Chisa Hutchinson, David Rush Named Spring Inge House Residents

The Inge Center welcomes Spring 2010 Inge House Playwrights-in-Residence David Rush and Chisa Hutchinson, who will draw inspiration for new scripts by living in the William Inge Historic Family Home in Independence.

During their two-month residency, the writers enjoy time to write and will receive a developmental reading of one of their works, with the aid of numerous guest artists. They will also instruct for the Inge Center's Professional Playwriting Certificate program at Independence Community College.

David Rush has had productions of his plays at Mark Taper Forum, Playwrights Horizons, Manhattan Theater Club, Stage Left, Chicago Dramatists and others. His scripts have had readings and workshops at major festivals including Great Plains, Odyssey, Utah Shakespeare, and Abingdon Theater. He has won or was a finalist in several national playwriting contests including Dayton FutureFest, Fremont Center, Great Plans Theater Festival, Firehouse Theater, Ashland Shakespeare and others.

His awards include several Chicago Jeff Awards, a Los Angeles DramaLogue Award, and Dayton FutureFest Best Play and two Midwest Emmies.

Among his plays and musicals are "Leander Stillwell," "One Fine Day," "Cuttings," "Police Deaf Near Far," "A Germinous Seeds," "Prairie Lights" and recently "Women of Choice," a monologue collection.

He is currently working on a musical and a civil war play. He has written two college textbooks on playwriting and play analysis. Rush is Head of Playwriting at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, a member of Chicago's Stage Left Theater, and a past affiliate of Chicago Dramatists.
Chisa Hutchinson, originally from Newark, New Jersey, is author of a number of plays. Her scripts include "The Subject," commissioned by The Atlantic Theatre Company; and "She Like Girls," and "The Good Mother," of the Lark Play Development Center. "Dirt Rich" was commissioned and premiered at the City Park Foundation in New York. Her "#9" premiered at the Vital Theatre Company. She is a graduate of Vassar College and is currently pursuing her MFA in Dramatic Writing at New York University.
The Inge Center is best known for its annual William Inge Theatre Festival. The 29th festival takes place April 21-24, honors Paula Vogel.

Additional major supporters of the William Inge Center for the Arts include the Kansas Arts Commission, the Hallmark Corp., the National Endowment for the Arts, the William T. Kemper Foundation, Commerce Bank, trustee, and Independence Community College.

The center is named for the late Pulitzer Prize ("Picnic") and Oscar winning ("Splendor in the Grass") writer William Inge, a native of Independence.

For more information on Inge Center activities, visit www.ingecenter.org or call (620) 332-5492 or (800) 842-6063 ext. 5835.