Planet Connections Celebrates "Green" Theater, New Works, and Charitible Causes in NYC

Every summer New York City hosts The Planet Connections Theater Festivity. The goal of this theater fest is three-fold. All accepted entrants must use environmentally friendly procedures as an integral part of their productions. The fest highlights original, new works for the stage, and each production is partnered with a non-profit charity that will benefit from ticket sales.

According to their website, "Planet Connections Theater Festivity is New York City's premiere eco-friendly theater festival, connecting artists and audiences with diverse dynamic charitable organizations. The Planet Connections experience entertains, enlightens and informs."

This year Planet Connections will feature 9 staged readings and 36 full productions of new stage plays. I talked with one of the female directors, Norah Turnham, chosen to bring one of these new plays to life. Norah Turnham is directing the "Six Month Cure" by Rhode Island playwright Lenny Schwartz.

According to playwright Schwartz, "The Six Month Cure is about Kate and Mandy who meet by chance as Kate is on her way to the biggest Comic Book Convention in the world. The two women grow closer and closer as they share a journey cross country which is filled with memory, bad food, heartbreak and hope."

Director Norah Turnham is not new to the theater scene. She is the General Manager of Small Pond Entertainment which is an independent theater company that focuses on serving the independent theater community in New York City. Playwright Lenny Schwartz met her through a mutual friend and was impressed with her work. He hired Turnham to direct his play.

Turnham has worked as a professional director and stage manager both in New York City and in the Adirondacks, where she lived after graduating from Dickinson College. Turnham says she likes to work as collaboratively as possible saying, "With a playwright like Lenny, it's easy to pick up on the writer's instincts and intent. Lenny and I have done a lot of talking about concepts and visuals we can use to make the story of The Six Month Cure exciting and clear to an audience in the festival setting."

Turnham considers it an organic process, which applies to all the projects she works on. Says Turnham, "I like to ask questions based on the instincts I see rather than tell them what to do. I'm not the one whose work is up there on the stage, but it is my job to to watch and fine tune the instincts of the actors and designers who put their art on stage so that it is true to the original intent of the playwright and so that it serves the audience."

As a bonus, Turnham has training in nearly every area of the performing arts. That allows her to speak the vocabulary of all the people who sit down at the table in rehearsal and production meetings. It gives her a distinct advantage as a director.

The Six Month Cure is partnered with Sloan Kettering Cancer Research. It plays the weekend of June 18, 19, 20 at the Gene Frankel Theater in New York City. A complete list of plays, participants and charitable organizations can be seen by visiting the Planet Connections Festivity website.