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CALEEN SINNETTE JENNINGS |
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Nationality: USA Email: n/a Website: n/a |
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Literary Agent: n/a |
Caleen Sinnette Jennings is professor of theater at American University in Washington, D.C. She teaches acting, voice and speech, acting Shakespeare, playwriting and academic courses in theater. Jennings was a 2007 finalist for the O'Neill Playwright's Conference, and she is a two-time Helen Hayes nominee for Outstanding New Play. In 2002, she received the Heidman Award from Actor's Theatre of Louisville for her play Classyass. In 1999 she received a $10,000 grant from the Kennedy Center's Fund for New American Plays for her play Inns & Outs. Her play Playing Juliet/Casting Othello was produced at the Folger Elizabethan Theatre in 1998. In 2000, her children's play Free Like Br'er Rabbit was produced for the Kennedy Center's New Visions/New Voices festival. Her two short plays Pecos Bill and The People Could Fly are featured in Walking the Winds, which premiered at the Kennedy Center and toured nationally with Kennedy Center's Programs for Children and Youth. Jennings received her bachelor's degree in drama from Bennington College and her M.F.A. in acting from the N.Y.U. Tisch School of the Arts. She has been a faculty member of the Folger Shakespeare Library's Teaching Shakespeare Institute since 1994. She moderates panels, does workshops and presentations for cultural institutions such as the Smithsonian, Kennedy Center, Arena Stage, Ford's Theatre, the Folger Shakespeare Library and the Shakespeare Theatre. In 2003, she received American University's 2003 Scholar/Teacher of the Year Award. That same year, she won the award for Outstanding Teaching of Playwriting from the Play Writing Forum of the Association of Theatre in Higher Education.
Plays by Caleen Sinnette Jennings
Casting Otheloo | ||
| 1st Produced: | - - - | - - - | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | Contained in: "Playing Juliet Casting Othello" published by Dramatic Publishing Company, | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #80113 | |||
To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||||
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Genre: | One act | |||||
| Parts: | Male | - | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | The New Vista Theatre Company after their hit with "Romeo and Juliet" decide to put on "Othello" but who should get the lead part? | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Chem Mystery | ||
| 1st Produced: | - - - | - - - | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | Dramatic Publishing | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #110110 | |||
To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||||
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Genre: | 50 min Youth Audience | |||||
| Parts: | Male | - | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | 8 to 23 actors either gender | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | Storytelling Snake takes us on a trip to Imagine Nation on the shores of the Whim Sea. There, all the animals attend Zooville School and take their one favorite class. Readin' Rabbit takes reading. Muskular Muskrat takes gym. But poor Curious Cat can't figure out which class will answer all of her many questions. One day, while strolling the shore of the Whim Sea, Curious Cat meets Ms. Panda Petrie, who explains that the answers to all questions can be found in chemistry. The very next day, Ms. Panda Petrie is kidnapped by the selfish Ominous Octopus. Curious Cat's chemistry questions, Readin' Rabbit's tales from around the world, and Muskular Muskrat's bravery are the perfect mix of elements in their plan to rescue Ms. Petrie. Area staging. Approximate running time: 50 minutes | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Classyass | ||
| 1st Produced: | 2002 | |||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | in Humana Festival 2002: The Complete Plays, Edited by Tanya Palmer and Amy Wegener, Smith and Kraus, 2002 | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #18079 | |||
To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||||
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Genre: | Ten Min | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 2 | Female | 1 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | It's 3:47 a.m. at WBMR, the voice of Bellmore College, and the D.J., a smart-assed freshman named Amadeus, is about to learn a lesson he won't soon forget. 'Cause you don't have to be uptight and white to love classical music. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Elsewhere in Elsinore The Unseen Women of Hamlet | ||
| 1st Produced: | - - - | - - - | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | Dramatic Publishing | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #110111 | |||
To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||||
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Genre: | Play/Drama | |||||
| Parts: | Male | - | Female | 17 | ||
Parts other: | May be doubled to 14w | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | What are the women of Elsinore Castle doing while Hamlet plots revenge? Elsewhere in Elsinore: The Unseen Women of Hamlet is a play in verse which explores the lives and motives of Ophelia and Gertrude. Shakespeare's Hamlet takes on new dimensions as we meet the other women of Elsinore Castle: the ladies-in-waiting, seamstress, washerwomen, maids, as well as wives and girlfriends of the play's male characters. When Ophelia comes of age she stumbles upon a pagan ritual in the forest. She is shocked to discover the participants are the women who raised her: her nursemaid, cook, parlor maids and washerwomen. They urge Ophelia to heed the ghost of Lady Hilda, Ophelia's mother, who appears with compelling prophecies. Ophelia cannot see her mother's ghost and rejects the women's rituals as witchcraft. When her tutor, Gruen, tells Ophelia her mother's story, she vows to avenge her mother's death. In another part of the castle, Queen Gertrude very much sees the ghost of Lady Hilda and is shaken by her prophecies. She enlists the aid of her ladies-in-waiting (fiancees to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern). The murders of King Hamlet and Polonius force Ophelia and Gertrude to protect themselves from each other and from everyone else, while the peasant women of Elsinore labor hard to keep the castle intact. Ophelia's journey empowers, transforms and enlightens the women of Elsinore. Area staging. Approximate running time: 90 minutes without intermission. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Free Like Br'er Rabbit | ||
| 1st Produced: | Imagination Stage, Maryland | 2000 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | Dramatic Publishing, | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #18080 | |||
To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||||
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Genre: | Childrens Drama One act | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 4 | Female | 2 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | Harris Chandler inherits his father's plantation and now finds that his childhood friends are now his property.He tries to make things as they were by re-enacting the tales of Br'er Rabbit. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Grown Up Tree | ||
| 1st Produced: | - - - | - - - | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | in 10 by 10, Dramatic Publishing | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #110112 | |||
To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||||
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Genre: | One Act | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 1 | Female | 2 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | Inspired by the Seventh Commandment. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Inns and Outs | ||
| 1st Produced: | - - - | - - - | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | Dramatic Publishing | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #110113 | |||
To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||||
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Genre: | One Act | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 3 | Female | 5 | ||
Parts other: | (expandable to 9m., 14w., multiracial.) | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | These six short plays are perfect fare for anyone who's had to get through a holiday and a relationship at the same time! Memorial Day. Two 30-something professionals try to consummate their relationship, despite the fact that they have very different views on absolutely everything. Independence Day. To her dismay, Paula discovers that her dreams for her daughter and son-in-law's future don't fit their '90s lifestyle. Labor Day. Two married couples test the bonds of their longstanding relationship as they discover what, if anything, will hold their marriages and their friendship together. Halloween. An interesting evening unfolds as Maxine and Claire have a Halloween rendezvous with Doug after swapping poetry with him over the Internet. Christmas. Crystal, a young girl with extraordinary spiritual gifts, helps recently widowed Chet as they both make peace with loss and find hope for their futures. New Year's Eve. Louise, tired of being taken for granted by friends and family, hides away at the inn and receives not only precious advice from a housekeeper but also a surprise reunion. One int./ext. set. Approximate running time: 20 to 25 minutes each. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Playing Juliet | ||
| 1st Produced: | - - - | - - - | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | Contained in: "Playing Juliet Casting Othello" published by Dramatic Publishing Company, | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #80114 | |||
To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||||
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Genre: | One act | |||||
| Parts: | Male | - | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | The New Vista Theatre Company is putting on a multi-racial "Romeo and Juliet" but problems arise when the boyfriend of the actress playing Juliet tells her to quit. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Same But Different | ||
| 1st Produced: | - - - | - - - | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | Dramatic Publishing | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #110114 | |||
To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||||
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Genre: | Musical | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 7 | Female | 14 | ||
Parts other: | chorus of either gender | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | Young teens love plays about their own lives. This musical intersperses songs and raps with scenes about the bittersweet challenges of being young. Growing up sometimes seems so adversarial: the in-group vs. the out-group; boys vs. girls; parents vs. children; all facing issues of race, culture, looks, popularity. Award-winning playwright Caleen Sinnette Jennings dramatizes these conflicts with honesty and a sense of humor. In a particularly poignant scene, three hearing youngsters learn that being deaf doesn't mean you can't be an awesome soccer player. In another, boys who pride themselves on being jocks learn they aren't alone in having a sneaky affection for a teddy bear. Same But Different provides enough characters to showcase your entire group. Individual scenes are ideal to use as a class activity. Simple staging. Approximate running time: 50 minutes. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Sunday Dinner | ||
| 1st Produced: | - - - | - - - | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | Dramatic Publishing | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #110115 | |||
To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||||
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Genre: | One Act | |||||
| Parts: | Male | - | Female | 3 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | Sisters Charl, Nat and Ray are three African-American women who have chosen very different paths. Nat, the eldest, is a schoolteacher who lives for the church and preserves the family home, an old house in a formerly beautiful-now rundown-neighborhood, as a monument to her deceased mother. Ray, the middle sister, is a homemaker whose sisters think she married beneath her. She is pregnant again with two little ones and an unemployed husband at home. Charl, the baby sister, is an up and coming TV reporter, living in the fast lane. After a long period of estrangement, the three sisters come together for Mama's traditional Sunday dinner in their childhood home. Nat prays, Charl does aerobics, and Ray shows off pictures of her children, as each tests the possibility of reconciliation. The spirit of their mother and the memories that linger in the house alternately act as catalysts and obstacles. One minute the three sisters snipe at each other and physically fight; the next minute they share their dreams and their innermost longings. One int. set. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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