Oh, it was brought'n

If you weren't there this weekend, shame on you. You missed a lot of fun and some kickin chili! The Playwrights Foundation took the overall critic favorite, but Crowded Fire walked away with two fan favorites. Impact's not so secret ingredient by the name of ostrich had everyone tasting and Fools Fury managed a dessert chili with chocolate.

The critics took their job very seriously, but seemed to have a good time as well. You can check out what they had to say about the experience on their blogs: Karen D'Souza, Chad Jones, and Chloe Veltman.

Thanks to everyone that came out!

Chili Cook Off This Saturday

We've got the Chili Cook Off against Fools Fury, Impact, and the Playwrights Foundations coming up this Saturday. Put a few theater companies in the room together and the smack talk begins:

Impact claims they are going to "to put the splatdown on those other companies" while the Playwright's Foundation promises to "kick some butt." As for us, well, I think our name alone gives us a bit of an advantage, don't you?

Fools Fury challenges you all to "get your eat on." So, do come on out this Saturday afternoon...there will be tons of chili (waaaaay more than we can pass off to starving actors at the Z), raffles, prizes, and live music. It's sure to be a good time and it benefits all participating organizations.

You'll also be able to rub elbows with our 'celebrity judges:'
Karen D'Souza (her plug here)
Chad Jones (his plug here)
Chloe Veltman (awaiting Chloe's plug here ;-)

For those that missed it

Here's a link to the aforementioned pontification.

And for further pontification, check out Chloe Veltman's response.

Tune in tomorrow

Kent will be appearing on KQED's Forum with Michael Krasny discussing small theater in the Bay Area tomorrow morning from 10-11. (88.5) Tune in to listen to him pontificate. He is astonishingly good at it. Really.

Hot of the Press

Erik Ehn has recently informed us that the working title for his new piece is (drum roll, please) BURNT UMBER. You can catch Erik's piece in our Matchbox Reading series this coming weekend. Patrick Alparone, Anna Buillard, Alex Creighton, Lawrence Radecker, and Patricia Silver join the previously announced cast members (Jason Wong and Ellen Scarpaci), in
the workshop reading on Saturday, August 18 at 3 pm at Intersection for the Arts. Hope to see you there.

Who's in the house?

As many of you know, it takes a lot of work to pull off a readings series...even a little one like our upcoming Matchbox Readings. The bulk of the work comes from trying to juggle the schedules for a rather large number of people. You've got a specific number of roles, limited pool of actors for each, and a precise window of availability that you need them. With that said, we've got a stellar mix of ensemble members and guest artists in the room for each piece. I thought it might be of interest to you who you'll see if you join us next week:

UNTITLED
Erik Ehn, Playwright
Rebecca Novick, Director
Cast: Ellen Scarpaci, Jason Wong

ABOUT THE DOGS
Lizz Edele, Playwright
Jessica Heidt, Director
Kent Nicholson, Dramaturg
Paz Hilfinger-Pardo, AD/Reader
Cast: Erin Gilley, Caroline Hewitt, Paul Lancour, Michele Leavy

MY NAME IS VERA CUPIDO
Stephanie Fleischmann, Playwright
Octavio Solis, Director
Mollena Williams, Reader/AD
Cast: Tessa Kong-Martinez, Michele Leavy, Julian Lopez Morrilas, Wanda McCaddon, Juliet Tanner

THE LISTENER
Liz Duffy Adams, Playwright
Kent Nicholson, Director
Mellie Katakalos, AD/Dramaturg
Paz Hilfinger-Pardo, Reader
Cast: Cassie Beck, Lawrence Radecker, Juliet Tanner, Dan Wolf, Jason Wong

Great News!!

Thanks to the lovely folks over at the Tournesol Foundation, we are now able to bring ALL four playwrights out for our upcoming Matchbox Readings. We hope you'll come on out to help us welcome Erik Ehn, Lizz Duffy Adams, Stephanie Fleishmann, and Liz Edele with their latest pieces.