The 18th Anniversary National Black Theatre Festival™ in association with PowerPlay Company is elated to bring Stage, Film, Television Star, Award-Winning Playwright, and North Carolina Native, LOREY HAYES back to North Carolina to star in LIPSTICK, CHILLI, GRITS AND GRACE. Also starring in this original play is Marie Barrientos. Directed by Imani with a total of four performances, August 2, 2007 at both 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. and again on August 3, 2007 at 3:00 p.m. and closing at 8:00 p.m. at the Reynolda House Museum of American Art in their newly renovated Theater, 2250 Reynolda Road (Reynolda Village), Winston Salem, No. Carolina 21706. For Times, Tickets and Reservations, please contact NBTF office at 336-723-2266; FAX: 336-723-2223; Website: http://www.nbtf.org/. Tickets are $37.00.

LIPSTICK, CHILLI, GRITS AND GRACE is a riveting ride through the secret world of people who collide across time, age, and ethnic barriers. Featuring the writings of Gus Edwards, Lorey Hayes & others. A Funny, 90 minute journey, sometimes heart wrenching in which two actresses, one Black and one Hispanic allow you to glimpse of some forbidden lives. From Mavis, the Jamaican woman who discovers love and jazz through an illicit affair; Jahar, the gay man who falls into the Hudson River and is reborn; Clydee and Ms. Scranton, two modern day business women who handle “the business of business” with deadly seriousness to the hilarious antics of “Ten at The end.” The show was conceived by its stars, Lorey Hayes and Marie Barrientos and written by them with the help of their director Imani. Literary contributions to the script were made by such noted writers as Gus Edwards, Richard Carter and S. Pearl.

Lorey Hayes is a playwright and actress of screen, stage and television, having performed on and off Broadway and across the continent, and has starred on television and in many films including DREAMGIRLS (starring Beyonce, Eddie Murphy and Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson). With a desire to create vivid characters with substance and telling her own stories, Lorey began writing with fervor and her plays have been performed from Los Angeles to New York receiving critical acclaim and awards including the coveted Audelco award. Currently, a Screenwriting Fellow for the Bill Cosby/Guy Hanks Screenwriting Program at USC, Lorey continues to hone her writing skills. Excerpts from several of Lorey’s plays are currently being featured in the CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox Diversity Showcases. (See Biography below.) For Interviews, please contact Miss Hayes at (323) 363-0596.

Playwright/Actress, Lorey Hayes is an original member of the cast of “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enough” by Ntozake Shange and can be seen in the movie DREAM GIRLS, with Eddie Murphy and Beyonce,. She can currently be seen in THE MTV SERIES “SHORT CIRCUITZ” starring Nick Cannon. Ms. Hayes is a 2007 Bill Cosby Screenwriting Fellow for the Guy Hanks /Marvin Miller Program at USC. 5 Fellows are chosen from hundreds of applicants around the country for a special mentoring program with Hollywood ’s recognized Industry Professionals. Fellows conclude the program with a completed screenplay that is marketed to the Film Industry. Her newest play “THE DRAGONFLY TALE” co-written with Mr. Bobby Crear is a 2007 winner of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival’s Southern Writer’s Project and presented in the ASF May Festival.She has starred on and off Broadway, in England and numerous regional theaters throughout the country. She is a familiar face on television and has guest starred on several award-winning shows. She has starred in plays with such noted performers as Kevin Bacon, Samuel L. Jackson, Morgan Freeman, Jimmy Smits and Melba Moore. She played in London , England starring as Eunice Evers in Miss Ever’s Boys at the Royal Shakespeare Festival. Some television credits include: “Family Law”, “Judging Amy”, “ Chicago Hope”, “Sister, Sister”, “All My Children”, “Another World”, “Ryan’s Hope” and “The Doctors”.Ms. Hayes honed her writing skills in New York at The Negro Ensemble Company, Frank Silvera’s Writer’s Workshop, Roger Furman Theater, The Frederick Douglas Creative Arts Center and Los Angeles’ Mark Taper Forum. Her plays have received numerous productions and readings. Her play “Power Play” just closed a three month run at The Billie Holiday Theater in New York with outstanding reviews. The Lincoln Center Library has just given “Power Play” the honor of inclusion in their prestigious Bound Edition of “Highlights from the 2004-2005 New York Theater Season”. In its previous New York production (1996), “Power Play” won the coveted Audelco Award for Best play.For three consecutive years, Ms. Hayes’ plays have been chosen for the Los Angeles , California ’s Skirball Celebrity Reading Gala “Discovering New Voices”, to benefit Danny Glover’s Robey Theater. Excerpts from several plays are currently being featured in the CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox Diversity Showcases.She recently wrote and performed her one-woman show “Little Lorey’s Song” under the careful direction of London’s Irene Pinn, dramaturge credited with participating in the development of Lily Tomlin’s award-winning “In Search of Intelligent Life in the Universe”. Ms. Hayes is also an accomplished teaching artist adept at utilizing drama and writing to foster literacy and develop creative potential in various age ranges. She is skilled at inspiring students to write, direct and produce plays, events and assembly activities. Her program: THE MIND GYM, Writing from a Place of Passion, has helped first time and seasoned writers successfully produce award-winning, plays, books and short stories. For More About Lorey Hayes, visit her website: www.loreyhayes.com. Also Available at: www.myfirstchapter.com.