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Marcia Cebulska

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Marcia Cebulska (born July 21, 1944) is an American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. She lives in Topeka, Kansas.[1] Her notable literary work includes the plays Florida, and Dear John as well as her novel, Watching Men Dance. Cebulska’s writing has often reflected issues such as women’s rights, gay rights, race relations, domestic violence, and homelessness.

Marcia Cebulska
Marcia Cebulska - portrait by Ann Palmer
Marcia Cebulska - portrait by Ann Palmer
OccupationWriter

Biography

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Marcia Cebulska spent her early years living behind her parents’ bakery in a Chicago[2] working-class Polish neighborhood called Belmont Cragin. Her family moved to the suburb of Niles, Illinois during her teen years. In 1962, she graduated from Regina Dominican High School, Wilmette, Illinois.

The first in her family to graduate from college, Cebulska attended the University of Miami in Florida, Universidad de las Americas in Mexico City, then graduated from Barnard College in 1967 at Columbia University with a degree in Philosophy. She later did graduate work at Columbia University School of the Arts in creative writing and at the Folklore Institute at Indiana University. During her Barnard years and for some time thereafter, she worked as a research assistant at Bureau of Applied Social Research, Columbia University, on the Homelessness Project (1966–70). Later, she was employed as an outside contractor to the New York City Department of City Planning. She also worked part-time as a gallery girl at Oscar Krasner's[3] Krasner Gallery on Madison Avenue. In 1971, she worked for sociologist Howard M. Bahr on his study of skid row and race in Seattle.[4] She then continued her graduate education at the Folklore Institute at Indiana University.

Cebulska is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America and is a Fellow of the Center for Kansas Studies.[5]

Bibliography

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  • Cebulska, Marcia (2019). Skywriting. Flinthills Publishing. ISBN 9780999754795.
  • Cebulska, Marcia (2020). Watching Men Dance. Flinthills Publishing. ISBN 9781733203562.
  • Cebulska, Marcia (2023). Lovers, Dreamers, and Thieves: My people, Chicago, & the Polish bakery where I grew up. Flinthills Publishing. Hardback: ISBN 9781953583475. Paperback: ISBN 9781953583482.

Plays

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Dear John, an epistolary play about a deep friendship and love relationship between a woman and a gay man, was the first of Marcia Cebulska’s plays to receive national attention. The one-act version won the Broad Ripple Playhouse play writing competition. Their production was directed by Bryan Fonseca[6] with whom Ms. Cebulska worked frequently over the next decade, particularly at the Phoenix Theatre (Indianapolis). The play was developed at the Playwrights Center of San Francisco and was the 1983 winner of the International Gay Playwriting contest sponsored by the Gay Theatre Alliance[7] and consequently performed at the Meridian Gay Theatre and the Playwork Festival at the Open Gate Theatre, both in New York. The play has been performed at many venues since, including a Zoom performance in 2020, directed by Cebulska’s frequent collaborator, Martha Jacobs.[8]

Florida, was developed at the Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference[9] where it was directed by Oz Scott. The play premiered at Georgia Repertory Theatre concurrent with Cebulska’s residency at The University of Georgia. Florida was the winner of the 1996 FEAT competition which resulted in a production at the Phoenix Theatre (Indianapolis).[10][11] Scenes from the play are excerpted in Martha Jacob’s book, A Meisner Legacy. Marion Garmel's review of Florida says that it is "a powerful portrait of a family falling apart."[12]

Visions of Right, was written in response to the anti-gay, anti-Jewish, anti-arts ministry of Pastor Fred W. Phelps Sr.'s Westboro Baptist Church, located in Topeka, Kansas, the same city where the writer resides.[13] To research her writing, Cebulska attended the church undercover.[14] The play was developed at Chicago Dramatists and received the Dorothy Silver Award as the best play of the year featuring a Jewish character.

Now Let Me Fly was commissioned by the Brown Foundation for the national celebration of the 50th anniversary (2004) of the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision.[15] The premiere performance, directed by Kevin Willmott, occurred on May 17, 2004. There were concurrent performances at the National Constitution Center, the Rothko Chapel, and numerous NAACP chapters, schools, and churches.[16] At the request of public-school teachers, Cebulska wrote two youth versions of the play which she made available, royalty-free, through a website provided by Washburn University School of Law.[17]

Touched: The Last 2,000 Heartbeats of William Inge, was commissioned by the William Inge Theatre Festival for their 25th anniversary. The premiere performance at the festival was directed by the Artistic Director, Peter Ellenstein. The play follows the last 2,000 heartbeats of William Inge as he looks back on his life during his suicide.[18]

Rooted, was written for the 5th anniversary of the tornado that destroyed 97% of the town Greensburg, Kansas which was then reconstructed as an ecologically sound green city. The project was underwritten by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and included the participation of the William Inge Center for the Arts, the Greensburg Art Center, and the Cornerstone Theater Company of Los Angeles. Laurie Woolery directed with original music by Kelley Hunt. Following the Cornerstone Theater Company’s model, the play tells the community story as an adaptation of the Odyssey.[19][20]

And When The Bough Breaks deals with the issue of surrogacy.[21]

References

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  1. ^ Hlavacek, Joanna (8 January 2016). "Ad Astra Theatre's 'Visions of Right,' based on Westboro Baptist Church, to make Lawrence debut Friday". Lawrence Journal-World. Retrieved 2021-07-06.
  2. ^ Staff, Charles (1982-07-21). "Clipped From The Indianapolis News". Ripple Playwright Enjoys Traveling. p. 20. Retrieved 2021-07-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Krasner, Oscar (June 27, 1999). "Paid Notice: Deaths KRASNER, OSCAR". New York Times. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  4. ^ Bahr, Howard M.; Caplow, Theodore (September 1968). "Homelessness, Affiliation, and Occupational Mobility". Social Forces. 47 (1). Oxford University Press: 28–33. doi:10.2307/2574708. JSTOR 2574708. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  5. ^ Cebulska, Marcia. "Fellows Of the Center". Washburn University, Center For Kansas Studies. Washburn University. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  6. ^ Lindsey Erdody (June 2018). "Phoenix Theatre founder leaving after 35 years as main artistic force". IBJ.com. IBJ - Indianapolis Business Journal. Retrieved 3 February 2021. Bryan Fonseca, who founded the Phoenix Theatre in 1983...
  7. ^ Rolle, Elisa. "Particular Voices: Terry Helbing". LIVEJOURNAL.COM. Retrieved 6 February 2021. ...the Gay Theatre Alliance, an international organization dedicated to the growth of gay theatre by connecting theater companies and playwrights..." "...sponsored a national gay playwriting contest every year.
  8. ^ Hemphill, Jay C. (2020). "ZOOM - Dear John" (PDF). STAGES, The Annual Donor and Alumni Newsletter. No. Fall. Indiana University, Department of Theatre, Drama, & Contemporary Dance. Retrieved 3 February 2021. ...the play seemed ideal for Zoom...
  9. ^ "A & E Scene". Hartford Courant. Stage. 18 June 1995. Retrieved 6 February 2021. Lloyd Richards, artistic director of the National Playwrights Conference, has announced the 12 writers whose plays will be developed during the Eugene O'Neill Memorial Theatre Center in Waterford… …July 12 and 13, 8:30 p.m.; Marcia Cebulska, "Florida, "...
  10. ^ The Phoenix Theatre. "Phoenix' Latest Production Quite A "Feat"" (Press Release). Digital Scholarship at IUPUI University Library. Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  11. ^ "About the Phoenix Theatre FEAT Series". Digital Scholarship at IUPUI University Library. Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis. Retrieved 6 February 2021. The two winners of the 1996 competition were The Katydid, by Michael Davis Sutton and Florida by Bloomington playwright Marcia Cebulska.
  12. ^ Marion Garmel. "Audiences will warm to searing Florida". Indiana Memory. U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services, administered by the Indiana State Library. Archived from the original on January 9, 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2021. Cebulska, a Bloomington-based playwright, has drawn on memories of growing up in a Polish-American neighborhood in 1950s Chicago for this powerful portraitof a family falling apart.
  13. ^ Bill Blankenship (September 28, 2010). "Phelps-inspired play to be read". cjonline.com. The Topeka Capital-Journal. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  14. ^ "The Jewish Theatre of Bloomington:Visions of Right" (PDF). The Jewish Post & Opinion, Indiana Edition. 83 (4): 11. April 5, 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2021. When Cebulska moved to Topeka, Kansas, she learned of the hate-mongering activities of the Westboro Baptist Church. She went undercover, attempting to discover the basis for the bigoted activities of the church.
  15. ^ "50th Anniversary Commemoration - Other Events". Brown Foundation. Monday, May 17 Grand Opening Dedication Ceremony, "Now Let Me Fly" world premiere of Brown v. Board commemorative play. April–May 2004. Retrieved 28 January 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  16. ^ "Revisiting Brown v. Board". American Theatre. 24 (5): 16. 2007 – via EBSCOhost.
  17. ^ "Now Let Me Fly by Marcia Cebulska A Play Commemorating the Landmark Supreme Court Decision Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka". Now Let Me Fly. Washburn University School of Law. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  18. ^ Washburn Center for Kansas Studies (April 2006). "Premiere of Inge play, Touched, at Inge Theatre Festival, Independence" (PDF). Speaking of Kansas. Washburn University. p. 2. Retrieved 12 February 2021. Marcia Cebulska's play Touched will premiere at the William IngeTheatre Festival...
  19. ^ "Rooted: The Greensburg Odyssey". Broadway World. Wisdom Digital Media. May 4, 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2021. The Inge Center best known as sponsor of the William Inge Theatre Festival won a National Endowment for the Arts grant to create a theatrical event about the extraordinary recovery and renewal of Greensburg.
  20. ^ "Topekan's play recalls Greensburg tornado". Topeka-Capital Journal. May 2, 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  21. ^ Thomas, Linda (1987-11-15). "Marcia Cebulska's New Play Explores Surrogacy Issues". The Times-Mail. p. 47. Retrieved 2021-07-06 – via Newspapers.com.
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