Salt Lake Acting Company

Julie Jensen, Resident Playwright at Salt Lake Acting Company, has just published a book on playwriting entitled, PLAYWRITING, Brief and Brilliant. It is published by Smith and Kraus. The book, meant as an all-purpose guide to the craft, takes the reader through the basics of dialogue, character, and plot. It gives tips for getting past writer's block, and finally, it provides practical advice on marketing a play.

A review by Alice Tuan in American Theatre Magazine praises the book, "In the same way a scintillating guest can lift a dull cocktail party with air and wit, Jensen is personable and enthusiastic whether delivering writing tips or quick nuts-and -bolts guide to the business."

JULIE JENSEN (Playwright) was reared in Beaver, Utah. She has a Ph.D. in theatre from Wayne State University in Detroit, and has taught playwriting at seven different colleges and universities. She worked as a writer in Hollywood for five years and until recently directed the graduate playwriting program at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. She is now Resident Playwright at Salt Lake Acting Company. BILLION DOLLAR BABY is the sixth full-length play of Jensen's to be produced by SLAC. Others include WHITE MONEY, LAST LISTS OF MY MAD MOTHER, TWO-HEADED, WAIT!, and DUST EATERS. This is also the fifth play of hers to be directed by Jere Hodgin, although his first at SLAC. Jensen is the recipient of the Kennedy Center Award for New American Plays for WHITE MONEY, the Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New Work for THE LOST VEGAS SERIES, and the LA Weekly Award for Best New Play for TWO-HEADED. She has received the McKnight National Playwriting Fellowship for WAIT!, the TCG/NEA Playwriting Residency for WAIT!, and a major grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts for DUST EATERS. She has won the Mill Mountain Theatre Playwriting Competition three times for TENDER HOOKS, LAST LISTS OF MY MAD MOTHER and TWO-HEADED. Her play, TWO-HEADED, was included in the volume Best Plays by Women, 2000, and she has twice been nominated by the American Theatre Critics Association for the best new play produced outside of New York for LAST LISTS OF MY MAD MOTHER and DUST EATERS and twice a finalist for the PEN USA Award in Playwriting for TWO-HEADED and DUST EATERS. Her work has been produced in London and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival as well as in this country in New York and theatres nationwide. She has been commissioned by Mark Taper Forum, ASK Theatre Projects, Kennedy Center, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Salt Lake Acting Company, Geva Theatre, and Philadelphia Theatre Company. Her work is published by Dramatic Publishing, Dramatists Play Service, Playscripts, Inc., and Smith and Kraus.Recent productions of Jensen's plays include: LAST LISTS OF MY MAD MOTHER at Theatre Artists Studio in Phoenix, AZ, TWO-HEADED at Cleveland Public Theatre in Cleveland, OH, Berkshire Theatre Festival in Stockbridge, MA, and Black Cat Theatre in St. Louis, MO, and DUST EATERS at Borderlands Theater in Tucson, AZ.

David Mong
Literary Manager/Media Relations
Salt Lake Acting Company
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Salt Lake City, UT 84103
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