Burlington, Vermont, gets the first full hearing of Women+ on the Edge of Democracy on Saturday, October 24, when the Flynn stages more than 30 newly commissioned short plays and monologues about the state of American democracy in a single free, day-long world premiere. Tony winner Adriane Lenox and Tony nominee Geneva Carr head a company of more than 20 actors.
The plays run back to back on the Flynn's 1,439-seat Main Stage from 11 a.m., and the lobby stays open all day as a place to talk between them. Admission is free, with seats reserved through the Flynn's website.
The project was commissioned by the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, led by executive director Jay Wahl, in partnership with the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, the long-running international award for women+ playwrights. Every writer was given the same brief: describe where democracy in America stands today, and say what history, the wider world or a look ahead might offer at this moment. The commission was open to writers anywhere on the political spectrum.
The writers range from Pulitzer, Tony, Emmy and Obie winners to Olivier and Oscar nominees. Among them are Lynn Nottage, Sarah Ruhl, Heidi Schreck, Beth Henley, Lauren M. Gunderson, Lisa Loomer, Dael Orlandersmith, Kimber Lee, a.k. payne, Jane Anderson, Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Rona Munro, Zinnie Harris and Judith Thompson.
Alongside Lenox, who won her Tony for Doubt, and Carr, nominated for Hand to God, the actors include Leslie Ayvazian (Nine Armenians), Lortel nominee Vanessa Kai (KPOP), Florencia Lozano (One Life to Live), Juliana Aidén Martinez (Griselda, FBI), Ellen McLaughlin (Angels in America), Tedra Millan (Leopoldstadt, Present Laughter), Rad Pereira (The Oresteia), Babak Tafti (English, Succession) and Erin Wilhelmi (To Kill a Mockingbird). Ayvazian and McLaughlin are also among the commissioned playwrights.
Five directors share the program: Zeina Salame, who teaches at the University of Vermont; Hana S. Sharif, whose leadership posts have included Arena Stage and The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis; Leslie Swackhamer, executive director of the Blackburn Prize; Sharifa Yazmeen; and Blanka Zizka, co-founder and longtime artistic director of Philadelphia's Wilma Theater. The dramaturgs are Martine Kei Green-Rogers, Sarah Mantell, Amrita Ramanan, Salame and Jenny Worton, and the project's artwork is by Paula Scher of Pentagram.
Burlington is one stop on a much wider map. Between October 23 and November 3, in the run-up to the midterm elections, 102 theaters and organizations so far are presenting plays from the anthology free of charge, across 41 states and Washington, D.C., and as far away as the Isle of Eigg in Scotland and Tasmania. Companies, classrooms and community groups can still take part through democracy.flynnvt.org, staging one play, several or all 34, in any form from a reading around a table to a full production.
Theatre Communications Group will publish the plays as an anthology on November 4, and pre-orders are open now. Anyone presenting a reading or performance during the two-week window receives advance digital copies.
