Washington, D.C. - National New Play Network, the country's alliance of nonprofit theaters that champions the development, production, and continued life of new plays, celebrates its 73rd Rolling World Premiere (RWP): Surely Goodness and Mercy by Chisa Hutchinson as it Rolls through Writers Theatres of New Jersey. The Roll, which began at Core Member Salt Lake Acting Company (September 6-October 15, UT), runs at Core Member Writers Theatre of New Jersey (Madison, NJ) September 28-October 15, and will continue at Associate Member Redtwist Theatre (February 17-March 18, Chicago, IL).

NNPN provides production support to the playwright and the partnering theaters, including assistance with the creation and the contracting of the premiere agreement, collaborative interactions between the theaters, and funds for the playwright's residency in each city to further develop the play.

"[Surely Goodness and Mercy has] a soul-stirring quality, touching audiences with its sincerity."  - Alina Hansen, Daily Utah Chronicle

"...it's impossible not to like it" - Barbara M. Bannon, The Salt Lake Tribune

ABOUT SURELY GOODNESS AND MERCY
In an under-funded public school in Newark, New Jersey, a motherless, bible-toting boy with a photographic memory and a tender heart befriends the cantankerous woman who works in the cafeteria. Against all odds, they help each other through the bullshit of growing up and growing old.

ABOUT CHISA HUTCHINSON
Chisa Hutchinson's socially probing plays, which include She Like Girls, Sex on Sunday, The Subject, Dead & Breathing, and Somebody’s Daughter among others, have been presented by such venues as Second Stage Theater, City Parks' Summerstage, the Lark, the National Black Theater, the Contemporary American Theater Festival, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, and Atlantic Theater Company. She's won a GLAAD Award, the John Golden Award for Excellence in Playwriting, a Lilly Award, a New York Innovative Theatre Award, the Paul Green Award, a Helen Merrill Award, the Lanford Wilson Award, and has been a finalist for the highly coveted PoNY Fellowship. She’s also been a Lark Fellow, a Dramatists Guild Fellow, a resident at the William Inge Center for the Arts, a New York NeoFuturist, a staff writer for the Blue Man Group, a Humanitas Fellow, and most recently, Resident Playwright at Second Stage Theater. In addition to venturing into screenwriting, Chisa is currently a proud fourth-year year member of New Dramatists and a Creative Writing Professor at the University of Delaware. (B.A. Vassar College; M.F.A NYU - Tisch School of the Arts.) chisahutchinson.com

ABOUT SALT LAKE ACTING COMPANY
Salt Lake Acting Company (SLAC)’s mission is to engage and enrich community through brave contemporary theatre. Founded in 1970, SLAC is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 professional theatre dedicated to producing, commissioning, and developing new works and to supporting a community of professional artists. SLAC has been nationally recognized by the Shubert Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Pew Charitable Trusts, and the Edgerton Foundation, among others. SLAC operates under a SPT Actors Equity Association contract and is a Constituent Member of Theatre Communications Group (a national organization for non-profit professional regional theatres), and the National New Play Network (a national alliance of non-profit professional theatres that champions the development, production, and continued life of new plays). saltlakeactingcompany.org

ABOUT WRITERS THEATRE OF NEW JERSEY
Founded in 1986 as Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey, Writers Theatre is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, professional theatre and arts education organization dedicated to developing new works, writers, and a creative community. Every year since 2003, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts (NJSCA) has designated Writers Theatre as a Major Arts Institution. This means that the Council considers Writers Theatre to be “an anchor institution that contributes vitally to the quality of life in New Jersey.” wtnj.org

ABOUT REDTWIST THEATRE
Redtwist Theatre produced its first full season of plays in ’04-’05, and has been staging powerful drama—from bold new work to American classics—in the great tradition of Chicago storefront theatre. The intimate and flexible space, used as a thematic asset for every production, is specifically designed and tailored to close the gap between actor and audience, thus blurring the line between seating and staging. The size and warmth of a cozy living room with 35 seats, Redtwist provides a unique theatre experience that is simultaneously intimate, comfortable, and safe, yet intense, edgy, and thrilling, at a distance only inches away. Redtwist, a not-for-profit 501(c)3, is a member of the League of Chicago Theatres, and an Associate Member of the National New Play Network (a national alliance of non-profit professional theatres that champions the development, production, and continued life of new plays). redtwist.org