Board of Directors. I Want to Make Sure That There’S a Diversity Ourselves — We Live with Them for Long Periods of of Voices Being Published by DPS
ISSUE 16 DRAMATISTS PLAY SERVICE SPRING 2015 ROUND TABLE with JOHN PATRICK SHANLEY, Dramatists Play Service POLLY PEN, and LYNN NOTTAGE is very fortunate not just to publish and license the best BY PETER HAGAN, PRESIDENT American playwrights, but also to have four of them sit on our the publishing conversation. As a woman of always going to be slightly different from that of the color, I also see my role as one of advocacy; agents. Our plays are creative extensions of Board of Directors. I want to make sure that there’s a diversity ourselves — we live with them for long periods of of voices being published by DPS. time; we keep them close and protected until we release them into the world. The founding charter of the Play Service, back in As time has gone by, have you seen your Then we entrust our plays 1936, called for the Board to be split evenly position as a playwright member change? to others for safekeeping: between playwrights (all members of the initially agents, and eventually Dramatists Guild) and agents. Back then, the star John Patrick Shanley: When I first served on publishing companies like playwrights included Howard Lindsay, George the Board, I was skeptical and challenging DPS. For better or worse, Abbott, and Sidney Howard. Today our stars are and, frankly, young. But over time I morphed agents can approach the Donald Margulies, Polly Pen, Lynn Nottage, and from opponent to colleague. business of publishing with John Patrick Shanley, who have been members a certain level of objectivity of the board ranging from five years (Nottage) to PP: Ways of thinking about how theatrical and distance; however, it’s over 20 (Shanley).
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