Emerging Artists Festival at the Renaissance aims to propel careers of upcoming playwrights

MANSFIELD, OHIO. Designed to guide, encourage, support, and advocate for artists of all ages who wish to find their own voice through the creation of original works, the Emerging Artists Festival will showcase five new works including Trollop: The Trials and Titillations of the Infamous Moll Flanders, Gloria Mundi, Funnie: Or, the Most Lamentable Comedie of Jane the Foole, Women Most Wicked, and The Sweet Everlasting.

Playwrights from as near as Ashland and as far as Belgium have been selected for a week of workshopping their work culminating in two readings that are open to the public.

Over 70 plays were submitted beginning in January of 2022 for the 2023 Festival which resulted in the final 5 plays. There are comedies, dramas, and musicals, all meeting the criteria of never being produced previously.

Playwrights are paired with a team of actors and a director who spend 4 evenings in rehearsals. Scripts are reviewed, re-written, and perfected in anticipation of the public reading. On Friday and Saturday evenings, audiences are invited into the creative process with the evening ending with a discussion between creative teams and audience members on how to continue improving the work.

There are 3 remaining plays to be workshopped.

Playwright Pamela Morgan had this to say about her experience. “I came to the Renaissance Theatre with a play that was good enough, but not complete. I met Ryan, Haley, Nik, and Aaron who all had the same unwavering belief that together, we could make it better. And we did. This play has transformed into a rich, hilarious, heartbreaking story about love, redemption, faith, and holding on to the people who give your life direction.”

Pamela’s play titled “Gloria Mundi” tells the story of Gloria who is visited by an angel of God with news of the second

Messiah.

This week, “Funnie: Or, the Most Lamentable Comedie of Jane the Foole” will take the stage to be workshopped with director Michael Thomas and a team of regional actors on Friday January 27th and Saturday January 28th both at 8PM.

Funnie is a hilarious and thought-provoking new play by Julliard-trained playwright Jessica Moss. Set in the court of King Henry the VIII, it tells the story of Jane the Foole, the first and only recorded female jester ever to serve the royalty. It begs the question: Is it possible to succeed when you live in a world where you’re not seen as a person?

Women Most Wicked will be workshopped publicly on February 3rd and 4th and The Sweet Everlasting on May 5th and 6th. Tickets to the festival are $10 for adults and $9 for students with a package option of $35 for attendance to all workshop performances. For more information, visit rentickets.org.

It is a dark, dreary, cold, January day with the snow coming down in a fashion that will lead to dangerous, slippery roads and possibly snow drifts. The electric was off early this morning, the house was pitch black, no heat, my landline phone isn’t working and my cell phone doesn’t work down here among the hills. I can’t call anyone nor can anyone call and talk to me!

Television? Doesn’t work when the electric is off! Nothing good or interesting on the weekends anyway–just advertising and reruns. Just found the bill for filling my heating oil that the driver left on the back porch. Thanks to “Joe” I will be going back on a diet, due to the cost of the heating oil to keep me warm for the next month! No potato chips or gummy bears from the grocery store! I also just received the bills for numerous insurances I have to pay and as of the first of the year most have gone up in cost. Our country is a mess! So many problems of all

kinds that are hurting people in so many different ways and no one seems to be coming up with the answers and solutions to solve them! Bah, humbug! They talk about old, retired persons like me getting depressed and in the doldrums. How can we keep from being “down in the dumps”? Let me “count some of the ways”!

No matter the troubles, trials, and tribulations if you really look around you can find a reason for “thankfulness”. I woke up today, not everyone did. I could walk from my bedroom to the bathroom and I didn’t have to dress in warm clothes and head for the cold “privy”! Yes, the electric was off and