Bowie State University News August 31, 2015 Bowie State Students Named Fellows in Kennedy Center Workshop Students Helped Produce by Early-Career Playwrights Two Bowie State University students, named fellows for the Kennedy Center's 10th annual Master of Fine Arts (MFA) Playwrights' Workshop<http://nnpn.org/programs/mfa-playwrights-workshop>, joined a company of professionals and college students to produce staged readings of plays by gifted early-career playwrights. Aziza Kelly and Charles Franklin IV were part of a group of actors, directors and dramaturgs selected by the Kennedy Center artistic staff to present nine new works during the festival, which ran from July 25 to August 2. The featured playwrights were students and alumni from some of the nation's top MFA programs. During the week, the playwrights and student fellows got a glimpse into the process of professional play development and a chance to connect with professionals from some of the nation's top new play theaters. A junior communications major, Kelly was a stage management fellow for two plays: "The Luckiest People" by Meridith Friedman, a Northwestern University graduate, and "Cleave" by Elena Belyea, an award-winning student playwright from The National Theatre School of Canada. "Participating in this [workshop] just made me realized how much I enjoyed stage managing, especially being able to work with other stage managers who have been doing it for longer than me," she said. Helping to bring the playwrights' visions to life is "the most rewarding part of theater." Franklin, a junior theater major, was an acting fellow for "Against the Hillside" by Sylvia Khoury, a graduate of The New School for Drama. "It was so humbling to be a part of it and to be around people who are passionate about what I'm passionate about," he said. The MFA Playwrights' Workshop is a partnership of the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, National New Play Network, Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation, and the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival<https://www.kennedy-center.org/education/actf/>. SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 800-999-8558, ext. 4820 404-702-5854 Skype: sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree NW Suite 200 Atlanta,GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (LYRASIS) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.