Elizabeth VanDyke
Elizabeth Van Dyke and the late Curt Dempster founded Going To The River in 1999 for the purpose of developing new work, providing a ‘home base’, and bringing attention to African-American female playwrights. That home base has been the Ensemble Studio Theatre in New York City.
One of the primary goals of GTTR is to provide a major New York City forum in which professional African-American female playwrights may develop, refine and present their work, bringing wider exposure to many writers currently overlooked and under produced in the American Theatre.
Past Going to the River Festivals and events have included playwrights: France-Luce Benson, Dhana-Marie Branton, Cheryl Davis, Ruby Dee, Nan Ewing, Pearl Cleage, Lydia Diamond, Judy Tate, Cori Thomas,, J.e. Franklin, Breena Clark, Bridgette Wimberly, Kia Corthron, and Cassandra Medley, to name just a few. Directors have included Bilie Allen, Seret Scott, Richardo Kahn, Talvin Wilks, Seth Gordon, Dean Irby, Woodie King, Jr., Jamie Richards, Lydia Fort, Chuck Patterson, Ron Himes,, Petronia Paley, Charles Randolph Wright, and Imani. Ruby Dee, Mary Alice, Phylicia Rashad, Rueben Santiago Hudson, Stephanie Berry, Elain Graham, Vinnie Burrows, Peter
Jay Fernandez, Brenda Pressley, and many other established actors have appeared in our plays. Other distinguished guest speakers have included the late Phil Rose, the late Lloyd Richards, Biff Liff, Elizabeth McCann, Julie Miles, Linda Chapman, Richard Wesley, Dr. Vernell Lillie, Dr. Eleanor Traylor, and the late Barbara Ann Teer.
In 2009, GTTR added River Crosses Rivers: A Festival of Short Plays by Women OF Color in effort to provide actual staged and reviewed productions for a larger collective of women of different cultures facing the same challenges.
23 female playwrights were produced in 2009 and 2011 on the main stage at Ensemble Studio Theatre; including Mrinalini Kamath, Desi Moreno-Penson, and Naveen Bahar Choudhury.
River Crosses Rivers: A Festival Of Short Plays by Women of Color has been a popular, artistic, and critical success.
