Vanessa Evans will be returning as Director in the 4th Annual Page to Stage Playwrights Festival

Now in its fourth year, the Page to Stage Playwrights Festival has a mission to provide a platform for works focusing on the female voice. This festival, which receives hundreds of submissions from all over the world each year, nurtures rising artists by showcasing new plays and sharing them with our vibrant local theatre community. Produced in conjunction with Festival Director Heather Enriquez and the That’s What She Said Women Writers Collective, Page to Stage has quickly become one of the most anticipated events in the Orange County theatre community. Selected plays will be announced at a later date. Be sure to follow the Curtis Theatre on Facebook and Instagram for the latest news.

Last year, Vanessa Evans directed Ptomaine Poison by Dr. Janice Liddell. Marianne Williams and Mary-Lou LeBlanc have divergent histories and clash over racial issues as they meet for the first time. Their 14 year old daughters are collaborating on a school project to commemorate one of the most significant events of the Civil Rights movement, the 1963 church bombing that killed four black girls and injured 22 others. Their daughters are convening at the LeBlanc home in an affluent white suburb of Birmingham to finalize and rehearse their skit. Their project and the attitudes of their respective mothers demonstrate that the racial past is not yet dead, but through new visions of the youth, including the friendship of their brothers, neither is hope.

Testimonial of Janice Liddell, PhD

Author of Ptomaine Poison

I couldn’t have selected a better director for my play, Ptomaine Poison, if I’d auditioned, interviewed and made the choice myself. Vanessa Evans was a God-send. The Festival’s presentation was billed as a staged reading, but Vanessa created a drama filled experience. Yes the actors used the scripts liberally, but under her direction, the play came alive, totally alive. Vanessa had a vision for the work; was obviously invested in that vision; and was able to inspire the audience (and the writer) to accept her vision. I can only wish that if the play makes it to a stage near her that she is selected as the director. She definitely has my vote. (If you need an exceptional director for your piece, do consider Vanessa Evans; I’m sure she can work her magic on other pieces just as well.