The Alliance Theatre is pleased to present the four finalists of the 2022/23 Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition in free, staged readings, as part of Alliance/Kendeda Week celebrating new works.
RIDGWAY
By Charlie O'Leary, University of Iowa
Directed by Matt Torney
Decades ago in Western Pennsylvania, a gay love triangle ended in a murder in the woods – or so it’s rumored. But when a white journalist brings his Latino partner home to investigate, the past and present start to look eerily similar. A ghost story about who can live safely in rural America.
BIOS
Charlie O’Leary is a playwright, lyricist, and librettist. He is a member of the The Road Theatre Company’s Under Construction Playwrights Group and an alumnus of the 24 Hour Plays: Nationals, the BMI Workshop, the Brooklyn Generator, Crashbox Theatre Company's Write Play Launch, the Fornés Playwriting Workshop, and the Project Y Playwrights Group. His plays and musicals have additionally been developed and presented by the Artist Co-op, CAP21, the Dare Tactic, Dartmouth College, Dixon Place, Dreamwell Theatre, the Flea Theater, the Fresh Fruit Festival, the Habitat, the Iowa New Play Festival, Jersey City Theater Center, Loading Dock Theatre, Middle Voice at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, the PIT, Pipeline Theatre Company, the Players Theatre, the Samuel French OOB Festival, Shuga Pie Supreme, the Tank, and the University of Notre Dame. His short works have been published by Methuen Drama, Smith & Kraus, and Theatre Now New York, with licensing by Music Theatre International. He has been a finalist for the Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition, the DVRF Playwrights Program, Sanguine Theatre Company's Project Playwright, the Woodward/Newman Drama Award, and two-time finalist for the Seven Devils Playwrights Conference; a semifinalist for the Ars Nova Play Group and three-time semifinalist for the O'Neill National Playwrights Conference; and recipient of an Iowa Arts Fellowship and a New York Innovative Theatre Award. His song “A Date” (music by Helen Park) was a selection of the BMI Workshop Smoker; his songs have also been performed at places like 54 Below, Don’t Tell Mama, the Duplex, and the West End Lounge. MFA: Iowa Playwrights Workshop. www.charlieholeary.com.
Matt Torney [he/him]: Matt is the Artistic Director of Theatrical Outfit in Downtown Atlanta, where he has directed An Iliad by Lisa Petersen and Denis O'Hare, A Hundred Words for Snow, by Tatty Hennessy, and The White Chip by Sean Daniels. Originally from Belfast in Northern Ireland, Matt worked as a freelance director before moving to the US in 2006 to complete an MFA in directing at Columbia University taught by Anne Bogart. He has directed extensively in New York, regionally in the US, and internationally, and his work has been nominated for numerous awards. Before coming to Atlanta, Matt served as Associate Artistic Director at Studio Theatre in Washington, DC where he directed Doubt by John Patrick Shanley (nominated for three Helen Hayes Awards), If I Forget by Steven Levenson (nominated for three Helen Hayes Awards), MotherStruck! by Staceyann Chin (nominated for two Helen Hayes Awards), Translations by Brian Friel, The Hard Problem by Tom Stoppard, and a ballet based on The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock for Chamber Dance Co. Matt also has significant experience as an art director for photography, TV, and film, and has taught acting and design at NYU, the University of Maryland, and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. For more information, please visit www.matttorney.com.
