Staged Reading: Ripe Frenzy Creative

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Company Director
David Lee
David Lee has served as the Artistic Director at Avenue Arts Marketplace and Theatre since the conception of the theatre company in 2017. He has had the pleasure of working with a diverse group of actors including youngsters as the Director of the young actors workshop each fall and spring. Some of his favorite shows with the the Junior class are “Annie JR”, “Willy Wonka JR”and “Shrek JR”. David also understands the importance in the development of new works and has formed a company of actors called “Underground” that preforms staged readings of new works. He invites you to check out the season of new works at AvenueArts.org. David is a Canton, Ohio native and attended Malone University where he was trained in the Michael Chekhov Technique of acting and revived and B.A. in Communication, Visual and Preforming Arts.
Creative Member Image
Company Manager
Emily Hisey
Emily Hisey has loved theatre since she was chosen to play the coveted role of Twinkle the Christmas Angel at age nine - she’s been escaping reality ever since. Past stage credits include Jane Eyre, Dancing at Lughnasa, Doubt, and A Year With Frog and Toad. Emily is grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with such talented and hardworking artists. “Enjoy the show and thank you for supporting live theatre!”

Original Creative Team

Jennifer Barclay (Playwright)

Jennifer Barclay is a Chicago-bred actor-turned-playwright, recently relocated to DC where she is a member of Arena Stage’s 2017-18 Playwrights’ Arena. Her play Ripe Frenzy won the National New Play Network’s 2016 Smith Prize for Political Theatre and the 2018 Dramatists Guild Fund Writers Alliance Grant. Ripe Frenzy was developed at Woolly Mammoth, the 2017 Ojai Playwrights Conference, NNPN/PlayPenn, and just completed a 2018 Rolling World Premiere at New Rep in Boston, Synchronicity Theatre in Atlanta and Greenway Court in LA. Jennifer’s plays have been produced and developed by Steppenwolf, La Jolla Playhouse, The Old Globe, RedCat, The Kennedy Center, Center Stage, Boulder Ensemble Theatre Co, American Blues Theatre, The International Theatre of Vienna and The Edinburgh Fringe, among others. Awards include: Samuel Goldwyn Writing Award, Kennedy Center National Science Playwriting Award, Pinter Review Gold Medal, BETC New Generations Award. Ripe Frenzy has been nominated for the 2019 Susan Smith Blackburn Award, Housebound has been nominated for the 2019 Weissberger Award, and This Profound Abyss is currently a Finalist for the 2019 Shakespeare’s New Contemporaries award.

Upcoming: workshop of This Profound Abyss directed by Johanna Gruenhut in May 2019, workshop of Housebound at Woolly Mammoth directed by Shana Cooper in April 2019, production of Ripe Frenzy at Andy’s Summer Playhouse directed by Jared Mezzocchi in July 2019.

Jennifer has been a Fellow at the MacDowell Colony, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and the Hawthornden International Writers Retreat in Scotland. She has been a Playwright in Residence at South Coast Rep and Center Stage. Jennifer has a degree in Theatre from Northwestern University and an MFA in Playwriting at UC San Diego, where she studied with Naomi Iizuka. She is proud to be an NNPN Affiliated Artist, a member of the Dramatists Guild, and an Assistant Professor of Playwriting and Performance at the University of Maryland. www.BarclayStudios.com.