Three Women Playwrights

Host and producer Dmae Roberts talks with three women playwrights whose work will be featured in the upcoming Fertile Ground Festival: Susan Mach, Erin Leddy and Camille Cettina. From January 20-30, the Fertile Ground Festival will feature new works from local artists, including everything from dance to music to visual arts to fully staged productions.

Veteran Playwright Susan Mach is the author of a new play called The Shadow Testament. Loosely based on a true story, the play takes place in Corvallis and Seattle during the turn of the century. The story focuses on Jane, a young woman who must come to terms with a crime she committed in the name of love and God. As she sits in her asylum room, Jane revisits the past as she experiences a night of visions, dreams, and conversations with haunting ghosts.

Theatre Artist Erin Leddy is a company member of Hand2Mouth Theatre. Back in 2001, Leddy spent a year living with her grandmother and recording her stories. A decade later, Leddy is using those tapes as the basis for her solo performance entitled My Mind Is Like an Open Meadow. The show incorporates music and dance, as well as Leddyâ€™s recordings as it explores consciousness, memory, and things passed down through the generations.

Playwright and performer Camille Cettina gives a taste of her upcoming show Mr. Darcy Dream Boat. The full production will premiere in October of this year, the first for Cettinaâ€™s new physical theatre company, Push Leg.Â For now, though, festival goers will have to be satisfied with just fifteen minutes with their favorite literary characters. You can hear Stage & Studio at the KBOO website or on 90.7FM live at 11am Tuesdays. Or you can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes so you don’t have to miss a show.