Idris Goodwin's HOW WE GOT ON Gets Industry Reading at Davenport Studios Today

Today, November 27, a developmental staged reading of Idris Goodwin's new play "HOW WE GOT ON" will be presented at Davenport Studios in midtown Manhattan. Directed by Wendy C. Goldberg and presented by Davenport Theatrical, the private reading is set to begin at 1 p.m.

Originally developed at the O'Neill's National Playwrights Conference and a hit of the 2012 Humana Festival, "HOW WE GOT ON" is a hip hop coming of age story set in 1988. A DJ/Narrator loops and blends us through the beats, rhymes and lives of three Midwestern 15 year olds who are captivated by this new show called "YO! MTV RAPS!"

The play’s form and structure is adapted from the DJ driven underground rap mix tapes, as the play’s narrator scratches and blends scenes together as if they were records.

The cast of the staged reading of "HOW WE GOT ON" features Deonna Bouye, CrystAl Fox, Brian Quijada and Tyrell Donnell Sledge.

Playwright Idris Goodwin has been recognized for his work across mediums by The National Endowment for the Arts, The Ford and Mellon Foundation, The New York Times and National Public Radio. His play "HOW WE GOT ON," developed at The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center premiered at The 2012 Humana Festival of New Plays. "HOW WE GOT ON" will be remounted in 2013 by Boston’s Company One. His latest play, BLACKADEMICS, kicks off the 2012/2013 season of Chicago's MPAACT. He is currently under commission with Denver Center Theater. Other staged works have been featured at Steppenwolf Theater, American Theater Company, Pilsbury House and The Los Angeles Theater Center. He's appeared on HBO's Def Poetry, The Discovery Channel and Sesame Street. These Are the Breaks, his debut collection of essays, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. An award winning educator, he's taught at The University of Iowa, Northwestern University, and is currently a Mellon fellow in performance writing at Colorado College.

Wendy C. Goldberg is an award-winning theatre director and the current Artistic Director of the National Playwrights Conference at The Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center. Under Goldberg's tenure, The O'Neill was awarded the 2010 Regional Theatre Tony Award, the first play development and education organization to receive this honor. Goldberg is the first woman to run the Playwrights Conference and was named Artistic Director when she was just 31 years old.

For more information, visit www.DavenportTheatrical.com.

Photo from production at Actors Theatre of Louisville's 2012 Humana Festival.

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