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Mary Hall Surface

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Mary Hall Surface
Mary Hall Surface (2010)
Born (1958-06-15) June 15, 1958 (age 66)
Bowling Green, Kentucky, U.S.
Alma materCentre College
Occupation(s)Theater Director, Playwright, Teaching Artist
Years active1982–present
Spouse
Kevin Reese
​
(m. 1987)​
ChildrenMalinda Kathleen Reese
Websitemaryhallsurface.com

Mary Hall Surface (born June 15, 1958) is an award-winning American theatre director, playwright, and teaching artist. Based in Washington, DC, her work focuses on theatre productions for family audiences. She also provides writing workshops focused on visual art.

In 2022, Surface received the Orlin Corey Medallion Award from the Children's Theatre Foundation of America."[1] Surface has been nominated for 12 Helen Hayes Awards and received the 2002 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Direction of a musical for her production of Perseus Bayou.

In her approach as a creative writing teacher and mentor, Surface uses visual art in the writing process.[2] As described in a Washington Post feature about her work at the National Gallery of Art, "Surface searches for a powerful link between a work of art and an aspect of writing."[3]

Early Life, Education

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Mary Hall Surface was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky. She graduated from Centre College in 1980 in Comparative Arts and was awarded the Gavin Easton Wiseman Valedictorian Prize. Upon graduation, she received a Thomas Watson Fellowship which enabled her to spend a year in 15 different European countries exploring contemporary theatre for young and family audiences. Working through the International Association of Theatre & Performing Arts for Children & Young People (also known as ASSITEJ Internationa.

Career

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Surface moved to California in 1982 and served as the associate director of the California Theatre Center (CTC) from 1982–1988.  She wrote her first plays for and with the acting company of CTC, including Prodigy, Blessings and Most Valuable Player, a play about Jackie Robinson.

In 1989, Surface moved to Washington, DC, to write and direct for the John F. Kennedy Center’s first season of Theatre for Young Audiences. She has since written and/or directed productions for both young and adult audiences at numerous Washington theaters including Arena Stage, Round House Theatre, Folger Theatre, and Constellation Theatre, and has had nineteen productions at the Kennedy Center. Surface is the founding Artistic Director (2009–2015) of the Atlas INTERSECTIONS Festival, an all-arts festival.

Female characters center prominently in Surface's work. She was commissioned by Arena Stage to write a monologue for My Body, No Choice (2022) and she directed She Persisted (a musical by Adam Tobin and Deborah Wicks La Puma, based on the book by Chelsea Clinton) for Adventure Theatre MTC in 2024.

Surface-Maddox Collaborations

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“Sing Down the Moon: Appalachian Wonder Tales,” Adventure Theatre MTC, 2024.

Surface's 1997 Kennedy Center commission and three-time national touring production of The Nightingale, a dance-theater piece created with choreographer Dana Tai Soon Burgess, launched her 10-year collaboration with composer David Maddox. Together, Surface and Maddox created five music-theater works commissioned by Theater of the First Amendment (TFA), George Mason University’s professional theater from 1990–2012. These collaborative productions included:

  • Appalachian Wonder Tales
  • The Search for the Cajun Medusa
  • Mississippi Pinocchio
  • The Odyssey of Telémeca
  • Lift: Icarus and Me

Four of these shows were nominated for the Charles MacArthur Award for Best New Play.[4] Surface received the 2002 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical for Perseus Bayou.[5]

Plays Inspired by Visual Art

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Surface has been commissioned by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, to write, direct, and produce four plays for family audiences inspired by visual art:

Surface explains that these plays were created to "engage the public in a very emotional and lively, personal way in the art." Inspired by the artists' lives and methods, these plays are not biographies. They are independent theatrical experiences that illuminate the spirit of the visual artists' work.[10]

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Surface then became the founding instructor of the National Gallery of Art’s Writing Salon, a public program from 2014–2020 that approaches art as an inspiration for writing and writing as a way to deepen connection to visual art.[11]

In a 2018 article for the Journal of Museum Education, Surface and article co-author Nathalie Ryan share the pedagogical approach of the program.[12]

Visual Art-Based Writing Workshops

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Surface now leads a series, “Write into Art,” as well as reflective writing workshops inspired by art through the Smithsonian Associates, the Washington National Cathedral and the Chautauqua Institute. She also facilitates Studios in the US and Europe.

Surface designs each art-based writing workshop to pair a specific type of writing with a specific work of art, such as using landscapes to explore setting or portraits to explore character.[10]

Honors and Awards

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2022 Orlin Corey Medallion Award Awarded for significant achievements for the enrichment of children in the United States and Canada through nurturing artistic work in theatre and the arts, Children's Theatre Foundation of America[1]
2019, 2009, 1995[13] Individual Artist Fellowships, D.C. Commission for the Arts and Humanities Awarded to support artists whose work and artistic excellence significantly contributes to the District of Columbia as a world-class cultural capital
2017–18 Playwrights Arena, Arena Stage Selected to participate in Cohort Three to investigate artistic process and advance dramaturgical practice, Washington, DC
2006 Charlotte Chorpenning Award Recognized for a body of work as a nationally known writer of outstanding plays for children, American Alliance for Theatre and Education
2002 Helen Hayes Award Outstanding Director, Resident Musical, Perseus Bayou, Theatre of the First Amendment, Fairfax, VA

Helen Hayes Awards

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1993 Outstanding Director, Resident Musical Tintypes, Round House Theatre Nomination[14]
2000 Outstanding Director, Resident Musical Grimm Tales,[15][16] Nomination[17]
2001 The Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play Sing Down the Moon, Appalachian Wonder Tales, Nomination[18]
2001 Outstanding Director, Resident Musical Sing Down the Moon, Appalachian Wonder Tales Nomination[19]
2002 The Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play Perseus Bayou Nomination[20]
2002 Outstanding Director, Resident Musical Perseus Bayou Award Recipient[21]
2003 The Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Musical Mississippi Pinocchio Nomination[22]
2007 The Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play or Musical Lift: Icarus and Me Nomination[23]
2009 Outstanding Director, Resident Musical Goodnight Moon Nomination[24]

Other Selected Productions

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Tales of Custard the Dragon, music by Brad Ross, Lyrics by Danny Whitman, Book by Mary Hall Surface.  Directed by Mary Hall Surface, 2002, National Symphony Orchestra, Kennedy Center, Washington, DC.[25]

A Perfect Balance,[26] a solo multi-media performance piece, inspired by the work of artist Alexander Calder, written and directed by Mary Hall Surface, designed and performed by Kevin Reese, presented over 1500 times throughout the US and in France and Taiwan, 1991–2018.

The Second Shepherds’ Play, adapted and directed by Mary Hall Surface, 2007 & 2016, Folger Consort, Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, DC.[27][28]

The Skin of Our Teeth, by Thornton Wilder, directed by Mary Hall Surface, 2018, Constellation Theatre Company, Washington, DC.  Named among top 10 regional theatre productions in 2018 by Terry Teachout, Wall Street Journal.[29]

Young People’s Concert,[30] written and directed by Mary Hall Surface, 2018, National Symphony Orchestra, Kennedy Center, Washington, DC.

Recordings

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  • "The Nightingale" (1999) – playwright with composer David Maddox.
  • "Sing Down The Moon: Appalachian Wonder Tales" (2002) – playwright with composer David Maddox.
  • "Perseus Bayou: The Search for the Cajun Medusa" (2002) – playwright with composer David Maddox.
  • "The Odyssey of Telémaca" (2004) – playwright with composer David Maddox.

Books

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  • "Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart" (1988) – author. Published by Dramatic Publishing.
  • "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" (1994) – author. Published by Dramatic Publishing.
  • Most Valuable Player and Four Other All-Star Plays for Middle and High School Audiences (Young Actors Series)" (1999) – author. Published by Smith & Kraus.
  • "Short Scenes and Monologues for Middle School Actors" (2000) – author. Published by Smith & Kraus.
  • "More Short Scenes and Monologues for Middle School Students: Inspired by Literature, Social Studies, and Real Life (Young Actor Series)" (2007) – author. Published by Smith & Kraus.
  • "Spirit Shall Fly" (2007) – author. Published by Dramatic Publishing.
  • "The Tales of the Custard Dragon" (2009) – co-author with Danny Whitman. Published by Concord Theatricals.
  • "Dancing Solo" (1991) - author. Published by Dramatic Publishing.
  • "The Reluctant Dragon" (1990) - author. Published by Dramatic Publishing.

Personal life

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In 1987, Surface married actor and sculptor, Kevin Reese.[31] They have one daughter, American YouTuber, singer-songwriter, actor, and filmmaker, Malinda Kathleen Reese.

References

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  1. ^ a b Event Program, Childrens Theatre Foundation of America Celebrates our 2022 Orlin Corey Medallion Recipients. Tempe, Arizona, 2023. Web use copy https://childrenstheatrefoundation.org/resources/CTFA_program_TAB_2022_WEB-USE-copy.pdf. Retrieved December 17, 2024.
  2. ^ "National Gallery of Art Writing Salon – Ellen Kwatnoski". ellenkwatnoski.com. Retrieved 2024-12-17.
  3. ^ O'Keefe, Kristin T. (April 6, 2007). "Think you'd be inspired by a Calder mobile? Then this writing salon is for you". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 8, 2024.
  4. ^ "Nominees & Recipients Database". TheatreWashington. Retrieved 2024-12-20.
  5. ^ "Nominees & Recipients Database". TheatreWashington. Retrieved 2024-12-20.
  6. ^ Guthrie, Anabeth (September 6, 2007). "National Gallery of Art Offers Exciting Programs Related to Edward Hopper Exhibition, September 26, 2007–January 21, 2008". National Gallery of Art. Retrieved December 8, 2024.
  7. ^ Guthrie, Anabeth (October 25, 2012). "National Gallery of Art Premieres Framed!, a Play Commissioned Especially for Young People Aged Six and Up in Honor of Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective". National Gallery of Art. Retrieved December 8, 2024.
  8. ^ "Forward 54th". National Gallery of Art. Retrieved December 8, 2024.
  9. ^ "2018 Annual Report - National Gallery of Art" (PDF). National Gallery of Art. 2018. Retrieved December 8, 2024.
  10. ^ a b Bown, Claire (2022-04-20). "Inspiring Creative Writing through Art with Mary Hall Surface on the Art Engager Podcast". Thinking Museum. Retrieved 2024-12-19.
  11. ^ Isaza, Laura (2017-03-28). "The National Gallery of Art's Writing Salon Provokes Creative Thought". The Georgetown Voice. Retrieved 2024-12-20.
  12. ^ Surface, Mary Hall; Ryan, Nathalie (December 2018). "Developing Close Looking, Creativity, and Community Through Writing and Art". The Journal of Museum Education. 43 (4): 356–64. doi:10.1080/10598650.2018.1524652. JSTOR 48540083 – via JSTOR.
  13. ^ "FY19 Grantees - Arts and Humanities Fellowship Program (AHFP) | dcarts". dcarts.dc.gov. Retrieved 2024-12-20.
  14. ^ Sommers, Pamela (March 17, 1993). "Hamlet, Musicals Lead Helen Hayes Nominees". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. p. B01. ISSN 0190-8286.
  15. ^ Yocom, Margaret (2000). "Review of Grimm Tales". Marvels & Tales. 14 (1): 172–174. ISSN 1521-4281. JSTOR 41380753.
  16. ^ Triplett, William (March 26, 1999). "'Grimm Tales,' Not Afraid of the Dark". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 17, 2024.
  17. ^ Pressley, Nelson (March 22, 2000). "'Indian Ink,' 'Sweeney Todd' Top Hayes Nominations". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. p. C1. ISSN 0190-8286.
  18. ^ "Helen Hayes Nominees". The Washington Post. March 19, 2001. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
  19. ^ "Local Playwrights, Stirring the Plot; Writers Mull Success, D.C. & Baffling Muses". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. March 25, 2001. p. G01. ISSN 0190-8286.
  20. ^ Horwitz, Jane (March 12, 2002). "Kennedy Center's 16 Lead Hayes Awards; Arena Follows With 15 Nominations". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. p. C01. ISSN 0190-8286.
  21. ^ Pressley, Nelson (May 7, 2002). "Hayes Awards For Director, Play Hit 'Home'; Washington Theater Honors Its Own With Ceremony". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. p. C01. ISSN 0190-8286.
  22. ^ "Helen Hayes Awards Nominees". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. March 11, 2003. p. C05. ISSN 0190-8286.
  23. ^ "Nominees & Recipients Database". TheatreWashington. Retrieved 2024-12-20.
  24. ^ "Nominees & Recipients Database". TheatreWashington. Retrieved 2024-12-17.
  25. ^ "The Tales of Custard the Dragon: Brad Ross and Mary Hall Surface Discuss Their Ogden Nash-Based Musical - Breaking Character". breakingcharacter.com. 2024-04-26. Retrieved 2024-12-17.
  26. ^ "Celebrate the Re-opening of the National Gallery of Art East Building Galleries with an Array of Free Public Programs and Evening Hours". www.nga.gov. Retrieved 2024-12-17.
  27. ^ Pressley, Nelson (December 6, 2016). "First-rate 'Second Shepherd's Play' tops the Christmas class". The Washington Post.
  28. ^ Di Salvo, Gina M. (2017). "The Second Shepherds' Play by Mary Hall Surface (review)". Theatre Journal. 69 (4): 574–576. doi:10.1353/tj.2017.0072. ISSN 1086-332X.
  29. ^ Teachout, Terry (2018-12-18). "The Best Theater of 2018: World-Class Talent on and off the Great White Way". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2024-12-17.
  30. ^ "National Symphony Orchestra Young People's Concert: Inside the Music - Teacher's Guide by Kennedy Center Education Digital Learning - Issuu". issuu.com. 2018-09-21. Retrieved 2024-12-17.
  31. ^ "We made a good choice 33 years ago today. Happy anniversary, Kevin Reese. Let's keep extending the run. xoxoxo". Facebook.com.
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