Celebrating Women, Wisdom, and Possibility
We are excited to announce our return from pandemic hiatus, starting with the return of our signature event, MoJo Fest.
On Saturday, September 10, we will gather at Synchronicity Theater in Midtown Atlanta, for a day or workshops, panels and staged readings of newly commissioned short works.
Watch for details and ticketing information, coming soon!
The Jo Howarth Noonan Foundation for the Performing Arts is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and celebrating women theater artists over the age of forty.
Jo Howarth, a respected and beloved actor in Atlanta, sadly and unexpectedly passed away in 2015. While in her 20s, Jo had had a successful acting career, which she put on hold to raise her children. When she returned to acting, Jo found a surprising creative renaissance – at a stage of life when most female actors are ushered into involuntary retirement.
The Foundation that bears her name has been working to create more opportunities for women to remain vital forces in theater, bringing their talent, experience, and wisdom to audiences and to theater companies across the US. To date, our focus has been three-fold:
The Foundation also hopes to be hosting other events to facilitate career and artistic development, in the spirit of Jo’s own journey.
A Georgia not-for-profit corporation, founded 2016.
We will be filing for 501(c)3 tax-exempt status with the IRS.
The Jo Howarth Noonan Foundation for the Performing Arts is excited to partner with multiShades.atlanta to present an encore performance of the 5X7 Monologue Showcase:
ONE PERFORMANCE ONLY:
Commissioned by the Jo Howarth Noonan Foundation for MoJo Fest 2019 to create new and exciting theatrical roles for women actors over the age of forty, multiShades. Atlanta conceptualized and brought to stage The 5X7 Monologues. Five Atlanta-area playwrights wrote original 7-minute monologues inspired by conversations with the actors that would be performing their work.
MoJo Fest 2019
Site being updated. Pictures and recap of the summer event still to come!
The inaugural MoJo Fest began our celebration of “women of a certain age” by showcasing five new commissions, ten-minute plays written by Suehyla El-Attar, Topher Payne, Sherry Paulson, Penny Mickelbury and Pamela Turner, followed by a panel discussion with successful women directors, playwrights, and arts activists, featuring Elisa Carlson, Karen Howell, Shannon Eubanks, Brenda Porter and Daphne Mintz.
After a networking and idea-sharing dinner catered by Affairs to Remember, this first festival concluded with a reading of a new play by Margaret Baldwin.
Press Release #1 (March 15, 2017): MoJo Fest 3-25-17 PR1
Press Release #2 (March 20, 2017): MoJo Fest 3-25-17 PR2
This inaugural list of playwrights, directors and casts read like a “who’s who” of Atlanta theater:
10-minute commissioned works:
“Catch & Release,” by Sherry Camp Paulsen
Vicky shops for new intimate apparel with her longtime friend, Eileen. As she “fishes” for just the right undies, she “catches” something far bigger than she can handle. Directed by Tess Malis Kincaid; With Deadra Moore*, and Cynthia Barrett* and Bethany Lind*.
“Getting There,” by Suehyla El Attar
A daughter takes her mother to a doctor’s appointment. Again. Directed by Julie Skrzypek; With Susan Shalhoub Larkin* and Daryl Lisa Fazio.
“The Cocktail Hour,” by Penny Mickelbury
Best friends Lila and Nettie, 60, are lively, vibrant yoga devotees looking forward to a travel-centric retirement. Then the election screws it all up. Nettie is depressed. Lila is mad as hell. Neither is willing to let a “fat, ugly, orange ooze” turn back the clock on what it means to be Black and female in America–especially at age 60. Yes, they’ll resist – but they’ll do it in different ways. What they won’t do is go backward. Directed by Andrea Frye; With Brenda Porter* and Rita Barrett.
“Morningside,” by Topher Payne
Tensions run high at the baby shower being thrown for Grace Driscoll’s daughter, thanks in part to a drunken family member who’s not a fan of party games. Directed by Dina Shadwell; With Shelly McCook, Shannon Eubanks*, Elisa Carlson*, and Ann Wilson.
“Final Resting Place,” by Pamela Turner
Karen and her sister Lucy have spent their lives trying to get past the tumultuous childhood that had made them both leave home as soon as possible. Both blame the problems on their mother Margaret and a series of events that no one talks about. But while Lucy returned to their small Midwest town in early adulthood to make the best of it, Karen only came back twice, each time running again the minute memories got too close to the surface. Now at age fifty, after a few years of living one town over, she has decided to try and reconnect with her mother one last time after the death of stepfather number three. Directed by Carolyn Shepherd Choe; With Kathleen McManus and Nancy Riggs.
Full length play:
“Coyote Hour,” by Margaret Baldwin
When Annie’s dog goes missing amid reports of coyotes roaming her neighborhood, she sets out to rid her yard of unwelcome invaders, all the while dealing with a deep personal loss. She summons a stranger to the hunt, whose presence exposes cracks in her marriage and threatens to shatter her reality to the core. Directed by Shelly McCook; With Mary Saville, Topher Payne, Jill Hames, Nick Tecosky, Karen Howell*, and Alan Kilpatrick*.
*These Actors appeared courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association.
