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Faculty: Serious Pursuits, Real People, Real Work, Real Need

The grant takes the financial pressure off and allows me more time to write.

-Gino DiIorio '83, associate professor of theater, adjunct associate professor of English, Director, Theater Arts Program, 2006-07 University Junior Faculty Fellow

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DiIorio is just one of Clark's 167 full-time faculty who need financial support to further their cutting-edge research. Your Clark Fund gift will make the difference.

Beyond regional theater: A Conversation with Gino DiIorio

Winner of Clark's 2006-07 Junior Faculty Fellowship, Gino DiIorio '83 has been a member of the Clark theater faculty for 17 years. In addition to teaching his courses in acting, directing and playwriting, DiIorio is an accomplished playwright. Three of his plays premiered in spring and summer 2006. Here he discusses the impact faculty awards and fellowships have on his work-helping to bring his plays from the written page to the live stage.

Q: Congratulations on winning Clark junior faculty fellowship this year. How did you use the award?

GD: It was great to win this award. I used the $4,500 for a couple of things. I used most of the fellowship award to publicize one of my plays called "Apostasy" which was produced at the New Jersey Repertory Theater last summer. First, I hired a New York publicity agent named Brett Singer '93, and he really helped to push the piece and get it into the hands of New York producers. Second, we took out advertising in the New York Times and as a result, we got a lot of New York press.

Q. Did it work?

GD: So far. We had great houses at the New Jersey Rep performances. But there are always a lot of new plays being done regionally, so if you want to get your play noticed-and move it from a regional venue to New York City-you really need someone pushing it for you. Brett did a lot of that publicity work. He got the play reviewed and into the hands of some really great New York producers-and several are interested in it. Brett's also setting up a reading at Urban Stages in New York as well as backers' auditions in New York.

Having a publicist like Brett is allowing me to try to take "Apostasy" from regional theater to the city and, conceivably to off-Broadway. It costs money to hire people like Brett, so the fellowship award from Clark has really given me the chance to try to take my play to the next level.

Q. Did "Apostasy" start out at Clark?

GD: Actually, I had another faculty development grant two years ago from Clark for $1,200 for this play which I used to help set up readings for the first production. The truth of the matter is that if this play ever goes to Broadway, I'd say it was produced with the assistance of faculty development money from Clark. Because it's true!

Q: Did any of your other plays get their start at Clark?

GD:I really have Clark to thank for the success of my play "Are You the Wife of Michael Cleary?" which had its first rough draft reading at Clark in April 2002. Two years ago I won a Higgins School grant to go to Ireland to research and finish polishing the play. But an unexpected thing happened while I was there. I met some producers who were interested in producing the play in Ireland. I used my faculty travel allowance to go back to Ireland in summer 2005 to work with the theater company and see the play produced in May 2006 at the Abymill Theatre in Fethard, Ireland. It's had a pretty good run, has been traveling to regional theaters throughout Ireland, and the reviews keep getting better and better. Now we're hopeful that we're going to put it in the Dublin Fringe Festival next fall. It is really cool.

All of this never would have happened if it weren't for the Higgins School grant and the Clark faculty travel allowance. That money has had a direct effect on the success of my play.

Give to the Clark Fund now and help more faculty members like Gino DiIorio pursue original works that inspire students and will change our understanding of the world. Please give today.

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Recent reviews of "Apostacy"

"Playwright Gino DiIorio has done an amazing job of presenting religion with a nice blend of faith and cynicism. This production is full of outstanding performances, surprise twists, and will keep you riveted from start to its amazing finish."
—UpstageMagazine.com (July 2006)

"Credit for these nuances in the performances must be shared with author Gino DiIorio. They may be beautifully interpreted by director Barabas and her superlative cast, but the lines supporting them are firmly implanted in DiIorio's text. Although having the television minister drop in on and sleep with Sheila may intuitively feel too theatrical to be true, I'm certain that, when substantial money is at stake, such visits are not uncommon. The issues concerning treatment of the dying and the obligations which they and their loved ones have to one another are never raised statically as such, but rise organically from events. Additionally, DiIorio displays the ability to sustain an extended scene over the course of which the relationship of the characters evolves as they interact at length and reveal more and more of themselves. This is a virtue to be cherished and encouraged."
—Talkin' Broadway (July 2006)

"Race, faith, money, betrayal, abortion, nudity, terminal illness, medical marijuana, middle-age sex - you might say that 'Apostasy,' the play now in its world premiere engagement at New Jersey Repertory Company in Long Branch, has dealt itself a pretty stacked dramatic hand from the outset. Still, rather than drive home their talking points with a sledgehammer, author Gino DiIorio and director SuzAnne Barabas have crafted a serio-comic threesome that favors sense of character over soapbox cacophony. It's a button-pusher that seeks to provoke a reaction at every turn, even as it foils most attempts to predict plotlines and pigeonhole motivations."
—Ashbury Park Press, (July 2006)