NEWS | FEATURES | PREVIEWS | EVENTS

originally published: 09/22/2021

(NEW HOPE, PA) -- New Feathers Productions (NFP) has selected, award-winning & emerging Playwrights from the NY, NJ, and PA region for Together (Again) on Thursday, October 14th at 7:30pm.  This is a professionally performed, staged reading theatrical experience featuring the new works that will immerse audiences in a quirky and relatable journey that highlights togetherness about friendships, love, or the lack thereof.  

Together (Again) will be directed by Mary Carpenter and is part of a monthly series at the Zlock Performing Arts Center (Zlock PAC).  As a unique, one-night-only production, NFP's Together (Again) will feature the following new theatrical one acts/shorts by the region's award-winning and emerging playwrights: Who's On Top? by Pandora Scooter; Connections by Barry M. Putt Jr.; Family Meeting In The Time Of Corona by Jan Jalenak; Countdown To Valentine by Dan Fiorella; and Together Forever by John McDonnell.


“As a growing group who has been working together since 2017, we're thrilled to introduce the latest works by a very talented canon of playwrights, some returning and some brand new to New Feathers.  Getting back on stage on September 9th with Michelle Best's original Good Grief honestly reminded us what a gift the new works theatrical experience is for everyone.  Together (Again) is sure to offer a fun and artistic mix that has something for everyone," said Mandee K. Hammerstein, NFP Founder & Producer. 

With all-season shows starting at 7:30pm, the NFP schedule offers two primary ticketing options, General Admission for $20 and a 6pm VIP Pre-Show Reception with reserved theater seats for $30. The Pre-Show Reception includes alcohol, non-alcohol beverages and light-fare.  Special discounts include Seniors (65+), Bucks Faculty, Staff, Alumni and Active Military, Veterans, and Bucks County Arts & Cultural Council Members. In addition, current students receive free admission with valid IDs.  (specific shows and talent for the remainder of the season performers TBA):  For tickets and more info visit www.bucks.edu/tickets


"We were so delighted at the abundance of talent discovered throughout our area and beyond; the submissions this year were powerful and timely, hilarious and poignant.  New Feathers Productions is proud to feature this evening of short plays and to welcome Mary Carpenter to the directorial helm.  Mary is a sensitive and nuanced director, and our readings planned will surely blossom from her attention to detail," added Sarah LeClair, NFP producer.

 

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NFP endeavors to inspire and renew, flirting with audiences through interesting and creative points of view. NFP creates theatrical evenings of professionally performed readings, featuring the newest theatrical works that reflect various perspectives, while encouraging and supporting playwrights with a range of diverse backgrounds and experiences. NFP and the Zlock PAC strives to highlight talent from the vibrancy and voice of the Philadelphia, New York and surrounding areas.  

Director Mary Carpenter has been working in Philadelphia Theatre as a performer, director, teacher, writer, and producer for over twenty years. Mary has worked with The Second City, 1812 Productions, Act II Playhouse, Philadelphia Theatre Company, the Arden, the Wilma, and Montgomery Theatre Company. Directing credits include Intimate Exchanges and Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe at 1812, On the Road Again, Oh What Fun, Didn't Your Father Have this Talk with You, Making Spirits Bright, A Few of Our Favorite Things, and Kalamazoo at Act II Playhouse, and I'll Have What She's Having at CSZ Philly. Mary has written and produced two one-woman shows: The New & Improved Stages of Grief and Dot & Me. She has been a performing and teaching member of ComedySportz for over twenty-five years, where she also served as Artistic Director twice. Mary holds Theatre degrees from Northwestern University and The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts and has recently published Do Or Do Not: How to Improvise Like a Jedi.

PLAYWRIGHT BIOS:

DAN FIORELLA lives in New York. Downtown New York. Very downtown New York. Okay, he lives in Staten Island. He has an eclectic array of credits, having written for Garrison Keillor's “Prairie Home Companion,” MAD Magazine, All-Star Radio, “The Start of Something Big” with Steve Allen and the “Lost Cases of Sherlock Holmes 2” video game. Dan was also Dear Dottie for the Weekly World News and Traveling Editor for Cracked Magazine. And is the author of “Novel Concept” and several other books available on Amazon. He's been a contributing writer to TMI: Hollywood, Style Without Substance and “The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers”. He co-wrote the horror spoof “Steamed” now doing the film festival circuit. He enjoys writing about himself in the third person.


JAN JALENAK grew up in Memphis, TN, is a lifetime member of The Actors Studio and New Circle Theater Company and a graduate of New York University. Her acting training with the inimitable Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse in the 80's instilled a fearlessness to dig deeper with both her acting and writing.  As a playwright, her plays have been featured in venues throughout New York City, including Greenwich Street Theater, Naked Angels, The Gene Frankel Theatre, The Robert Moss Theater, The Ohio Theater, New Georges, UBU Rep, Studio Theater, Playwrights' Horizons, and The Actors Studio.


JOHN MCDONNELL'S plays have been featured at theaters in New Mexico, Alabama, Washington, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. John founded The Playwrights' Bridge, a theater workshop in Pennsylvania. He has also published 24 fiction e-books.  

BARRY M. PUTT JR.'s plays have been performed throughout the U.S. and in Canada including productions with the Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival, The Northeast Theatre, and Turtle Shell Productions. His comedy, A Different Blend of Friendship won the NJ Wordsmiths Award. He is a member of the Witherspoon Circle and the Dramatists Guild. 


PANDORA SCOOTER is an award-winning playwright whose work has been seen nationally.  She toured her solo shows I Am Enough and OUTwordlyFabulous in 2011 and 2015, respectively, to audiences in 45 cities throughout the nation.  She is the founder and facilitator for two playwrights' groups: ATG PlayLab and Women's Playwrights Circle @ Speranza.  She has taught script analysis for more than 20 years at NYU, Terry Knickerbocker Studio and Dramatists Guild Institute.  She lives in Hampton, NJ.

New Feathers Productions is a professionally produced, ever-expanding playwright and performance reading series exclusively devoted to new theatrical works.  NFP purposefully presents an edgy, industry-inside view to the creative development process with skilled performers, playwrights, and directors.  NFP aims to deliver a delightful and memorable mix of emotion-flexing, brain-teasing comedy, frank thought, and post-conversation dialog while immersing participants in the experimental, theatrical process.   From its wildly-celebrated inception in 2017 at the famed Raven Resort through to the James A. Michener Art Museum and now newly nested at the Zlock Performing Arts Center, NFP promises to showcase the latest theatrical works by Award-winning playwrights and emerging talent throughout the region.  With inimitable content, NFP strives to positively impact, inspire, and bond audiences and artists alike.  


The Kevin and Sima Zlock Performing Arts Center hosts musical and theatrical performances, business conferences, and educational events throughout the year.  The Zlock Performing Arts Center offers exceptional staging, lighting, and acoustics in an intimate 339-seat theater.  The venue is located on the Bucks County Community College Newtown Campus, just 45-minutes north of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Built in 1971 and upgraded in 2000, the Zlock Performing Arts Center is also available for rent on a limited basis to external for-profit and non-profit groups and organizations.