The NNPN Rolling World Premiere of WILD HORSES by Allison Gregory Opens at Rochester's CenterStage at the JCC

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 the opening of the Rolling World Premiere (RWP) of Wild Horses by Allison Gregory at Associate Member CenterStage at the JCC (Rochester, NY September 9-23, 2017). The RWP kicked off at NNPN Core Member Contemporary American Theater Festival (July 7-30, 2017, Shepherdstown, WV), and will continue on at Associate Members The VORTEX (Austin, TX, November 16-December 9, 2017) and Core Member New Jersey Repertory Company (Long Branch, February 22-March 25, 2018).

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.

Acclaim for the CATF production:

“This heady mix presents its own combination of wonder and danger, a novel's worth of content shrunk to the size of a play, and presented through a single performer. That performer, Kate Udall, does a jaw-dropping job keeping all the characterizations separate, and making us fall in love with her character. It is a tribute to both Udall and playwright Allison Gregory that at the end of the show we do not want to let go of the acquaintance of this sprightly, adventurous, and incredibly true-to-life adolescent and her associates.”

-Jack L. B. Cohn, BroadwayWorld.com

“The setting helps set the table, as it were, for this funny, entertaining and often wise theater piece. Allison Gregory’s drama closely follows the ancient tradition that a poem or work of art both “delight and instruct,” and it succeeds on both accounts, particularly in the former.”

-Terry Ponick, Communities Digital News

“By the end of the show, you’ll feel like you’ve just met the most interesting person: she came into your life for an instant and then disappeared, and you’re left wondering what she’s up to now.”

-Robert Michael Oliver, DC Metro Theater Arts

ABOUT WILD HORSES

A savagely-funny play about a summer that changed an adolescent girl forever, told by her grown-up self. As her friends challenge and cajole her and her family falls apart around her, she questions the core of her own humanity. The pathos and hubris of teenage years, the struggle for identity, independence, and authenticity, and the desire to find one's place in a complicated world — it all come rushing at us as she takes us on the ride of her life.

ABOUT ALLISON GREGORY

Allison Gregory is a playwright and theatre collaborator. Her plays have been produced all over the country, and she has received commissions, grants, and development from Oregon Shakespeare Festival, South Coast Repertory, The Kennedy Center, Indiana Repertory Theatre, the Skirball-Kenis Foundation, ACT Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Orlando Shakespeare, The New Harmony Project, The Empty Space, Hedgebrook, Seattle’s Arts and Cultural Affairs, LATC, Northwest Playwright’s Alliance, Amphibian Stage Productions, National New Play Network (NNPN), Theatre Lab@FAU, and Austin Scriptworks. Her work has been the recipient of the Julie Harris Playwriting Award & South Coast Repertory’s Playwright’s Award, Garland & Dramalogue Awards, Seattle Times Best New Play Awards, Carbonell nominations, as well as finalists for the O’Neill, Bay Area Playwright’s Festival, Great Plains, and American Blues Blue Ink Award. Her play Not Medea received National New Play Network (NNPN) Rolling World Premieres at B Street Theatre, Contemporary American Theatre Festival, and Perseverance Theatre in 2016. Motherland was selected for the 2016 NNPN Showcase Conference in Austin. Her plays are published by Playscripts, Smith & Krauss, Dramatic Publishing, and Rain City Press. Allison will be a Core Writer with The Playwright’s Center beginning July 2017.  She grew up in California, and now splits her time between Austin and Seattle. allisongregoryplays.com

ABOUT CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN THEATER FESTIVAL

The Contemporary American Theater Festival, founded by Producing Director Ed Herendeen in 1991, is dedicated to producing and developing new American theater. It is hosted on the campus of Shepherd University, a state liberal arts institution located in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. CATF intersperses established voices with emerging ones and is committed to telling diverse stories. To date, it has produced 115 new plays, including 43 world premieres, and 10 commissions. CATF is a well-respected playwrights’ forum, with a bent toward championing challenging, culturally relevant work. catf.org

ABOUT CENTERSTAGE AT THE JCC

CenterStage at the JCC began in 1977 as the volunteer theatre company at the Rochester Jewish Community Center. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Ralph Meranto since 2005, CenterStage is now a professional theatre utilizing the finest local actors, directors, and designers to present a 5-show subscription series of plays and musicals. jccrochester.org

ABOUT THE VORTEX

We conjure and navigate the storm of imagination with urgent, unashamed art that dares to dream the world in which we want to live. This magic emanates from our cultural harbor, embraces diverse communities, breaks down barriers, and opens channels for vital exchange. The VORTEX creates and presents new, innovative performances—world premiere plays, operas, musicals, ritual theatre, and devised collaborations. The VORTEX transgresses conventional theatrical forms with multidisciplinary performances from diverse traditions. Music, film, dance, opera, aerial arts, puppetry, and performance art contribute to our vibrant theatre. We are an artist-owned and operated theater and have produced over 350 productions. We are proud to have always engaged in non-traditional casting. The VORTEX has presented work by dozens of famous cutting-edge artists and is internationally renowned as a haven for alternative performance. Our work has received more than 100 major awards and hundreds of nominations for artistic excellence in production, design, acting, performance, directing, playwriting, choreography, and musical composition. vortexrep.org

ABOUT NEW JERSEY REPERTORY COMPANY

The New Jersey Repertory Company is a professional, non-profit theater founded in 1997 by SuzAnne Barabas (Artistic Director) and Gabor Barabas (Executive Producer). Located in Long Branch, New Jersey, the theater's primary mission is to develop and produce new plays and to make a lasting contribution to the American stage. In addition, it also seeks to achieve the following: to be a catalyst in the redevelopment and revitalization of its surrounding community; to build and encourage young audiences and inspire interest in theater arts among young people; and to nurture the work of writers from diverse backgrounds and build diverse audiences. njrep.org