Ojai Playwrights Conference names Jeremy Cohen as artistic director, announces new venue

The Ojai Playwrights Conference will begin a new chapter Wednesday with a new producing artistic director and a new location.

Jeremy Cohen is taking over the top position for Robert Egan, who led the event for 21 years, and the conference’s New Works Festival is moving to the Thacher School in Ojai.

The festival, which continues through Sunday, will also have a new pay-what-you-can option for single-ticket admission.

"It has such an amazing history here in Ojai," said Cohen of the conference, which has been around since 1998. "Anytime you're doing something new, you’re excited and nervous all at the same time."

Audiences can watch the five new playwrights' works starting Friday. At least one of them is affected by the ongoing writers and actors strike seeking better pay and benefits.

“I’m doing more theater because of the strike,” said Ngozi Anyanwu, whose piece "My Name … is Beatrice" starts at 8 p.m. Saturday.

Anyanwu, who will soon start rehearsals for a play at the Roundabout Theater in New York, is in the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

“I’m one of those lucky artists that do have a playwriting and an acting career in the theater in New York,” she said.

Anyanwu’s "My Name … is Beatrice" deals with a cultural divide between Nigerians and Nigerian Americans.

The play is the second of three parts, Anyanwu said. The first play, titled "The Homecoming Queen," is the story of a writer, named Kelechi, on her way to Nigeria after having been gone from her family for over a decade. The second play is about the writer returning to America with Beatrice, a daughter of sorts.

“I found myself still wondering about that character, and people were asking, ‘Well, what happens to her?’” Anyanwu said. “It deals with a lot of issues that women go through, and I think anyone who’s a parent will feel seen."

Family, cultural divides and grief are just some of the themes of this year's conference, said playwright Julia Izumi. Her piece “Akira Kurosawa Explains His Movies and Yogurt (with Live & Active Cultures!)" is scheduled for 11 a.m. Sunday.

The comedy is about renowned Japanese filmmaker Kurosawa giving a lecture about his movies, and then he starts talking about yogurt, she said. Izumi plays with the double meaning of the word culture.

“I wanted to write about him to investigate what makes him so incredible and investigate that gap between me and Akira Kurosawa sharing the same culture and the assumptions of understanding what that comes with and also the ways in which I still can’t connect,” said Izumi, who is Japanese American.

On Wednesday, the festival will feature works from conference youth workshop participants and special guests, including JC Chasez of the band NSYNC. On Thursday, Cohen will lead a discussion with the five 2023 playwrights Izumi, Anyanwu, Mathilde Dratwa, Benjamin Benne and Anne Washburn.

The conference’s festival will be held at the Milligan Center for the Performing Arts at Thacher School in Ojai. Tickets range from what you can pay for a single performance ticket with a suggested donation of $30 to $400 for a festival pass with meals.

"I think the organization is in a place of growth and real seismic change, in a really positive way," Cohen said.

For more information, visit www.ojaiplays.org.

Wes Woods II covers West County for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at wesley.woodsii@vcstar.com, 805-437-0262 or @JournoWes.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Ojai playwrights fest announces new artistic director, venue