Björklunden Introduces Inaugural Door Kinetic Arts Festival

Oscar-winning Lombardi playwright Eric Simonson is bringing some major creative talent to Björklunden for the inaugural Door Kinetic Arts Festival in June. The week-long festival will provide Door County residents and visitors a peek at the creative process through two staged readings, a dance presentation and the premiere of a commissioned film by Campbell Scott, an award-winning filmmaker and actor, best known for The Amazing Spiderman, Big Night and Longtime Companion.

A new play by award-winning Broadway playwright, Lydia Diamond, titled Toni Strong, will be workshopped and given a staged reading, and the founder/artistic director of Milwaukee-based Wild Space Dance Company, Deb Loewen, will develop and premiere a new work. Wild Space is known for site-specific works and artistic collaborations, taking audiences on adventures through built and natural landscapes, visual art and the human condition. 

The film portion of the festival will feature the world premiere of a newly commissioned short film by director/actor Scott, as well as two evenings of screenings of some of the world’s best short films. The two play readings will draw professional actors from both outside and within Door County.

Simonson, a Wisconsin native and part-time Door County resident, has a rich and varied career, including writing, directing and acting in Broadway plays, and directing for opera, film and television. The Door Kinetic Arts Festival is Simonson’s brainchild, offering performing artists the opportunity to come together, collaborate, develop projects, present work and exchange ideas in the process of developing new work.

Audiences will be encouraged to take part in discussions, seminars and classes with world-class artists. Performances will be open to the public June 14-18. Simonson, Clements, Diamond, Loewen and more than a dozen other artists will be in residence. Door County arts consultant and actor Alan Kopischke will serve as the festival executive director. For more information call 920.839.2216.