Weston Playhouse Theatre Co. wraps 8th annual Artists Retreat

Participants in Weston’s 2015 Artists Retreat are from left, Byron Au Yong, Aaron Jafferis, Polly Pen, James Magruder, John Walch, Griffin Matthews, Matt Gould, Andrea Moore and Alan Schmuckler. Photo by Bridget Sullivan

The Weston Playhouse Theatre Co. concluded its 8^th annual Artists Retreat with an Artists Salon and Reception at the Wilburton Inn in Manchester on Saturday, May 2.  Actors, composers, directors and playwrights who had spent the week living and working in Weston spoke about and shared examples from their work before an invited group of theater patrons.

Weston producing artistic director Steve Stettler, who designed the retreat, assembled the artists and moderated the salon, said, “Weston has hosted 60 individual or collaborating artists since our inaugural retreat in 2008.”  The 2015 participants include multiple award winners and a writing team whose musical is slated to open in New York next season.

The roster of artists and projects featured composer Matt Gould, director Griffin Matthews and poet/performer Andrea Moore (Everything that Happens Happens in Between); writer Aaron Jafferis and composer Byron Au Yong (Trigger); composer Polly Pen and writer James Magruder (Bertram Cope’s Year); composer Alan Schmuckler (Nobody to See Here) and playwright John Walch (Security Theatre).

The Weston Artists Retreat provides individual and collaborating artists an all-expense paid week at Weston’s village campus, including round trip travel, lodging and work space, meals and staff support.  Past retreats contributed to the development of a Tony-nominated Broadway musical and the recent Off Broadway hits Found and The Lion.

Support for the Weston Artists Retreat comes from the Anton Family Foundation, the Frederick Loewe Foundation, and generous individual donors.

WPTC is currently in the midst of a $10 million capital campaign with plans to build a year-round cultural center for Southern Vermont – a theater arts incubator with expanded retreats, workshops and a new studio theater at Weston’s Walker Farm. For more information visit westonplayhouse.org.