My students are artists who think about the world and their learning in an abstract way. They come from diverse backgrounds and are all very proud to go to our school, which serves as their home away from home.
My classes are mixed levels, and every student has a particular talent that allows them to shine in and out of the classroom.
They all are committed to various art forms and look for ways to incorporate themes and ideas from our class into their work.
My Project
I am requesting artist-in-residence Evan Linder to visit my theatre classroom to lead a multi-day playwriting workshop. This visit is scheduled mid-way through the playwriting thesis project to help students craft and hone 10-minute plays that they will direct and perform for the public.
Playwright, actor, and director Evan Linder is a founding member and the former co-artistic director of Chicago's The New Colony, a theatre company founded in 2008 devoted to world premiere plays and musicals.
Evan is a proud graduate of the College of Charleston where he was named Alumni of the Year in 2016. He also teaches playwriting at the University of Chicago. At The New Colony, Evan continues to teach the Writers Room, an education program he created in 2015 that has now welcomed over 60 emerging playwrights. His plays include Byhalia Mississippi, 11:11, The Warriors, The Bear Suit of Happiness, B-Side Studio and 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche, which was named Best Overall Production at the 2012 NYC International Fringe Festival, enjoyed an Off-Broadway run as part of the Soho Playhouse’s 2012-2013 season, has seen productions in over 35 States, Canada, Australia, Denmark, Spain, Great Britain and Japan, and is published by Samuel French. His play Byhalia, Mississippi received simultaneous world premiere productions on January 8th, 2016 at theatres in Chicago, Toronto, Memphis and Charleston SC. Byhalia received six nominations including Best Production at the 2016 Non-Equity Jeff Awards where Evan was given the Jeff Award for Best New Work. In summer of 2016, Evan reprised his role as Jim in the remount of Byhalia, Mississippi at Steppenwolf Theatre Company. Byhalia was recently announced as part of the Kennedy Center's 2018-2019 Season.
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