07 Jan SPARKy: SPARK News for 2017
For the past 10 years, SPARKy Productions has been proud to produce the Telluride Playwright Festival. During this time, the Festival has provided an experimental space for many new and established playwrights to work on new plays in a small, intimate setting. The Festival also attracted many talented actors and directors who participated in this endeavor. Many of the plays developed in Telluride went on to successful productions in larger cities all over the country.
The Telluride Playwrights Festival created a loyal following and garnered a national reputation for excellence. Through the years, the nonprofit was also happy to have sparked the interest of local high school interns, a number of whom were accepted in prestigious drama programs throughout the country.
For its 10th anniversary, SPARKy created an original play, “The Hispanic Women’s Project,” based on true stories of local Latinas. (Review here.) The production played to sold-out audiences for five nights and opened eyes and hearts to the harsh reality of Hispanic women in the Telluride region.
As an adjunct to “The Hispanic Women’s Project,” SPARKy initiated a scholarship fund to help local graduating Latinas go on to a higher education. To date, SPARKy raised over $160,000 and the fund is still climbing. Along with the help of local public schools, a committee is in place to choose recipients, as well as volunteers to mentor young Latinas. The first scholarship will be awarded in 2017.
The SPARKy mission remains the same: to keep alive the diverse cultural life of rural communities through theatre, film, and music and educate all segments of the community.
However, for now, SPARKy has decided to suspend the Playwrights Festival.
“We’ve had a great run of 10 exciting years of theatre – bringing the best theatrical talents to our small town,” said SPARKy founder/creative director Jennie Franks. “We hope our staged readings created a dialogue and added to the intellectual curiosity and diversity of our town. We also trust you will continue to support us in 2017 as we continue to present readings of ‘The Hispanic Women’s Project’ to both the Spanish- English-speaking communities throughout the Telluride region. We would like to take this time to thank CCAASE, the Telluride Foundation, the Sheridan Opera House and our loyal audiences and supporters, who believed in and enjoyed our theatrical shenanigans. We had much fun with the Playwright’s Festival and are excited about our SPARKy future. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us with questions or if you would like to donate to the scholarship fund or be involved with our organization.”
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