Tag Archives: Cincinnati Playwrights Initiative

January 9, 2025 · 7:34 pm

Cincinnati Playwrights Initiative Announces LOVEFEST 3 Play Selections

Local playwriting group selects scripts to support Cincinnati Area Heart Association

Cincinnati—October 7, 2024– At its September board meeting, the Cincinnati Playwrights Initiative (CPI) Board of Directors announced the play selections for its Lovefest 3 ten-minute play festival and fundraiser which will showcase the health and wellness community efforts and spotlight local Women of Impact during Heart Month with the Cincinnati Area Heart Association.

The following 8 CPI members will have their plays performed as staged readings at the Aronoff in downtown Cincinnati on Tuesday, February 11, 2025.

Liz Coley: Mixed Doubles

Doug Decatur:  Running Against Time

Dave Doster: One Night Stands

Rose Vanden Enyden:  Last Call

Teri Foltz: Seventeen

Camilla McMahon:  A Second Chance

Fred Rothzeid:  High School Sweethearts

Charles Stephan:  Ronco Products

Tickets for Lovefest 3 are on sale now for $15 and can be purchased online at the following link: https://www.cincinnatiarts.org/events/detail/cpi-new-voices-february-11 or in person at the box office or by calling 513-621-2787.MORE

CPI is a non-profit theater arts organization whose mission is to support playwrights in the Cincinnati Metropolitan Area by offering free playwriting workshops, cold and staged readings to provide valuable audience feedback so that scripts can be further developed to potentially become fully produced and/or published.

To learn more about joining CPI, visit the website at WWW.cincyplaywrights.org or follow on social media both on Facebook www.facebook.com/cincyplaywrights and X x.com/cincyplaywright.

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October 15, 2024 · 6:42 pm

PLEASE HOLD FOR THE PANDEMIC… and THE BEGINING OF FOREVER On Nov. 12

PLEASE HOLD FOR THE PANDEMIC… and THE BEGINING OF FOREVER
Cincinnati Playwrights Initiative
Nov. 12
Aronoff Center Fifth Third Bank Theater [Downtown]

PLEASE HOLD FOR THE PANDEMIC… by Liz Coley

A gathering of six 10-minute plays offers recollection and speculation as we travel through the early, middle, and late phases of the Covid-19 pandemic and consider the next one. This mixture of comedies and love stories (sometimes both) brings a sense of lightness to the dark times we shared separately.

About the Author:
An award-winning playwright, Liz Coley’s work has been read and produced across the US, in London, in Japan, and online. The premier of Moving In, Moving Out, Moving On was nominated for best new play by BroadwayWorld Columbus. Castaways, which received a CPI staged reading in November 2019 has since been produced at the San Diego and Cincinnati Fringe Festivals.

THE BEGINING OF FOREVER by Bertha Lynn Davis

Jackie seems to have it all – an enviable singing voice, loving husband, good friends, and career. Yet, beneath her poised exterior lies a deeply buried turbulent childhood marked by neglect and abuse.  Jackie struggles to maintain control over her life. When her marriage ends abruptly, Jackie reaches a breaking point, questioning whether she can ever truly be loved.

The Beginning of Forever is a poignant story of resilience, healing, and the transformative power of love. It explores the complexities of overcoming trauma, finding self-acceptance, and ultimately discovering that true love begins with loving oneself.

About the Author: 
Bertha Lynn Davis is based in Cincinnati, OH, excelling as a playwright, public speaker, life coach, and retired corporate manager. Since 2022, she has directed Three Babies Production, presenting engaging stage plays and offering transformative life coaching and public speaking services. The debut staged production of It’s Complicated, captivated sold-out audiences in Cincinnati in October 2023 and is set to dazzle in Chicago in August 2024.

Bertha/Lynn’s creativity extends to the stage and screen with her acclaimed 10-minute play, Boy Meets Girl, which debuted at the Fifth Third Bank Theater as part of the CPI season of staged readings last November. This poignant work has also been adapted into a short film, slated for a July 2024 release. She is excited to have her latest stage play,The Beginning of Forever, selected for CPI’s 2024/2025 season.

  • Tue, Nov. 12 at 7:30pm

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October 7, 2024 · 5:22 pm

Cincinnati Playwrights Initiative Announces LOVEFEST 3 Play Selections

Local playwriting group selects scripts to support Cincinnati Area Heart Association

Cincinnati—October 7, 2024– At its September board meeting, the Cincinnati Playwrights Initiative (CPI) Board of Directors announced the play selections for its Lovefest 3 ten-minute play festival and fundraiser which will showcase the health and wellness community efforts and spotlight local Women of Impact during Heart Month with the Cincinnati Area Heart Association.

The following 8 CPI members will have their plays performed as staged readings at the
Aronoff in downtown Cincinnati on Tuesday, February 11, 2025.

  • Liz Coley: Mixed Doubles
  • Doug Decatur: Running Against Time
  • Dave Doster: One Night Stands
  • Rose Vanden Enyden: Last Call
  • Teri Foltz: Seventeen
  • Camilla McMahon: A Second Chance
  • Fred Rothzeid: High School Sweethearts
  • Charles Stephan: Ronco Products

Tickets for LOVEFEST 3 are on sale now for $15 and can be purchased online at the following
link: www.cincinnatiarts.org/events/detail/cpi-new-voices-february-11 or in person at the box office or by calling 513-621-2787.

CPI is a non-profit theater arts organization whose mission is to support playwrights in the Cincinnati Metropolitan Area by offering free playwriting workshops, cold and staged readings to provide valuable audience feedback so that scripts can be further developed to potentially become fully produced and/or published.

To learn more about joining CPI, visit the website at WWW.cincyplaywrights.org or follow on
social media both on Facebook www.facebook.com/cincyplaywrights and X
www.x.com/cincyplaywright.

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September 17, 2024 · 5:20 pm

THUMP On Oct. 15

THUMP
Cincinnati Playwrights Initiative
Oct. 15
Aronoff Center Fifth Third Bank Theater [Downtown]

Written by Michael DeFrancesco

A director and two couples meet to discuss and agree on a scenario for a community theater contest. For one of the couples an event lays bare their fight of conscience.

About the Author:
Michael taught drama and English to high school students outside of Cincinnati. While teaching, he was awarded a Rockefeller grant to the University of Cincinnati’s Theater Arts program, where he earned an M.A. His Master’s thesis was a Readers Theater production of Black poetry with five black students in the high school where he was teaching. Because of getting a family quickly while in graduate school, he backed off of the Theater except to watch it.

He became more interested in writing than acting, and engaged in that off and on over a number of years. In the past dozen years he has written several plays: four full lengths, two as one acts and four as ten-minute plays.

He is a member of the Cincinnati Playwrights Initiative and has had several staged readings at CPI: The Circle, The Car Ride, The Hound, and for October 2024, Thump.

Tue, Oct. 15 at 7:30pm

Official page | Facebook event |

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August 23, 2024 · 8:08 am

HeARTLAND On Sept. 17

HeARTLAND
Cincinnati Playwrights Initiative
Sept. 17
Aronoff Center Fifth Third Bank Theatre [Downtown]

Written by Paul Shortt

Rural Kansas 1970, Phillip and Bobby Hart, art and music teachers with a sideline antique business, have a developing conflict: Bobby disapproves of Phillip’s rising ambition, grandiosity and, most particularly, his art forgery ¬– forgeries Bobby once considered mischievous and exciting. Suddenly, malicious accusations from the outside are made against Phillip.

About the Author:
Career set design professor, UC-CCM, with Playhouse, Opera, Ballet and other credits; also delving into architecture and themed attractions in the US and abroad. Hooked on writing short fiction, poetry, and plays from several summer stints with Antioch Writers and Kenyon Playwrights workshops.

  • Tue, Sept. 17 at 7:30pm

Official page | Facebook event |

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