submissions is 3/17/24. More info/submission guidelines: https://edmondsdriftwoodplayers.org/festival-of-shorts/

At the dawn of a new swine flu pandemic, Lemon Lymes is a retired pop star and aspiring fascist looking to collaborate on a secret project with an adoring fan. Meanwhile, three Queerdos are planning for their uncertain futures as artificial intelligence renders their jobs obsolete. When a parasocial Lymes fan takes things too far and billionaire industries begin to collapse, the queerdos have to outsmart the state and keep their loved ones cared for. Tenderness is an anticapitalist cyberpunk experience you can enjoy from the comfort of your home computer or the theatre.

Written by Nelle Tankus (she/her), and featuring SGP Associate Artist Kasper Cergol (All New Cells), runs from Feb 9-17. Tix available: https://annextheatre.thundertix.com

Other things we love

Receiving actual donations: no donation is too small (or too large!) for us to accept! They are tax deductible and even the smallest amount will be put to good use. Click here to donate!

Receiving in-kind donations: Photography services; Give SGP and/or one of our shows or programs a shout-out on social media; Printing paper; acting blocks; space heaters; other basic furniture to dress a set; email us at info@shatteredglassproject.org.

Volunteers - a non-profit theatre company is ALWAYS looking for volunteers: board members; ushers; box-office assistance; help loading in and/or striking a set. Information about board membership is available by clicking here or email us at info@shatteredglassproject.org.

We are currently recruiting ushers and box-office help for the 2024 New Works Festival in May - sign up by clicking on the button below!

Volunteer Usher Sign-Up

cassidy mitchell 1/8/24 cassidy mitchell 1/8/24

New Year, Creativity is Brewing!

…from the artistic director

Welcome to 2024! New Years are a time to make and experience New Things. Speaking from a thoughtful and philosophic perspective, this is the 4th year of our existence as an organization. I would never have expected to spend so much time helping theatre makers create so many New Things, and it’s incredibly exciting to share the new works coming your way from The Shattered Glass Project in 2024.

On Monday, December 11th the members of our Incubator/Mentor Cohort presented a staged reading of excerpts from their Plays In Progress. Each play generated a robust followup conversation and we are immensely grateful for the time and thoughtful feedback provided by the folks in the audience. More on that, as well as what’s to come for these plays-in-development below.

I want to introduce our newest board members, Cara Thomas and Emily Stone. Cara is an actor and a stand-up comedian who appeared in TSGP’s pandemic era Zoom production of Loom by Carolynne Wilcox. Emily is a recent graduate of UW’s PATP MFA program and is a co-creator with Darby Sherwood of A Lonely Realization. We are thrilled to have them aboard our little ship - welcome, Cara and Emily! (P.S. Board membership is a fabulous way to support live theatre. Please consider joining the TSGP board! Click here for more info on our website!)

-Rebecca O’Neil, Artistic Director

Incubator/Mentor Cohort NEWS

Snapshots from the Plays in Progress readings on Dec 11 at Seattle Public Theatre

Congratulations to the entire current cohort for the success of the Plays In Progress showcase on December 11 - it was a pretty packed house at Seattle Public Theatre, and each of the plays were well-received and commented on by the audience, who wasn’t shy about giving critical and constructive feedback for the writers to take into their continuing writing practice and for the directors to contemplate going forward. We are so proud of the work that’s been done so far and we are chomping at the bit to reveal the final stagings in May 2024. Thank you so much to the talented performers who contributed their acting talents, to the staff & volunteers who helped bring the everything together, the remarkable audience for attending, and extra special thanks to Amy Poisson & Seattle Public Theatre for hosting the event!

We’re thrilled to announce the creative partnerships for the New Works Festival which will bring these Plays in Progress to complete fruition onstage at 18th and Union, opening May 9, 2024.

On the Train, written by Lisa A. Price and directed by Christie Zhao
The Uterine Files: Episode One, Voices Spitting Out the Rainbow, written by Jourdan Imani Keith and directed by Divya Rajan
Carmilla, written by Mariah Lee Squires and S.W. Jones and directed by Aidyn Stevens

The cohort will be working with a fabulous team of emerging and established designers as well: scenic designer Bella Rivera (Want, Aug 2022), sound designer Alison Kozar (Want & director, All New Cells, June 2023), lighting designer Montse Garza, and costume design team Elizabeth Shipman and SusanAnne Luchenta.

A Lonely Realization by Darby Sherwood & Emily Stone

The Shattered Glass Project is extremely pleased to be part of the development of A Lonely Realization, a play which detangles and processes the individual and community trauma caused by sexual assault through comic absurdity. Look for it in October 2024 at a theatre venue near you!

Works-In-Progress Journal - Untitled Projects Being Created NOW

SGP Associated Artists Miriam Tobin and Carolynne Wilcox will be writing/creating 2 one-act plays in tandem to be performed in the SGP space (or immediately outside it) at the MLK Fame Center in July 2024. In the coming months, we’ll chart, from their point of view, their process of creating these works, from inception to writing to full, onstage fruition! Take a glimpse into a unique, partially partner-driven creation experience.

December 21, 2023 Writing Session by Carolynne Wilcox

Miriam and I met in the space today, it was chilly, and we had to bother Rebecca with a text all the way in Hawaii so we could figure out how to turn on the heat! Once that was done, we sat and talked through how we envisioned this process to be.

We talked over various things, like our own backgrounds and upbringings, finding some interesting common ground in our relationships to Spain and South America whilst eating Sun chips and waiting for the room to warm up.

The idea is to create two, roughly half-hour long plays using the same characters. We both agreed we were more interested in writing something thematic as opposed to issue-driven, as current events always seem to bleed through in a more authentic, universal way when creating from this perspective.

We tossed around themes like protest, migration and linguistic anthropology, alongside food and fables. I’ve written pieces with other playwrights in the past, but never quite in this way before. We didn’t get any writing done, but we got a good start in terms of feeling each other out, and planned our next writer’s meeting for January 5th, where we may pull themes, characters and prompts out of a hat! Stay tuned…

What our friends are doing

Strong Waters - SGP collaborator Maureen Hawkins (director, Want) stars in this tale of loss and love and family written specifically for these players, focusing on being artists in life’s third act. More info & tix here.

The Moors - Annie Lareau (Current Cohort Directing Mentor) directs this story dark comedy about love, desperation, and visibility. More info & tix here.

The Plague Master General Greg LoProto (frequent SGP supporter) & Sara Schweid (actor, Nevertheless, She Persisted) will be producing this “bubonic comedy” through Blue Hour Theatre in April Auditions coming up in February - more info here.

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The Shattered Glass Project Announces Staged Readings of New Works

For Immediate Release

November 27, 2023

Plays In Progress - Staged Readings of New Works by the 2023 Incubator/Mentor Cohort

The Shattered Glass Project is pleased to invite you to join us on December 11th, 2023 at 7:30 p.m. at Seattle Public Theatre for the unveiling of three new Plays in Progress, as the 2023-24 Incubator/Mentor Cohort presents staged readings of 20-minute excerpts from brand new scripts for our New Works Festival May 9-19, 2024. Each reading will be followed by a post-show discussion with the director, playwrights, actors, and audience. All tickets are pay-what-you-will; tickets and information are available at https://www.shatteredglassproject.org/plays-in-progress-2023

About the Plays

On the Train

Written by Lisa Price and directed by Christie Zhao

Shortly after the overturning of Roe, political correspondent Nia Anderson has a brief confrontation with Senator Chad Fox, the pro-abortion ‘face of morality’, about the pending increase in African-American maternity and infant mortality rates. A serendipitous meeting between Nia, Senator Fox’s estranged daughter and his African American campaign assistant facilitates possible retribution as Nia seeks a second interview with the politician. Years of dishonesty, hypocrisy and sinister politics finally catches up with Senator Fox at the hands of three women.

Playwright Lisa Price is a scientist and a physician, whose creative writing focuses on the deconstruction of calamities as well as joy, through examination of the paths which lead to them. Director Christie Zhao is an interdisciplinary artist and art leader with a passion for developing new works; as the artistic director of Yun Theatre she tackles complex social issues and exploration of identity and culture.

Carmilla

Written by Mariah Lee Squires and S.W. Jones, and directed by Divya Rajan

While Count Dracula is often seen as the father of the modern vampire, Carmilla is the 1872 Gothic novella by Sheridan Le Fanu that inspired his inception - predating Bram Stoker's Dracula by 25 years. Based on the book of the same name, Carmilla tells the tale of the isolated Laura and the mysterious young woman she falls in love with. But what happens when infatuation turns into obsession? Shattering the mold of male protagonists in horror, the mother of the modern monster is waiting for you.

Playwrights Mariah Lee Squires and S.W. Jones are a writing team with a particular interest in developing new works focused on femme and nonbinary identities and a keen interest in storytelling that explores the theatre of questions. Director Divya Rajan is a creative practitioner/warrior who loves creating site-specific, immersive, experimental, and devised work.

The Uterine Files: Episode One, Voices Spitting Out the Rainbow

Written by Jourdan Imani Keith and directed by Aidyn Trinity Stevens

The first part of a trilogy telling a story of reproductive disruption through the lives of the women whose wombs take us through slavery’s Door of No Return up to the present day. This choreopoem explores the connections between the stories and the histories our bodies tell, demanding an answer to the question, “What are they doing with our uteruses?”

Playwright Jourdan Imani Keith is an award-winning poet who served as Seattle’s Civic Poet from 2019-2022. Director Aidyn Trinity Stevens is a multi-disciplinary theatre artist whose study has focused on applied and community-based theatre. The cast includes Ayo Tushinde and Deja Culver.

Full biographies and cast information are available at https://www.shatteredglassproject.org/plays-in-progress-2023

About the Incubator/Mentor Program

The I/M Program is a 12-month tuition-free program for emerging playwrights and directors, focused on women, non-binary and trans theater artists, designed to offer participants the opportunity to build their professional skills and confidence as a practitioner, the tools to create and maintain a safe, inclusive, anti-racist and consent-based space for creating theatre, and a network of relationships within the cohort and with the broader Seattle theatre community. Full details about the program are available at https://www.shatteredglassproject.org/2023-incubator-mentor-program .

The 2023-24 program is the second full iteration of TSGP’s Incubator/Mentor Program, and was selected as one of only two theaters funded by the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture Hope Corps Grant. The cohort is guided by two local theatre leaders, playwright Rachel Atkins and director Annie Lareau.

About The Shattered Glass Project

The Shattered Glass Project is a theatre company with the mission to amplify the voices of theatre artists who have been marginalized on the basis of their gender or sex, including but not limited to cis and trans women, non-binary folks, and trans-masculine/trans-feminine folks, by providing unique opportunities to create and grow professionally. TSGP offers the Incubator/Mentor Program for emerging directors and playwrights every other year, and produces 2 mainstage productions, a one-act play festival, and 3-4 developmental readings or other developmental theatre projects each year, serving 50-100 artists and 500-1000 audience members.

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cassidy mitchell 11/1/23 cassidy mitchell 11/1/23

November is for Gratitude

From the Artistic Director…

You can’t make theatre without a bunch of people who do a lot of hard, inventive, interesting, artistic, and brilliantly collaborative work, often above and beyond the call. I’m grateful to every single blessed person who makes The Shattered Glass Project happen.

One very special group of people who have all my gratitude is the indistinguishably intertwined folks who make up our board and our mostly volunteer staff. These are the people who took the wispy ideas out of my head and heart and made them come to life:

director and sound designer Alison Kozar;
director and educator Sophe Friedman;
director, teaching artist and actor Buddy Todd;
community organizer and world traveler Kristina Washburn;
grant writer and killer soprano Cristin Miller;
graphic design and papier mache maven Lara Kratz;
and finally playwright, actor, marketing coordinator, master of all they survey on Facebook, AND my fearless collaborator in our ongoing efforts to dominate world theatre, the outstandingly talented Carolynne Wilcox.
Three other folks, who were in at the beginning include Jill Hostetter, Roxy Hornbeck, and Sabel Roizen - we miss your collective sagacity!

I’m equally grateful to the dozen or more working theatre makers who are meeting, networking, and sharing ideas with the 2023/24 Incubator/Mentor Cohort members, including Shermona Mitchell, Maureen Hawkins, Claire Zaslove, John Langs, Yussef El Guindi, and Desdemona Chiang, who joined us on October 9th for an in-depth discussion about how to navigate the playwright/director relationship. There isn’t enough money to pay for the wisdom, experience and creativity in that room. Thank you all so much for your time and generosity - I’m grateful for the money from the City of Seattle Hope Corps grant which allows us to give stipends to all our teaching artists.

Lastly and most importantly, I am grateful to all of YOU - audience members, donors, friends and family. Some of you are also theatre makers. All of you are the multiplier in the equation which allows us to make theatre, share stories, and amplify and empower women, non-binary and trans artists as creative leaders and decision makers.

Thank you all for making this community what it is!

-Rebecca O’Neil

Artistic Director

The Shattered Glass Project

NOW STREAMING!

Clockwise from the top: Zenaida Smith (they/them) as Lux, Jasmine Lomax (they/them) as Aeon, Kay Taylor Yelinack (they/them) as Moody and Kasper Cergol (he/him) as Nils in Summer 2023’s *All New Cells* by Aliza Goldstein.

Streaming Online through November 20

All New Cells centers on Nils, a young trans man. When Nils's ex-girlfriend dies suddenly, he is dragged back into a toxic online roleplay scene he swore he'd never return to. He'd been doing okay sticking to his seven-year plan for getting over their breakup - but now, everyone either blames him or expects him to have answers, and he's getting nasty anonymous messages that might be coming from beyond the grave. A nuanced examination of identity, trauma, assault, grief, and mental health through an online world. Content Note: All New Cells contains references to suicide, child sexual abuse and self harm, which are discussed but not depicted; themes include transphobia and online bullying.

Why this show and why now?

The Shattered Glass Project is dedicated to bringing stories to the stage that are unique and which have been selected for telling by theatre artists whose voices have been suppressed. Trans and GNC folks and women are being suppressed like hell right now, all across the United States and the world. Every day, across the US, it is becoming less safe and less legal to simply BE. We as an organization and as members of the theatre community are not going to let this story go untold.

All New Cells is a powerful story of disconnection and a search for identity contrasting how we live IRL (in real life) and how we present to the online world. The importance of role-play gaming and the construction of new personalities in new bodies is woven through the fabric of Nils’ story and personal development, as is the theme of creating power for and over yourself in a world where people often feel powerless. All New Cells touches on the way in which the digital ghosts of our past come back to haunt us. Ultimately, as Nils’ story shows, not only can we find agency for ourselves in a digital world and carry that agency into the life we live in the real world, we can also create victory for ourselves through acknowledging and incorporating the trauma we have experienced rather than excising it from our experience. We have the power to define and redefine ourselves.

Director Alison Kozar also notes that in All New Cells we are exploring queer characters in a queer affinity space and there are aspects of these characters that have emerged or are emerging and are still in flux, as queerness so often is. They say that when they were growing up, “[the] internet connected me to people like me, and people who liked me for me… It was a place where I didn't have to be me, but at the same time, I could share my secret thoughts and feelings without myself getting in the way.”

Playwright Aliza Goldstein says in their playwright’s notes, “All New Cells (is) a play inspired by the roleplay forums of my youth, the people who I met there, and the people who I was there….(A) beautiful, desolate, anonymous hellscape-cum-wonderland where you and me were free to be a hundred thousand kaleidoscopic versions of ourselves…. I hope you’ll recognize the characters who inhabit it. They live, I think, in every community, and in fandoms especially. If you feel seen by this play, I’m glad: I want to see you.”

GIVING TUESDAY IS COMING NOVEMBER 28

Giving Tuesday is coming. Please join in this worldwide effort to practice radical generosity and support the nonprofits organizations in our community - as much as we would love to receive a gift from you, we simply encourage you to give from your heart. For more information about this unique annual event, visit https://www.givingtuesday.org/united-states/.

And if you feel like it, you can beat the holiday rush and give to The Shattered Glass Project on our donation page at https://poweredbyshunpike.org/c/PBS/a/shatteredglass/donate/.

You know we at SGP will be incredibly grateful.

NOVEMBER IS FOR GRATITUDE

Divya Rajan (current directing cohort)

Morning moments where I sip & savor my cup of coffee.
Support of my family that allows me to pursue the arts.
All the opportunities of learning & growth that have come my way this year - TAT Lab, Margolis Method, Shattered Glass Project, and to Pratidhwani for my first original-solo work.

Miriam Tobin (Associate Artist, Through the Window)

I'm grateful for Rebecca's energy, enthusiasm, and openness. She has created a space for artists to come play, and her willingness to try new things is greatly appreciated. Shattered Glass is a small but mighty company that is weaving its tenacity into the Seattle landscape.

Aimee Decker (Associate Artist, Loom)

I am grateful for the endless patience & stubbornness of the people who have refused to give up on me. 🌟

Jasmine Lomax (Associate Artist, All New Cells & Cohort Teaching Artist)

I'm thankful for family, both blood and chosen.
I'm thankful for my puppy, Griz.
I'm thankful for risk, both artistically and in life.

Aarti Tiwari (Associate Artist, Through the Window)

For TSGP- first of all thank you for that question, I hadn’t thought about it.
I am happy and grateful for incredible and meaningful new friendships I have been able to nurture and exciting stories I have been able to explore through theatre and film productions I have been part of in 2023. It’s been a kick- starter in many ways.

WELCOME, JASMINE RITTER!

Jasmine Ritter, SGP’s New Production Stage Manager

We’re thankful and delighted to announce our search is over! Join us in extending a welcome had to the 2023/24 cohort’s new production stage manager, Jasmine Ritter!

Jasmine (She/Her) is a graduate of Seattle University (SU) and local freelance Stage Manager. Her recent work includes Antigone: That Play I Read In High School with ACT's Young Core Company, Maybe with Book-It Theater, Nora: A Doll's House at SU, and the first Portable Play Festival at 18th & Union.

What’s Up Next!

Join us on December 11, 7:30pm at Seattle Public Theatre for excerpted readings (20-minute selections) of 3 short plays written & directed by the current cohort. Featuring work from Christie Zhao, Lisa A Price, Divya Rajan, Jourden Keith, Aidyn Stevens, Mariah Lee Squires and S.W. Jones.

Info and PWYW tickets available HERE

cassidy mitchell 9/25/23 cassidy mitchell 9/25/23

October is for Incubating!

As things get chillier (and much WETTER) around the Puget Sound, it’s a great time to turn indoors and inwards as we gestate and incubate new ideas, new projects and new great works!

As things get chillier (and much WETTER) around the Puget Sound, it’s a great time to turn indoors and inwards as we gestate and incubate new ideas, new projects and new great works! Exactly what our Incubator/Mentor program is working on. These seeds will germinate and be born in the spring, culminating in our One-Act Festival of new work written and directed by this season’s cohort of writers and directors in the spring. Read on for all things brewing with our current cohort, previous cohort and associate artists now - Artistry (note the capital “A”) abounds this fall!!!

From the Artistic Director…

The 2023-2024 Incubator/Mentor Cohort has been meeting since July and is beginning to build important relationships for their future careers. September and October are centered around skills workshops that try to answer the hard questions: “What does it mean to be an anti-racist professional in theater?”; “How do I collaborate with a group of designers?”; and “How do we navigate the playwright/director relationship?”.

We’ve been privileged to have local theatre artists coming into the studio with us, including Kathy Hsieh, one of the founders of SIS Productions and of Theatre Puget Sound and the Racial Equity in Grantmaking Strategist for the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture. Kathy also appeared on the stage with The Shattered Glass Project in Want by Barbara Lindsay in August 2022. It was wonderful getting to talk with her for 3 hours about what we can do as theatre artists to make other people feel seen and heard in a way that builds respectful human relationships.

The cohort has also walked through a foundations of playwriting workshop with playwright mentor Rachel Atkins; engaged in discussion with a panel of local costume, lighting, properties and scenic designers; and gotten on their feet with director mentor Annie Lareau to explore the principles of directing a new script. Next up I’m really looking forward to a conversation with a panel of playwrights and directors, including TSGP directing alum Maureen Hawkins; Sound Theatre co-artistic director Shermona Mitchell; directors Desdemona Chiang and John Langs (ACT artistic director); and playwrights Claire Zaslov and Yussef El Guindi.

Our cohort is really involved in the local theatre community; not just as directors and playwrights but as box office patron support staff, actors, development professionals, and all kinds of other roles. Please go see their work. TSGP’s next performances will be in December, but you can support live theatre in many ways. And if you are interested in helping amplify the voices of women, non-binary and trans theatre artists, share this email with family and friends and invite them to join our mailing list.

(Check out the new Theatre Puget Sound membership for Patrons and take advantage of industry discounts on theatre tickets for TPS members.)

1.) What have you enjoyed the most (so far) in your I-M journey?

What I’ve enjoyed the most is the program’s comprehensive approach. It covers a wide range of topics and features various facilitators. As a director, I particularly appreciated the opportunity to delve into playwriting, which unexpectedly sparked a new passion in me. Additionally, I find great enjoyment in the readings and being a student.

2.) What things (so far) do you see yourself carrying away from the program?

I see myself carrying away different relationships with other theatre makers in Seattle.

3.) What would you like to do when you’re done?

I would love to document my learnings and my experiences with the program so I can always look back to it.

1.) What have you enjoyed the most (so far) in your I-M journey?

We've just got started with the program in earnest. September is when we put it in high gear and start moving past getting to know each other and start in with guests and also deadlines for writing. What I have enjoyed thus far is getting to know my fellow cohort members and also our three wonderful leads. The program is very well organized so I feel very secure moving forward. I am very excited for what's to come.

2.) What things (so far) do you see yourself carrying away from the program?

At this point, I am a storyteller who can convey this through writing. I have a few festivals where my plays have been presented under my belt at this point. I however, do not have the knowledge, expertise or experience to execute collaborations with set designers, lighting, nor how to engage producers for my plays. As well, though I have been able to work with a couple of wonderful directors, I am still a neophyte when it comes to utilizing the full breath of these interactions. I look forward to learning about all of these and more.

3.) What would you like to do when you’re done?

When I am done with the program, I would like to be able to find the right home for all four of my plays. I look forward to the collaboration aspects associated with this as well.

1.) What are you teaching at SGP?

I was asked to lead a workshop on "What does it mean to be a culturally competent, anti-racist professional in the theatre?

2.) Why is this topic important for you to share?

The evolution of my life and work has been about how to create more human centered spaces that support the well-being of everyone involved having a greater possibility of being able to engage to their fullest potential. For me, the foundation of being anti-racist is about being more human-centered.

3.) A little bit about your background (especially as it relates to what you’re teaching)

As a woman of color, born in America to immigrant parents, I don't think it's possible (yet) to not experience racism. We always have choices when experiencing inequity in life - either hide and avoid it, confront and fight it, or learn to understand why it happens and how to address it. I have chosen the third option as much as possible. In my career as a theatre artist and as a government grant maker, I have specifically taken on roles and work to observe and be in community with people so that I can continuously learn how to do better and then strive to inspire others to do the same while finding ways to actually change what hasn't worked so that we can all do better together.

4.) Have you worked for SGP in another capacity, and if so what was your favorite thing about that?

I had the opportunity to be in the original Zoom reading and then later perform as Ruby in the world premiere of Want by Barbara Lindsay and directed by Maureen Hawkins. My favorite part of doing that production was the chance to do a play by Babs because I have always admired her work as a playwright and to work with Maureen who is a true actor's director. I felt so blessed that they both trusted me to take on such a tough role, especially one that is so diametrically opposite from who I am in real life and so different from the types of roles I usually get cast in. It was a huge leap of faith, especially for me, to get the chance to sink my teeth into such a gritty role.

Tickets Available here: https://eseteatro.brownpapertickets.com

Hello Earth Productions are always free to the public, but donations are always welcome! More info: http://www.helloearthproductions.com

Tickets available here: https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?show=203670

Tickets available here: https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?show=190814

Tickets available here: https://pork-filled.ticketleap.com

Tickets available here: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/strawberrytheatreworkshop/994759

cassidy mitchell 9/5/23 cassidy mitchell 9/5/23

AUTUMN AT SHATTERED GLASS

OUR FUND/FRIENDRAISER EVENT AUGUST 24!

Thank you so much to all who attended the event, from our skillful playwrights to our talented performers to our generous and captivated audience - it truly was a friendraiser in the best and most expansive use of the word! Art was created, food was eaten, conversation was had and most importantly, connections were made - not bad for a summer night in August.

We hope you’ll come (or return) to the next one!

Check out our photos from the event, below.

COME WORK WITH US!

The Shattered Glass Project is seeking a production stage manager to guide the production process, in collaboration with the producing artistic director, for the 2023 Incubator/Mentor Program One-Act Festival.

Position Summary:
The Production Stage Manager will be responsible for ensuring that the production process for the Incubator/Mentor Program One-Act Festival runs smoothly from cold reading to final curtain call.

Dates, Times and Hours:
Start date: November 1, 2023 | End date: May 31, 2024

This position is designed to require approximately 8-9 hours/week from November 2023-March 2024, and approximately 16-17 hours/week in April-May 2024. Cohort activities are scheduled on Monday nights from 6:30-9:30 p.m.; production meetings will take place during these hours, until rehearsals begin at the end of March 2024. Schedule and necessary working hours during production will be determined on agreement during the production planning process.

Compensation:
The Production Stage Manager will receive a monthly stipend of $1000 between November 2023-March 2024; the monthly stipend will be $2000/month for April-May 2024, for a total stipend of $9000. They will be employed as an independent contractor.

To apply:
Please upload the following to the Application Form at https://forms.gle/hqM948H2rDGNkDjcA - Letter of interest, Resume or CV, and, if available, Website or portfolio information. Applications submitted by September 22, 2023 will receive priority attention. Open until filled. If you have any questions, please contact Rebecca O’Neil at rebecca@shatteredglassproject.org

Learn more

WELCOME TO OUR

Click on any photo, and scroll down to read more about all our teaching artists!

cassidy mitchell 8/2/23 cassidy mitchell 8/2/23

What's Happening at TSGP - July 2023

Meet our 2023 Incubator-Mentor Cohort

Updates from the 2020 & 2021 Cohorts

Upcoming Event - Through the Window

Cohort Bios and Info

2023/4 MENTORS and TEACHING ARTIsts

Updates From our 2020 and 2021 Cohort Members

Through the Window:

A Third Space Friendraiser

in (and out of) The Green Room @ The Shattered Glass Project

Thursday, August 24, 6:30 pm

3201 E. Republican St, Room 109, Seattle 98112
doors & mingling ~ 6:00 p.m.
curtain, windows & wandering ~ 6:30 p.m.
BYO Friends & Family | Donations cheerfully accepted
More information: https://www.shatteredglassproject.org/through-the-window

What is it?

Join us August 24th for a friendraiser and fundraiser for The Shattered Glass Project and our programs for women, non-binary and trans artists. Enjoy new monologues crafted by local playwrights, performed in, through, inside and outside the windows of our studio in Madison Valley.

How does it work?

Choose your seat inside or outside TSGP’s studio at the MLK FAME Center.
Feel free to move: sit on the picnic table or bring your camp chair.
Stand in the parking lot or the hallway door.
Discover the liminal spaces defined by the windows in our lives.
Bring your friends and family.
Experience and support the arts by helping us build community and future audience (although we we will also cheerfully take your financial donation.)

RSVP Here

Donate here

cassidy mitchell 6/2/23 cassidy mitchell 6/2/23

All New Cells Opens Tonight | Playwright Talkback on Saturday

*l to r: Kasper Cergol as Nils and Zenaida Rose Smith as Lux. Photos by Kirk Hostetter*

For immediate release

The Shattered Glass Project production of All New Cells opens on Friday, June 2, 2023 at Theatre Off Jackson. Centered on the story of Nils, All New Cells is a riveting tale of vampires and digital ghosts and a young trans man striving toward the ultimate goal: becoming himself.

TSGP is excited to offer this production during Pride Month as a co-production with Theatre Off Jackson (409 7th Ave S., Seattle WA 98104.) More information and tickets are available at https://www.shatteredglassproject.org/all-new-cells-june2023. Additional information for the press is available at www.shatteredglassproject.org/press-room-all-new-cells. Questions? Email us at info@shatteredglassproject.org.

TSGP will host a post-show talkback on Saturday, June 3rd with the playwright Aliza Goldstein (she/they) and director Alison Kozar (they/them), moderated by local actor, director and teaching artist Buddy Todd (they/them).

Featuring Kasper Cergol (he/him) as Nils; Zenaida Rose Smith (they/them) as Lux; Jasmine Lomax (they/them) as Aeon; and Kay Taylor Yelinek (they/them) as Moody, All New Cells runs June 2-18, 2023 at Theatre Off Jackson, located at 409 7th Ave. S, Seattle WA 98104. 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays; 2 p.m. on Sundays. Tickets are available on a sliding scale from $10-$50. A limited number of free community access tickets are available for every performance.

The Shattered Glass Project brings All New Cells to Theatre Off Jackson during Pride Month

Zenaida Rose Smith as Lux stands behind Kasper Cergol as Nils. Photography by Kirk Hostetter

For immediate release | May 15, 2023

The Shattered Glass Project (TSGP) presents the West Coast premiere of All New Cells, written by Aliza Goldstein and directed by Alison Kozar, June 2-18, 2023 at Theatre Off Jackson. All New Cells is a powerful story of disconnection and a search for identity contrasting how we live IRL (in real life) and how we present to the online world. More information and tickets are available at https://www.shatteredglassproject.org/all-new-cells-june2023. Additional information for the press is available at www.shatteredglassproject.org/press-room-all-new-cells

TSGP is excited to offer this production during Pride Month as a co-production with Theatre Off Jackson (located in Seattle’s Chinatown/International District.) All New Cells centers on Nils, a young trans man. When Nils's ex-girlfriend dies suddenly, he is dragged back into a toxic online roleplay scene he swore he'd never return to. He'd been doing okay sticking to his seven-year plan for getting over their breakup - but now, everyone either blames him or expects him to have answers, and he's getting nasty anonymous messages that might be coming from beyond the grave. A nuanced examination of identity, trauma, assault, grief, and mental health through an online world. Content Note: All New Cells contains references to suicide, child sexual abuse and self harm, which are discussed but not depicted; themes include transphobia and online bullying.

All New Cells is a powerful story of disconnection and a search for identity contrasting how we live IRL (in real life) and how we present to the online world. The importance of role-play gaming and the construction of new personalities in new bodies is woven through the fabric of Nils’ story and personal development, as is the theme of creating power for and over yourself in a world where people often feel powerless. All New Cells touches on the way in which the digital ghosts of our past come back to haunt us. Ultimately, as Nils’ story shows, not only can we find agency for ourselves in a digital world and carry that agency into the life we live in the real world, we can also create victory for ourselves through acknowledging and incorporating the trauma we have experienced rather than excising it from our experience. We have the power to define and redefine ourselves.

Playwright Aliza Goldstein says in their playwright’s notes that “All New Cells (is) a play inspired by the roleplay forums of my youth, the people who I met there, and the people who I was there….(A) beautiful, desolate, anonymous hellscape-cum-wonderland where you and me were free to be a hundred thousand kaleidoscopic versions of ourselves…. I hope you’ll recognize the characters who inhabit it. They live, I think, in every community, and in fandoms especially. If you feel seen by this play, I’m glad: I want to see you.”

Featuring Kasper Cergol (he/him) as Nils; Zenaida Rose Smith (they/them) as Lux; Jasmine Lomax (she/her) as Aeon; and Kay Taylor Yelinek (they/them) as Moody, All New Cells will preview June 1 and run June 2-18, 2023 at Theatre Off Jackson, located at 409 7th Ave. S, Seattle WA 98104. Performances will take place at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays and 2 p.m. on Sundays. Tickets are available on a sliding scale Pick Your Price model, with tiered pricing ranging from $10-$50. A limited number of free community access tickets are available for every performance. Tickets are available at https://www.shatteredglassproject.org/all-new-cells-june2023

top row: Zenaida Rose Smith as Lux; middle row: Kasper Cergol as Nils and Jasmine Lomax as Aeon; bottom row: Kay Taylor Yelinek as Moody. Photography by Kirk Hostetter

TSGP is a theatre company with a mission to amplify the voices of theatre artists who have been marginalized on the basis of their gender or sex by offering unique opportunities to create and grow professionally. Programming includes an online developmental reading series bringing emerging directors together with new scripts; and the Director and Playwright Incubator/Mentor Program, a professional development program building community and relationships between gender-marginalized theatre artists. Company history and details are available at www.shatteredglassproject.org.

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More information, including complete dramaturgical statements, promotional photos, and details about our cast and creative team, is available in our press room: www.shatteredglassproject.org/press-room-all-new-cells

l to r: Kay Taylor Yelinek as Moody is scolded by Jasmine Lomax as Aeon. Photography by Kirk Hostetter.

cassidy mitchell 4/1/23 cassidy mitchell 4/1/23

The Shattered Glass Project brings West Coast Premiere of “All New Cells” to Theatre off Jackson

For immediate release | April 1, 2023 ~ Seattle, WA

“BECOMING IS EXHAUSTING.”

Featuring Kasper Cergol (he/him) as Nils; Zenaida Rose Smith (they/them) as Lux; Jasmine Lomax (they/them) as Aeon; and Kay Taylor Yelinek (they/them) as Moody, All New Cells will preview June 1 and run June 2-18, 2023 at Theatre Off Jackson, located at 409 7th Ave. S, Seattle WA 98104. Performances will take place at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays and 2 p.m. on Sundays. Tickets are available on a sliding scale Pick Your Price model, with tiered pricing ranging from $10-$50. A limited number of free community access tickets are available for every performance. Tickets are available at https://www.shatteredglassproject.org/all-new-cells-june2023.

All New Cells centers on Nils, a young trans man. When Nils's ex-girlfriend dies suddenly, he is dragged back into a toxic online roleplay scene he swore he'd never return to. He'd been doing okay sticking to his seven-year plan for getting over their breakup - but now, everyone either blames him or expects him to have answers, and he's getting nasty anonymous messages that might be coming from beyond the grave. A nuanced examination of identity, trauma, assault, grief, and mental health through an online world.

CONTENT NOTE: All New Cells contains references to suicide, child sexual abuse and self harm, which are discussed but not depicted; themes include transphobia and online bullying.

Alison Kozar (they/them), a Seattle-based stage manager, sound designer and cohort member in TSGP’s 2021 Incubator/Mentor Program for emerging directors and playwrights connected with Aliza Goldstein (she/they), a playwright based in Orange County, CA, through the New Play Exchange, and brought All New Cells to TSGP as part of the company’s 2021 Zoom-based script development series.

All New Cells is a powerful story of disconnection and a search for identity contrasting how we live IRL (in real life) and how we present to the online world. The importance of role-play gaming and the construction of new personalities in new bodies is woven through the fabric of Nils’ story and personal development, as is the theme of creating power for and over yourself in a world where people often feel powerless. All New Cells touches on the way in which the digital ghosts of our past come back to haunt us. Ultimately, as Nils’ story shows, we can find agency for ourselves in a digital world and carry that agency into the life we live in the real world. We have the power to redefine ourselves.

###

More information, including promotional photos and details about our cast and creative team, will be available in our press room: www.shatteredglassproject.org/press-room-all-new-cells

cassidy mitchell 3/9/23 cassidy mitchell 3/9/23

Applications open for the 2023 Playwright and Director Incubator/Mentor Program.

The Shattered Glass Project is pleased to announce that applications are now open for the 2023 Playwright and Director Incubator/Mentor Program. The I/M Program is a 12-month tuition-free program for emerging playwrights and directors, focused on women, non-binary and trans theater artists. Full program details and information about applying are available at www.shatteredglassproject.org/2023-incubator-mentor-program. Questions about the program can be sent to info@shatteredglassproject.org.

The 2023-24 Incubator/Mentor Program is designed to offer participants the opportunity to build their professional skills and confidence as a practitioner, the tools to create and maintain a safe, inclusive, anti-racist and consent-based space for creating theatre, and a network of relationships within the cohort and with the broader Seattle theatre community.

The program centers around monthly cohort peer group meetings and includes eight weeks of skills-based workshops, leading into developmental work and rehearsals of new scripts, written and directed by cohort members. The program will culminate with a fully-produced One-Act Play Festival. Annie Lareau and Rachel Atkins, long-time Seattle theatre professionals, will serve as the director and playwright mentors for the 2023-24 cohort.

The 2023-24 program will be the second full iteration of TSGP’s Incubator/Mentor Program, and was selected as one of only two theaters funded by the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture Hope Corps Grant. Participants in the 2021 program have gone on to creative work at organizations such as Macha Theatreworks, ACT Theatre, and the Seattle Opera; to creative leadership roles with The Shattered Glass Project; and to found their own theatre companies.

Who Should Apply?

The TSGP Incubator/Mentor program is intended for people who:

have faced barriers to career advancement in theatre on the basis of their gender;
have paid or unpaid experience with theatre outside of a classroom context, in any role;
are demonstrably interested in pursuing playwriting or directing professionally;
want to approach (or already approach) their art and career with an intersectional social justice lens, and are committed to ongoing growth and learning in this area;
are able to participate in meetings, workshops, and rehearsals in person (either live in Seattle or can get to Seattle on a regular basis); and
can commit to the full twelve month program.

Full program details and information about applying are available at www.shatteredglassproject.org/2023-incubator-mentor-program. Questions about the program can be sent to us at info@shatteredglassproject.org.

About The Shattered Glass Project

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cassidy mitchell 9/30/22 cassidy mitchell 9/30/22

The Shattered Glass Project Awarded Hope Corps Grant From the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 29, 2022

The Shattered Glass Project, TSGP, announced today that it is a recipient of a Hope Corps Grant from the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture. TSGP is a non-profit theatre company with a mission to amplify the voices of theatre artists who have been marginalized on the basis of their gender or sex. The grant from Hope Corps is to support creative worker wages and other project expenses, specifically focused on TSGP’s Director and Playwright Incubator/Mentor Program.

“I am thrilled and humbled,” said Founder and Artistic Director Rebecca O’Neil. “The Hope Corps grant will allow TSGP to adequately compensate the artists participating in our Incubator/Mentor Program. Many of us in the theatre community earn our livings in a piecemeal fashion; this grant will increase and stabilize compensation for our teaching artists. Additionally, this money will support us to bring our teaching artists and cohort members into a space of our own. This funding is helping us realize our dream to build mutually supportive artistic connections among emerging playwrights and directors as well as with other artists in the Seattle theatre community .”

Hope Corps is an economic recovery program created by the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture in the wake of the pandemic. The goal of the program is to provide economic and social opportunities for Seattle’s creative workforce. A total of $1.3 million has been awarded to 30 different artists and organizations.

“Awardees presented proposals that are outstanding and inspiring in their scope, creativity and potential impact on our city. We believe that these projects will inspire and serve as examples to public and private funders in the region regarding what can be achieved if you work with the community to move us all forward.” Mayor Bruce Harrell

About TSGP

Founded in 2019, TSGP is a non-profit theatre company based in the Madrona neighborhood of Seattle with a mission to amplify the voices of theatre artists who have been marginalized based on their gender or sex. They recently presented their first in-person production, the world premiere of Want by Seattle playwright Barbara Lindsay. The flagship program at TSGP, the Director and Playwright Incubator/Mentor Program is a tuition-free program that features facilitated meetings and foundational workshops taught by Seattle theatre artists over a twelve-month period. Interwoven with developmental work and rehearsals of new scripts written and directed by cohort members, the program culminates in a short play festival. Alums of the 2021 program have been successfully working in Seattle theatre, including for TSGP.

TSGP launches their end-of-year fundraising campaign on October 3 with a goal of raising an additional $25,000 to fully fund the Director and Playwright Incubator/Mentor Program for the 2023-24 cohort.

Media Contact: Rebecca O’Neil | rebecca@shatteredglassproject.org | www.shatteredglassproject.org

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Images from Ghosts: A Festival of Original One-Act Plays, Produced December 2021 by the 2021 Playwright and Director Incubator/Mentor Cohort