__________________________________News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 20th, 2015
Contact: Brenda Jean Foley (347) 848-6647
Tracy Liz Miller (347) 423-6181
bridgeinit@gmail.com

Playwright and Director Awards Announced by The Bridge Initiative

New York Playwright's Work to Premiere in Mesa in June
MESA, AZ The Bridge Initiative: Women in Arizona Theatre has awarded New
York City-based Kat Ramsburg as Playwright of the Year and Phoenix native Amanda
Noel Trombley as Director of the Year. Trombley will direct the world premiere of
Anatomy of a Hug about a young woman whose dying mother is discharged from prison
into her care. The production dates are June 19-21st, at Mesa Encore Theatre, 318 E.
Brown Road, Mesa, AZ.
The Bridge Initiative received 102 plays submitted from 22 states, the District of
Columbia, and three foreign countries. The works were adjudicated by a team of 13
professional artists who live in New York City, Los Angeles, Colorado, Oregon, and
Arizona where they produce, act, direct, write and teach at the college level. Every
submission was scored anonymously, on criteria of originality, storytelling, dialogue,
characters, production potential, and an X factor ("I want to see this play").
Additionally, The Bridge Initiative has awarded two runners-up whose plays will be
presented in readings in June. Carolyn Nur Wistrand's Magdalena's Crossing, set in
Texas and the Mexican borderlands, is described by the playwright as a "modern sorrow
song of identity and immigration." Heidi Armbruster's Dairyland follows a young
woman from Wisconsin who loses herself in New York City and only rediscovers her
identity when she returns home to the farm.
The Bridge Initiative is an Arizona nonprofit working to identify and empower female artists in
the Southwest region, with the aim of gender parity across all theatrical disciplines. Since its
launch in January, The Bridge Initiative's efforts to promote the work of female artists has been
celebrated by Arizona Commission on the Arts as well as local and national media outlets. Its
mission also includes bridging the gap between academia and the professional world to
encourage students to envision a clearer path to becoming lifelong artists.
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