A.R. Gurney Joins RLTP National Advisory Board

Posted on June 26, 2012 by gina No Comments  

A.R. Gurney, the Buffalo native who has enjoyed a fruitful career as a nationally recognized and produced playwright, has agreed to join Road Less Traveled Productions’ National Advisory Board, the local theatre company today announced. Gurney recently appeared at the company’s 2012 Spring Gala, on Saturday, May 5th, during the run of their production of Ancestral Voices; he will join theatre luminaries Alec Baldwin, Eric Bogosian, Scott Ellis, Stephen McKinley Henderson, and James Rebhorn on RLTP’s National Advisory Board.

“Mr. Gurney is a great pick-up for the Board”, said Scott Behrend, RLTP’s Artistic Director. “His profile both locally and nationally, and his close relationship to his hometown of Buffalo, makes him particularly enthusiastic about RLTP’s mission.” Road Less Traveled Productions was founded by Behrend and RLTP Literary Director Jon Elston in 2002; its mission is to develop and produce world premiere productions by local playwrights.

A.R. Gurney was RLTP’s fifth annual American Theatre Master, an honorarium which began in 2008, when American Theatre Master Eric Bogosian visited the RLTT; subsequent American Theatre Masters have included James Rebhorn, Edward Albee, and Stephen Adly Guirgis. Mr. Gurney also spoke to local playwrights and theatre artists in an invitation-only session on May 5th, in an in-depth Q&A session moderated by Elston.

The RLTP National Advisory Board was formed in 2009 to “serve as a source of inspiration and reference for the Company’s artistic mission and vision”, said Behrend. Behrend indicated last month’s production of Ibn Shabazz’ Insidious at the Black Repertory of St. Louis as an example of the National Advisory Board serving as an influential reference for RLTP. Insidious was developed in the RLTP’s Emanual Fried New Play Workshop in 2009, enjoyed a World Premiere production at the Road Less Traveled Theater in 2010 (and a remount in 2011), and won the 2011 Artie Award for Outstanding New Play. It opened in late May at the Black Rep (St. Louis, MO), the country’s largest African-American theatre company.