NEWS RELEASE

Office of External Communications

Houston, TX 77204-5017 Fax: 713.743.8199

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 29, 2004

Contact: Eric Gerber
713.743.8189 (office)
713.617.7130(pager)
egerber@uh.edu

THE PLAYWRIGHT STUFF: SUBMISSIONS FOR APPLAUDED UH CLASS NOW UNDER WAY
Annual Theater Workshop to Be Led by Pulitzer Prize-Winning Dramatist Lanford Wilson

HOUSTON, Sept. 29, 2004 – The School of Theatre at the University of Houston is now accepting submissions from aspiring writers interested in taking its celebrated Playwrights’ Workshop class.

Noted dramatist Lanford Wilson will supervise the next session of the program that was founded by Edward Albee, UH Distinguished Professor of Theatre, in 1989.

Professor Wilson will spend the semester working with students to develop their plays and prepare the final staging of selected works as full-fledged productions. For the past few years, these workshop productions have been presented at Stages Theatre.

Wilson, who joined the School of Theatre faculty last year to partner with Albee on the playwriting course, is best known for his dark comedy “Hot L Baltimore” and the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Talley’s Folly.”

The class is scheduled for the spring semester, which begins Jan. 18, 2005. All participants must be accepted by Wilson and must enroll at UH. Those interested in being considered should submit any written work (plays, short stories, poetry, scripts) to:

Lanford Wilson Submissions
University of Houston
School of Theatre, 133 Wortham
Houston, TX 77204-4016

All submissions are due by 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 5, at the School of Theatre Office. If you would like your work returned, enclose a self-addressed stamped manila envelope. For more information, call 713-743-3003.

Wilson, a Distinguished Lecturer, is co-founder of the famed Circle Repertory Company and served as resident playwright for three decades.

“We were so fortunate to have an artist of Lanford’s stature join us last year, and now we’re doubly honored to have him return. The Playwrights’ Workshop has long been a significant part of the School of Theatre and a vital contributor to Houston’s cultural community. Having two artists of the caliber of Edward Albee and Lanford Wilson to guide our playwriting students over the years has been remarkable,” said Sidney Berger, director of the School of Theatre.

“The Playwrights’ Workshop is precisely the sort of enterprise that will play an important role as our Mitchell Center for Arts begins to flourish,” he said, referring to the new $20 million program to establish UH as an international force for education in the arts.

For information about the Mitchell Center for the Arts, see www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom/centerforarts/.

For information about the UH School of Theatre, see www.class.uh.edu/theatre/.

About the University of Houston
The University of Houston, Texas’ premier metropolitan research and teaching institution, is home to more than 40 research centers and institutes and sponsors more than 300 partnerships with corporate, civic and governmental entities. UH, the most diverse research university in the country, stands at the forefront of education, research and service with more than 34,400 students.

For more information about UH visit the university’s ‘Newsroom’ at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom.