January 11th, 2007. Cultural Conversations has announced it's inaugural season. The plays chosen for performance in Spring of 2007 are Sounds of Desire by playwright/actress Heather Raffo, American Taboo by PSU faculty member Steve Broadnax, Severe Clear by PSU faculty member Susan Russell, and Delivery by PSU Musical Theatre student Ross Harris. They will all be presented in the Pavilion Theatre throughout the spring semester. February 4th, 2007. The full performance schedule has been finalized for this year's season of new works. Ritual Expressions, a collection of faculty-and-student-choreographed dance pieces, will be performed in the Playhouse Theatre on March 30th. Severe Clear will be performed in the Pavilion Theatre on March 31st. Sounds of Desire, featuring an interactive style of performance that encourages dialogue with Heather Raffo, will be performed on April 1st in the Pavilion Theater. A project featuring African dance will be performed in the Pavilion on April 2nd. Delivery, featuring both graduate and undergraduate actors at PSU, will be perofmed in the Pavilion on April 3rd. American Taboo will be presented in Room 6 of the Arts Building as a reading on April 4th. March 20th, 2007. Following the inaugural festival season there will be a forum for discussion of any themes present in this festival or any issues those present wish to discuss. It will take place in the Pavilion Theater at 8pm on April 5th. September 1st, 2007. Cultural Conversations is accepting new works for its second season! To submit a play to the festival see the submissions page. September 23rd, 2007. Heather Raffo announces her return engagement with Cultural Conversations. Raffo, along with her musical partner Amir, will open the second annual Cultural Conversations New Works Festival with two performances of Sounds of Desire on February 15th and 16th, 8pm, in The Pavilion Theatre. October 8th, 2007. Auditions for the 2008 New Plays Festival have been announced. The auditions will be held on Wednesday, December 5, 2007, from 8pm until 11pm in Room 119 of the Arts Building. Callbacks will be held on Friday, December 7, 2007 from 6pm until 11pm in The Pavilion Studio. Actors should prepare a one-minute contemporary monologue. November 20th, 2007. Performers in the URTC production, "As You Like It", are welcomed to the callbacks on 12/7, which begin at 6pm. These performers should sign up on the audition list for a time between 6-7pm. The list is posted on the callboard in the Arts Building. November 25th, 2007. Three plays have been chosen to be performed in the 2008 Cultural Conversations festival: Aziza, by Damon Chua, The Aperture, by Sean Christopher Lewis, and Stick!, by Irma Mayorga and Virginia Grise. See the Current Season page for details about each piece! January 30th, 2008. Cultural Conversations, The Penn State New Musical Theatre Festival, and The York Theater present: Penn State at the York. April 5th, and 6th, 2008. The York Theater and Penn State University announce a unique collaboration between a university training program and an Off-Broadway theater. Conceived by Susan Russell, artistic director of Cultural Conversations, Raymond Sage, artistic director of the PSU New Musicals Festival, and Jim Morgan and Bryan Blythe of the York Theater, Penn State at the York bridges the gap between educational and professional theatre. Penn State's two new works festivals offer Penn State theatre students the opportunity to work with professional writers, composers, and lyricists. The shows presented will be Ordinary Days, a new musical by Adam Gwon, and The Aperture, a play by Sean Christopher Lewis. The Performances of these pieces will be Saturday, April 5th at 2pm and 8pm, and Sunday, April 6th at 3pm. Tickets are $25, or $10 for students, and can be obtained at The York's website, or by calling 212-935-5820. March 1st, 2008. On Saturday March 1, The Aperture by Sean Christopher Lewis was honored by the Kennedy Center with The Rosa Parks Award. After the debut of The Aperture at The York Theatre in April, Sean will begin plans for his Kennedy Center production. April 8th, 2008. The April 6th & 7th performances at The York Theatre were well-attended and well-received, and Penn State at The York looks forward to continuing this exciting relationship with one of the most respected off-Broadway theatres in New York City. April 20, 2008. The Aperture will make its professional debut at The Cleveland Public Theatre in February of 2009 and Aziza has been selected for readings this summer at the Long Beach Playhouse's 2008 New Works Festivals and Alaska's Last Frontier Theatre Conference.