Tag Archives: Cincinnati Playwrights Initiative

BLEACHERS
Cincinnati Playwrights Initiative
Sept. 11
Aronoff Center Fifth Third Bank Theatre [Downtown]

Written by Leo Bradley

Bleachers is a romp back into some local and national history of “America’s Pastime,” enhanced by some very sing-able tunes—as if Roger Miller had had season tickets to Crosley Field. Baseball’s uniqueness has given it a special place in the life of our nation. Just about every other major sport—football, basketball, soccer, tennis—is played “horizontally,” from side to side. Baseball alone features circular patterns that keep it interesting despite its more leisurely pace than the aforementioned. That’s why a visit to the ballpark is as much social occasion as a spectators’ event.

Cincinnati Playwrights Initiative (CPI) is a grassroots, non-profit arts organization of Tri-State playwrights, directors, actors, and theater supporters dedicated to developing new plays written by local playwrights. CPI strives to provide a forum for playwrights to explore the possibilities contained within their work by providing a community of playwrights within which individual initiative can seek its fullest expression.

• Tue, Sept. 11 at 7:30pm

Official page |

THE SOLDIER SHOW
Cincinnati Playwrights Initiative
May 1
Aronoff Center – Jarson-Kaplan Theater [Downtown]

Book, music and lyrics by Fred Rothzeid

From 1963-73, the US military created a kind of in-house USO: troupes of performers toured installations entertaining their fellow troops. Fred Rothzeid’s new musical, The Soldier Show, is a fictionalized representation of one of those companies.

• Tue, May 1 at 7:30pm

Official page |

SISTER CARRIE
Cincinnati Playwrights Initiative
April 3
Aronoff Center – Fifth Third Bank Theater [Downtown]

Written by Herb DuVal
Directed by Charles Goetz
Music directed by Jim Hart

Cast: Brooke Rucidlo, Joshua Steele, Susan Emerson & Charles Harper

An ambitious small-town girl heads for the big cities, first Chicago, then New York, and, entanglements with besotted males notwithstanding, makes it big on her own in theatre. DuVal, writer of the book and lyrics, styles Sister Carrie as “the first feminist musical.”

• Tue, April 3 at 7:30pm

Official page | Facebook event |

WAITLISTED
Cincinnati Playwrights Initiative
March 20
Aronoff Center – Fifth Third Bank Theater [Downtown]

Written by Jonathan Singer

Nora coaches Polly for the interview phase of her application to a progression of medical schools. But neither coach nor interviewee anticipates the character of Polly’s interviewers and the nature—and relevance—of the questions they’re asking. Can Polly eventually “psyche ’em out”? (It only hurts when I laugh, Doctor….)

• Tue, March 20 at 7:30pm

Official page |

HUMBLE PIE
Cincinnati Playwrights Initiative
Feb. 20
Aronoff Center – Fifth Third Bank Theater [Downtown]

Written by Barb Timmons

Valentine’s Day comes late for the owner of an Italian restaurant whose food is as good as its ambiance is lacking—facts pointedly pointed out by an attractive food critic. Owner and critic meet, at first not connecting the dots—or grease spots—about the critic’s pan. When they do figure out who’s who relating to the review, it’s too late: they’ve heated up a romantic mutual attraction.

• Tue, Feb. 20 at 7:30pm

Official page |