Cori Thomas

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Cori Thomas is a dramatist and screenwriter of Liberian and Brazilian descent. Her works include the plays When January Feels Like Summer, Lockdown, My Secret Language of Wishes, Pa's Hat, and Citizens Market.

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Early life

Thomas is the daughter of a Liberian ambassador, and the granddaughter of Cora Ann Pair Thomas who emigrated to Liberia as a missionary and founded the Lott Carey Mission. [1]

Career

The world premiere of Thomas's When January Feels Like Summer was directed by Chuck Patterson, her late husband, [2] at the City Theatre In Pittsburgh in 2010 and won the American Theatre Critics Association Elizabeth Osborn New Play Award for an emerging playwright. [3] It was subsequently co-produced by the Ensemble Studio Theatre and Page73 Productions in the Summer of 2014 in New York and directed by Daniella Topol. It was a Critics Pick of The New York Times and was brought back in October 2014 as a co-production between the Ensemble Studio Theatre and the Women's Project Theater also directed by Daniella Topol.

Other plays include Pa's Hat, which premiered at the Pillsbury House Theatre in Minnesota in 2010, directed by Marion McClinton; and My Secret Language of Wishes, which premiered at the Mixed Blood Theatre in 2011, also directed by McClinton.

In May 2019, her play Lockdown directed by Kent Gash was commissioned and produced at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater in New York City. [4]

Thomas is the Andrew Mellon Playwright-In-Residence at WP Theater in New York City. She is also a current New Dramatists Fellow.

Thomas is one of five playwrights to win the prestigious Helen Merrill Playwriting award. [5]

Her fellowships and residencies include the Sundance Theatre Lab in 2008. [6] O’Neill National Playwright’s Conference in 2018. And many other fellowships and residencies.

Thomas is co-writer of Sara Kruzan's 2002 memoir I Cried to Dream Again. [7]

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References

  1. ↑ Holloway, Daniel (December 14, 2017). "Dustin Hoffman Accused of Exposing Himself to a Minor, Assaulting Two Women (Exclusive)". Variety . Retrieved January 24, 2018.
  2. ↑ Siemaszko, Corky (December 30, 2013). "Chuck Patterson, Broadway star, dead at 68". Daily News . New York City. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Cori Thomas' When January Feels Like Summer Wins Osborn New Play Award". Playbill.
  4. ↑ Collins-Hughes, Laura (May 9, 2019). "Review: In 'Lockdown,' a Prisoner Yearns to Rejoin the World". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  5. ↑ Wild, Stephi. "Five Playwrights Receive Prestigious Helen Merrill Awards". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2023-11-22.
  6. ↑ "Sundance Institute Announces Acting Company for 2008 Summer Theatre Lab" (PDF) (Press release). Sundance Institute. July 1, 2008. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 26, 2018. Retrieved April 26, 2018. ...the seven playwrights and plays selected for this year's residency [include] ... Cori Thomas (When January Feels Like Summer; director Chuck Patterson)...
  7. ↑ "I Cried to Dream Again: Trafficking, Murder, and Deliverance -- A Memoir by Cori Thomas, Sara Kruzan". app.thestorygraph.com.
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