ROCKFORD NEW WORDS

ROCKFORD NEW WORDS | Words On Woman

STAGED READING | Feb 4 & 5, 2022 | 7pm
Free Admission | Reception

Join us for an evening of ten brand new works written for performance! Ten plays, poems, monologues, and stories will be presented in a staged reading at 7pm on February 4 & 5, 2022 at The West Side Show Room in Rockford.

The February 4th performance will be broadcast live on Facebook.

The Rockford New Words staged reading follows WSSR’s COVID Safety Policy. All guests must wear a mask and present proof of vaccination or recent negative test. More Info—>

WORDS ON WOMAN

In the words of Audre Lorde, “…the strength of women lies in recognizing differences between us as creative, and in standing to those distortions which we inherited without blame, but which are now ours to alter."

“Woman” has multiple facets including gender identity, social construct, and lived experience. This year we are asking writers to look beyond boundaries to express their experience with the word “woman.”

OFFICIAL SELECTIONS

The Origin Of Words | Storytelling
Alex Rubin (Glendale, CA)

the unholy feminine | Poetry
Kelly Eatinger (Brooklyn, NY)

A Modern Guide For Modern Women | Poetry
Karoline Olson (Rockford, IL)

Sweet Pea And Me | Monologue
Lissa L. Graham-Schneider (Murray, KY)

The Dance | Monologue
Paula Hendrickson (Rockford, IL)

Orlando, Florida | Monologue
Laura King (Decatur, GA)

Sugar | Play
Jennifer O’Grady (Pelham, NY)

VISIONARY: The Brilliant Life of Dr. Patricia E. Bath | Play
Ellen Abrams (New York, NY)

Baby Bumps | Play
Brett Hursey (Appomattox, VA)

Seeing Beauty In Person | Poetry
PropagandaPoet (Dekalb, IL)

WRITERS

Alex Rubin

Alex Rubin writes for theater, film, podcasts, and television. She was a resident of SPACE on Ryder and the National Winter Playwrights Retreat, a Big Vision Empty Wallet Playwriting Fellow and Annenberg Fellow, and winner of The Writers Digest Award in Playwriting. Her work has placed in the Austin Film Festival, Final Draft Big Break, ScreenCraft, and more. Alex has written for iHeart Radio’s Solve and The Jackie Cox Variety Show on PEG. She is the showrunner’s assistant for Blumhouse/Amazon’s "The Horror of Dolores Roach" and holds an MFA in Writing for Film & Television from USC. AlexRubinWrites.com

Kelly Eatinger

Kelly is a writer currently based in New York City, doing COVID safety work with Broadway. Earning a BA in theatre arts from CSU San Bernardino, and an MFA in playwriting from Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University, Kelly has developed their theatrical writing style across all mediums thanks to the spectrum of creative experiences. Her work focuses on (but is not exclusive to) mental health, LGBTQ+ issues, deconstructing familial trauma, odes to her Tejano maternal family, and a lot of magical realism to make sense of a relentlessly chaotic world. She is excited to contribute to Rockford New Words’ legacy. Recent plays were developed with the Actors Studio Drama School and the One Minute Play Festival. Kelly is a member of the Dramatists Guild.

Karoline Olson

Karoline Olson (She/Her) is a thirty-one-year-old Rockford native. She is a devoted mother who spends her free time outside of parenting and working creating poetry. She attended Rockford University and graduated with a Bachelor’s in Arts with a focus in creative writing. She has been a lover of literature and writing since she was young, but only recently has she decided to share her work publicly. Rockford New Words is her debut presentation.

Lissa L. Graham-Schneider

Lissa L. Graham-Schneider is a professor, director, and playwright living in Kentucky with her husband and daughter. She began writing soon after adopting her daughter from China because she wanted to present strong women, especially strong Asian women in stories and plays. Her play Sanjie, was produced both in KY and in North Carolina. She is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University’s MFA program in directing, and works as the head of directing at Murray State University in KY.

Paula Hendrickson

Paula Hendrickson is a full-time, Rockford-based freelance writer who has covered the entertainment industry for over 20 years as a frequent contributor to Emmy, Variety, and Script Magazine, and other publications. Two of Paula’s 10-minute plays, The Grove and Near Mint, were selected for The West Side Show Room’s New Play Festival in 2015 and 2018, respectively; her short story, The Deal of a Lifetime, was a semi-finalist in Tessary Publishing’s 2019 flash fiction contest. Paula’s current scriptwriting projects involve working on pilot pitches while attempting to turn the ubiquitous Christmas movie genre on its head. HendricksonWrites.com
Twitter: @P_Hendrickson
IG: @Paula1Knit2

Laura King

Laura King is a playwright, dramaturg, editor, and director. She holds an MFA in playwriting (with a concentration in dramaturgy) from Hollins University and a master’s in English from Northwestern University. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild and currently serves as the Dramatists Guild Regional Representative for Georgia. She is the chair of the Publications Committee for the Southeastern Theatre Conference. Laura also serves as a Literary Associate for YouthPLAYS, which has published many of her plays for young audiences. Laura’s full-length plays Independence Day at Happy Meadows and The Harmony Baptist Church Ladies Auxiliary Christmas Jubilee are available for licensing through Stage Rights. Her play The Cayuga Canal Girls is a winner of the 2020 AACT NewPlayFest and is available for licensing through Dramatic Publishing. laurakingplaywright.com.

Jennifer O’Grady

Jennifer O’Grady’s plays have been produced across the U.S. and internationally including Australia and the U.K. Her full-length plays have won the 2020 Rising Artist Award, the Henley Rose Award and other honors. Her short plays have won audience-choice awards and are published in multiple editions of The Best Ten-Minute Plays and Best New Ten-Minute Plays, including the 2021 editions of each. Her work is also published in multiple editions Best Women’s Stage Monologues and other anthologies. Also an award-winning poet and the author of two poetry books, she holds an MFA in poetry from Columbia University and a BA from Vassar, and lives with her family just outside New York City. jenniferogrady.net

Ellen Abrams

Ellen Abrams is an award-winning playwright from New York. Her plays have been seen and heard in the United States and beyond. Her short plays, Lizzie Borden Gets Engaged and Hamlet Investigations, Inc. have been published by Smith & Kraus, and her children's play Take a Seat will be published next summer by Big Dog Publishing. Produced plays and readings include: Liars Anonymous, Lizzie Borden Gets Engaged, Bernie and Carlo Play Canasta, Eleanor and Alice: Conversations Between Two Remarkable Roosevelts, How I Spent My Quarantine, Waiting it Out, Waiting for the Wave, Relations, Hamlet Investigations, Inc., and Metonym Or the Almost Completely False Story Behind the Creation of Roget's Thesaurus.

Brett Hursey

Brett Hursey's plays have appeared in over two hundred and fifty theaters across the country including venues in Boston, Washington DC, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Hollywood, as well as internationally in England, Belgium, Luxembourg, Romania, Australia, South Korea and Canada. He's also had over sixty off/off-off Broadway productions in Manhattan.

PropagandaPoet

PropagandaPoet (Bear Wolf) is a Shawnee Gypsy Jew social justice humanist who sees tattoos as physical manifestations of emotional scars.  He lost count of his somewhere around 20.  He teaches and tutors in a subversive attempt to change the world, but also as a side hustle to try and pay the bills (which is still iffy because Murica).  He has a book, CDs & a YouTube channel, oh my!!  For more poetry, music and storytelling, check out his many performance personas at Changeling Studios. linktr.ee/changelingstudios

“This world makes no sense to me, so I make music and poetry.”

ARTISTIC STAFF

JOSHUA PATTERSON | Artistic Director

Joshua Patterson is a writer and recording artist who grew up in Zion, IL, but has called Rockford home since 2011. Joshua wrote his first poem as a senior in high school for an assignment in a government class. The name of this piece is, "Why My People Perish". This assignment exposed him to the world of words, and he has been writing ever since. As an artist, Joshua has collaborated across several genres to create, perform and release art. With his independently released studio album entitled, "GONE", Joshua worked with multiple: graphic designers, audio-engineers, producers, photographers and videographers to deliver quality content within a specific timeframe. Joshua is also on the board of The Wabongo Leadership Council which uses data to identify disproportionate opportunities within the African American community around education, community and economic development, and health and wellness. The goal is to consider culture -  The way people experience the world, to mobilize and engage within communities we serve. Joshua has been a part of the RNPF family for several years, participating as a Performer, Artistic Associate and as Artistic Director since 2020. His collaborative experience as an artist and passion for enhancing cross-cultural engagement are just a few reasons we are excited to have him on our team for this year's Rockford New Words.

COVID SAFETY

Everyone is welcome at WSSR. Guests must wear a mask and present a recent negative test or proof of vaccination.

MASKS

All guests must wear a mask while in the building except when eating or drinking in our cabaret space. Food and drink are not allowed in the performance space and masks must be worn at all times during the show.

UNVACCINATED GUESTS

Unvaccinated guests must present a recent negative test. We accept the following tests:

PCR taken within 72 hours of show time.

ID Now taken within 48 hours of show time.

Antigen test taken within 6 hours of show time.

Home Test taken within 1 hour of show time.

Free tests with short wait times are available at Walgreens: walgreens.com

VACCINATED GUESTS

Vaccinated Guests must present proof of full vaccination at the door. The performance date must be at least 14 days after the second dose of a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine or at least 14 days after a single-dose COVID-19 vaccine.

CHILDREN

For children, we accept proof of the first dose of a two dose vaccination or any of the tests listed above.

PERFORMERS

Cast members are fully vaccinated, tested weekly, and wear masks at all times, except when on stage.

STAFF

All staff members must be fully vaccinated, tested weekly, and wear masks when inside our space.

Any questions? contact@wssr.org

SPONSORS

ROCKFORD NEW WORDS 2022 is made possible by a generous grant from the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois.  

The mission of the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois is to serve as a catalyst for giving in order to attract, preserve, and grow an endowment for the current and future needs of the people of Northern Illinois. Since its founding in 1953, CFNIL has granted more than $65 million for charitable purposes in the region.

ROCKFORD AREA ARTS COUNCIL

ROCKFORD NEW WORDS 2022 is made possible by a generous grant from the Rockford Area Arts Council. 

The Rockford Area Arts Council supports, promotes, and develops the arts for everyone in the Northern Illinois region.

RNW STAFF

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Joshua Patterson

PRODUCER
Mike Werckle

ASSOCIATE PRODUCER
Rachel León

ROCKFORD NEW WORDS FOUNDERS
Sharon Nesbit-Davis, Nathan Alan Davis, Mike Werckle