Phoenix Stage Company to Produce Award-Winning Play in World Premiere

IT'S A VERY BIG NIGHT TONIGHT AT PHOENIX STAGE COMPANY

The American Association of Community Theatre (AACT) is pleased to announce Phoenix Stage Company has been selected to participate in the inaugural AACTNewPlayFest as producing theatre of the winning play, Jellofish.
AACTNewPlayFest is an initiative by AACT to address the critical need for new, high-quality plays for community theatre audiences around the globe. There is no shortage of new works, especially by unpublished playwrights. But how do theatres find the time to read them and cull out the ones their communities will enjoy? Many theatres have new play contests, but few produce the winning scripts beyond staged readings. Yet a script is not likely to be published unless it is produced and creates a buzz; and it is not likely to reach future audiences if it is not published. So how do playwrights get their work produced?

These are the questions AACT is answering with AACTNewPlayFest in keeping with its mission of providing support and resources to community theatres. The winning playwrights get their plays published in an anthology by Dramatic Publishing Company and their plays receive full productions by established theatres. Phoenix Stage Company is one of only six theatres in the nation to receive this honor.

Since being founded in 2010, Phoenix Stage Company has produced 34 full length plays and musicals and is preparing for the Second Annual One Act Festival. Dedicated to producing new works they have included a new play in each season with great success. One Night with Fanny Brice, an original one-woman musical went on to an Off-Broadway run of over 6 months. Other new works include The Ice Box, Writer’s Cramp, or How Will Shakespeare got into Show Biz, Murder at the Prop Table, and Just Around the Bend. This summer, PSC will be taking another new play, You’re Right, I’m Dead to New York for a limited Off-Broadway production.

Jellofish will open on Friday, May 2nd and run through Sunday, May 11th. Directed by Ed Bassett, the cast includes: Timothy Cleary, Debbie Forish, Tim Phillips and Jeff Savage with Stage Manager Agnes Dann.

There will be an opening night reception at Jesse Camille’s Restaurant, 615 North Church Street in Naugatuck from 6 to 7 pm. There will also be a coffee reception and an opportunity to meet the playwright following the performance. Guests are asked to call and reserve for the reception. Please call the theater box office at 203-632-8546. Advance purchase of tickets for this production is highly recommended.

More than two-dozen theatres across the country applied to be a producing theatre. “It is a high honor to have been selected,” states AACT Executive Director, Julie Crawford. Producing theatres receive the recognition that comes with premiering a national award-winning play, national publicity, the experience of working directly with the playwright, the honor of introducing an award-winning playwright to their community, and will have a direct impact on the future of the play.

As a producing theatre, Phoenix Stage Company was able to help determine the final six plays, and is producing a play that landed at the top of its list - Jellofish by Jim Henry.
Jim is an actor and writer in the Chicagoland area, is a resident playwright at Chicago Dramatists, and Literary Manager at Chicago Street Theatre. Several of his plays have been professionally produced, including a 3-month off-Broadway run for his play 7th Monarch. In addition to being an award-winning playwright, Jim is also a successful screenwriter and optioned two screenplays with Producer Ian Bryce whose production credits include such films as Transformers I, II, and III, Saving Private Ryan, Spiderman, and Almost Famous.

Jim’s script, Jellofish, focuses on four World War II veterans who have been playing a monthly game of poker since 1945. They’ve been dragging five percent from every pot for over 50 years and this “side pot” has grown to a sizable fortune. Who will survive this game of wits and be the heir presumptive to the poker fortune? Or will competition and resentment destroy their friendships and the game itself?
An added bonus for Phoenix Stage Company and the five other theatres, is a surprise financial gift. When announcing the selected theatres and winning playwrights at the national theatre festival (AACTFest 2013), in Carmel, Indiana in June, former AACT President, Linda M. Lee, made a touching announcement. She revealed that her late father’s cousin, a Mr. Jack K. Ayre of Sunnyvale, California had recently passed and left a large estate. She and her siblings decided that it would be a fitting tribute to Jack to use a portion of the proceeds from the estate to help finance the new play productions of AACTNewPlayFest. Each company will receive $4,000 to aid in the producing and marketing of these new theatrical works - a dramatic legacy indeed.

The American Association of Community Theatre (AACT) provides networking, resources and support to suit the needs of those involved in community theatre. AACT represents the interests of more than 7,000 theatres across the United States and its territories, as well as theatre companies with the armed services overseas.