From The Author Of, a new play written by faculty member Chisa Hutchinson, will be performed by the University of Delaware’s
Resident Ensemble Players (REP) through Sunday, Dec. 3, at Thompson Theatre in the Roselle Center for the Arts.
A risque comedy, From The Author Of tackles social issues of
homelessness and privilege in New York. It previewed on Nov. 9 and opens on Saturday, Nov. 11.
Hutchinson, an award-winning playwright who teaches creative writing as an assistant professor of English at UD, is known for creating
thought-provoking works that delve into complex matters. This new play is no
different, as it follows Pulitzer Prize-winning author Meredith Renner
and her assistant as they try to save Renner’s reputation after the
press criticizes her controversial work, which often showcases the lives
of others. Other key characters are a pompous public relations guy, a
secret lover and a homeless phone-sex worker.
The play is directed by Jade King Carroll, who received the 2010 Paul
Green Award for Outstanding Emerging Theatre Professional from the
National Theatre Conference and the estate of famed playwright August
Wilson.
A
full schedule and information on purchasing tickets can be found on REP’s website, which notes that the play is intended for mature audiences and contains profanity and sexual content.
Hutchinson joined UD's Department of English in 2016
as creative writer in residence. She has won numerous awards for her
plays, including last year's inaugural Thom Thomas Award from the
Dramatists Guild Fund.
She earned a bachelor’s degree from Vassar College
and a master of fine arts degree from New York University’s Tisch School
of the Arts. Her involvement in theatre led to numerous roles as an actor, but she
turned to writing to explore issues important to her.
“The main issue for me is to write for underrepresented people in a
way that validates their experience and maybe highlights it for people
who might not think about it otherwise,” Hutchinson has said. “I also enjoy
writing about young people.”
Her plays include She Like Girls, Sex on Sunday, The Subject, Dead & Breathing, The Wedding Gift and Somebody's Daughter.
They have been performed in such venues as City Parks' Summerstage, the
Lark, the National Black Theater, the Contemporary American Theater
Festival, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Rattlestick Theater, Second Stage Theater and
Atlantic Theater Company.
Hutchinson has won a GLAAD Award, a Lilly Award, a New York
Innovative Theatre Award and the Paul Green Award, among other honors.
She has been a Lark Fellow, a Dramatists Guild Fellow, a resident at the
William Inge Center for the Arts, a New York NeoFuturist and a staff
writer for the Blue Man Group.
Photo by Nadine Howatt
