The Department of Theatre in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Arkansas has had multiple M.F.A. playwrights featured this year in the "New Voices at the T2 Commons" play-reading series.

Close out the series' 2019 run with an upcoming play reading with Adrienne Dawes at 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 8, in the TheatreSquared Commons in downtown Fayetteville.

"New Voices at the T2 Commons" is a free, monthly play reading series co-hosted by TheatreSquared and the M.F.A. playwrights, who are serving as literary interns at T2.

The series features works-in-progress by graduate students and performed by University of Arkansas students and alumni, as well as guest actors from the Fayetteville community. Previous readings include Dairy Queen by Sarah Loucks, Every Waiting Heart by Lauren Ferebee, and Copy Shop by Brendan Beseth.

"The series is a great way to introduce vital new voices to the theatre community," said John Walch, head of the M.F.A. playwriting program. "We're so happy to partner with T2 and have the opportunity to let people in on what we do in our playwriting workshop."

Neither an admission fee nor reservation is required to attend the "New Voices at the T2 Commons" series. TheatreSquared's Commons Bar/Café will be open during the reading series to serve coffee, beer, wine and food.

ABOUT THE PLAY

Hairy & Sherri by Adrienne Dawes at 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 8

Hairy and Sherri (Sharon) are an "adorkable" interracial couple living in gentrified East Austin. When they very graciously and very publicly open their home to Ryshi, a 12-year-old former foster care youth with special needs,  Hairy and Sherri  are confronted with the ugly realities of their marriage and "good" intentions. Hairy & Sherri is a dark comedy that exposes the limitations of the Texas foster care system and the evils of very well-intentioned people.  The play was first developed as part of PlySpace's artist-in-residence program, supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and recently featured in the  New York Times article  "Retreating for the Summer, but Not Heading Backwards."

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT

Adrienne Dawes is an incoming M.F.A. playwright at the University of Arkansas. She has been an Alice Judson Hayes Fellow (Ragdale Foundation), a Literary Fellow in the Tulsa Artist Fellowship (George Kaiser Family Foundation), and a NALAC Fund for the Arts grantee. Her play Am I White won the David Mark Cohen New Play Award from the Austin Critics Table and an award for Outstanding Original Script by the B. Iden Payne Awards. Her work is published by Vintage Books, Playscripts, Heartland Plays, Heuer Publishing, and Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. Her full-length work has been produced at Salvage Vanguard Theater (Austin, Texas), Sacred Fools (Los Angeles), and American Theatre Company (Tulsa, Oklahoma). Dawes is a member of the Dramatists Guild, ScriptWorks, and a company member of Salvage Vanguard Theater.

The T2 Commons in the TheatreSquared building at the corner of West Avenue and Spring Street.

About the Department of Theatre: The Department of Theatre in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences has been providing exciting and affordable live theatre for more than 60 years. The department combines a first-rate theatrical education full of hands-on experience with a wide selection of titles to challenge students and delight the community. The department offers the Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre, a broad spectrum program in the context of a liberal arts education, and the Master of Fine Arts degree in six concentrations: Acting, Directing, Playwriting, Costume Design, Scene Design and Lighting Design. Classes at both undergraduate and graduate levels are focused on providing a strong, professional orientation to theatre performance and technology in conjunction with appropriate research-based coursework to address the required foundations in theatre history, dramatic literature and dramatic criticism.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs.