Ukraine

In July 2024 Don Frantz of Town Square Productions and Viktoriya Nemchenko, leading actress of the state theater company in Vinnytsia, Ukraine introduced the plan for a short play festival based on “Uncovered Scenes – from Ukraine” produced by Town Square Productions with participation from New York’s Ensemble Studio Theater, Vinnytsia Mykola Sadovsky Music and Drama Theater and New York City’s Ukranian Institute.

From submissions of the Application of Interest 25 writers will be selected and partnered with a Ukrainian resident/partner to interview via internet. A list of partners will be provided to the writers which share their age, gender and career interests. Active members in the military are not to be interviewed.

Following the interviews each playwright will use their conversations with their partner as a prompt for the creation of a play no greater than 15 minutes in length. A panel of writers and producers will select the 6 most intriguing plays which relate to the theme and together provide an artistically cohesive theatrical evening. These six plays will be collectively presented in two staged readings in New York.

The writer’s goal is to contribute to the theme, “Uncovered Scenes – from Ukraine.” While the Russian invasion initiated this project, we seek a universal statement on the power and destruction of war, and the consequences on the residents struggling through this attack.

SCHEDULE

SEPTEMBER 15 TH – REQUEST FOR INTEREST ANNOUNCED
NOVEMBER 25 th – REQUESTS DEADLINE
DECEMBER 2 – SELECTION OF 25 ANNOUNCED
JANUARY 1 ST – SCRIPTS SUBMITTED
FEBRUARY 1 ST – 6 READING SCRIPTS SELECTED
FEBRUARY 15 TH – CASTING COMPLETE
FEBRUARY 28th– PRESENTATION

FUNDING
Monetary stipends will be provided as follows:
$500 will be provided to the 6 selected playwrights
$250 provided to actors
Additional stipends provided to 2 directors and 4 panelists.

EXTENSION
Following the New York presentation, the six plays will be provided to the Vinnytsia. Theater for consideration to be presented in Ukraine. This would be in Ukrainian as the anthology or individually.

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO APPLY!

For more information or inquiry write: Ukraine@TownSquareProd.com

FESTIVAL TEAM
Don Frantz – Producer
Viktoriia Nemchenko – Ukraine Project Director
Thalia Sablon – US Project Manager
Graeme Gillis – EST Producing Consultant
Estafania Fadul – EST Creative Consultant
Melissa Kovach – Marketing Director

Town Square Productions

Following Don Frantz’s years with Disney as producer/director at Disney World and Associate Producer of Broadway’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and ‘The Lion King’, Don created Town Square Productions. As both a creative development and general management company, TSP has general managed Broadway’s ‘Tale of Two Cities’, ‘A Class Act’, and ‘Soul of Shaolin.; Off Broadway produced “Disenchanted!”; produced signature award-winning shows at SeaWorld, Busch Gardens and Princess Cruises; In China, during a sixteen year partial-residency managed, wrote, directed and produced musicals and family science shows; and promoted the agri-tourism industry with the invention of the Amazing Maize Maze across America. In addition to TSP, Don serves as Executive Producer for Nederlander Worldwide Entertainment.

Vinnytsia Mykola Sadovsky Music and Drama Theater

https://discover-ukraine.info/entertainment/central-ukraine/vinnytsia/206

The Vinnytsia Regional Music Drama Theater performs five nights a week in the 700-seat opera hall and the 90-seat experimental theater. The performances are regularly attended by capacity audiences to watch comedies, traditional Ukrainian stories and children’s shows.

The state company employs 45 actors, technicians and administrators, down from 60 employed before the Large War which began in February 2022.

Rehearsals and performances are regularly interrupted by air sirens and/or power outages. The company has been called upon to make camouflage nets, produce fund-raisers, entertain veterans and refugees and yield to the country’s call as their men, ages 25 to 60, transition into battle.

New York Ensemble Studio Theater

Ensemble Studio Theatre commonly known as “EST” (Estefanía Fadul and Graeme Gillis, Co-Artistic Directors) is a Hell’s Kitchen based off-Broadway theatre focused on the development of new work and new voices since its founding by Curt Dempster in 1968. For over 55 years, EST has developed thousands of new American plays and has grown into a company of over 600 actors, directors, playwrights, designers and stage managers.

EST’s mission is to develop and produce original, provocative and authentic new work. A dynamic community committed to a collaborative process, EST is dedicated to inclusion across all aspects of identity and perspective, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, sexuality, physical or mental health, and recovery, while acknowledging and working to end systemic marginalization and oppression at all levels of the organization. EST discovers and nurtures new voices and supports artists throughout their creative lives. This extraordinary support and commitment to inclusivity are essential to yield extraordinary work.

EST’s primary programs include Youngblood, a collective of emerging professional playwrights; the EST/Sloan Project, a partnership with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation that commissions, develops and produces new works about science and technology; and the Marathon of One-Act Plays, a landmark New York theatre festival since 1977.

Ukranian Institute of America

The Ukrainian Institute of America has been at the forefront of promoting Ukrainian culture and democratic values to the world for over 75 years. Through its vibrant programs, the Institute serves as a bridge between Ukraine and the American people, fostering cultural interaction, mutual understanding, and appreciation of shared values and goals. Located on Museum Mile in the heart of New York City in a National Historic Landmark building, the Institute is Where the World Meets Ukraine.

A virtual tour of the institute at 5 th Avenue and East 79 th Street in New York is
available at https://ukrainianinstitute.org/contact-us/360tour/.