DATE: May 15, 2008

CONTACT: Mark Charney, (864) 656-5415
cmark@clemson.edu

CONTACT: David White
dave@wordbridge.org

WRITER: Glenn Hare, (864) 656-1478
ghare@clemson.edu

WordBRIDGE offers performances, panel discussions and other public events

CLEMSON — As a part of the 2008 WordBRIDGE Playwrights Laboratory Daniel Stein, a pioneering mime artist, will present “Timepiece” in the Brooks Center’s 100-seat Bellamy Theater at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, June 13-14. 

The Saturday performance features the Tribute to Playwrights and a reception where WordBRIDGE will honor the participating playwrights from around the country and introduce them to the Clemson community. Participating in the event are Naomi Iizuka, an award-winning and widely produced playwright; J. Ranelli, a founding member of the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center; and Richard Rice, the founder of WordBRIDG; along with several other artists-in-residents.

“Timepiece” is a one-man movement piece that examines the passage of time in the life of a man. Two years in the making, Stein has presented “Timepiece” in more than 25 countries and throughout the United States. Stein has taught at the Julliard School of Drama in New York, the Institute of Dramatic Arts in Tokyo and served as director of the Dell ‘Arte School of Movement.

While its major emphasis is to develop seven plays from talented student writers from around the country, WordBRIDGE also offers a wide range of public lectures, master classes and presentations from June 10 to 19.

“We spend two weeks working diligently with the playwrights in a closed, protective environment,” said Mark Charney, Clemson’s director of theater and co-artistic director of WordBRIDGE. “But we believe part of our mission is to share their immense knowledge with the community. The workshops and lectures allow us to share what we are learning with those interested in everything from play development to storytelling.”

Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students. Tickets are available online at www.clemson.edu/Brooks or by calling the Brooks Center box office at (864) 656-7787 from 1-5 p.m. Monday-Friday.

The presentations and lecture are free to the public. Topics include storytelling, the Feldenkrais Method and a panel discussion on the development of new plays. The workshops, lectures and master classes take place in the Brooks Center for the Performing Arts.

Biographies

Naomi Iizuka has written numerous critically recognized plays, including “36 Views,” “War of the World,” and “Aloha, Say the Pretty Girls.” Iizuka’s most recent work, “After a Hundred Years,” will premiere at the Guthrie Theater later this year.

After studying in Carnegie-Mellon Univesity’s Professional Actors Training Program, Daniel Stein went to Paris to study with Etienne Decroux, the father of modern French mime. Subsequently, he became Decroux’s translator and lived in Paris 20 years.  He has taught and directed at The Juilliard School of Drama and the Institute of Dramatic Arts in Tokyo. Stein is the recipient of several prestigious awards and grants, a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Pew Charitable Trust.

David Kranes is a nationally prominent playwright and author, with 12 books and many awards. A professor of English and director of creative writing at the University of Utah, Kranes was the founding artistic director of the Sundance Playwrights' Lab.  He was affiliated with the lab 14 years.

J. Ranelli, a long-time advocate for new voices, is a founding member of the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, where he was a director at the National Playwrights Conference, a director and master teacher for the National Theater of the Deaf and creator of the National Theater Institute.

Richard Rice is an emeritus professor of theater at Eckerd College. His teaching career includes directing theater programs at the State University of New York at Potsdam, New England College, University of New Hampshire and the University of Memphis.

David White is the co-artistic director of WordBRIDGE. He has taught playwriting and acting at the University of Missouri at Columbia and has served an adjudicator and lecturer at numerous university and conference settings. He worked as the literary manager and director of educational outreach at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, where he developed new works by student playwrights. White is a founding member of the Generous Company, a non-profit company focused on developing and producing works for the stage, film and online.

Mark Charney is the director of theater at Clemson University. As a playwright, his autobiographical comedy “37 Stones or the Man Who Was a Quarry” was produced at the Charter Theater in Washington. His play “Double Hernia,” a finalist for the 2005 Theater Public Prize for Dramatic, was chosen out of 700 scripts to be performed at the Working Man Production Theater in New York.

Crosby Hunt is professor of theater at Middle Tennessee State University, where he teaches storytelling, script analysis and theater appreciation.

Mimi Rice has been a part of WordBRIDGE at Eckerd College since it started in 1994. She is a professional actress and teacher.