Verna Safran Prize goes to The CATIDS Tami Vaughan, playwright Delaney Lockwood, director Leona Collesano, Lindsey Nickel, Evangeline De La O, Julee Breehne, and Derek Dutcher. The CATIDS by Delaney Lockwood of Venice High School is the story of a high school teacher creating a lesson plan using international figures making a difference in history.... Read More
Verna Safran Prize goes to READY OR NOT Anuj Naidu and William Ashburn READY OR NOT—William Ashburn, playwright Michael Anthony Mercado, Anuj Naidu, and director James Thaggard. CLICK HERE TO SEE THE COMPLETE PLAYBILL As a lifelong creator of characters and stories, Michael Anthony Mercado embarks on a new adventure as a playwright and is... Read More
IN REMEMBRANCE judged Best Play CLICK HERE TO OPEN THE ONLINE PLAYBILL Memory is important, especially as we mature, and the production of In Remembrance by Michelle Pascua with Lee Gundersheimer, Donna DeFant, and Stephen-Paul Dieter directed by Katherine Michelle Tanner delivered the message touchingly. It was judged Best Play and won the Verna Safran... Read More
Elaina Bayard wins Verna Safran Prize Festival Production Manager Preston Boyd commented that the work by students this year made the competition, judged by Dr. Valerie Barnes Lipscomb, Benny Sato Ambush, and David Covach, particularly challenging. And he noted that for the first time, Theatre Odyssey retained dramaturgy services from award-winning playwright Jason Cannon for... Read More
“The Mockingbird’s Nest” wins $1000 Verna Safran Prize Nellie O’Brien and Betty Robinson in “The Mockingbird’s Nest” The Mockingbird’s Nest Elderly shut-in Daisy suspects her daughter and live-in caregiver, Robyn, isn’t what she seems to be. Playwright Craig Bailey Craig Bailey wrote, produced, and published his first one-act while he was a teenager. In the... Read More