Hitch A Ride With 50 Miles Away
Written by Holly Morse-Ellington & Jason Tinney
Holly Morse-Ellington
Kentucky born. World traveled. Good boots.
Holly received an Individual Artist Award in Playwriting from the Maryland State Arts Council in 2018. Her plays have received full productions with Manhattan Repertory Theatre (NYC), Potomac Playmakers (MD), Palace Theatre (MD), Pumpkin Theatre (MD), McCallie Theatre (TN), and Barking Legs Theater (TN). She’s also published her plays in literary magazines, including Brooklyn’s The Furious Gazelle.
She's published over 200 works of nonfiction in Creative Nonfiction, American Theatre, Baltimore Style, Loch Raven Review, Broad River Review, Flea Market Insiders, and CityScope, among others. Holly has been a storyteller for The Stoop: Storytelling Series at Baltimore’s CenterStage, New Mercury Reading Series at The Windup Space, and Deep Roots: Oklahoma Authors Oral History Project conducted by the Oklahoma State University Library. She was Assistant Director of Theatre at McCallie School and directed new works for The Muse of Fire Project.
Her passions include collecting pink depression glass (gobs of it!) and fiddling with her garden. There's always something new to grow!
Jason Tinney
Appalachian roots. Ditto on good boots.
Jason has performed in over 50 stage productions in New York, Baltimore, Chattanooga, and throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions. He was Assistant Director of Theatre at McCallie School and is an Artist In Residence at Barking Legs Theater.
His short story collection, Ripple Meets The Deep, was named Best Book by Baltimore Magazine in 2015. He is also the author of Louise Paris and Other Waltzes and Bluebird. In 2020, Jason was awarded Honorable Mention for the Barnett Prize for Local Distinguished Author by the Southern Lit Alliance.
Jason has published widely in magazines, including Maryland Life, Baltimore Magazine, Baltimore Style, Chesapeake Life, and The Washington Independent Review of Books. He won the International Regional Magazine Association’s Award of Merit in the category of Culture Feature for his article “The March,” a first-hand account of life on the front lines with American Civil War reenactors. His short story “Metropolis, Illinois” was awarded Honorable Mention in The Pulse Short Story Contest of 2018. His works have been anthologized in Out Of Tune: Stories About Music and republished in LitHub.
He can never have too many pairs of boots, broken in just right. Neighbors drop by to enjoy his legendary sweet tea and cheese grits.
About Us
CREATE. COLLABORATE. REPEAT.
Holly and Jason formed Next Exit Productions in 2023 as a production company devoted to developing new work. Together, they wrote the script, lyrics and music for 50 Miles Away, which was awarded First Place in the Frostburg Center for Literary Arts One-Act Festival in 2015. They've also co-written and produced Girl With Diamonds In Her Eyes (Pumpkin Theatre) and Let 'Em Play! (McCallie Theatre).
They collaborate with writers, musicians, actors and all-round creative people to produce new work. Next Exit was awarded an Artists Work grant by ArtsBuild to produce a play festival featuring emerging playwrights at Chattanooga Theatre Centre in 2024. As always, they have a blast making discoveries and giving new ideas a whirl.
