TDPS Playwriting professor Jennifer Barclay to present new play Danny

TDPS' new Playwriting professor Jennifer Barclay presents the first public reading of her new play, Danny, at Baltimore’s Center Stage on Monday, March 21. 

TDPS' new Playwriting professor Jennifer Barclay presents the first public reading of her new play, Danny, at Baltimore’s Center Stage on Monday, March 21. Set in an African-American hair salon adjacent to Chicago's crime-ridden Cabrini-Green housing project, Danny straddles two different eras within one room. It’s a play about motherhood, reinvention, and the place we call home.

Barclay draws inspiration for Danny from her ten years living in Chicago, where she became interested in the Cabrini-Green housing project, and the juxtaposition of contrasting racial and class-based dynamics that existed in that area. Her play is set in the two decades following a real-life event on October 13, 1992, when a young boy named Dantrell Davis was killed in gang crossfire in the housing project. Her fictional play focuses on the women in that boy’s life, and she uses this opportunity as a playwright to create interesting female roles that challenge range and push back on stereotypes. The actresses in Danny play different roles in each act—forcing audiences to consider issues of transparency and misunderstanding.

Barclay is one of five playwrights in Center Stage’s inaugural Playwrights Collective, and the showcase on March 21 will also include work by UMD alum Liz Maestri. The Playwrights Collective is a program that allows a rotating group of writers to develop work, foster collaborative connection, and share professional mentorship within the framework of a resident regional theater. Starting in spring 2015, a group of invited writers was asked to explore ways of working in shared support, while being offered a range of association and engagement with Center Stage. 

The playwrights will have one day to rehearse their pieces with actors and directors before the public staged reading in the evening. On February 29, the first showcase of this year’s Playwrights Collective included TDPS Professor Scot Reese, who performed in plays by playwrights Alvin Eng and Craig S. Richie.

Jennifer Barclay’s Danny will be directed by her long-term collaborator, Logan Vaughn from New York, and her cast includes Jessica Frances Dukes, Valeka J. Holt, Felicia Curry, and Jon Odom.

Monday, March 21st @ 7pm

Tickets: Free

830 Guilford Ave in Baltimore 

(Note: The event will be in the Hot Spott, which is Center Stage’s temporary space while they’re under construction)

Biography

Jennifer Barclay is a Chicago-bred actor-turned playwright, recently relocated to the DC/ Baltimore area. Her plays been produced and developed by Steppenwolf, La Jolla Playhouse, The Old Globe, RedCat, The Kennedy Center, The International Theatre of Vienna, The Edinburgh Fringe, among others. Awards include: Samuel Goldwyn Writing Award, Kennedy Center National Science Playwriting Award, Pinter Review, Princess Grace finalist, and Heideman Award finalist. Fellowships include: The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, The Hawthornden International Writers Retreat in Scotland. Jennifer is a graduate of Northwestern University and UC San Diego (MFA under the mentorship of Naomi Iizuka), and she spent a year as the Shank Playwright in Residence at South Coast Repertory. Jennifer is an Assistant Professor of Playwriting and Performance at the University of Maryland. www.BarclayStudios.com.

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