TWIN CITY STAGE TO PRODUCE AWARD-WINNING WORLD PREMIERE

"The American Association of Community Theatre (AACT) is pleased to announce Twin City Stage of Winston-Salem, North Carolina has been selected to participate in AACT NewPlayFest 2016 as a Producing Theatre.

Keeping in line with the AACT mission of providing support and resources to community theatres, the AACT NewPlayFest addresses the critical need for new, high-quality plays for community theatre audiences around the globe. 

Many theatres have new play contests, but few produce the winning scripts beyond staged readings. Playwrights are always striving to get their work produced, because 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.

With AACT NewPlayFest the winning playwrights see their play published in an anthology by Dramatic Publishing Company and their play receives a full production by an established theatre. Twin City Stage is one of only seven theatres in the nation to receive this honor. As a producing theatre, Twin City Stage will choose the play to produce from the final selected scripts.  Playwrights will submit original works this fall, and selected reviewers will choose the finalists.

Twin City Stage, which celebrates its 80^th Season in 2014-15, originated as The Little Theatre of Winston-Salem in 1935.  It offers eight main stage productions a year, five touring shows for children, acting classes for K-12, and summer camps for kids.  Touting a “something for everyone” series of productions, Twin City Stage offers shows both classic and contemporary, and it is both honored and excited to have the opportunity to offer an AACT NewPlayFest production to its members and the community.

Many 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. The winning plays will receive a full production by the producing theatre between June 2015 and December 2016. In addition to Twin City Stage, the selected producing theatres for AACT NewPlayFest 2016 are Chicago Street Theatre in Valparaiso, IN; Omaha Community Playhouse in Omaha, NB; Silver Spring Stage in Silver Spring, MD; Stage Right Productions in Bend, OR; Theatre Arlington in Arlington, TX; and Windsor Community Playhouse in Windsor, CO.

The inaugural AACT NewPlayFest (2014) proved to be a great success with six original plays being produced across the country in 2013-2014.  Four plays received full productions earlier this year. Continuing with the inaugural AACT NewPlayFest, End Papers by Barry Weinberg will be produced by Little Theatre of Mechanicsburg in Mechanicsburg, PA in July, and The Boatwright by Bo Wilson will be produced by Grand Rapids Civic Theatre in Grand Rapids, MI in September.  The winning plays are available to be produced through Dramatic Publishing Company following the AACT NewPlayFest production.

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 U.S. Armed Services overseas."

A Press Release