Swan Day 2011

Once again this year I have been working with some other wonderful women to organize DC's Swan Day. SWAN Day/Support Women Artists Now Day is a new international holiday that celebrates women artists. It is an annual event taking place on the last Saturday of March (Women’s History Month). You can find out more about this event, by visiting the website, http://www.womenarts.org/swan/.

In DC, Swan Day is produced by Catherine Aselford and the Georgetown Theatre Company. It will take place on March 26 from Noon to 6pm at various locations in Georgetown. Events include films, storytelling, visual art, and a short play reading festival. It is the latter that I am most involved with. So on Saturday the 26th you can find me at Grace Church (1041 Wisconsin Ave, NW), for much of the day, helping to run the staged reading festival. I am also directly involved with three of the works.

Woman at Bat
by Heather Meyer
I will be directing the reading of this short play about three women and their love of baseball. I'm thrilled to have actresses Katie Culligan, Lisa Hill-Corley, and Melissa Robinson on board.

Tiger Lilies
by Victoria Z. Daly
directed by Jessica Aimone
In this lovely play that jumps around in time showing key moments in the relationship between a mother and a daughter, I will be playing the part of Vanessa.

The Body Washer
by Rosemary Frisino Toohey
directed by Catherine Aselford
I will be playing Amy, a journalist reporting on the murder of a young woman at a military checkpoint.

Right before the Staged Reading Marathon, at noon at the Georgetown Barnes and Noble, I will be taking part in Dishing with the Girls, an open discussion between a panel of women artists and the community.


But Swan Day events have already kicked off! Today I took part in Soar with The Swans, a sneak peek event at the National Museum of Women in the Arts between 2:00 – 3:30 p.m.

The afternoon included poetry; storytelling; the screening of SIS, an award-winning short film about the relationship between sisters; & a staged reading of 10 Page Drama, a short play about playwriting. Between performances, attendees can test their knowledge and win SWAN cookies by playing Name That Woman Artist.

For this pre-Swan Day event, I played Julia in the staged reading of 10 Page Drama by Samantha Kuperberg, directed by Catherine Aselford. The cast also included Jonathan Lee Taylor, Heather Benjamin, Terence Aselford, Jacinda Bronaugh, Frank O'Donnell, Stefan Aleksander, and Krista Cowen.