Other Events

Past Events

Benefit: Actors Fund Our Town Reading

March 4, 2013, Gerald W Lynch Theater, John Jay College, New York, NY

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On Monday, March 4th, the Actors Fund will host a one-night-only benefit reading of Our Town in honor of the 75th Anniversary of the play’s premiere on Broadway.

Directed by Peter Flynn, the all-start cast includes S. Epatha Merkerson, Blythe Danner and B.D. Wong as the Stage Manager, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Adriane Lenox, Martin Moran, Leslie Odom Jr., Rebecca Luker, Julia Murney, Howard McGillin, Jose Llana, Jerry Dixon, Wally Dunn, Philip Hoffman and Tyrah Skye Odoms.

Described by Edward Albee as “…the greatest American play ever written,” Our Town won the 1938 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Tappan Wilder, nephew and literary executor of the playwright stated, “My uncle loved actors–he was an actor himself, you know–and he was mighty proud to have written a popular large-cast play that provided his fellows with so many jobs! What a great pleasure it is to partner with The Actors Fund, which Thornton Wilder supported throughout his life, on the occasion of a major milestone in the history of his most famous work.”

Further details can be found by visiting the The Actors Fund Our Town webpage.

About The Actors Fund
The Actors Fund is a nationwide human services organization that helps all professionals in performing arts and entertainment. The Fund is a safety net, providing programs and services for those who are in need, crisis or transition. Visit The Actors Fund website to learn more.

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Reading: Wilder’s Classic One Acts

February 11, 2013, Ford's Theatre, Washington, DC

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Ford’s Theatre presents an evening of classic one-acts by Thornton Wilder, read by students from American, Georgetown and Howard universities. The evening includes The Long Christmas Dinner, Pullman Car Hiawatha and The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden.

This event is presented in conjunction with the 75th anniversary production of Our Town, playing at Ford’s Theatre from January 25-February 24, 2013. Visit the Ford’s Theater Our Town page for more information.

Support provided by Samuel French.

Tickets are free but required. Tickets are available to groups/members beginning November 9. Tickets are available to the general public beginning November 26.

For more information, please visit the event webpage on the Ford’s Theatre website.

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Celebration: Our Town’s 75th Anniversary

February 4, 2013, Ford's Theatre, Washington, DC

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Join us for a special evening in celebration of the 75th Anniversary of the Broadway opening of Our Town. The evening includes a short film about the play’s 75-year history, selections read from Thornton Wilder’s works and letters, and the presentation of The Thornton Wilder Society’s “Thornton Wilder Prize” on stage at Ford’s Theatre. Tickets are free but required. The event does not include a performance of Our Town.

For more information, please visit the event webpage on the Ford’s Theatre website.

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Contest Deadline: Wilder Wilder Everywhere Video Contest

January 28, 2013

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Win $1000 during the Wilder Wilder Everywhere Video Contest!

As part of the ongoing celebration of the 75th anniversary of Our Town, and in recognition of Thornton Wilder’s position as one of the preeminent chroniclers of American life, Playscripts, Inc. and The Wilder Family LLC have created the Wilder Wilder Everywhere Video Contest.

To enter, create a video that either faithfully dramatizes, or adapts one of the playlets listed below into a short film. Wilder’s plays present a universal and timeless vision of American life; your videos are an opportunity to stage his work in your America. Playscripts and the Wilder Family would love to see videos filmed in unexpected, intriguing or iconic settings all over America- from the top of Mount Rushmore to the bottom of your neighborhood swimming pool.

Entrants may use any of the following Wilder playlets for their entry:
– Nascuntur Poetae…
– Proserpina and the Devil
– Fanny Otcott
– Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came
– The Penny that Beauty Spent
– Brother Fire
– The Angel on the Ship
– The Message and Jehanne
– Centaurs
– Leviathan
– The Christmas Interludes II
– Flamingo Red
– Mozart and the Gray Steward
– The Angel that Troubled the Waters
You can read the complete versions of these playlets on the Playscripts website. They have collected them into a single document for the contest.

During the submission period (January 14th-28th) you may upload your video to Playscript’s Facebook event page, and encourage your friends and family to “like” your video on the page.

The Rules
– Your video must use all the original characters from the selected playlet, but feel free to add characters.
– Your video must contain at least 5 lines of dialogue (one line is defined as at least one sentence long) from the selected playlet. The lines of dialogue do not have to be consecutive.
– Your video must be between 90 seconds and 3 minutes.
– The videos with the most “likes” will advance to the finals.
– Please review the full contest rules here: http://www.playscripts.com/wildercontest

The Timeline
October 8, 2012 – The contest begins
January 14, 2013 – Submissions open and public voting begins at 12:00 AM EST.
January 28, 2013- Submissions and public voting are closed at 12:00 PM EST. Finalists will be announced later that day.
February 8, 2012- The Winner is announced!

The Reward
$1000 cash prize to the creator(s) of the winning video!

*Persons under the age of 18 may appear in or collaborate on the video, however, videos featuring minors must be submitted by a person over the age of 18, and a video release form must be signed by the guardians of all minors appearing in the video.

For complete information, please visit the contest website.

About Playscripts, Inc.
Playscripts, Inc. is an independent publisher of new plays and musicals, established in 1998 by brothers and playwrights Doug and Jonathan Rand for the mutual benefit of playwrights and theaters worldwide. Visit them online at http://www.playscripts.com/.

About The Wilder Family LCC
The Wilder Family LLC manages the literary and media rights to Thornton Wilder’s works around the world. Visit them online at http://www.thorntonwilder.com/.

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Proposal Deadline: Thornton Wilder and the Theater of Engagement

January 25, 2013
Update: We are no longer taking proposals. The cut off date was January 25, 2013. Thanks to all those who contributed their work.

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In May 2013, The Thornton Wilder Society will once again take part in the American Literature Association Conference.

In conjunction with other drama societies we invite proposals for a panel on Thornton Wilder and the Theater of Engagement. The topic includes historical, cultural, philosophical and/or political engagement in collaboration with other artists and/or the audience. The Society solicits proposals dealing with both Wilder’s dramatic (including production case studies) and non-dramatic texts (screenplays, novels, essays, speeches, correspondence), as well as proposals prompted by Penelope Niven’s just published biography Thornton Wilder: A Life (HarperCollins).

Please send 300-word proposals, including name, academic affiliation, e-mail address, paper title, and abstract to:

Park Bucker, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of English
University of South Carolina Sumter
psbucke@uscsumter.edu

Deadline: January 25, 2013

Graduate students and beginning scholars are encouraged to submit a proposal.

The 24th annual American Literature Association Conference will be held May 23-26, 2013 at the Westin Copley Place Hotel in Boston, MA. For more information, please visit the 2013 ALA Conference webpage: http://www.calstatela.edu/academic/english/ala2/american_literature_association_2013.htm

Update: The proposal deadline has been extended until January 25, 2013.
Update 2: We are no longer taking proposals. The cut off date was January 25, 2013. Thanks to all those who contributed their work.

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Book Release: Thornton Wilder: A Life

October 30, 2012

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Book Description
Thornton Wilder: A Life is the first biography of this pivotal, pioneering American playwright and novelist to be based on unprecedented access to thousands of pages of letters, public and private journals, manuscripts and other documentary evidence of Wilder’s life, work and times. Penelope Niven has worked for more than a decade with unprecedented access to the Wilder papers in her exploration of his public life and work, and much of what he called the drama of his inner life.

He was a multifaceted man–son, brother, student, soldier, teacher, novelist, playwright, lecturer, actor, musician, man of letters, international public figure. A very private man, he possessed a remarkable gift for friendship, and the biography offers portraits of friends he made as he traveled the globe–countless private people, and such public figures as boxing champion Gene Tunney, Laurence Olivier, Hadley Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Montgomery Clift, Ruth Gordon, Garson Kanin and Mia Farrow.

Within the body of Wilder’s published and unpublished work, there stands the man, his private, inward self sometimes revealed and sometimes hidden in his art and in his papers. Thornton Wilder: A Life brings the private man center stage, and in the process, sheds new light on his work.

Review
“A powerful and much-needed portrayal of a major American writer and social critic.” (New York Times Book Review on Carl Sandburg: A Biography )

“Niven complements her own clear, lyrical voice with the eloquent words of Steichen’s contemporaries.” (New York Times Book Review on Steichen: A Biography )

Almost everybody knows Our Town, but very few people really know Thornton Wilder. Penelope Niven’s fascinating biography changes that once and for all…Meticulously researched, Niven’s book reads like a riveting novel. (—James Earl Jones )

“This new biography of Wilder — comprehensive and wisely fashioned — gives us sufficient view of his methods, his public and private life, and the reaches of his mind…This book is a splendid and long needed work.” (—Edward Albee )

Product Details
ISBN-13: 9780062097774
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date: 10/30/2012

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Festival: 7th Annual Thornton Wilder Short Play Festival

March 23, 2012 until March 31, 2012, Words Players Theatre Rochester, MN

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For students, life-long learners, professional academics, and the newly curious. The world’s only known festival dedicated to producing all of the short plays of American playwright Thornton Wilder. A goal that will be accomplished this year: 39 short plays produced.

What you can expect at this year’s Festival:

• Performances of seven short plays: Entertaining, family friendly and more every day than academic.
• An opportunity to thumb through galley proofs of a yet-to-be released Wilder biography — the first major academic biography of one of the most influential writers of the 20th century.
• A fun cafe-style atmosphere in a newly renovated theatre space in downtown Rochester.

To purchase tickets and for further details, please visit the Thornton Wilder Short Play Festival page on the Words Players Theatre website.

Complete Festival Schedule:
Friday, March 23
Thornton Wilder Short Play Festival
7PM – 9PM

Saturday, March 24
Thornton Wilder Short Play Festival Continued
7PM – 9PM

Friday, March 30
Thornton Wilder Short Play Festival Continued
7PM – 9PM

Saturday, March 31
Thornton Wilder Symposium
9AM – 4PM
Thornton Wilder Short Play Festival Continued
7PM – 9PM

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