Rosemary Wells is the award-winning author and illustrator of more than 125 published books for young readers, ranging in age level from picture books to teen, both fiction and nonfiction. Her work has been translated into 12 languages. Some of her best-known works include the ongoing series Max and Ruby, with 22+ published books and a children’s […]
Bobby Wesner is the artistic/executive/founding director of Neos Dance Theatre (NDT), a choreographer, dancer, artist, and educator. He has served on faculty at Oberlin College, Belhaven University, and The University of Akron. He was awarded three ‘Knight Art Challenge’ awards, Ohio Arts Council project support, a Dance/U.S.A. scholarship, and a fellowship from Hollins. Wesner has […]
June 28: Do Not Go Gentle, by Robert Watts These readings, which are early drafts of student-written plays, are presented as part of the Playwright’s Lab course. The reading is followed by a two-tier feedback session. The first tier is based on the Liz Lerman Critical Response, with the playwright taking notes on audience reactions […]
Amanda Cockrell is the author of Coyote Weather, a novel of “new adults” finding their way through the turbulence of the Vietnam War era; Pomegranate Seed, a novel of the Hollywood blacklist; and the young adult novel What We Keep Is Not Always What Will Stay. As Damion Hunter she is the author of eight novels of Roman myth […]
No Shame Theatre is an experiential performance lab where writers, performers, and audience are constantly changing roles. Anything can happen and usually does in this late-night venue for original work. We take the first 15 pieces to walk in the door and there are only three rules: pieces must be original (no copyright violations), short […]
M.F.A. Dance Performance IV features a collection of original work in performance and/or choreography by current M.F.A. dance candidates in alternative-site locations on and around the Hollins campus. As part of the thesis capstone research project, performance and dance work featured in this concert highlight a diverse approach to contemporary dance practices, research, and making. […]
Cristina Rhodes, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of English at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, where she teaches courses on academic writing and ethnic literature. As a Latina and a scholar, much of her research centers on Latinx childhoods from multiple, intersecting perspectives. She studies children’s literature, film/television, ephemera, and other materials that engage Latinx youth and […]
July 3: Elena Velasco Each Monday night the Playwright’s Lab at Hollins and Mill Mountain Theatre present a talk by a prominent working professional theatre artist.
July 5: Dead Inside, by Tatiana Alexis These readings, which are early drafts of student-written plays, are presented as part of the Playwright’s Lab course. The reading is followed by a two-tier feedback session. The first tier is based on the Liz Lerman Critical Response, with the playwright taking notes on audience reactions to things […]
No Shame Theatre is an experiential performance lab where writers, performers, and audience are constantly changing roles. Anything can happen and usually does in this late-night venue for original work. We take the first 15 pieces to walk in the door and there are only three rules: pieces must be original (no copyright violations), short […]
Since 2006, the Playwright’s Lab at Hollins has partnered with Mill Mountain Theatre to present a micro-brewed theatre festival. On Friday night six playwrights are randomly paired with six directors, who then randomly draw from a hat a variety of writing prompts and a preselected cast of local actors. Before 9 a.m. the next morning, […]
Olivia Stephens is a graphic novelist, illustrator, and writer from the Pacific Northwest. She earned her B.F.A. in illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2017. Stephens has created work for a number of sites and publications, including The New York Times, The Guardian, and FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction. Stephens was a 2019-20 Literary Fellow […]
July 10: Dominic Taylor Each Monday night the Playwright’s Lab at Hollins and Mill Mountain Theatre present a talk by a prominent working professional theatre artist.
July 12: Hamlet’s Ghost, by Emily Flieschhauer These readings, which are early drafts of student-written plays, are presented as part of the Playwright’s Lab course. The reading is followed by a two-tier feedback session. The first tier is based on the Liz Lerman Critical Response, with the playwright taking notes on audience reactions to things […]
Lesléa (pronounced “Lez-LEE-uh”) Newman has created 80 books for readers of all ages, including the teen novel-in-verse October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard. Recent picture books include The Babka Sisters, The Fairest in the Land, I Can Be….ME!, Sparkle Boy, and Gittel’s Journey: An Ellis Island Story. Her classic story Heather Has Two Mommies, the first children’s book to portray lesbian families in […]
No Shame Theatre is an experiential performance lab where writers, performers, and audience are constantly changing roles. Anything can happen and usually does in this late-night venue for original work. We take the first 15 pieces to walk in the door and there are only three rules: pieces must be original (no copyright violations), short […]
July 17: Keiko Carreiro Each Monday night the Playwright’s Lab at Hollins and Mill Mountain Theatre present a talk by a prominent working professional theatre artist.
July 19: Mag the Gobo by Richie Cannaday These readings, which are early drafts of student-written plays, are presented as part of the Playwright’s Lab course. The reading is followed by a two-tier feedback session. The first tier is based on the Liz Lerman Critical Response, with the playwright taking notes on audience reactions to […]
Each summer at the end of July, we present a three-day event showcasing readings of student work from the Playwright’s Lab. Normally, these eight readings are minimally staged at Mill Mountain Theatre’s Waldron Stage for the general public and close to a dozen guest professional responders from all over the globe. As part of the […]
No Shame Theatre is an experiential performance lab where writers, performers, and audience are constantly changing roles. Anything can happen and usually does in this late-night venue for original work. We take the first 15 pieces to walk in the door and there are only three rules: pieces must be original (no copyright violations), short […]
Julia L. Mickenberg, Ph.D., is professor of American studies at the University of Texas at Austin. She is the author of Learning from the Left: Children’s Literature, the Cold War, and Radical Politics in the United States, winner of the ChLA Book Award. She also coedited Tales for Little Rebels: A Collection of Radical Children’s Literature (2008) and The […]
July 24: Scott Bradley Each Monday night the Playwright’s Lab at Hollins and Mill Mountain Theatre present a talk by a prominent working professional theatre artist.
After earning her M.A. in English, Frances Gilbert’s first job in publishing was as a book club editor at Scholastic Canada in Toronto. She moved to New York in 2000 to set up a children’s editorial division at Sterling Publishing, where she stayed until 2012. Gilbert then moved to Random House Children’s Books, where she […]
Rebekah Lowell is an author-illustrator and surface pattern designer with a passion for the natural world. As a survivor of domestic abuse, she’s found the natural world to be a peaceful healing ground. Her debut novel in verse, The Road to After, offers a story of healing from trauma, and her debut picture book, Catching Flight, provides hope […]
July 26: I Am a Black Woman by Allana Pommier New location: Talmadge Recital Hall, Bradley These readings, which are early drafts of student-written plays, are presented as part of the Playwright’s Lab course. The reading is followed by a two-tier feedback session. The first tier is based on the Liz Lerman Critical Response, with […]
No Shame Theatre is an experiential performance lab where writers, performers, and audience are constantly changing roles. Anything can happen and usually does in this late-night venue for original work. We take the first 15 pieces to walk in the door and there are only three rules: pieces must be original (no copyright violations), short […]
Chad W. Beckerman brings over 20 years of illustration and design experience to the CAT Agency. After studying illustration as an undergrad at RISD, Beckerman went on to be a designer at Scholastic, a senior designer at Greenwillow Books, and then became the creative director at ABRAMS Kids and Comic Arts, where he spent 13 years […]