Lynn Manning is a man in
motion. He’s an award winning poet, playwright,
actor, and former World Champion of blind judo.
He has had upwards of a
dozen plays produced. His autobiographical, solo play, WEIGHTS,
received three NAACP Theater awards in 2001, including Best actor for
Lynn. He has since performed WEIGHTS
from London to Off Broadway, and from Edinburgh to The Adelaide Fringe. An audio CD version, WEIGHTS(ONE BLIND
MAN'S JOURNEY) was released by Bridge Multimedia in 2005.
Lynn is currently
working on a screenplay based on WEIGHTS, also a second solo stage play, QUIET
AS IT’S KEPT, and an adaptation of S. Ansky’s, THE DYBBUK, for a
collaborative 2011 production between Cornerstone Theater Company and Watts
Village Theater Company.
In 1996, Lynn co-founded
LA’s Watts Village Theater Company which celebrated its 15th
anniversary in 2011.
Lynn Lynn has written several critically
recognized plays, including, WEIGHTS, OCHRE & ONYX (THE LANGSTON
HUGHES PROJECT), UP FROM THE DOWNS, PRIVATE BATTLE, THE LAST OUTPOST, THE
COLORIZED VERSION, SHOOT, and central ave. chalk circle. Lynn's Dramalog Award winning play, SHOOT,
is included in the ground breaking 2007 TCG anthology, BEYOND VICTIMS AND
VILLAINS (CONTEMPORARY PLAYS BY DISABLED PLAYWRIGHTS). Lynn both wrote and starred in the
short film adaptation of SHOOT, by the same title. It premiered at the 2001 Sundance Film
Festival, and was distributed to cable television by HBO.
Lynn’s
most produced play to date is his autobiographical solo play, WEIGHTS. Center Theatre Group's original 2001
production of WEIGHTS garnered three NAACP Theater awards, including Best
actor for Lynn. Lynn has since
performed WEIGHTS in national and international venues large and small--most
recently at The 2010 Adelaide Fringe Festival in Australia. In 2008, Lynn received a 'Fringe Review
'Teapot Award' for excellence in theatre for his WEIGHTS production at the
2008 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Lynn has performed
Weights at venues as diverse as Urban Stages (Off Broadway), The Kennedy
Center (Washington DC), Chicago's Museum Of Contemporary Art, and
Philadelphia's Amaryllus Theatre.
International productions also include Croatia, Toronto, Vancouver,
and a 2005 tour of The United Kingdom.
A live performance audio CD of WEIGHTS (one blind man's journey),
was released by Bridge Multimedia in 2005.
Lynn's poetry spoken word CD, CLARITY OF VISION, WAS RELEASED
ON New Alliance Records in 1994.
Lynn’s
television credits include a variety of commercials, as well as appearances
on , SEINFELD, NIP/TUCK, 8 SIMPLE RULES, POPULAR, DREAM ON, and THE
SINBAD SHOW. Behind the camera, Lynn was technical Advisor for the tv
series, BLIND JUSTICE, and the movies, BLIND FURY, and QUEST
FOR CAMELOT.
Lynn
earned an AA in English at Los Angeles City College. He honed his play writing skills in Center
Theater Group’s BLACKSMITHS and MENTOR PLAYWRIGHTS workshops, and The Actors’
Studio Writers/Directors Unit–West. He
serves on The Performers With Disabilities Committee of The Screen Actors
Guild, as well as The Equal Employment Opportunity Committee of The Actors'
Equity Association.
In
1996, Lynn co-founded Watts Village Theater Company (WVTC) in partnership
with late actor and community activist, Quentin Drew. The company develops and produces new plays
of relevance to the underserved Afro-Latino communities of Watts and South
Los Angeles. Lynn is currently Chair
of the Board Of Directors. He is also
President of The Firehouse Theater Company—dedicated to including artists with
disabilities in all aspects of the theatrical performing arts.
While
pursuing a career in the fine arts, Lynn also achieved 'world class' status
in the martial art of Judo. He was
honored as the U.S. Olympic Committee's "Blind Male Athlete Of The
Year" after winning the Blind Judo World Championship at the 1990 World
Victory Games in Holland. He also won
the first World Cup for blind judo in
Sassarre, Sardinia in 1991, and took a silver medal in the 1992 Paralympic
Games at Barcelona. He retired from
competition in 1998.
Copyright 2011 Lynn Manning
Contact lynn.manning@lynnmanning.com
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