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Lorraine Hansberry Theatre Announces November 2018 Playwrights Festival Competition Finalists

By: PRLog
Single Tickets and Weekend Passes On Sale Now at www.LHTSF.org
SAN FRANCISCO - Oct. 10, 2018 - PRLog -- Lorraine Hansberry Theatre (LHT) has announced three finalists for its Playwrights Festival staged reading competition to be held from November 16-18, 2018 in the Buriel Clay Theater at the African American Art & Culture Complex, 762 Fulton Street in San Francisco. The winning playwright will be announced at the closing ceremony on Sunday, November 18th.

Launched in July, the Playwrights Competition was developed to discover new comedies that would insure prominent roles for African American females.  A panel of theater professionals spearheaded by LHT's Interim Artistic Director, Aldo Billingslea, selected three finalists from scripts submitted by over 80 multicultural playwrights nationwide by the August 10th submission deadline.

Scripts were judged based upon criteria that included addressing a social issue in a comedic way and having a minimum of two African American women characters interacting, one of whom is at least 40 years old.

The three finalists whose scripts will be read during the festival are:

1) MISS LAURA MAYE OF HARLEM by Jamal Williams - Montgomery, NY
Miss Laura Maye of Harlem is an historically accurate themed play that examines important points in the life of a 104 year-old black woman who has lived her life entirely in Harlem.

About Jamal Williams: An award winning playwright, Jamal has a Master of Creative Writing degree from San Francisco State University and was a Playwright-in-Residence of the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre in 1989-1992.

2) PANCAKE QUEEN by Brie Knight -  Philadelphia, PA
Pancake Queen is a fantastical, witty, and harrowing historical imagining of a time in 1893 when former slave, Nancy Green, was hired by a Missouri miller, Randolph T. Davis, to portray the first iteration of the marketing icon, "Aunt Jemima."

About Brie Knight:  A Philadelphia based playwright, Brie received her M.A. in Theatre from Villanova University and is an alum of the Philadelphia Playwrights' Lab, The Foundry.

3) FLOW by Cleavon Smith - Oakland, CA
In Flow, a 40-year-old stuntwoman, tired of almost dying for a living, decides she wants to have a baby. Ticking louder than her biological clock is the one that counts down the days of her boyfriend's final week in town before he moves across country to start his new job.

About Cleavon Smith: Cleavon teaches English at Berkeley City College and is in his third year as the playwriting mentor for the Berkeley Rep's Young Writers of Color Collective.

Playwrights Festival Dates/Times:

☐ Friday, Nov.16, 8:00 pm – Meet & Greet Playwrights Reception (Included with Weekend Pass Only)
☐ Saturday, Nov. 17, 3:00 pm – MISS LAURA MAYE OF HARLEM by Jamal Williams
☐ Saturday, Nov. 17, 7:00 pm – PANCAKE QUEEN by Brie Knight
☐ Sunday, Nov. 18, 3:00 pm – FLOW by Cleavon Smith + Winners Ceremony & Closing Reception

Ticket Prices: $15-$25 Adults; $10-$20 Seniors (65+) & Students; $35-$45 Weekend Pass (includes all three readings & two receptions). Groups of 10+, contact the Box Office for 15% discounted rates.

Purchase Tickets Online:  Go to www.LHTSF.org and click Get Tickets.  Box Office: (415) 474-8800. Email: BoxOffice@LHTSF.org.

Performance Venue: Buriel Clay Theater in the African American Art & Culture Complex, 762 Fulton Street (near Webster), San Francisco. Limited parking in adjacent lot. Close to MUNI lines 5 Fulton & 21 Hayes.

Note to Media: Interviews with Interim Artistic Director, Aldo Billingslea, available by arrangement.

Media Contact
Gina Snow
***@lhtsf.org
(415) 671-8978

Photos: (Click photo to enlarge)

762 Fulton Street, San Francisco, CA

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