UA Little Rock’s Kerry Kennedy Aspiring Playwright Endowment Brings Opportunities to Theatre Students
With support from the Kerry Kennedy Aspiring Playwright Endowment, the School of Literary and Performing Arts is hosting two unique events this semester.
Associate Professor of Theatre Arts Dr. Lawrence Smith and the school will present Kerry Kennedy’s play, “The Last Beautiful Words,” at 5 p.m. on Friday, April 11 at UA Little Rock Downtown.
The week following the play reading, six juniors and seniors in the School of Literary and Performing Arts will perform their joint capstone project, “Vesitiga: Fragments of Us” on April 17-19 at 7:30 p.m. in Haislip Theatre.
The project was created, designed, and produced by the students under the mentorship of Jimmy Maize, a member of the Tectonic Theater Project. The performances mark the culmination of Tectonic Theater Project’s second year in residency at UA Little Rock.
“For over three decades, Tectonic Theater Project has been dedicated to creating theatrically innovative and formally groundbreaking works through a unique method called ‘Moment Work,’” Maize said. “As one of its co-developers, I am always thrilled to collaborate with young artists who are using this method to explore material and topics that resonate deeply with them. Witnessing the UA Little Rock students from the School of Literary and Performing Arts channel their creativity into crafting this new piece of theater has been an absolute delight.”
The continued development of the Kerry Kennedy Aspiring Playwright Endowment allows hands-on, collaborative projects such as these to continue in the future. Since 2006, the endowment has supported residencies, student mentorship, and annual school events, including the Fringe Festival of New Student Work. Approaching its 25th year, the endowment recently received a $50,000 donation from Dr. Keith Kennedy, Kerry’s brother.
Kennedy was a playwright, dancer, and a screenwriter for a number of television pictures. Including “The Last Beautiful Words,” her short stories, unproduced plays, and screenplays are part of an archival collection at UA Little Rock’s Center for Arkansas History and Culture, and the April 11 event is a continuation of the partnership between the school and UA Little Rock Downtown.
“It is a privilege to be part of Kerry Kennedy’s legacy,” said Stacy Pendergraft, producing artistic director of the School of Literary and Performing Arts. “I cannot emphasize enough the significance this endowment has had on giving voice to original student work and shaping the student-centered focus of our program.”
These performances are free and open to the public, but tickets to “Vestigia: Fragments of Us” must be reserved online. For additional information, contact the school’s coordinating assistant Caelon Colbert at [email protected].