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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