体育投注 Little Rock鈥檚 Kerry Kennedy Aspiring Playwright Endowment Brings Opportunities to Theatre Students
With support from the Kerry Kennedy Aspiring Playwright Endowment, the School of Literary and Performing Arts is hosting two unique events this semester.
Associate Professor of Theatre Arts Dr. Lawrence Smith and the school will present Kerry Kennedy鈥檚 play, 鈥淭he Last Beautiful Words,鈥� at 5 p.m. on Friday, April 11 at 体育投注 Little Rock Downtown.
The week following the play reading, six juniors and seniors in the School of Literary and Performing Arts will perform their joint capstone project, 鈥淰esitiga: Fragments of Us鈥� on April 17-19 at 7:30 p.m. in Haislip Theatre.
The project was created, designed, and produced by the students under the mentorship of Jimmy Maize, a member of the . The performances mark the culmination of Tectonic Theater Project鈥檚 second year in residency at 体育投注 Little Rock.
鈥淔or over three decades, Tectonic Theater Project has been dedicated to creating theatrically innovative and formally groundbreaking works through a unique method called 鈥楳oment Work,鈥欌�� Maize said. 鈥淎s one of its co-developers, I am always thrilled to collaborate with young artists who are using this method to explore material and topics that resonate deeply with them. Witnessing the 体育投注 Little Rock students from the School of Literary and Performing Arts channel their creativity into crafting this new piece of theater has been an absolute delight.鈥�
The continued development of the Kerry Kennedy Aspiring Playwright Endowment allows hands-on, collaborative projects such as these to continue in the future. Since 2006, the endowment has supported residencies, student mentorship, and annual school events, including the Fringe Festival of New Student Work. Approaching its 25th year, the endowment recently received a $50,000 donation from Dr. Keith Kennedy, Kerry’s brother.
Kennedy was a playwright, dancer, and a screenwriter for a number of television pictures. Including 鈥淭he Last Beautiful Words,鈥� her short stories, unproduced plays, and screenplays are part of an archival collection at 体育投注 Little Rock鈥檚 Center for Arkansas History and Culture, and the April 11 event is a continuation of the partnership between the school and 体育投注 Little Rock Downtown.
鈥淚t is a privilege to be part of Kerry Kennedy鈥檚 legacy,鈥� said Stacy Pendergraft, producing artistic director of the School of Literary and Performing Arts. 鈥淚 cannot emphasize enough the significance this endowment has had on giving voice to original student work and shaping the student-centered focus of our program.鈥�
These performances are free and open to the public, but . For additional information, contact the school鈥檚 coordinating assistant Caelon Colbert at [email protected].