Old Vic Theatre Announces 2011 TS Eliot US/UK Exchange Artists

50 of America's top young theatre artists will be travelling to London this May as part of The 2011 TS Eliot US/UK Exchange - a project run by the historic The Old Vic Theatre in London, currently under the artistic direction of Kevin Spacey. The Exchange is a unique programme designed to nurture the best young British and American theatre practitioners: supported by the T.S. Eliot Estate, and hosted in the US at Vineyard Theatre, it offers 21-30 year old artists the unrivalled opportunity to engage in a week of cultural activity and artistic development, culminating in a showcase of original work on The Old Vic's 193-year old stage.

Kevin Spacey, Artistic Director at The Old Vic said: "The TS Eliot US/UK Exchange shows The Old Vic's dedication to encouraging transatlantic collaboration. Last year's programme was an extraordinary success and we have found another exciting team to forge lasting creative partnerships across the Atlantic. There is no doubt that relationships created on this project will bear fruit for many years to come."

Steve Winter, Director of Old Vic New Voices at The Old Vic said: "We were thrilled to see the impact that the project had on 2010's participants, widening their creative horizons and instilling a new-found sense of ambition and possibility. We know that the same transatlantic success is in store for 2011's company who are all exceptional artists in their field."
This year's American team are:

Writers:
Jonathan Caren (2011 Lila Acheson Wallace Playwriting Fellow at The Juilliard School; The Recommendation at The Old Globe, 2012)
Joshua Conkel (MilkMilkLemonade)
Dipika Guha (2011 playwriting graduate, Yale School of Drama)
Janine Nabers (Current P73 Playwriting Fellow, Annie Bosh is Missing at 2011 Sundance Theater Lab)
Lila Rose Kaplan (Wildflower at Second Stage Uptown)
christopher oscar peña (New York Theatre Workshop Emerging Artist Fellow)
Joe Tracz (FX's Lights Out, Ars Nova Play Group)

Directors:
Krystal Banzon (2010 LGBT Point Scholar, 2007-2008 Fulbright Scholar)
Mary Birnbaum (Artistic Director of art.party.theater.company, 2010-11 Juilliard Directing Fellow)
Jeremy Bloom (Leaves of Grass (Nude), Drama League Fellow)
Mike Donahue (Stairs to the Roof at A.R.T. Institute; the upcoming Moscow, Cheryomushki at Chicago Opera Theater)
Kel Haney (Marathon 2010 at Ensemble Studio Theatre, Jonathan Alper Directing Fellow at Manhattan Theatre Club)
Luke D. Harlan (SDC National Directing Award Winner, Founder: Directors Repertory)

Producers:
Alex Barron (Naked Angels' Naked Radio; The Living Newspaper)
Frances Black (A Life in the Theatre on Broadway; Even Maybe Tammy at The Flea)
Adam Blanshay (How To Succeed..., Catch Me If You Can, Jerusalem)
Anthony Francavilla (GLAAD Award Winning When Last We Flew, Author of Off-Broadway Economic Impact Report)
Melanie Hopkins (Electra in a One-Piece, Senior Associate Producer for the New York Musical Theatre Festival)
Avi Lipski (Goodbye New York, Goodbye Heart).
Roberta Pereira (A Life in the Theatre on Broadway, Anne Bogart's Siti Company)

Actors:
(Male)
Michael Bradley Cohen (Six Degrees of Separation at Williamstown)
Chris Davis (Atlantic Theater Conservatory)
W. Tre Davis- (Zooman and the Sign at Signature)
Bill Griffin (Ideal)
Graham Halstead (Follow Me Down)
marcus d. harvey (MFA in Acting Candidate '12, Brooklyn College)
Harrison Hill (Our Town at Williamstown)
Jonathan Hooks (Torch-bearers at Williamstown)
Nathaniel Kent (The Sister)
Eric Lockley (2009-2010 Mabou Mines Resident Artist)
Timothy John McDonough (Gin & It)
Michael Micalizzi (Love/Stories; Looking at Christmas)
David Mitsch (The Sporting Life, The Erotic Diary of Anne Frank)
Michael Shaw (3rd year at The Julliard School; Macbeth at Chautauqua)
Dominic Spillane (Six Degrees of Separation at Williamstown Theatre Festival)

(Female)
Lourdes Aguilar (Current Nobody at Sundance Theatre Lab)
Zoe Anastassiou (Three Sisters and As You Like It directed by Eve Best)
Celeste Arias (Measure for Measure)
Chanel Carroll (Hope Speaks at La Mama E.T.C.)
Chaelon Costello (MFA Acting, The New School for Drama)
Daliya Karnofsky (Naked in a Fishbowl)
Maren Langdon (Love/Stories; Office Hours)
Lauren Sowa (The Great Divide)
Ariel Woodiwiss (Six Degrees of Separation at Williamstown Theatre Festival)
Alison Yates (Pope Joan at New World Stages)

An original showcase of their work will take place at The Old Vic on Friday 3rd June at 3pm - booking details to be released shortly.

The TS Eliot US/UK Exchange ran for the first time last year and was a resounding success. Participants met with London's top theatre organizations and producers, including the Royal Court, The National Theatre, the Bush, and Sonia Friedman. The resulting projects included several original off-Broadway plays and off-off Broadway cabaret shows, an NY producer working with Punchdrunk on their production of Sleep No More in Manhattan, and a US/UK double bill at The Old Vic's Coming Up Festival.

The Old Vic is one of the best-known theatres in the English-speaking world, with performances by most of the most iconic British actors, including Sir Laurence Olivier, Dame Judi Dench, Sir John Gielgud and Richard Burton. Since Kevin Spacey became Artistic Director in 2004, The Old Vic has forged close relationships with the artistic community in New York. Old Vic programming has included such American classics as Dennis McIntyre's National Anthems, Eugene O'Neill's A Moon for the Misbegotten and John Guare's Six Degrees of Separation. In 2009, the theatre embarked on The Bridge Project - a three year co-production with Brooklyn Academy Of Music and Neal Street Productions, directed by Sam Mendes. 2011 marks the final year of The Bridge Project, which will see Kevin Spacey take the title role in Richard III. The Old Vic also recently celebrated a theatrical first with The Arden Project - a series of live video-streamed performances, linking work by The Old Vic's emerging artists in New York and London, in a special one-off event.
Vineyard Theatre (Douglas Aibel, Artistic Director; Jennifer Garvey-Blackwell, Executive Director) is a non-profit theatre company dedicated to developing and producing bold new plays and musicals by emerging and established theatre artists. We strive to nurture artists, take artistic risks, and engage our audiences and community in dialogue. Notable premieres include Kander and Ebb's THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS, Bell and Bowen's [title of show], and Lopez, Marx and Whitty's AVENUE Q (three Tony Awards), each of which went on to a Broadway run; two Pulitzer Prize-winning dramas, Paula Vogel's HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE and Edward Albee's THREE TALL WOMEN; Craig Lucas' THE DYING GAUL, Nicky Silver's PTERODACTYLS and RAISED IN CAPTIVITY, Becky Mode's FULLY COMMITTED, Polly Pen's BED AND SOFA, Christopher Shinn's WHERE DO WE LIVE, Gina Gionfriddo's AFTER ASHLEY, Tarell Alvin McCraney's WIG OUT!, Jenny Schwartz's GOD'S EAR, Colman Domingo's A BOY AND HIS SOUL, Will Eno's MIDDLETOWN, and many more. Our ongoing artistic development programs serve more than 100 artists each season, and our thriving education initiatives reach more than 300 local public high school students. The Vineyard is the recipient of the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Body of Work and special Drama Desk and Obie Awards for Sustained Excellence. For more information, please visit www.vineyardtheatre.org.

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