Candace Perry
Trustee
Playwright, Producer, Instructor
Education: MSW, Clinical specialty, Tulane University • BA, Russian, Spanish, Louisiana State University
Email: candaceperry@earthlink.net
Website: www.candaceperryplaywright.info
Residence: Wellfleet, MA
Hometowns: Marietta, OH, Sumpter, SC, Orlando, FL, Valdosta, GA, Waco, TX, Alexandria, VA, Managua, Nicaragua, Abilene, TX, Ft. Walton Beach, FL (first 17 years)
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CANDACE PERRY is a Cape-based playwright whose short and long works have been performed and workshopped in festivals and theaters in the US and Ireland. Her short plays have been produced in competitive festivals including Boston Theatre Marathons, the Dublin International Gay Theatre Festival, New Bedford Culture*Park Theatre Marathons, the Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival, Provincetown Theater’s Playwrights’ Festivals, Heartland Theatre Company’s Ten Minute Play Festivals (Normal, IL), International Women’s Theater Festivals (Provincetown, MA) and many other venues. Her full length plays have been workshopped or produced by the Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater (WHAT), the Provincetown Theatre Company, and the Bendheim Performing Arts Center (Scarsdale, NY). During the Covid pandemic, a dozen of her short plays were produced online by various theater companies, including Sailor Beware with WHAT, the Sandwich (MA) Arts Alliance, and the Provincetown Theater’s 24 Hour Plays. She is the recipient of the Jerome Kaplan New Play Prize for full length plays and the Blue Institute’s “Words on Water” for short plays. She was selected as a commissioned playwright for the Four Squared Collaborative Theater Project of Cape Cod and recently served as the Playwright-in-Residence for the Eventide Theatre Company. She has taught courses in writing short plays, writing for radio and writing for social change on Cape Cod and in New Orleans and is a multiple recipient of Cultural Council grants for teaching and producing. Her other writing includes published short stories, poems and non-fiction. In addition to writing, she has raised a family and worked professionally as a Clinical Social Worker and Community Activist.
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PRODUCTIONS:
Over 40 short plays produced in US and Ireland including the following festivals and companies:
Dublin International Gay Theater Festival
Boston Theater Marathons
Heartland Theater Company 10 Minute play contests, Normal, IL
Women’s International Theater Festival, Provincetown, MA
Provincetown Theatre Company Festivals
Culture*Park Theater Marathons, New Bedford, MA
Collections of short plays, Wellfleet Preservation Hall and Wellfleet Actors Theater (WHAT)
A dozen online productions of short plays during the Covid pandemic
Full production of one full length play
Commissioned full length play
Multiple readings and workshops of three other full length plays
Four radio plays produced
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MERIDIAN SUMMER, full length play, winner of the 2006-2007 Kaplan Prize and the Cape Cod Playwrights’ Competition
“From the Well,” short play, First Place, Blue Institute “Words on Water,” 2019
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10 short stories
2 poems
14 non-fiction articles
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Making a Play, Fine Arts Work Center, Provincetown, MA, 2023
Writing for Radio, multiple classes
Writing the Short Play, a half day seminar, multiple classes
Writing the Short Play, a 6 week class, multiple classes
The Long and Short of It: Adapting a Short Work into a Longer One, Eventide Arts “From the Page to the Stage” Theatre Arts series for adults, January 31 & February 7, 2012
Writing for Stage and Screen When You Want to Change the World, one day seminar for Eventide Arts, Yarmouthport, MA, November 13, 2010
Writing for Social Change, multiple classes, most recently, Nauset Community Education, 2025
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Eventide Theatre Company, Dennis, MA
Director, Eventide Theatre’s Kaplan Competition for full length plays, 2022
Playwright in Residence, Eventide Theatre Company, 2020/21 season
Playwrights ETC, 2020 - present
Provincetown Theater Company, Provincetown, MA
Member, Provincetown Theatre Playwrights’ Lab
Board member, Provincetown Theatre Company, 2000
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Clinical social worker, private practice
Community social worker/activist
HEART STOPPERS, a collection of short plays performed at the Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater (WHAT), OCTOBER, 2018 From the play “No More Hog Jowls at the Jim Crow Café” Pictured, l to r Barbara Burgo, Mary Chris Kenney, Sallie Tighe
A SUPER REUNION, a ten minute play Filmed live on the stage of the Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater (WHAT) with actors Diane Brunt and Brad Morse, directed by Bob Costa. Recorded April 17, 2021 for the Wellfleet Recreation Program.
CALL HOME THE HEART, a collection of short plays performed at Wellfleet Preservation Hall, September, 2017 From the play “Fragrant Phantom” Pictured, Dennis Cunningham as Tennessee Williams and Cynthia Harrington as Zelda Fitzgerald
“ If you’re a writer who wants to see your words turned into magic (or mud), be a playwright. If you love the thrill (or agony) of collaboration, be a playwright. If you want to be surprised (or disappointed) by your skills and the talents of others, write a play! ”