PLAYWRIGHTS LOCAL ANNOUNCES THE MAC WELLMAN HOMECOMING FESTIVAL COMING IN MARCH 2017! Playwrights Local announces *The Mac Wellman Homecoming Festival*, a three-day celebration of the widely renowned, groundbreaking playwright who was born and raised in Cleveland. Running March 23 through 25, 2017, the Festival provides long-overdue recognition of one of the city’s most-lauded literary products. Most events are free and do not require reservations, and will be held at Cleveland State University, a major partner in the event. Playwrights Local proudly welcomes Mr. Wellman himself to the proceedings, thanks in part to funding provided by the Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts (NEOMFA) creative writing program. As a playwright, Mac Wellman has been described as an “avatar of alternatives to the well-made play” (American Theatre) and “James Joyce reborn as a rap artist” (The New York Times). As a professor of playwriting, he has been praised by prominent former students as “a teacher who changed my life” (Annie Baker) who “explodes all the boundaries” (Sibyl Kempson) and “extends the limits of what’s possible on stage” (Sarah Ruhl). He has received multiple Obie awards along with NEA, Guggenheim, and Rockefeller fellowships; had hundreds of productions in the U.S., U.K., Europe, and Asia; and founded one of the country’s most prestigious Master of Fine Arts programs at Brooklyn College. The Festival is the first Cleveland-based event in honor of this tireless theatrical innovator, who moonlights as an accomplished writer of poetry and fiction. The Mac Wellman Homecoming Festival features *productions and readings of classic plays* *including **Cleveland, Bitter Bierce, Harm’s Way, and The Sandalwood Box*. There will be *a Q&A with the playwright, an exhibit of memorabilia, a panel discussion, and an open wrap party*. Special sessions include *Bad Scenes**, a collection of short plays by local writers* responding to a signature Wellman exercise. Additional *partners for this event are Cleveland State University’s Department of English and Michael Schwartz Library. Along with Playwrights Local, performers include Theater Ninjas, convergence-continuum, Baldwin Wallace University Department of Theatre and Dance, and Cleveland State University Department of Theatre and Dance*. The Festival was curated by David Todd, Artistic Director of Playwrights Local in Cleveland. The Festival’s primary locations will be Drinko Hall and the Michael Schwartz Library, both on the campus of Cleveland State University (2121 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH 44115). All events at those locations are free and open to the public, with no tickets or reservations required. Tickets for the March 25 performance of Harm’s Way at The Liminus can be purchased through convergence-continuum at http://www.convergence-continuum.org/. A final gathering at The Tremont Tap House also will be free. *Complete information, including a schedule and a Mac Wellman press pack, is available on the Festival website at http://playwrightslocal.org/mac-wellman-homecoming-festival/ <http://playwrightslocal.org/mac-wellman-homecoming-festival/>. * “Mac Wellman is the present-day experimental theatre’s wily uncle,” says Clyde Simon, Artistic Director of convergence-continuum. “His plays are roller-coaster rides across this strange landscape we call America, and the Mac Fest is a rare chance for us all to hop on.” CONTACT Tom Hayes Managing Director Playwrights Local (216) 302-8856 hayes@playwrightslocal.org