Update
More on the ICWP Ohio Retreat

The following playwrights have told me they’re planning on attending the August 16-23 retreat in Columbus (if I’ve missed your message, entirely possible in the chaos of the last few weeks, do let me know!):

Kellie Bean
Vicki Cheatwood
Christine Emmert
Catherine Frid
Debbie Feldman
Paddy Gillard-Bentley
Geralyn Horton
Mrinalini Kamath
Nicole C. Kearney
Barbara Macchia
Farzana Moon
Mary O'Malley
Anne Pecaro
Diane Rao
Donna Spector
Chris Shaw Swanson
Cynthia Wands

Writers will have full access to OSU's Department of Theatre computer labs and the University libraries. Volunteer actors will be on hand nightly Mon-Sat, Aug. 17-22, at 7:00 p.m. for cold readings of whatever the writers are creating, meeting in the New Works Lab at the Drake Performance and Event Center.

Workshops and/or information sessions will be held daily at about 4:00 p.m. for writers wanting a break. The following Central Ohio theatre companies/artists will be participating:

Evolution Theatre Company
MadLab Theatre
Katherine Burkman
Available Light Theatre Company
CATCO (Contemporary American Theatre Company; Central Ohio's Equity house)

and Christine Emmert will present a workshop on writing historical drama

Still waiting on responses from several additional folks, so stay tuned

Added Bonus
Available Light Theatre, a boldly experimental group in downtown Columbus, will be in performance during the retreat, and I'm hoping some of their folks will come speak to us. They'll be performing Church, by Young Jean Kim, recently produced at PS122; check them out at http://avltheatre.com/index.php/site/church/

Actors' Summer Theatre, located outdoors in Schiller Park just south of downtown Columbus, will be in performance that week as well; As You Like It, by William Shakespeare, is performed with a combination of actors and life-size puppets as it follows its heroine Rosalind as she flees persecution in her uncle's court to find safety and eventually love in the Forest of Arden. Co-directed by John S. Kuhn and Beth Kattelman, As You Like It promises to be a comic favorite with Shakespeare fans.

In addition, classic films will be screened all summer at the lavishly restored Ohio Theatre in downtown Columbus. All screenings start with a short concert on the theatre's Mighty Morton Organ. The schedule for the week of the retreat:

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) Aug. 15 7:30 p.m., Aug. 16 2 & 7:30 p.m.


Spellbound (1945) Aug. 19 and 20, 7:30 p.m.


Gold Diggers of 1933 Aug. 21, 7:30 p.m.


Evil Dead II (1987) Aug. 21, 11:00 p.m.


Ben-Hur (1959) Aug. 22 7:30 p.m, Aug. 23 2 & 7:30 p.m.


and they sell popcorn!


And even more distractions! The Festival Latino will be in Columbus on the 15th and 16th, the Reynoldsburg Tomato Festival on the 21st and 22nd, and the Ohio Balloon Festival in nearby Marysville on the 11th and 12th. For more information about each, check out the websites:

http://www.in-and-around-columbus.com/festival-latino-in-columbus.html
http://www.allohioballoonfest.com/
http://www.in-and-around-columbus.com/reynoldsburg-tomato-festival.html