On March 19, 2011 Jonathan Lipsky, a noted Island playwright and professor, died at the age of 66 from a rare form of cancer. Mr. Lipsky was known for his plays, his skills as a teacher and his books and ideas on how to use dreams to further creativity.
Before he died, Mr. Lipsky was asked by his son Jonah, now a senior at Bennington College, which of his plays he would like to see in an anthology, if one were to be created. During his lifetime, Mr. Lipsky had never published his plays.
“His interest was in writing the plays and putting them on,” Jonah said.
Mr. Lipksy selected eight of his plays, the ones “he thought could have a dramatic life in the future and continue to be put on,” Jonah said.
Soon after Mr. Lipsky died, Jonah and Bill Barclay, a former collaborator of Mr. Lipsky’s, began discussing the idea of working together to create the anthology. The project is almost complete.
The two have created a kickstarter campaign on the web to help raise funds for the project, which includes pre-orders of the two volume anthology. “Each volume contains four plays and each play has an introduction written for it by collaborators of my dad,” Jonah said. “Many of his plays he created with other people.”
To donate visit kickstarter.com/projects/1608795413/the-jon-lipsky-play-anthology. The official kickstarter campaign ends tomorrow, Dec. 8 but pre-orders of the anthology will still be available. Email Jonah directly at jlipsky@bennington.edu or mail to Kanta Lipsky, P.O. Box 601, West Tisbury, 02575. For more information, one can also visit jonlipskyplays.com.
One volume is $20 and the two-volume set is $35. For $100 one also receives a special thank you in the anthology.
At the time of Mr. Lipsky’s death, Jonah was considering directing one of his father’s plays for his senior thesis but chose instead to focus on the anthology.
“It’s been really good for me to be working on this project for processing,” he said. “And to have my moment with him.”
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