The Journal of the Dramatists Guild of America, Inc. The
the
ageissue 2016
NOV/DEC
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FrontCOVER.indd 1 10/5/16 12:57 PM To enroll, go to http://www.dginstitute.org
SEP/OCTJul/Aug DGI 16 ad.indd FrontCOVERs.indd 1 2 5/23/168/8/16 1:341:52 PM VOL. 19 No 2 TABLE OF NOV/DEC 2016 2 Editor’s Notes CONTENTS 3 Dear Dramatist 4 News 7 Inspiration – KIRSTEN CHILDS 8 The Craft – KAREN HARTMAN
10 Edward Albee 1928-2016
13 “Emerging” After 50 with NANCY GALL-CLAYTON, JOSH GERSHICK, BRUCE OLAV SOLHEIM, and TSEHAYE GERALYN HEBERT, moderated by AMY CRIDER. Sidebars by ANTHONY E. GALLO, PATRICIA WILMOT CHRISTGAU, and SHELDON FRIEDMAN
20 Kander and Pierce by MARC ACITO
28 Profile: Gary Garrison with CHISA HUTCHINSON, CHRISTINE TOY JOHNSON, and LARRY DEAN HARRIS
34 Writing for Young(er) Audiences with MICHAEL BOBBITT, LYDIA DIAMOND, ZINA GOLDRICH, and SARAH HAMMOND, moderated by ADAM GWON
40 A Primer on Literary Executors – Part One by ELLEN F. BROWN
44 James Houghton: A Tribute with JOHN GUARE, ADRIENNE KENNEDY, WILL ENO, NAOMI WALLACE, DAVID HENRY HWANG, The REGINA TAYLOR, and TONY KUSHNER Dramatistis the official journal of Dramatists Guild of America, the professional organization of 48 DG Fellows: RACHEL GRIFFIN, SYLVIA KHOURY playwrights, composers, lyricists and librettists. 54 National Reports It is the only 67 From the Desk of Dramatists Guild Fund by CHISA HUTCHINSON national magazine 68 From the Desk of Business Affairs by AMY VONVETT devoted to the business and craft 70 Dramatists Diary of writing for 75 New Members theatre. 77 Classifieds 80 Why I Joined The Guild by EMILY MANN
pp1 NOV-DEC ToC.indd 1 10/5/16 3:22 PM EDITOR’S NOTES
does not include our staff or Regional Dramatists Guild
WALTER KURTZ WALTER Representatives), 20% of whom were from outside New York. I’m proud of America to report that at the end of the 2016 subscription year, we’ve featured 168 unique writers, 48% of whom were from OFFICERS outside New York. A 140% increase! Doug Wright In this issue, “Emerging After President 50” (page 16), is our first—but not Peter Parnell last—roundtable comprised entirely Vice President of members residing outside New York. Lisa Kron ’m a late bloomer. My twelve-year It’s a conversation of five other “late Secretary bloomers,” all of whom began writing molars didn’t finish coming in until I Julia Jordan was almost seventeen, I didn’t lose my plays later in life. Treasurer virginity until I was 29, and after many The other thing I’ve noticed since years of freelance graphic design and turning 50 is that I’m increasingly more STAFF performing on stage, I found a new job I aware of the passing of time and how my Ralph Sevush I time is spent. Most of my professional Advisor to Council, loved: this one. An unexpected second Executive Director of Business Affairs act at 45. work life has been spent in the nonprofit sector, but only recently have I realized Tina Fallon That was five years ago, which makes Executive Director of Creative Affairs me 50 now—the young side of old or the why. Yes, I need to be paid but, for me, an important part of the remuneration for Caterina Bartha old side of young, depending on how you Director of Finance & Administration look at it. I have an AARP card, receding my time is being of service to others and David Faux gums, and dry eye syndrome but if the working for a cause I believe in. Associate Executive Director of Business Affairs lights are low and I’m on my back, I can How do you spend your time? How do you organize your time? Do you Tari Stratton still pass for 38. Director of Education & Outreach I’ve noticed that having a landmark find yourself, like me, wasting precious time yelling at your television, browsing Rebecca Stump birthday and work anniversary in the Director of Member Services same year has made me reflective. I Amazon, or Tweeting when you could be finishing a song, a monologue, your Deborah Murad remember my first day of work in 2011, Director of Business Affairs Gary Garrison told me that Council had editor’s notes? Here’s what I know: today, if I could, I Amy VonVett given a directive of making the Guild a Executive Assistant to Business Affairs more national organization. As such, The would take the time I’ve wasted just star- ing into my refrigerator and donate it to Zack Turner Dramatist should strive to more accurately Director of Marketing & Online Media reflect its membership. Edward Albee in the hopes that it would give him time to write one more play. Gary Garrison In the subscription year ending Director, DGI when I arrived (2011), The Dramatist JOEY featured 96 unique writers (this group Jennifer Bushinger [email protected] Database Manager, Chief Archivist CONTRIBUTORS Sheri Wilner Fellows Program Director MARC ACITO wrote the book of the LaMaMa Umbria residency. She’s had readings Nick Myers Broadway musical Allegiance, as well around the country, and hopes to have a full-length Office Manager as Chasing Rainbows (Goodspeed). work fully produced someday soon. She leads the Bekka Lindström His comedy Birds of a Feather won “Emerging” After 50 roundtable on page 15. Graphic Designer the Helen Hayes Award for Best New Play. He won the Ken Kesey Award ADAM GWON is an award-winning Jordan K. Stovall for his novel How I Paid for College, then adapted it composer and lyricist whose musicals Administrative Assistant as a one-man musical. Read his interview, Kander & include Ordinary Days, Cake Off, Sarah Rebell Pierce, on page 22. Cloudlands, The Boy Detective Fails, Part-time Receptionist and String. His songs have been AMY CRIDER got her BA in Theater performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Lily Dwoskin from Goddard College, but didn’t Center, the Kennedy Center, and more, by such Membership Intern return to theater for twenty-five luminaries as Audra McDonald, Kelli O’Hara, and Keri Gannon years. She’s taken the writing Brian d’Arcy James. He moderates the Writing for Business Affairs Intern & DLDF Intern program at Second City, classes Young(er) Audiences roundtable on page 36. at Chicago Dramatists, and the
2 | The Dramati
pp2-3 Ed Notes+Contrib.indd 2 10/5/16 12:58 PM DEAR DRAMATIST
Dramatists Guild of America
THE DRAMATIST Dear Joey Stocks Dramati¤, Editor Bekka Lindström n “Old Musical, New Li- Art Direction Dear Tari Stratton bretto,” Jeremy Desmon, Associate Editor Jon Marans and Craig Lucas Dramati¤, Mark Krause discuss the book of Sweeney Cartoonist Todd, with Mr. Lucas call- t has been brought to my Ron Amato, Walter Kurtz Contributing Photographers ing it a “masterpiece” that attention that I failed to A.E. Kieren, Dan Romer is “beautifully calibrated to move credit the playwright Chris- Contributing Illustrators Ithe story and the characters and the topher Bond for creating Penny Pun the play upon which the Publications Intern theme forward” and Mr. Marans chiming in, “What Hugh Wheeler musical Sweeney Todd was based. I apologize to Mr. Bond PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE did was remarkable. One of his great strengths is his deep understanding Iand the readers of The Dramatist Amanda Green Chair of structure.” for this oversight. It has also been Lynn Ahrens I bow to no one in my admiration suggested that I did not speak up Kirsten Childs appropriately to contradict a state- Daniel Goldfarb of Hugh, which is why I collaborated Adam Gwon on two shows with him (and the truly ment by another writer whose guess Tina Howe underappreciated book of his is A it was that Hugh Wheeler’s col- Quiara Alegría Hudes Little Night Music) and everything the laborators “didn’t truly appreciate Chisa Hutchinson his incredible knowledge of the Branden Jacobs-Jenkins panel says about him is true, except Christine Toy Johnson that the structure of Sweeney Todd subject” (structure). I apologize for David Kirshenbaum was invented and built by Christo- not coming to the defense of Mr. Michael Korie Wheeler’s songwriter colleagues, Deborah Zoe Laufer pher Bond (as the billing clearly Michele Lowe indicates), whom none of the group whom I did not mean to disrespect. Lin-Manuel Miranda bothers to mention. CRAIG LUCAS Lynn Nottage Jonathan Marc Sherman Mr. Marans goes on to say, “My Rebecca Stump guess is that even his collaborators ON THE COVER Zack Turner didn’t truly appreciate his incred- A.E. Kieren is a freelance illustrator, Amy VonVett ible knowledge of the subject.” His writer, and performer. He holds a BFA in Illustration from College guess is not only condescending, for Creative Studies in Detroit, MI POLICY STATEMENT but wrong. He apparently thinks that and an MFA in Illustration as Visual The Dramatists Guild from time to time provides opportunities for its Essay from School of Visual Arts in members to publish letters or articles of interest to playwrights and the songwriters merely supply tinkly general theatrical community. However, the Guild does not necessarily New York City. Mr. Kieren is the artist in residence endorse the positions taken or the views expressed in such contribu- tunes with cute rhymes at the places for the Refinery Hotel in midtown Manhattan and tions. All such contributions are subject to editing by the Guild. where the librettist instructs them has done on-location illustration for various music The Dramatist (ISSN 1551-7683) is published bimonthly, six times per year, by and theatre venues in New York City including Joe’s The Dramatists Guild of America, Inc., 1501 Broadway, Suite 701, New York, NY to. My guess is that, with experi- Pub, Sleep No More/ The McKittrick Hotel, Dixon 10036-5505. For subscriptions, call (212) 398-9366. Application to mail Periodi- cals postage rates is paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing offices. Annual ence, he will come to understand Place, and Rockwood Music Hall. Mr. Kieren has membership dues of $90 include $30 for a one-year subscription to The Dramatist. what a collaboration is. many ambitions, including editorial illustration for POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Dramatist, The Dramatists Guild of magazines, book covers, theatre posters, wine America, Inc., 1501 Broadway, Suite 701, New York, NY 10036-5505. Yours truly, labels, and to continue to live-illustrate for music, Printed by Spectra Print Corporation STEPHEN SONDHEIM drama, dance, and fashion. © 2016, The Dramatists Guild of America Inc. All rights reserved.
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pp2-3 Ed Notes+Contrib.indd 3 10/5/16 12:58 PM NEWS
Dramatists Guild of America
DG COUNCIL Lee Adams Lynn Ahrens Kristen Anderson-Lopez David Auburn Susan Birkenhead Craig Carnelia Kirsten Childs Kia Corthron Gretchen Cryer Christopher Durang Jules Feiffer William Finn Stephen Flaherty Maria Irene Fornes Rebecca Gilman Daniel Goldfarb Micki Grant Amanda Green John Guare Carol Hall Sheldon Harnick Mark Hollmann Tina Howe Quiara Alegría Hudes Kennedy Named A Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Christine Toy Johnson Julia Jordan Hutchins Family Fellow John Kander Arthur Kopit Michael Korie Cambridge, MA – Guild member ADRI- exchange of ideas. It seeks to stimulate Lisa Kron ENNE KENNEDY has been named the scholarly engagement in African and Afri- Tony Kushner second (non-resident) Hutchins Family can American studies both at Harvard and James Lapine Warren Leight Fellow at the Du Bois Research Institute beyond, and to increase public awareness Mike Lew for the 2016-17 academic year. Her project and understanding of this vital field of David Lindsay-Abaire is titled Discovering What A Writer is: Ex- study. As the preeminent research center in Andrew Lippa Robert Lopez ploration of 1929 Atlanta University Scrap- the field, the Hutchins Center sponsors vis- Emily Mann book of my mother Etta Hawkins. iting fellows, art exhibitions, publications, Donald Margulies The Hutchins Center for African & Afri- research projects, archives, readings, con- Terrence McNally Thomas Meehan can American Research supports research ferences, and new media initiatives that re- Alan Menken on the history and culture of people of Afri- spond to and excite interest in established Lin-Manuel Miranda can descent all over the world and provides and emerging channels of inquiry in African Marsha Norman Lynn Nottage a forum for collaboration and the ongoing and African American research. Peter Parnell Austin Pendleton Theresa Rebeck Jonathan Reynolds Robert Schenkkan Winners of The Dresser DVD Stephen Schwartz New York, NY – We had two winners in our History Issue trivia contest. Bradley John Patrick Shanley Beckman was the first correct answer to the following question in the September/ David Shire October 2016 issue: “Who was the illustrator of The Dramatists Guild Quarterly?” Stephen Sondheim Lloyd Suh The answer is Tom Funk. And Abigail Taylor-Sansom was the first correct answer Jeffrey Sweet to our Twitter trivia question: “Which two plays led to the formation of the Alfred Uhry Provincetown Players?” The answer is Constancy and Suppressed Desires. John Weidman Michael Weller Each winner received a DVD of the BBC production of the STARZ Original George C. Wolfe movie, The Dresser, by Ronald Harwood from Anchor Bay Entertainment and Digi- Charlayne Woodard tal HD from Starz Digital. Doug Wright Maury Yeston
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Dramatists Guild of America Tina Fallon Is The Guild’s New DG REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVES Executive Director Suze Allen Gab Cody Mary Conroy of Creative Affairs Cheryl Coons Allyson Currin New York, NY – The Guild is pleased to Dewey Davis-Thompson announce Tina Fallon as its new Executive Charlene Donaghy Director of Creative Affairs. She succeeds William R. Duell Gary Garrison, who recently retired from Brent Englar Rob Florence the position after a ten-year tenure. Nancy Gall-Clayton Guild President Doug Wright says, “It’s Josh Gershick a bittersweet time at the Guild; we’re say- Jacqueline Goldfinger ing a very fond and heartfelt “farewell” to Anita Gonzalez Gary Garrison as our exemplary Executive Josh Hartwell Primary Stages, WPA, New Georges, the Laurie Flanigan Hegge Director of Creative Affairs. In the same Kitchen, La MaMa, the Ontological-Hys- Donna Hoke breath, we are very pleased to welcome teric Theater, the Theatorium, Galapagos Julie Jensen the dynamic, inventive Tina Fallon to his Art Space and more. Stephen Kaplan post. Tina promises to continue Gary’s In London, Ms. Fallon co-created The Duane Kelly remarkable work, and make thrilling new Andy Landis 24 Hour Plays: Old Vic/New Voices, an Michael McKeever contributions to better the lives and work education and early career development Francesca Piantadosi of Dramatists Guild members.” program for emerging artists. Filmmaker Sheila Rinear Fallon is a New York-based producer, Chris Terrill chronicled the process in a Kim Stinson arts advocate, and the founding producer 2005 documentary, Extreme Theatre. Aoise Stratford of The 24 Hour Plays. David Todd She teamed with The New School Pamela Turner Since 1995, Ms. Fallon and The 24 for Drama to bring the program to New Teresa Coleman Wash Hour Company have produced The 24 York, through its outreach to high schools, Hartley Wright Hour Plays and The 24 Hour Musicals, conservatories, colleges and universities, often as charity benefits for The Old Vic, DRAMATISTS GUILD FUND The 24 Hour Plays: Nationals now reaches Atlantic Theater Company, Urban Arts thousands of students each year. Ms. Fal- Andrew Lippa President Partnership, Dublin Youth Theatre, The lon has led workshops for Q-teatteri, Teat- Carol Hall Orchard Project, The William Inge Festival, teri Takomo and Helsinki Theatre Academy Vice President and Finland’s Teatterifestivaali Lainsuo- in Finland, Old Vic/New Voices in London, Kevin Hager jattomat, among others. The 24 Hour Plays and Urban Arts Partnership in New York. Secretary on Broadway is now in its sixteenth year. Fallon is on the advisory boards of The Susan Laubach As a young producer in Los Angeles, New School for Drama and Cora Dance. Treasurer Ms. Fallon worked with Theatre 40, She has been a presenter at the Kennedy Rachel Routh FreightTrain Shakespeare, and the L.A. Executive Director Center American College Theater Festival Rep. She returned to New York and co- and The Association for Theatre in Higher Seth Cotterman Director of Marketing & Outreach founded Crux Productions. As a director, Education, a judge for the KCACTF Irene Ms. Fallon led the first workshop produc- Tessa Raden Ryan Awards, and a panelist for The Kevin Program Coordinator tion of Will Eno’s Tragedy: a tragedy and Spacey Foundation Artists of Choice. Jamie Balsai the world premiere of Linell Ajello’s Lonely She received a Lilly Award for Grace Development Coordinator Comet at the Ohio Theater’s Ice Fac- Under Pressure in 2011, and was named Sean Doolittle, Allison Gold, Chase Fretwell tory Festival. She produced independent one of New York Moves Power Women Interns film, television, and commercials. As a of 2005. Her work has been profiled in scenic carpenter, technical director and The New York Times, Paper, and American The Dramatist is funded in part with major production manager, she spent years in Theatre. She is a graduate of Lang College support from the John Logan Foundation, the trenches—sometimes literally off and and lives with her family in Brooklyn and through a grant from the Dramatists Guild off-off-Broadway, working for the Atlantic, Fund. Greenport.
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IN MEMORIAM Maazel Wins 2016 DALE ANDERSEN ...... 5/27/05 ...... Ladera Ranch, CA International MUT ROGER CORNISH ...... 1/17/92 ...... Philadelphia, PA ERVIN DRAKE ...... 11/2/59 ...... Great Neck, NY Competition JAMES DURST ...... 7/29/10 ...... Princeton, NJ Munich, Germany – On July 23, 2016, MARTHA A. FUENTES...... 6/29/70 ...... Tampa, FL Guild member ILANN M. MAAZEL was awarded the Jury Prize and €5,000 SAMUEL GOLDSMAN ...... 3/19/81 ...... Liverpool, NY in the 2016 International MUT Com- MARILYN A. HATCH ...... 1/11/85 ...... Ridgefield, CT petition for Musical Entertainment The- VIRGINIA B. KELLY ...... 1/18/89 ...... Manhattan Beach, CA atre Author’s Competition organized CONNELL J. MAGUIRE ...... 11/30/77 ...... Milwaukee, WI by the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz. SUSAN B. REINHARD ...... 12/12/96 ...... Montclair, NJ Maazel won for his musical Believe Me, EDWARD ROBAK ...... 7/13/82 ...... Los Angeles, CA for which he wrote the book, music, and lyrics. Six finalists were selected from blind submissions by an interna- Correction DURANG NAMED tional jury of specialists, made up of The photos of Danai Gurira and Nikkole Salter artistic directors, dramaturgy experts, on pages 26 and 27 of the 2016 Season In INGRAM NEW WORKS publishers and famous authors from the Review issue of The Dramatist are from the FELLOW German and international music theatre Primary Stages production of In The Continuum scene. which toured to Yale. Our apologies for not Nashville, TN – Nashville Repertory acknowledging Primary Stages Theatre announced that DG Council member CHRISTOPHER DURANG will join the Ingram New Works Project as the The 2016 Edgerton Foundation Ingram New Works New Play Awards Announced Playwriting Fellow New York, NY – Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the 2016-17 for theatre, announced the recipients of the first round of the 2016 Edgerton Founda- season. tion New Play Awards. The awards, totaling $580,000, allow fifteen productions ex- This project tra time in the development and rehearsal of new plays with the entire creative team, culminates in the helping to extend the life of the play after its first run. Two more rounds of recipients Ingram New Works will be announced later this year. Festival, a celebra- 2016 Edgerton Foundation New Play Awards were presented to the following pro- tion of all five new ductions by Guild members: The Prom, book by CHAD BEGUELIN and BOB MAR- plays fostered in TIN, lyrics by CHAD BEGUELIN, music by MATTHEW SKLAR, Alliance Theatre; the program that Way of the World by THERESA REBECK, Dorset Theatre Festival;The Fundamentals by season. The plays are performed as staged ERIKA SHEFFER, Steppenwolf Theatre Company; Queen by MADHURI SHEKAR, readings with professional Nashville actors Victory Gardens Theater; Cost of Living by MARTYNA MAJOK, Williamstown Theatre and are an opportunity for Nashville audi- Festival; Romance Novels for Dummies by BOO KILLEBREW, Williamstown Theatre ences to be a part of this exciting process. Festival; Poster Boy by CRAIG CARNELIA and Joe Tracz, Williamstown Theatre Festi- This season’s festival is slated to run May val; and Scenes from Court Life (or The Whipping Boy and his Prince) by SARAH RUHL, 10-20, 2017. Yale Repertory Theatre. Past Fellowship recipients include TCG Member Theatres with a strong and consistent track record of producing new DAVID AUBURN, JOHN PATRICK work are invited by the foundation to submit letters of inquiry to plays@edgerton- SHANLEY, THERESA REBECK, DOUG foundation.org. A panel of readers reviews the plays and one-time grants ranging from WRIGHT, DONALD MARGULIES, and $5,000 to $75,000 are awarded. REBECCA GILMAN. The Edgerton Foundation New Plays Program, directed by Brad and Louise Edg- The Ingram New Works Project is a lo- erton, was piloted in 2006 with the Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles by offering cally valued and nationally recognized new two musicals in development an extended rehearsal period for the entire creative play development program that cultivates team, including the playwrights. The Edgertons launched the program nationally in and amplifies new voices for the stage and 2007 and have supported 297 plays to date at over 50 different Art Theatres across expands the creative capacity of Nashville the country. The Edgerton Foundation received the 2011 TCG National Funder Award by connecting artists and audiences across in June in Los Angeles. extraordinary new works. 6 | The Dramati
pp4-7 FrontMatter.indd 6 10/5/16 12:58 PM INSPIRATION
BY KIRSTEN CHILDS Distant Thoughts, 2002, Oil on Canvas, 36” x48” © Jonathan Green – Private Collection The Art of Jonathan Green hen I was an undergrad student, I worked at the offices of the Board of Education in West Los Angeles. A jovial black woman at my job—the kind that you could love or KIRSTEN CHILDS’ work has W been produced in New York hate depending on how much you minded a person with a heart of gold and an incapability at Playwrights Horizons (The of understanding the meaning of the word “boundaries,” once squinted at me and said, Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her “You got Geechee in you, doncha?” I had no idea what the word meant, and when I asked Chameleon Skin, Obie, Kleban, my mother (my light-skinned mother whose maternal line was from South Carolina), her Richard Rodgers, Larson lips tightened and she replied, “People want you to be everything but what you are, which awards) and The Vineyard is black.” To this day, I don’t quite understand what the subtext was that my mother heard Theatre (Miracle Brothers). She in that woman’s question, but when I look at Jonathan Green’s paintings of the Gullah (or has written shows for Disney Geechee) people of South Carolina, somehow I see the mystery and strength and resolve and Theatricals, songs for PBS’s fragility and pain and quiet beauty that was my mother’s. New Electric Company and is currently working with director Robert O’Hara on her new “Funkin’ For Jamaica” by Tom Browne musical Bella: An American he only way I can explain exactly how funky this is, is to say: Jamaica funk. That’s what it Tall Tale premiering this fall Tis. Listen to it here: https://youtu.be/QB5jk2ZbkoM at Dallas Theater Center with a New York premiere at “Orpheus” by Jean Delville Playwrights Horizons in Spring saw this painting at the Louvre, in an exhibit of Belgian Symbolists and Surrealists when I 2017. Iwas a student at the Sorbonne. It was gigantic, and the light on Orpheus’s face was so bright and hypnotic, it felt as if it were pulling me into the painting, to go swirling down the river with him. Never before or since has a piece of visual art had such a physical effect on me. v m r/D c m r 2016 | 7
pp4-7 FrontMatter.indd 7 10/5/16 12:59 PM THE CRAFT
Once you have anKaren idea, how do you I prefer to write in the mornings, but in flow.” Often the initial impulse will not Qproceed? Do you takeHartman notes? Do you AI take what I can get. Since my son sustain a whole play, so I’m repeatedly outline? Do you plunge right in? was born nine years ago I’ve gotten less getting stuck, digging and expanding. picky about writing time. I write regularly, I continue freewriting—in that I make a Word file called “[working I just don’t have the same superstitions “thoughts” file—ideas for how the story Atitle] thoughts” and I freewrite into I used to (although truth be told, when might go, or questions for or about the this file for as long as I’m working on the I have an opportunity to write in the characters (“for” meaning I interview project—this might be daily or it might morning before speaking to another the characters). I make inventories of be whenever I get a chance to work on human, it’s golden). I choose to believe what I know and don’t know. Sometimes this particular idea. Those thoughts raise my process isn’t too fragile. I write plot points on index cards and questions that lead to research. I prefer I do begin most work sessions with fif- put them on the wall in a horizontal line. actual physical books because I can mark teen minutes of quick writing about what- Then above and below that storyline I pages with post-its and go back and forth ever is on my mind, a modification of Julia place other cards with moral questions, between the reading and the writing, and Cameron’s “morning pages” in The Artist’s or images, or character secrets, or other also I like the space they take up on the Way. It helps shuck off some of the daily non-linear pieces of knowledge I’m gath- shelf. Books work in a more associative crap. In a retreat situation, these fifteen ering. I was happy when I figured out this inspirational way for me than online minutes jump right into dialogue, like the “vertical” and “horizontal” axis business, research, though of course I do that too. world is already far away. I love that. as a way to mark progress without reduc- During the freewriting in the ing to a summary. I don’t always do it, but “thoughts” file, dialogue usually comes, When you begin a first draft, do you I teach it. sometimes a few lines, sometimes a few In the last five years I’ve opened a doc- pages. It might show up very early, in the Qwrite straight through? Do you write in order? What’s your process? umentary vein, which means I do things first fifteen minutes on the first day, or like read 1000 pages of newlywed letters it might take months. Once dialogue I write in order. Once in a while from 1945, or sit in on a monthly court for comes, I go back and forth between the Athere is a snippet of something that I a year, or ride around with firefighters in thoughts file, and dialogue. If I’m lucky, save for later in the play, but I’m a believer New Haven. I like beginner’s mind, I like those first bits of dialogue will be some in spending it now (story, plot, emotion), not knowing how the process will work, I opening scenes in order, or they may just because if you spend it now you will have like a challenge. be fragments that open the world. to dig deeper later. Sometimes by scene two I’ve reached what I thought would Once you’re at work, are there other Do you have a routine? A regular be the climactic event, which is great Qart forms you go to for continued Qtime when you write? because then there is more of a ride. inspiration? But in order doesn’t mean “smoothly 8 | The Dramati
pp8-9 Craft.indd 8 10/5/16 12:59 PM I read, including fiction that seems need to deepen the play but I don’t know Some of the work I’m doing now has Aemotionally tied to the story. I how, I call that state “awaiting further a hybrid documentary component, so gather portraits (photographs) of people wisdom.” I am awaiting further wisdom there is a sense of channeling another who could be the characters in the play. on a play right now. That is a time to pivot person who is actually another person, not I learned this from Ming Cho Lee’s set to other activities or other work, take a a scaled-up aspect of myself. For Project design course. It’s strangely useful. break. Most of us can write 1000 words Dawn, in which seven actresses portray I usually choose an album and listen in a morning, and yet an 18,000-word play fourteen staff members and participants to it again and again the whole time I am takes a year or more. Stuck is just math. in a Philadelphia prostitution court, I writing a particular play. I’m less consis- spent weeks piecing together interviews tent about that now that I’m in musical Do you have any thoughts or advice and thoughts and questions to “make” limbo – like, album? about dialogue? each person. There is more assembly I understand this question. I love the Q required. idea of walking to a museum and gather- Cut. Two brilliant tricks about ing inspiration and I have done it and it Acutting I learned early: How extensively do you rewrite, works! But a more direct approach, for From Marlane Meyer: When you write a Qand is that mostly before or during me, works better. line that is more than one sentence long, rehearsal? but not a monologue (meaning it doesn’t What aspect of the craft is most dif- take a journey) you are writing multiple I tinker and hone extensively but the ficult for you? sentences because you seek one perfect Ashape usually holds. I rarely make a Q sentence. Cut it to one imperfect sen- huge change like throwing out a character 1) Story. Story is hard. I used to say tence, to train yourself to find the perfect or scene. AI was bad at story but now I will just sentence. I log a lot of time processing exposi- say story takes me a long time to get right. From Eric Overmyer: Cut everything tion. It feels like half the hours I have 2) Emotion. I am at home with heavy in which a character questions the cir- spent on Roz and Ray, a medical drama, subjects (currently: pediatric AIDS, cumstances or misunderstands another have been reworking a couple pages in the Holocaust, street prostitution, and character, i.e.: “What are we doing here?” which two people in 1979 casually discuss Gaza—I am the WORST PERSON to “Why are you asking me that?” “What a new blood product. They must maintain answer “so what do you write about”) but do you mean, purple?” This is difficult a precise level of ignorance while convey- I do get sad. I cry when I write, not like because that cloggy way of speaking is ing a precise amount of information, and a tear in the eye but huge blubbery sobs so natural, and such lines can seem to be it’s a pain. which can easily slip from raw connection crucial to a rhythm but #1 these lines are My intention is to do everything to a more bystander-like despair. I’ve just you stalling or questioning yourself, before rehearsal but, inevitably, there is discovered that whatever will help me and #2 they train the audience not to pay more work to do. I don’t have a perfect surface is probably what the audience attention. ear. Maybe one day. needs too. The cloudbreak might be Combined, these are magic. comedy or sex, anything to lure me back What’s the most important craft to work and lure you back into the story. Do you have any particular principles Qadvice you can give? So calibrating emotion is part of the craft. Qor practices about character or char- acter development? Plays are dense. You can and should What do you do when you get stuck? Aget more in there than you think. Character is intuitive for me. I’m The goal of cutting is not brevity, but a Q Adrawn to idealistic, messy people coiled compression. What seems to be I’m jealous of writers who clean doing the wrong things for the right your idea for a play is probably either an Awhen they get stuck. That would be reasons; I don’t have much use for villains idea for a short play, or the beginning of so great. My house would be so clean. or schemers. an idea for a full-length play. Usually stuck means procrastinating, I’m in an evolving process around Or: Turn off the internet and set a which means fear. I do what everyone character and race. I’ve always worked timer for 45 minutes. does which is to spend too much time on with actors from all backgrounds, but the internet. Once shame overrides the that’s not the same as writing across race KAREN HARTMAN has four productions of three fear I turn off the internet and set a timer. in a contemporary realm. Intuition has world premieres this season: Roz and Ray at Seattle Rep I write without stopping, into a new file its limits, in that case. There is more re- and Victory Gardens, The Book of Joseph at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, and Project Dawn at People’s so I don’t feel like I’m polluting the play. search. And although I don’t like being Light. She is Senior Artist in Residence at University of If it’s a more profound stuck, like the rewritten by actors, I have a little more Washington, Seattle. work was going well but now there’s a humility when the actor shares the race of dead end, or my story plan feels fake, or I a character and I don’t. v m r/D c m r 2016 | 9
pp8-9 Craft.indd 9 10/5/16 12:59 PM WALTER KURTZ WALTER As this issue was going to press, Edward Albee died at the The Plight age of 88 at his home in Montauk, NY. A staunch advocate for the Guild and authorial rights, he of the joined in 1960 and became a Council Member in 1965 where Playwright he remained active until his death. Here, we reprint Edward’s comments in “Playwrights on by Edward Playwriting” from the Summer 1972 issue of The Dramatists Guild Quarterly. It was an Albee excerpt edited for print from his he only thing that need comments during a discussion concern us, I think, is to re- on “The Plight of the Playwright” member that the playwright is a creative artist and that sponsored by the Eugene O’Neill playwriting is an art form. Memorial Foundation, moderated What should a playwright by David E. LeVine. expect from his art form? Playwriting is an attempt to His words to us seem as timely communicate a sense of one’s today as they did 44 years ago. time, a sense of one’s self to other people who are interested in being communicated with. But let me be aT devil’s advocate against myself: we all enjoy commer- cial success in the theatre, but that’s quite a different matter from being able to make a living by one’s craft. The fact that the mean average income in the United States has gone up to about $4K or $5K a year does suggest to me that playwrights can indeed make at least a mean income, living even in a capitalist society.
1928-2016
10 | The Dramati pp10-19 Features AEdward & B.indd 10 10/5/16 1:00 PM ALBEE WALTER KURTZ WALTER
v m r/D c m r 2016 | 11 EdwardALBEEpp10-19 Features A & B.indd 11 10/5/16 1:00 PM “Emerging” Most of us, of course, are interested in the $5K or ours is a movie tradition, which became a television even $10K a week which is far above the mean income. tradition. It’s not something we’ve lost, it’s something The plight of the playwright is double then, is it not? we never had, and if we are going to have one we must What does he want? Will he be satisfied with being develop one-but I don’t think we can do it with our able to communicate the sense of himself, the sense commercial concepts and standards of excellence of his environment, to those who are willing to expose and success. Today’s high cost levels in the commer- themselves to essential truths, or is it more important cial theatre create a totally false standard of what is for him to get the brass ring on the merry-go-round, to excellence, and also of what is necessary to create a make it big? theatre culture-totally false primarily, it seems to me, The most important thing for the playwright is because we don’t have a theatre tradition to measure to know whether or not he’s got somewhere in the by and never had it. world a group of people who care enough about them- When I go to universities to lecture, I’m always fas- selves—care enough about their awareness of them- cinated to see how comfortingly involved with serious selves—to pay serious attention. Without this, no art theatre the young people are. They care a great deal form can survive. Possibly the greatest dilemma for the about what’s happening, and they are not only willing serious playwright is that the United States is swinging but eager to listen. They are much more interested in to a point where it doesn’t want to be told any truths Beckett, in Ionesco, in Pinter than in the commercial about itself, doesn’t want to be taken into a further theatre. But I am even more interested in what hap- awareness of itself, it merely wants to escape from the pens to the majority of these people when they are reality of itself. If there is a playwright’s plight as an art- ten years out of college. They don’t particularly care ist in the United States, it is a simple matter of wheth- about the serious theatre any more, they are starting er or not he’s given the opportunity to communicate to use the theatre primarily as a servant, they want the with anybody. Beyond that, it seems to me, the brass theatre to tell them what they want to hear rather than ring or the dross of critical acceptance—given the gen- what they should know about themselves. I have asked eral standard of criticism in the United States—are not the people at the colleges why this happens, and I have particularly important. never received a useful answer. I’m not sure that there The serious artist must be able to communicate, is an answer. Conceivably, something could be done for his own self-respect. That doesn’t mean that he has to keep people who are young enough to have not yet to be able to communicate with half the people in the decided that they control the theatre, to keep them country, but if a society becomes so corrupt that it is going in the direction they started. But I don’t know totally unwilling to listen, then none of the arts can what it is, and I’m not sure that it is the playwright’s possibly survive. responsibility. One thing we tend to forget is that we don’t have a living-theatre tradition in this country as they do in Europe. Whatever tradition exists here is a kind of The September/October 2017 issue of The Dramatist vaudeville tradition dating back to 1900; otherwise, will be a tribute to Edward Albee.
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pp10-19 Features A & B.indd 12 10/5/16 1:00 PM “Emerging” n August 23, AFTER 2016, five Guild members—all over 50— gatheredO in a teleconference to discuss becoming playwrights later in life. The conversation was led by Amy Crider (Chicago, IL), who wrote her first play at 47. The panel included Nancy Gall-Clayton (Jeffersonville, IN) who wrote her with first play at 50, Josh Gershick (Los 50Nancy Gall-Clayton Angeles, CA) whose first play was Josh Gershick written at 41, Bruce Olav Solheim Bruce Olav Solheim & (Glendora, CA) who began his first Tsehaye Geralyn Hébert play at 50, and Tsehaye Geralyn moderated by Hébert (Chicago, IL) whose MFA Amy Crider came after AARP. ILLUSTRATIONS BY A.E. KIEREN
A C: I belong to Chicago Dramatists where own goals. Yes, a lot of people have MFAs and certain I’m a network playwright. And I’ve noticed that many competitions may not be worth entering. But there are of the network playwrights there are of retirement age. many other opportunities that are open to anybody. So often we think of a starting-out-playwright as some- one who’s just gotten their MFA. So I wanted to talk to B O S: I feel the same way. I don’t re- some others who, like me, are older starting out, and ally feel a competition. I feel a camaraderie. And I like possibly don’t have an MFA. that. The first thing I learned about theatre was how Do you feel it’s harder to compete with these young communal it was. And I think that’s among writers too. writers who might be fresh out of getting an MFA? And I don’t have an MFA. I have a PhD in history, which I think is pretty good preparation. But, to me, I think N G-C: I don’t really feel like I’m it is just such a communal thing that I don’t really feel competing with anybody except myself. I have my that competition. I’ve been lucky that I’ve been able to
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pp10-19 Features A & B.indd 13 10/5/16 1:00 PM I don’t really feel fidence comes] with the sturdiness of age.[Laughs.] But I think our legs are a little sturdier. We’ve been around like I’m competing the block a few times and that allows the stories we tell to come from a different foundation. Was it intimidat- with anybody ing being in the classroom with twenty-year olds, after I got my AARP card? Yes. I also ran into students that I except myself. taught in high school. – NANCY GALL-CLAYTON But I think it was wonderful to show them that you can always come back into the classroom. Itcan be a have something that was so important to me performed little intimidating. You have to rethink the classroom on the stage. That took a community to accomplish. I dynamics. Issues around age, race, all of that comes up. agree with you. How we maneuver through that I think is critical.
T G H: I think there’s camaraderie J G: I don’t feel competitive with other and there’s “healthy” competition. I’m not sure if [con- writers, per se, because I think we all have the same
I am now a full time playwright, not a I have met so retiree writing plays as a hobby. As an many more peo- economist I worked eight hours a day, ple, suffered so Anthony and another eight hours in historic many other set- renovations. As a playwright, I work backs, and seen twenty-four hours a day-in my thoughts, so much more. E. Gallo in my dreams, in my relationships, and Do I feel dis- ge helps. I am now 77 years old. in my conversations. And then to the crimination and Eighty is around the corner. computer. And I love it, and will write imbalance because of my age? No, I do When I approached age 60, until I drop. not. The adage “The theater is an evil A Age plays an important part in my mother” applies to all regardless of so- I decided that I wanted to do something different for the last third (well maybe) writing today. I tried this craft in my ciodemographics. There are so few the- of my life after being a well-published thirties, and my efforts failed. Now, be- atre companies relative to the number Federal economist and historic preser- cause of the perspective I have gained, of plays written each year. Therefore, I vation builder for a third of a century. my approach is fresh. I didn’t feel I immediately turned to self-production After much introspection, I decided had anything to say then. My reason as advocated by Gary Garrison. The to go into religion, but realized that for writing plays was that I wanted to Seventh Street Playhouse has produced pulpit duty would not be my forte. I be a playwright. This approach did not my plays, either as production or staged would become a Judeo-Christian play- work. At thirty-five, a year of hard work reading nearly 150 times in over forty wright on the caveat that there are a produced a wretched half of a scene. I venues. I have gone from being a play- million roads to God and hope that I abruptly resigned from the profession wright to also being a producer and di- am on a right one. My plays would not one day, with promises never to return rector. My web site now averages about be Sunday School dramas and, in fact, again. Therefore, there should always fifty thousand visits a year. often appear negative on religion. All be hope for younger playwrights who my plays and musicals are written for feel the need for a break and returning ANTHONY E. GALLO is a playwright, screen- general audiences. Agnostics and athe- to playwriting someday when the inspi- writer, librettist, and lyricist whose twenty-one ists more than welcome. Also, my plays ration may return. full-length dramas include Margherita, Eugenio, are more about sinners than saints. The The years have taught me some Vandergrift!, Lincoln and God, and The Eaton former make for more interesting char- humility. Age also gives you a greater Woman. Excerpts from his four musicals were acters and plots than the latter. understanding of human behavior and performed at the Kennedy Center Page-to-Stage I had to begin from scratch, earning human interaction, and thus can fa- Festival this year. His plays have been performed the equivalent of 120 hours of playwrit- cilitate the understanding of conflict nearly 150 times in nearly forty venues. Web page: ing, theater, drama and related courses. within your characters. I feel that I http://Aegallo.com have more to say than ever because
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pp10-19 Features A & B.indd 14 10/5/16 1:00 PM challenges facing the blank page. But I will say that I collective. In short, I look for every possible opportu- feel challenged. I think the marketplace is geared toward nity to work with other people and learn from them and younger writers. Even the language we use: “Emerging share with them. writers.” At what point are you emerging? When have you emerged? It seems time-sensitive, to emerge. Is T G H: I agree. Trying to figure my there an expiration date to that?[Laughter.] way around some of these issues, I decided to do an in- And a lot of the internships, externships, scholar- ternship during my final semester. I called up Looking- ship opportunities, mentoring opportunities are geared glass Theatre: “Hi, can I be an intern?” And then I show toward younger writers. The truth of it is, I’m 57 and I up. [laughing] (They knew my age.) need just as much mentoring today as I did in the day. It was one of the best experiences that I had, be- Now, I don’t need so much coaching in terms of the cause I got a chance—in advance of winning the [2015 tools of the work. But I do still need an “Attaboy,” and Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting I still need a group of others to share my experience, Competition]—to be in a different kind of a profes- strength and hope with, and hear your perspective. I sional theater space and get my wings a little bit before don’t know what would happen if I went to Jane An- I went on. It took a lot of self-talk to call the theater derson and said, “Would you mentor me? I do have an company up and say, “Hey, I would like to finish my AARP card, but would you mentor me?”[Laughter.] final semester with you guys.” I was very pleased at the I’m not the young, rising star. I’m actually not cer- outcome. tain I’m a star or rising. I definitely know I’m not young. Like you, Nancy, I go to conferences. I also work But I do still need a community. I started playwriting with a writers’ group, Black Box/White Page, which is at 41. I went back to school for another MFA after a also multi-genre, multigenerational. I learned quite a career as a newspaper reporter and editor, and a media bit by working within and also without the discipline. I relations person after that. And so the people in my have a history as an interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary graduate class were younger; I didn’t feel at a disadvan- artist, so I look at my education as ongoing. tage scholastically because I felt the experience that I don’t think I can sit back and say, “Oh, I know how I brought to the classroom was so much greater than to write a play.” I’m learning how to do that every day. the twenty-somethings. It was just after, in the market- place, that I found making my way more challenging. B O S: I think these
A C: I think to continue a point you brought I don’t really feel a up then, how do we continue to educate ourselves at this point? Are you in a writer’s group? I take classes at competition. I feel Chicago Dramatists and I do have someone that I think a camaraderie. of as a mentor. She’s somewhat younger than I am, but she is certainly experienced enough. So how are you – BRUCE OLAV SOLHEIM continuing to educate yourselves in playwriting? are really wonderful responses and N G-C: I look for opportunities for very inspirational. I’ve been teaching history for a long conferences: the Guild Conference in La Jolla in 2015, time, and I guess maybe there was a playwright inside Sewanee Writers’ Conference, Southeastern The- of me and I didn’t know it. I mean, when I think back, atre Conference. When I started writing around age it makes sense now. My mother took me to seeAida 50—I’m 70 now—I attended the Iowa Summer Writing at the Seattle Opera in 1968. That left an impression Workshop and studied with Jeff Sweet and Kate As- on me. I’d done a lot of writing, published books, but pengren. And I read voraciously, both plays and books they were all history. Then a friend of mine committed on craft. I’m in a multi-genre writers’ group and was a suicide in 2002. He was a Vietnam War veteran. I didn’t member of Derby City Playwrights, a local playwriting know what to do. I wanted to tell his story. It was such
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pp10-19 Features A & B.indd 15 10/5/16 1:00 PM a compelling story. He was a combat veteran, a Bronze book?” Then, this image came into my head. He once Star winner, and he was gay. I thought, “How am I going told me that he figured out that he was gay while he was to tell this story? Can I write an article? Can I write a in combat. I pictured a bare-chested soldier waving a flag while Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Fortunate Son” played loudly in the background. I did not give my- And I thought, “Man, there’s the opening of a play. That’s a play right there. But how do you write a play?” self permission to I had to go find people to help me. The chair of The- atre Arts at Citrus College, Cherie Brown, introduced experiment when I me to Neil H. Weiss. He teaches screenwriting and was younger. playwriting. A wonderful, talented man. He works at Discovery and teaches at night. He, along with Cherie, – TSEHAYE GERALYN HÉBERT helped me put that project together and it became my
live in a cage for the rest of her life. My not smoked a sto- research began in fits and starts but took gie and vomited off in earnest after my retirement in 1997. to celebrate the Patricia When I boarded the plane for Heathrow I end of World War whispered: “I’m coming to get you out.” II or made love I applied for copyright forIsabel in 1999 to a stranger in Wilmot and completed the fifth draft in 2006. uniform…I might There are other plays, some rather have become a good, some of questionable worth. Playboy bunny or a Republican. Not a Christgau More recently, I sent off a biodrama of playwright. ge has never been an obstacle a nineteenth-century feminist writer, It took a while for me to realize that to my life as a playwright. But editor, and genius, disliked by men of I write almost exclusively about women, the title question begs more letters and women of means. Primary strong women battling the odds against A source material and biographies of the them throughout history. Personal ex- questions. It’s not possible for me to separate age as a factor from its coef- nineteenth century are much easier to perience, knowledge, study, research, ficients; circumstance, experience, come by than those from the fourteenth bitter and sweet memories, universal knowledge, motivation, intention and century. The Journalist demanded ideas, critical thinking, existential fear, talent. Of all these, circumstance and about two years of research. worshiping beauty and reason are the knowledge are of the greatest influ- My point is that the present would raw materials for my plays. ence. not be possible had I not been a history In that sense, age has been a factor In the 1960s there is a haunting buff, a rebel who walked behind Betty because it put me in the right place at reference in The Last Plantagenets that Friedan in the Fifth Avenue feminist the right time to know what needed to had a startling effect on me whenever I parade, demonstrated against the be said. returned to it: a frightening reminder of a Vietnam war, had spoken out against childhood accident, inexplicable fear of homophobia well before the Stonewall PATRICIA WILMOT CHRISTGAU was born in prisons and small spaces. An odor. It was incident, deliberately used (as my ner- 1930 and moved to New York in 1947 where she as though I had been called in the night vous husband waited) “colored only” studied voice, assisted Elizabeth Montgomery to rescue a brave woman—shut away and bathrooms and water fountains in Mis- (Motley) the renowned costume designer, Broad- long forgotten. The passage was about sissippi and Alabama in the fifties. Had way, The Met 1950s, and 60s; freelance props a 14th century noble woman whose ac- my sister and I not had to work in sum- 1970s. She was a director of nonprofit organiza- tions changed the history of Scotland mer fields, stand in line for horse meat tions in the 1980s and 90s. She is a mother and and whose offense infuriated the English during the Depression or had the family grandmother and writes plays for the stage about king so greatly that he condemned her to of my lovely girlfriend, Tomiko, not strong women throughout history. She joined the mysteriously disappeared in 1942; had I Guild in 2002.
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pp10-19 Features A & B.indd 16 10/5/16 1:00 PM first play: The Bronze Star. B O S: Yes. Then I went to Cal State L.A. and audited classes in advanced playwriting and met Dr. Susan Mason N G-C: It started with dance. Now it’s and José Cruz González, who is a nationally-known used with other genres, including playwriting. I find it playwright specializing in theater for young audiences. very helpful. They both taught me and became mentors. For José’s class I wrote a play for young audiences calledAli’s Bees, J G: I’d love to hear about that. a play that deals with the impact of war on children. It was a really cool experience. Additionally, I think even N G-C: I don’t think you’d have so the people who aren’t playwrights are helping me write many negative experiences if the moderator or the plays. It’s kind of an interesting thing. People I meet: leader used Lerman’s process. they give me interesting ideas; they give me inspiration. I can’t forget the support I get from my family and my T G H: Critical Response theory? girl Ginger! I really am inspired now to join a writers’ group. N G-C: Yes. That’s what I really would like to do. I’ve done a lot of the one-on-one stuff with mentors and they’ve taught B O S: I agree with that. I’ve done that me so much. But, I like this dynamic, what we’re doing with José Cruz González. He’s the one that introduced right here. I really like it. And I’m hoping that it can live me to it. It’s wonderful. But I can see where, if you get beyond this. Maybe I’m speaking out of turn here, but I in the wrong group with the wrong people, it could be hope it could live beyond this teleconference. deflating and discouraging.
T G H: Oh yes! Pollyanna in hell J G: Again, that’s just my own experience. over here—that was the first thing I thought: “Oh my God. I wish I could meet with these people beyond this roundtable.” [Laughing.] That was just the little bubble At what point are above my head as soon as I saw you all. you emerging? J G: I loved [the Guild’s] national confer- When have you ence in La Jolla last year. That was so inspiring, so uplift- ing. It’s amazing to be with other writers. I read a lot. I emerged? talk to other writers. I go to Dramatists Guild events. I host Dramatists Guild events. I listen to podcasts. – JOSH GERSHICK There’s so much available online. I haven’t joined a writers’ group. I didn’t like that experience in graduate T G H: Yours is not a unique ex- school, personally. What I do have is selected readers perience though. My brother shares your experience. whom I trust. And I value their perspective. He’s wary of writers’ group. I’m always saying, “Oh, my A writer’s group, from my perspective, is like a hor- writers’ group…” He’s like, “Not.” rible mosh pit of hypercriticism and envy and assassina- tion. That’s my experience. But other people do that J G: I want to say something about the and love it and find it very beneficial. However, having value of mentorship too, because I still have the same specific readers whose judgment I value has been es- mentors that I had in graduate school. I love Velina sential. Hasu Houston, the author of Tea. She was one of my lead professors at USC. And Eugene Lee, formerly of N G-C: Are you familiar with Liz Ler- the Negro Ensemble. And Noël Riley Fitch, an amazing man’s process for responding to works of art? biographer. These people were very supportive of me
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pp10-19 Features A & B.indd 17 10/5/16 1:00 PM and continue to support me on my journey. recorders, I wrote nonfiction books in 1988 and 1990 that were based on interviews. Listen, type, rewind. Lis- N G-C: All of us probably have favorite ten, correct errors, type, rewind. Then do it again and mentors. And for me, although I have an MA and a JD, again until it’s perfect. I learned a lot about dialogue in the process. And I think that transcribing was one of my I didn’t start having teachers too. A C: I find that, with the classes I took at Chi- a voice or having cago Dramatists, I started hiring some of the teachers outside of class to critique my work. And one of them a point of view or has become my mentor, Dana Lynn Formby. And I’ve things to say until I just found her invaluable with critiquing my work. So, was 45 years old. to get that one-on-one critique… N G-C: …with the right person. – AMY CRIDER A C: Right.
J G: It’s important to find people who get I don’t have an MFA, so I welcomed the opportunity to you and understand what you’re trying to say. And un- participate in the New Voices Program at Horse Cave derstand your voice. It’s essential. Theatre, which sounds like a weird place, but it wasn’t at all. It was a LORT D theater close to Mammoth Cave, A C: Well, speaking of voice, then, I wanted to and Warren Hammack, the artistic director there, was ask: how do you feel that being an older writer affects a brilliant teacher. The theatre’s associate director, Liz either the content or the style of your plays that might Bussey Fentress, is the person who introduced me to contrast a younger writer? I know, for example, I rarely the Liz Lerman Critical Response technique. Horse think about using technology in my work, about having Cave Theatre had classes—which was another way that I video projections and that sort of thing. And I think educated myself. Another longtime mentor is Dr. Alan I’m a little maybe out of it from that perspective. And Woods, now retired from Ohio State University, whom in terms of content, for example, I never write about I met through the International Centre for Women the dating scene [laughing]. I’ve been married my whole Playwrights. adult life. And I don’t write much about people work- I also want to mention that, back in the days of tape ing in offices as temps. I don’t have that kind of experi-
now over 70, has given me many years in Denver, Colo- of experience to draw upon for subject rado. On Septem- matter. My first play, The Libertines, ber 4, 2016 my Sheldon was produced locally when I was in novel, The Velvet my 30s, In the last ten years I have had Prison, will be four play readings, two plays produced published by Cus- Friedman for private viewing and one play, The tom Books, Hong Kong. This historical Long Goodbye, produced in 2010 in a fiction will be in wide distribution. ge has been a factor in my life public theater. I will have two new plays as a dramatist in that my writ- produced next year, one in February and SHELDON FRIEDMAN is a retired lawyer, Aing has been more structured another at a time to be determined. All playwright and novelist living in Denver, and readable. I also think that my age, of my work is developed and produced Colorado.
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pp10-19 Features A & B.indd 18 10/5/16 1:00 PM ence. So I just wondered. a disability, as a mother, as a teacher. I was not afraid I think, for me, not having some of those experience of technology, I just didn’t feel nimble with it. I really I think has forced me to be more creative with my story entered the MFA with this attitude of: “Here is my time ideas. Because I don’t have so much of the typical ex- to write.” And I wanted to learn everything possible. I perience that maybe a younger writer might have. But know I bugged the crap outta everybody. “How do you what do you think of those questions? do this? How does this happen?” I was like Curious George or something. [Laughing] I’m sure every time J G: What do you write about, Amy? they saw me coming they were like, “Oh my God.” But there was something really rich about that. And A C: I write a wide variety of things. I have a that’s becoming something that I’m excited about as a play that’s a murder mystery set in a psychiatric ward. writer: mixing genres and infusing a soundscape, and I have a comedy set in ancient Greece along the lines just playing. I did not give myself permission to experi- of Aristophanes. My most successful play—successful ment when I was younger. I always colored in between play in the sense that it’s had a few readings around the the lines, even as my crayon would veer outside the country now—is set in a cartoon animation studio in line. [Laughs.] But now it’s like: “What the hay?” 1974. So I try to write a wide variety of things. MEMBERS: read the completion of this roundtable on our web- J G: Do you find that you write about dif- site: http://www.dramatistsguild.com/dramatistmagazine/ ferent things now than you did say twenty years ago? currentissue.aspx
A C: Well, you know, although I always intend- NANCY GALL-CLAYTON is Kentucky’s Dramatists Guild representative. ed to write, I really put it off and didn’t start in a seri- She’s given up teaching, counseling, lawyering, and food service, but contin- ous way until I was about 40. And I didn’t really come ues to write plays, something she began around her 50th birthday. Warren to plays until I was more like 45. And I think it’s good Hammack and Liz Bussey Fentress of Horse Cave Theatre were important that I never wrote before because I don’t feel like I had mentors in her salad days. She just received her sixth commission. anything to say when I was younger. I didn’t start having a voice or having a point of view or things to say until JOSH GERSHICK’s works include the playsDear ONE: Love & Long- ing in Mid-Century Queer America, Coming Attractions, and I was 45 years old. Maybe I’m an exception. Maybe I Bluebonnet Court, winner of the GLAAD Award for Outstanding Los was a little slow. [Laughs.] But yeah, I wouldn’t have had Angeles Theatre; the film Door Prize, winner of the Alfred C. Kinsey these ideas when I was young I don’t think. Award; and the books Gay Old Girls and Secret Service: Untold Sto- ries of Lesbians in the Military, winners of the ForeWord Award for Best T G H: If you will permit me, I LGBT Non-Fiction. would like to dial it back to the previous question just a TSEHAYE GERALYN HÉBERT is a graduate of Northwestern University. little bit and combine the two, if that’s okay? She studied at National Black Theatre, and earned the MFA at School of the I’ve had some work done at Chicago Dramatists, Art Institute Chicago (SAIC). She is the 2015 Alliance Kendeda National when Russ Tutterow was around and was a part of that Graduate Playwriting Award winner for The C.A. Lyons Project (Alli- process. Also, rather than have my first reading at home ance Theatre, Atlanta GA; National New Play Network).pygMALI (Prop around a table where friends came over, I started do- Thtr), her disrupture of Shaw’s Pygmalion, won SAICs RhinoFest com- ing them publicly. I would get this range of responses petition. Elegy for Miss Lucy is included in theIn Other Words project with NU Alum, playwright Gabrielle Fulton Ponder. from everyday people, thank God, who were able to inform the work in different ways. So I accept a range DR. BRUCE OLAV SOLHEIM was born in Seattle in 1958, and served of responses. in the army. A history professor at Citrus College in Glendora, CA, Bruce I think that’s given me a deeper understanding of has written five books and six plays.The Bronze Star won two KCACTF some of the ideas that I bring to the table as an older awards in 2013 and The Epiphany opens in Norway in September 2016. woman, as a black woman, as a woman recovering from
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pp10-19 Features A & B.indd 19 10/5/16 1:00 PM 20 | The Dramati Kander & Pierce
pp20-33 Features C & D.indd 20 10/5/16 1:01 PM by Marc Acito
he theatre is full of collaborators who met at college: Rodgers and Hart, Pasek and Paul, Mi- randa and Kail, as well as the founders of numer- ous theater companies. Composer John Kander and librettist Greg Pierce met at Oberlin, but they graduated 51 years apart. To get some perspective on what that means, consider the following: When Pierce was born in 1978, Kander’s seventh show with lyricist Fred Ebb, The Act, was playing on Broadway. One of Pierce’s most significant childhood memories was the Challenger disaster in 1986; for Kander it was seeing the headlines of the Scottsboro Boys trials in the 1930s. The first show Pierce saw in New York was Peter Brook’s production of The Cherry Orchard at BAM in 1988, featuring his uncle, David Hyde Pierce, as Yasha; for Kander, it was Something for the Boys in 1943, starring Ethel Merman as a nightclub singer who receives military radio signals in a tooth filling.
Together, the team has created two musicals: The Landing, a trio of connected one-acts that premiered at the Vineyard; and Kid Victory, a co-production of The Signature in Virginia and the Vineyard, where it will open in February, 2017. DG member Marc Acito met the pair at Kander’s Manhattan brownstone.
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pp20-33 Features C & D.indd 21 10/5/16 1:01 PM M A: First, a very important question: based G P: It does. on photos I’ve seen, you both seem to excel at J K: Now I have to think about that…who growing beards. Is it something you discuss? in particular besides Stro? G P: We seem to have beards at different G P: I don’t want to mention any names. times. It’s like at any one time only one of us can We’re doing an interview. That’s gonna bite me in have a beard. the ass. J K: That’s true. Also, my beards come M A: John, what year did you graduate from and go because of a terrible, lazy horror of shaving. Oberlin? J K: 1951. John and I got to be M A: Did you have to leave school because of the war? friends and he was J K: Yeah, there this was this war… M A: I heard about it. But apparently it very supportive, turned out okay for us. J K: It turned out great for me. I didn’t coming to our kill anybody and it paid for my college. M A: Did you see combat? stuff and reading J K: No, I was on a Navy merchant ship just near the end of the war. Nobody bombed us and pretty soon the war ended. I consider that totally my whatever we were responsibility. M A: Greg, what year did you graduate from writing. college? G P: 2000. M A: It’s not because you love having a beard? M A: I understand John came to lecture, or do a series of workshops…? J K: No, not really. And right now I’m working on something with Susan Stroman, who G P: They did a Kander and Ebb revue, and forbids me to have a beard. So I always shave before there were a handful of us, a few actors and writers we go to work. who were about to move to New York City and live together— G P: Your friends in general seem more critical of your beards. Mine are supportive of mine. J K: I refer to it as the Oberlin Mafia. J K: Why is that? G P: —so John and I got to be friends and he was very supportive, coming to our stuff G P: I don’t know. and reading whatever we were writing. We were all J K: Does my beard look so terrible? in a sketch comedy troupe at that point, The Bad Astronauts, so he’d come to see our shows. M A: I think your beard looks fantastic. M A: You were also writing short stories.
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pp20-33 Features C & D.indd 22 10/5/16 1:01 PM What prompted you to show him those? J K: Reading with your ears isn’t altogether a blessing, because it slows you to hear G P: The sketches we were doing felt the sounds of the words that you’re reading. But it’s more like weird short stories onstage. That was the also something that I love. I can’t tell you when I kind of stuff John was responding to and I was also first got to read Greg’s stories, but I really—I don’t really responding to the work John was doing at the want to sound gooey about this—but I just thought time—he and Fred had four shows in development, they were wonderful. Really wonderful, wonderful so I was going to workshops of those. [The shows stuff. were Curtains, The Scottsboro Boys, The Visit and an adaptation of The Skin of Our Teeth.] (to Greg) M A: With Curtains, you had a double I don’t know if you mind my telling this, but at connection to the show. Were you more present at one point when he was really down in the dumps that in some ways? about the way things were not going in terms of business, he asked me something like, “Why am I G P: I think I saw two workshops with doing this?” and my immediate rejoinder was “So other actors before my uncle got involved. I’ll have something to read.“ J K: It’s funny that I knew Greg before I M A: Wow. That’s beautiful. knew Dave. J K: I hope those stories are out there M A: John, was Curtains the first piece you someday. came back to of the four? M A: So how’d you end up working J K: I think the first thing I continued together? with was The Skin of Our Teeth. And, also, when Fred died, we were in the middle of writing The J K: One day [in 2008], I was sitting in Scottsboro Boys. And it’s funny, Scott Ellis and Tommy this room and I said to myself, softly, “What do you Thompson describe it as if we were not going to do feel like doing?” And I said to myself, “I feel like Curtains. But in my head, I never thought we were doing something so tiny, that you could do it in the abandoning anything. living room downstairs. And I thought, maybe four actors, four instruments. Then I thought, “Who’s the M A: And Greg, during this time…? best storyteller I know?” And it was Greg. G P: I was just loving spending time with M A: That became The Landing. John, getting to know him. I felt like we were really like-minded in terms of our storytelling aesthetic. J K: Yes. M A: How so? What do you have in M A: The work style and method you two common? came up with when you were working on that show, has that remained consistent or has it evolved? G P: I think we both like art that’s entertaining but has a darkness or sadness G P: Pretty consistent, I guess… underneath, experimenting with different forms. J K: …in that we sit down and talk M A: John, you said in another interview about story—for a long time. We talk about finding that you “read with your ears.” subjects, stories and characters that we respond to. We spend a lot of time developing that together J K: That’s true. before anything gets written. M A: Can you describe that and how the M A: When I looked at your collaborators poetry of Greg’s language resonated with you?
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pp20-33 Features C & D.indd 23 10/5/16 1:01 PM over the years I saw there was no “repeat offender” easier if we were, but I’m in the country. as a book writer until Terrence McNally. So over M A: Where in the country? the course of those years, did you and Fred have to reinvent the process every time with a book writer? J K: It’s two hours north, near Kingston. Do you know where that is? J K: Just to backtrack, after Fred and I did Flora, Hal said, “Whatever happens with Flora, M A: No. the next day we’ll come to my house and talk about J K: Well, it’s…two hours straight north. the next piece.” And that turned out to be Cabaret. On the un-chic side. We [Kander and spouse Albert That meeting—and Mister Abbott taught me this Stephenson] really live up there. Greg comes up too—but that meeting with Hal was the beginning, sometimes and sometimes we’re here and we work I think, of our understanding of what collaboration together. But we really work a lot over the phone. is. And Cabaret happened, and so did the other And now with iPhones, it’s as if he’s in the room. pieces that we did with Hal, by sitting in a room for And I’m playing something or he’s sending me stuff, a long, long time, day after day after day, and talking improvising on the phone and then we have it. It’s a and talking and talking and talking and talking and shame to admit that’s how we work, but that’s what talking until we were all doing the same piece. It we do. seems to me—I have a theory about this—that’s the key. For several people to do good work on one M A: Do you use Facetime? piece you really have to see what you’re doing in the J K: We just send text voice memos. same way. And that takes a long time, a long, long time. M A: So it’s live in the sense that you’re sending back and forth? G P: I’d never worked so collaboratively before—this idea of building every element of story G P: Yeah, and we talk on the phone all together and having such faith that this thing that the time and then he’ll say, “Okay, I’m gonna send we’re doing is going to be stronger because both you something, listen and call me back.” I think of our voices are in it but there’s also a voice that’s because we’re getting to know each other so much both of us. better in terms of how we work, it seems like things move much faster. But the pieces have all been very M A: So, without a third person in the different. The Landing was three one-acts, three room, how do you resolve debates? completely separate things. G P: If there’s a difference of opinion, it’s M A: I saw it. I loved it. helpful if we ask, “To what degree do you care?” G P: Thanks. And the next piece, Kid J K: Along with that, you have to come to Victory, was a full-length original piece. The third the understanding that there’s not one single answer piece, that we’re still working on, is The Enchanted, to every question, or one single possibility. So you an adaptation of the Giradoux, that we’re working say, “Okay, let’s try this” or “Let’s try that.” It’s not a on with Mark Brokaw. That’s a completely different win-lose experience. process because it’s an adaptation of a play. M A: And once you get past—well, you J K: We’re working a piece now that is never get past the talking stage—there does come a growing in exactly the same way as the others did— time when you put pen to paper and hands to keys. How often are you in the room with one another M A: An original piece? then? G P: Yeah. J K: Not as often as we’d like. It’d be a lot
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pp20-33 Features C & D.indd 24 10/5/16 1:01 PM M A: Can you say what it’s about? the course of your working with him, did it ever feel like there was a part of you that wasn’t being G P: It’s too early. expressed? M A: One of the things I noticed about The J K: I don’t think I ever thought in those Landing was a new voice coming from you, John. terms, but I think something happens to you when Much in the way that Richard Rodgers of Rodgers you get to be as old as I am—where you just figure, and Hart is very different from Richard Rodgers of “What the fuck? I just wanna do what I wanna do.” Rodgers and Hammerstein; he accessed a different And what we are doing is what I wanna do. I think part of himself. it would be dangerous to overanalyze it. I loved J K: You don’t do that consciously. writing with Fred and I love writing with Greg. M A: If I were to describe the iconic sound of Kander and Ebb I would say that it feels very masculine and assertive. And it feels to me like Kander and Pierce, based on what I heard in The I thought, Landing, feels more feminine and flexible. There was something about the way things flowed in through ‘Who’s the best that show, untraditionally and unconventionally, that was fascinating to me. Is that particular approach becoming characteristic? storyteller I know?’ J K: I don’t know how to answer that in terms of the difference of style. The pieces we’ve And it was Greg. been working on Fred wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole. Those pieces would not have happened. His voice and his interests were much different, M A: So perhaps it’s the other way around: more formalized and “New Yorky.” I don’t know if I that the two of you working together has brought think of it as masculine or feminine so much as less out something new, or hitherto unexpressed, which lyrical. I don’t know how to explain that, except that has got to be enormously gratifying for you. I’ve been wanting to do The Enchanted for…I guess, for 50 years. Jim Goldman and I scribbled some of J K: It’s terrific. it when were just starting out in New York, none of M A: This interview is for the inter- which is being used in this. But I brought it up to generational issue, so— Fred, because it’s a play I’ve always loved, and he said, “Not on your life.” J K: We fulfill that. M A: Did he give a rationale or did you not M A: So there’s a lot of interest in the have to ask? dynamics because of the differences in your age. You’ve said in other interviews that it wasn’t actually J K: Fred likes…Fred liked…feet planted something you noticed and that as soon as you firmly on the ground. And that was his strength, started working on a piece, it became irrelevant. or that was what he liked and did best. He always said Chicago was his favorite show of ours because J K: It is irrelevant, in terms of our it didn’t have one ballad in it. He was very proud of process. that. G P: It is. There’s never a sense of, y’know, M A: So, with all due respect to Fred, over he’s done a million Broadway shows and I haven’t.
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pp20-33 Features C & D.indd 25 10/5/16 1:01 PM There’s just this sense of the story is there and we’re G P: (to John) You know opera so well, working on it and that’s what happens. It’s very so sometimes your reference points tend to go to equal, very collaborative. What’s funny, though, opera than to…y’know, it’s interesting, we almost is that somebody mentioned that when you see never use musical theater as reference points. We pictures of us in rehearsal that John seems like the either talk about classic plays or opera, which I’m youthful, joyful one and I seem like the concerned getting to know. I just wrote my first libretto— older man. That’s completely true. I don’t feel that, M A: I know. Congratulations. but maybe there’s an element of truth in there. G P: Thanks. J K: There is another element which is there which, hopefully, helps us to create something M A: It’s such a great idea. [The opera, which is uniquely our own, which is my growing up Fellow Travelers, concerns the persecution of gays is a long time ago and Greg’s growing up is not a during the McCarthy era.] I’m so excited for you. long time ago. The worlds that we grew up in were J K: Every time we start something, I different. And it’s not that I think about that very think we start with the idea that there is no label to much and I don’t think Greg does, either. What what we’re doing. formed us is years apart and somehow…I’m making this up as I go along— M A: It doesn’t feel like this relationship is pupil and mentor. M A: You’re doing great. J K: Oh, Jesus. Which one’s the mentor? G P: You sound very smart. G P: It doesn’t feel that way to me. M A: John, when did you notice that people I’ve discovered that refer to you as a legend? Was there a certain point where you were like, “Really? I am?” I love to work...I J K: Yeah. I mean, it’s silly. I don’t relate to it in any way, except with him. (He smiles at Greg.) I do have to remind him periodically. It’s such work every day, not unbelievable bullshit it doesn’t mean anything to me. You wanna say, “Send a check.” because I have to, G P: Make it out to “Legend.” J K: Right. I really don’t relate to the because it’s what I supposedly public part of whoever the hell I am. I just don’t. It makes me uncomfortable. like to do. M A: Greg, are people still calling you a “young writer”? G P: No! After last year, I’m no longer J K: I think the combination of those two young. I must be getting old now. “Young” and experiences has some effect on what we do and how “rising” and “promising” – all those adjectives have we shape things. disappeared. Now I’m just “playwright,” which I’m M A: Does that difference in reference fine with. I never felt sad that I was getting older. points ever come up where you have to say, “I’m M A: John, you’ve said in a couple of sorry, I don’t understand.”
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pp20-33 Features C & D.indd 26 10/5/16 1:01 PM interviews elsewhere that you’re aware of your J K: Did I say that? mortality, of wanting to work as much as you can and M A: You did. enjoy this period of your life. J K: It doesn’t sound like me. Certainly J K: I don’t know how to say this exactly; not the heaven part. this sounds very pompous. I think the longer you live, the things that make you happy become clearer. M A: (reading) “One of the things I’m And, so in a funny way, when you find out those curious about, if I’m not dribbling in an old folks’ things make you happy and you’re more and more home, is what I’ll feel like writing.” Mr. Kander aware that you’re gonna die, you try to spend more smiled and seemed to cock his ear. “Who will I want time doing those things. And that means, not in to be on my own?” a callous way, eliminating those things that don’t J K: That’s very romantic. I’ve certainly make you happy or don’t matter to you. Or at least felt those things. But I can’t believe I said them out I’ve noticed that’s happened to me. I have in some loud. ways a much more limited life, if you look at it from the outside. But those are limitations that are all M A: And when those four shows were over, about how I like to spend my day. I’ve discovered you did come up with something completely new. I that I love to work, which would’ve shocked Fred. find that so inspiring, so lovely. I work every day, not because I have to, because it’s J K: I guess the one thing that’s true, what I like to do. and I remember saying, was that I never thought M A: Likewise for you, Greg. How much that anything was over. I don’t think I ever thought does mortality play into your consciousness when of not working. It’s hard for me to imagine what it you’re working, either for yourself personally or— feels like, what it would feel like to not. Sometimes and this is an indelicate question—when working when you get to this age, people say, “How wonderful with someone older? Is it something you think that you’re doing this” and you want to sock them. about? The fact is, you’re not doing anything brave or remarkable. You’re just living in the same self- G P: I don’t think about it a whole lot, but indulgent way you have all your life. I have noticed how mortality works its way into our pieces. And, for some reason, maybe we address G P: I think that sometimes when people some of it through the work. say, “Oh, you’re so disciplined—“ M A: John, did you feel like those four J K: I’d say that about you. last shows with Fred had to get to a certain level of G P: But I like to write. I mean, it’s not completion before you could be open to working always easy. But if you hate doing it, then you don’t with somebody else? have to, y’know? I never totally believe it when J K: I don’t think I thought that far. There people are like, “Oh, there’s nothing else I could was just so much to do. But the so-much-to-do-ness possibly do with my life. I hate it, but I have to do it.” part of it might have led to that conversation with J K: We said something after The Landing, myself about wanting to do something really, really, or maybe the end of Kid Victory: one of us said to the really small. other, “Let’s never not be working. Let’s never not M A: In a 2006 interview with the New York be working on something.” That’s the motto. Times, you said, “When these four are over—and if I M A: And that’s a beautiful place to end this don’t get ten more years after that, I’m going to be interview. Thank you both. This has been fantastic. very angry when I get to heaven.”
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pp20-33 Features C & D.indd 27 10/5/16 1:01 PM GaryPROFILE: Garrison PHOTO BY JOEY STOCKS 28 | The Dramati
pp20-33 Features C & D.indd 28 10/5/16 1:01 PM t the end of September, Gary Garrison, the Guild’s first Executive Director of Creative AAffairs, retired after a ten-year tenure. He isn’t going too far from us. He will continue serviing the Guild as the director of our new Dramatists Guild Institute. As he helps Tina Fallon, our new Executive Director, get settled in, we caught up with him to ask some questions.
Gary Garrison
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pp20-33 Features C & D.indd 29 10/5/16 1:01 PM ver the years, many of our I studied acting for many years (because I liked playing and hiding in someone else’s world), then members feel like they've went to graduate school for directing (because I liked controlling someone else’s world), and then found my- gotten to know you, but self in a Ph.D. program at the University of Michigan studying acting and directing. To help pay for school, I O was a graduate assistant for several classes—one class there are some things they might not being playwriting, taught by Milan Stitt (who wrote know. How did you find your way to play- The Runner Stumbles). Week after week I sat watching writers struggling writing? I’m sure there’s a story there. to create whole worlds that actors and directors could play in. And week after week, I said (arrogantly, I think) to myself: “I can do that,” which later evolved into “I WANT to do that,” but always peppered with, “Do I dare do that?” At the end of the first year of working for the class, I walked into Milan’s office and said, “I want to be a writer.” He said, “Why?” I said—and I’m not sure why I said this—“I think it’s what I’m supposed to be.” He Chisa looked at me with these steely blue-grey eyes and said, “Then you better get to work. You have a lot to catch Hutchinson up on.” After I walked out of his office in every shade of know Gary from NYU, where he taught my grad panic, I remember thinking: “What the hell did I just workshop class. And lovingly decimated us on a do? Why did I do that?” I literally collided into a water Iweekly basis. One of our first classes, he quizzed cooler, tipped it over and the thing shattered into a us on what we knew about the current state of the- thousand pieces. It had to be a sign (just what that ater—what was the top-grossing Broadway play that sign was, I didn’t know). In that moment when I made week, what shows were currently in previews, that the decision to study dramatic writing, I’m not sure kind of thing. What a sad, ignorant lot we proved if someone was looking over my shoulder and guid- to be, and he let us know as much in no uncertain ing me forward, but I felt more liberated, free and in terms. I was like, “Oh, this man is serious. I need to charge of the art I created than ever before. stay woke.” When I wrote my first play, Does Anybody Want a He got me wanting to study theatre the way a Miss Cow Bayou?—all painfully autobiographical—and heart surgeon gotta study the human body. Your spe- worried and fretted like nothing I had ever done in cialty may be playwriting, sure, but if you don’t have the theatre, I knew my choice must be right. Why else a clue how everything else connects to it, what feeds would I care so much? When I heard it read out loud into it, what it’s affected by, you wind up doing a for the first time and witnessed people laughing and lot of head-scratching, standing tearing up, I thought, “Maybe I’ll be alright at this over the corpse of your career. writing thing.” And when a young woman found me Gary got me caring about the after the first production of the play and said, with whole body of theater. I love and tears streaming down her face, “Thank you for writing respect him so hard for that. this. It really touched me in a way I didn’t think theatre could,” I knew I was in it (the profession) for life. Who were your champions along the way?
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pp20-33 Features C & D.indd 30 10/5/16 1:01 PM Well, of course, Milan, who mentored this wild- his life to write a book about his remarkable, creative child Cajun boy all the way through grad school and as work (I learned so much about the life of a writer from importantly, taught me everything I know about dra- him). matic structure (which so many of us swear by to this When I moved to New York in 1986, I was lucky to day and teach ourselves). And this jewel of a theatre be in the Writers Lab at Circle Rep (again with Milan called Old Town Playhouse in Traverse City, Michi- and Lanford) which supported me and taught me what gan, who fearlessly mounted the first production of a collaboration was all about. I was really fortunate com- full-length play I’d written and was produced by this ing into New York because I had been hired to work remarkable, passionate woman, June Neal (who’s still at NYU by Janet Neipris—at the time a DG Council producing there, 36 years later). And Lanford Wilson, member, fantastic playwright and Chair of the play- who taught me everything I needed to know about writing program at the Tisch school. I learned more writing characters through his plays and let me invade about writing from teaching writing and mentoring
lege Theatre Festival (held that open up the year in Cape Cod), where we had possibilities Christine been placed on the same panel to for me to initi- respond to nominated students’ ate panels and ten-minute and one act plays. We hit meet other Toy it off immediately and I remember wonderful thinking how totally cool it was that staff members and Council mem- Johnson I could have a heart to heart with the bers at the Guild, leading to my writ- Executive Director of this organiza- ing pieces for The Dramatist, being ary Garrison changed my tion that I so revered! But I have a a part of the publications committee life. feeling that most people who have and the Equity committee, and now G I joined the Guild in ever met Gary feel the same way. His the Council. I will forever be grate- 2006, bursting with pride to be wel- passion for artists and justice and ful to him for all that. I will forever comed into a group of esteemed art- his utter zest for life and creativity be grateful to him for the way his ists who share the honored intention are infectious, aren’t they? Spend belief in me never seems to waver of theatrical storytelling through five minutes with him and you’re and how his special brand of encour- dramatic writing. Never did I dream convinced that you’ve made every agement, that twinkle in his eye that that I would have the privilege, ten right choice in your life to have a life says: “you can do it,” has translated years later, of being elected to the in the theatre. into so much abundance. But I have Council and sitting beside nearly It was at the festival that we first a feeling that most people who have every living writer I’ve ever admired, began to engage in deep conversa- ever met Gary feel that way. sharing the honored intention of tions about our shared passion for Though, like all of us, I will miss advocating for these beloved story- expanding diversity and inclusion him greatly as the Executive Direc- tellers’ rights. And this expansion of and gender parity, and revel in our tor of Creative Affairs at the Guild, I my involvement at the Guild, which sheer joy of writing and the seaside also know that the impact of people has already enriched my life beyond and fried oysters. He invited me to who touch your life like he has, en- measure, all happened because I participate more fully at the Guild, dures way beyond physical proxim- met Gary Garrison. and as I followed up, so did he. And ity. Aren’t we the lucky ones? We met in January of 2013 at the he has never stopped. Gary person- Kennedy Center American Col- ally took the time and initiative to
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pp20-33 Features C & D.indd 31 10/5/16 1:01 PM young playwrights than I could ever articulate here, on a dime and pure sweat-equity. Those kind of the- and that was all thanks to Janet believing in me as a atres are the heartbeat for young writers, and I’ll never writer, teacher, and administrator. forget the love that theatre gave me. Of course, you never forget your first New York Ultimately, all of that means nothing unless you production, and that was in a small off-off Broadway have a family or family of friends to keep your head in theatre called Pulse Ensemble Theatre, then and now the right place. And honestly, I’ve been blessed with helmed by this exceptional theatre artist, Alexa Kelly. an extraordinary family and friends (that all happen Pulse is one of those theatres that produces everything to be artists in and of themselves) that shored me up
abandoned me, and a producer/ better listener. director had offered me 25 cents Last year, a Larry on the dollar for my contribution if few days before I walked away. And did I mention the national these were friends? conference in Dean So there I was: out on the ledge La Jolla, CA, when a true friend suggested, “You I met with Gary in Los Angeles. I Harris should talk to Gary Garrison.” I had just lost my best friend, when wasn’t a Guild member then, but I his cancer took an unexpected did the math. would be soon after. Because when turn. Gary’s head had to be swirl- Let’s estimate twice a day, that long, tall Texan with the sexy ing with a million conference Ifive days a week, 50 weeks twang told me I had rights and that details. But he made the time that a year for nearly ten years. That’s I wasn’t alone in this battle, I was day, just sat there for an hour and roughly 5,000 times – and I’m be- ready to drink the Kool-Aid. And listened. Because he knew that’s ing more conservative than Rand when he later asked me to help what I needed. Paul here – that Gary Garrison has him spread the gospel throughout That’s another gift of the picked up the phone and empa- Southern California as its regional Garrison. He intuitively knows thetically listened to a playwright representative, how could I ever what people need. And he’s wise from Anywhere USA unload a tale refuse? enough to recognize that he needs of woe. Gary Garrison could have been something at this point in his life. Each time, he settles in for the a preacher man. He understands He needs to be a playwright first duration, interrupting only to in- his congregation, fires us up and and foremost. I think he’s earned terject an understanding “uh-huh” lifts us all to glory. Even when the that right. or his signature “ri-i-ight?” And sermon is a re-run, I am mesmer- Pick up his book Verticals & only after the caller is exhausted ized. We all are. Horizontals. You’ll find the most of air and spirit does the listener His workshop on crafting the theatrical and lyrical ten-minute take a deep breath, draw from a perfect ten-minute play is really a play called Storm on Storm, which bottomless well of wisdom and master class in story structure. And has resonated in my heart for the warmly dispense sage advice. every lecture is like really great past two weeks. It’s clear: Gary I know this to be true, because I church. He inspires me, reminds Garrison still has extraordinary was Caller #2047. me to value and enjoy my work. contributions to make to the I was in a pickle, having fallen And he compels me do the thing I American theatre. into a bad situation and an even dread most: he makes me want to And this time it’s our turn—and worse contract. Greedy collabora- write. privilege—to listen. tors hungry for Broadway riches And he makes me want to be a
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pp20-33 Features C & D.indd 32 10/5/16 1:01 PM when I needed it the most. There are too many to re-crafted in the hands of Joey Stocks, Tari Stratton, mention but my life as a writer and then here at the Bekka Lindstrom, and the Publications Committee. Guild wouldn’t have been the same without Michel I think the magazine is one of the best in the country Wallerstein (a fantastic playwright), Marcy McGuigan, in the field of entertainment and particularly theatre. Tim Maculan and Douglas Sills (crazy-talented ac- Add to that a strong online media presence through tors), Maggie Lally, Gregg Henry and Judith Stevens-Ly the skilled work of Seth Cotterman and Zack Turner, (wildly talented directors), Leslie Giammanco (an and we’re able to share the good work of the Guild opera entrepreneur), playwright and filmmaker Ro- with thousands of Facebook and Twitter followers. land Tec, Tari Stratton here at the Guild and the always These avenues allow us to embrace members from all wise, always brilliant Marsha Norman, John Weidman, over the country (if not the world), and again, draw Theresa Rebeck, Doug Wright, and Stephen Schwartz. them closer to us to shape this organization. I know the three national conferences in Fairfax, When did you join the Guild? Chicago and La Jolla, were not something that a lot of I became a member in graduate school in the early our members could participate in on site, but a signifi- 80s (again, through the encouragement of Milan), cant portion of the programming was broadcast online and came to the Guild as the Executive Director of across the internet. To witness members of the Guild Creative Affairs in January of 2007. Milan, from the coming together as a group of artists bound together first day, suggested that if we were going to be serious by a common dream is something I’ll never forget. writers taken seriously by the profession, then being And to be with your “tribe,” (as I often describe it) for a member of the Guild wasn’t a choice – it was a ne- a short stint of time and share your common concerns cessity. He was right, and I’ve said the same thing to for our profession, strategize next steps, plan for the countless playwrights over the years. future, inspire each other to work well and stay the course was a strong moment for the Guild. What are some of your proudest accomplishments here at the Finally, and I mean this sincerely, some of my Guild? proudest moments over the last ten years were those I was hired, in large part, to make the Guild more of times when I could shake the hand of a proud Guild a true national organization (alongside the incredibly member, write an essay for the magazine or e-newslet- efficient business and legal affairs arm of the Guild), ter that resonated with a member, watch a member of and I think we’ve done just that with a truly amazing our staff (like Rebecca Stump or Amy VonVett) grow staff. We now have 30 regional reps who produce and in their jobs in ways that were remarkable and surpris- create hundreds of unique programs for our members ing, watched as Council supported game-changing each year. They volunteer countless hours of their time initiatives (like The Count), or watched the Business to meet with Guild members and assess the needs Affairs team tackle an issue head-on with such incred- within their community. And they come to New York ible intelligence. I may or may not have had a part in once a year for our annual meeting to sit with Council any one thing, but everything we do here makes me and act as a congress – if you will – of like-minded art- proud to be a Guild member and allowed me to love ists strategizing ways to ensure theatre maintains a my job day in and day out. vibrant place in the cultural landscape. So I would say What do you want to do next? that’s one of the things I’m most proud of: the creation I’m leaving my job at the Guild to write—to put of the regional rep program, and stitching the country into practice what I’ve been teaching and advocating together state by state to form a vibrant, national alli- for years. There’s no end-game in sight—just the joy ance of dramatists. of writing and sharing with whomever wants to listen Secondly, I’m particularly proud of establishing a to what I’ve written. Add to that: cooking, gardening, strong media presence by reworking our extraordi- working with animals, volunteering for some worthy nary magazine, The Dramatist, which has been expertly causes and dreaming of what’s next.
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pp20-33 Features C & D.indd 33 10/5/16 1:01 PM Writing for Young(er) AUDIENCES
with Michael Bobbitt Lydia Diamond Zina Goldrich Sarah Hammond & moderated by Adam Gwon
ILLUSTRATIONS BY A.E. KIEREN
A G: I thought I’d start by asking if you, as a strong sense of playing pretend that spilled over the young person, went to TYA shows and if you remem- stage and into my real life as a kid. And it speaks to the ber your experience seeing those shows. I grew up in power that TYA has for younger audiences. I’m won- Baltimore going to the Pumpkin Theatre. [Laughter.] dering if you guys had similar experiences growing up. M B: Yay. It’s still around. L D: No. I remember seeing Annie and Cats and things like that. But I don’t remember seeing A G: Yeah. They do adaptations of fairy tales. things specifically for kids. What’s most vivid in my mind as I think back on it is getting to meet the actors after the show. They would M B: My first memory of theatre was be- hang out and sign your program. There was such a ing Hansel in the third act of Hansel and Gretel, which
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pp34-47 Features E F & G.indd 34 10/5/16 1:02 PM my mom still thinks is the best act.[Laughter.] around. I think that term was coined somewhere in the late ‘90s maybe. Maybe early ‘90s. But I sort of think L D: Wait. They had three different Han- of it as all-encompassing. Because there’s family the- sels? atre; there’s family-friendly theatre; there’s theatre for M B: Three different Hansels and three the very young; there’s baby theatre. And some people Writing for different Gretels. I was third-act Hansel. I got to kill even distinguish children’s theatre from the others. the witch. So I was hoping that we were talking about the whole genre. Because a lot of Broadway right now is what I L D: Nice. would consider children’s theatre or theatre for young M B: I think my first professional pro- audiences: Matilda, Annie, Lion King are all works based duction was a play called Freedom Train that was touring on materials intended for children. the country. Z G: That’s TheatreworksUSA. If you do not capti- M B: Yeah. I think it may have been TheatreworksUSAs. It was at George Washington vate them in some Young(er) University. And then I remember coming to New York at some point in the ‘80s and seeing a professional pro- way and continu- duction of Porgy and Bess. But not a children’s theatre ally find fresh and AUDIENCES show. S H: Freedom Train is TYA. creative ways to do M B: Yeah. I remember that. that, they have no problem letting S H: My young audiences show was a you know that they are bored. TheatreworksUSA job. Will Aronson and I got to write a musical based on the Pete the Cat books. – ZINA GOLDRICH Z G: To answer your first question, when I was a kid, I remember my folks taking me to The Pa- Z G: As far as Broadway’s concerned, per Bag Players. I can’t tell you if they actually made I’m not sure they had as much family entertainment things out of paper bags or if the shows were built back then. I could be wrong. I’m not a historian by any around the idea of things coming out of paper bags. stretch of the imagination. But Annie was probably one But I do remember that it was creative and fun. They of those first musicals where parents felt like: “I have also took me to see, was it Bill Baird who had the pup- to take my kid to see that because it’s something we pets? As far as book musicals are concerned, I don’t can enjoy together.” I’m sure a significant factor for think at that time that the TYA world was as varied and many families was the ticket price. Not a lot of people as present as it is now. It’s everywhere now, which is were going to be bringing their kids to a Broadway very exciting. show, which was probably $40 for a ticket at that point, But back to the TheatreworksUSA: I think they set a price that seems so quaint today. [Laughter.] the bar for touring TYA shows. Pretty much everybody who’s anybody has worked for them. A G: The TYA world today is quite diverse and spans a whole lot of demographics. I know Sarah’s M B: It’s interesting the term: “theatre working on a show for a very young target audience. for young audiences,” because that’s a fairly new term. Lydia, you’ve worked on shows that are for a slightly Well, new considering how long the genre has been
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pp34-47 Features E F & G.indd 35 10/5/16 1:02 PM older target audience. in the show for the parents that were for me, and eight- year-olds like, but the show was for four to seven-year L D: Yes. olds, and I had to cut a lot of those jokes.[Laughs.] A G: Would each of you talk about writing But I’ve seen other shows for family audiences with those different demographics in mind from the that had more leeway to walk that line, balancing kid- start of a piece? friendly content with plots that grown-ups can dig into. It’s a good question to ask your producer before you set out. I’ve seen other L D: The two plays I’ve written for young shows for family audiences were with Steppenwolf’s Theatre for Young Adults. And the thing that I noticed the most—well, audiences that had there were two things. They were the first time I wrote 90-minute plays. It had to be a tight 90 minutes be- more leeway to cause of the buses. They had to leave the theatre at a certain time. And for both of those [plays], they were walk that line, bal- also my first adaptations. ancing kid-friendly content with Because it had to be a tight 90 minutes, it made my writing better. It forced me to have a certain sort plots that grown-ups can dig into. of economy. And then of course there were thematic things. I don’t even know if this is your question any- It’s a good question to ask your more. Is this your question? What was your question? producer before you set out. A G: [Laughs.] This is all great. You mention thematic ideas being part of the process—for me, that – SARAH HAMMOND brings up the phrase “age-appropriate,” which gets thrown around a lot. Does part of your process include S H: Well, one thing that surprised addressing this idea of what people think is appropri- me was the distinction between a show for a family ate for a certain age group? audience and a show that’s for children, depending on which job you get. ‘Cause the job I got was—I L D: Well, it’s interesting. For The Bluest was thinking of it as like a family audience show, and Eye, they had to bring the school district in to okay it. I wanted to write a Muppets sorta thing. Wink to the They were concerned with the language. In the play parents, you know? But Pete the Cat was for Theatre- there is racist violence and incest, but they were very worksUSA, and they do these tours in vans across the concerned about the N-word. I don’t remember if I country, which tend to perform the shows during the negotiated my N-words. I think I just had to cut them. day to field trip groups. So the audience is mostly chil- Which is interesting with a play that’s about the hor- dren, and that’s a really different dynamic thanwhen rors of the Jim Crow South. But they didn’t care about you have an audience that’s half parents and half chil- the meta content. dren. When it’s all kids, and they’re all buddies, you M B: The term “age-appropriate” is very lose their attention quicker. interesting, because I think kids are smarter nowadays. L D: That’s interesting. They have access to so much more information than I did. To get information when I was a kid, I had to walk S H: This mass hysteria can ripple to the library and go to the card catalogue and look through all of the children pretty easily. So that af- up a book using the Dewey Decimal System—it just fected the kind of show I wrote. I have all these jokes
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pp34-47 Features E F & G.indd 36 10/5/16 1:02 PM took forever to get information. Now kids have greater A G: Yeah. If it’s in context, they’ll get it. access and their brains can handle more stimulus and Z G: And you can use it as an opportunity more information as well. to bring them that step higher. To actually educate This is what I do every day: I produce children’s at the same time and not feel like you’re—you never theatre. I run a children’s theatre. And so the term want to—I mean, this is such a cliché about writing for “age-appropriate” comes up all the time. And I al- children’s theatre, but you don’t want to write down to ways tell playwrights: when adults think about plays, kids. we think about big things and big themes and big, world-changing ideas. But for a kid, drama comes in small forms. Learning how to tie your shoe is a major dramatic event for a child. They practice for hours. The term “age- And when they learn, they want to show everyone that appropriate” is very they’ve learned to tie their shoe. And if you don’t want to pay attention to this, it wrecks them. It kills them. interesting, be- It’s high conflict for them. So it really depends on how you dramatize the story that can make a play more or cause I think kids less age-appropriate. are smarter nowa- But I also think that whatever you’re writing about has to be something that the audience will deal with days. – MICHAEL BOBBITT and will engage with because it speaks to who they are at that age. L D: That’s interesting. L D: My experience with theatre for M B: You certainly don’t want to have young audiences is very different from yours in that it’s curse words and things that we want to protect our for young adult audiences. And I have found that it just kids from. But the drama is small. It’s for them. It’s asks that the writing be better, that you can’t forget that their drama that they go through in their lives every you’re writing for people who’re smarter than adults. day. Z G: Right. That makes a lot of sense. I Z G: A common theme through many think our audience is definitely the Theatreworks au- of the pieces Marcy Heisler and I have written is self- dience: probably top age is going to be eleven, maybe, discovery—learning how to navigate the social world if that? And so most of the shows that the producers and how to be yourself—and that’s age appropriate for are picking are going to be very popular books, titles most TYA shows. that they can sell. I think they go for the entertainment As far as language goes, Marcy doesn’t differenti- value, and material that’s within the curriculum of ate between ages. If there’s a word that’s really way the schools. School districts are so strapped for cash. past the traditional vocabulary level, we try to work it They’re not buying tickets to theatre much anymore. into the song so we can explain what it is. For example, But if it’s part of the curriculum, they’ll do it; even in Dear Edwina, we have a song called “Frankenguest.” with those producorial challenges, it’s still our respon- The lyric was, “What gives him that je ne sais quoi?” And sibility as artists to make the stories sing and resonate clearly most young kids are not going to know what “je for the children who see them. Budgets can fluctu- ne sais quoi” means. But there was time in the music ate; creative quality shouldn’t. But if you look at it as for somebody else to say, “That means ‘I don’t know.’” puzzle-solving instead of limiting, it can result in really [Laughter.] creative thinking.
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pp34-47 Features E F & G.indd 37 10/5/16 1:02 PM M B: I really love what Lydia said. And the song. I think that it does force you to write better because M B: Oh, how funny. you have a shorter time frame to reveal something that normally reveals in about two and half hours. We have S H: We rewrote that song like crazy. 45 to 90 minutes. We have a half a page to reveal char- We had to turn those backup singers into Mom and acter versus three pages. It’s interesting because we do Dad. You know, Mom and Dad are under the couch. a lot of commissions and sometimes the playwright’s [Laughter.] first draft has text that they think the kids are going to I’ve only done one of these. But it was like every- read. But, the reading level of the kid is different than thing was guesswork. We were never sure what the kids the listening, hearing, experiencing level of the kid. were going to connect to, what was going to be imagi- And so sometimes when it’s written down it’s because native in a good way or in a way that’s just ordinary for they’re just writing text that’s just not elevated or them because they’re already so imaginative. doesn’t assume that the kids are smarter and able to L D: So do you need more of a preview understand more than they can read. process when you’re doing work for young audiences? Is it like a comedy where you have to play it for them to Because it had know what your play’s doing? S H: In our case we had that. The pro- to be a tight 90 ducer set up a mini-tour, with five performances across minutes, it made the New York Metro area where we watched the show play in front of 1,000 four-year olds, got that visceral, my writing better. It in-the-bones sensation of what happens when 600 of those 1,000 four-year olds start shifting in their chairs. forced me to have a [Laughs.] certain sort of economy. L D: Oh my God. – LYDIA DIAMOND M B: That usually happens when the slow song is late in the play. Slow songs can’t be late in the play. Don’t put the slow song late. L D: Right. Kids love poetry. L D: That’s a lot of pressure. That’s crazy. S H: They do. In our show we had a M B: The audiences behave so differ- funny experience with that though where we real- ently. Sometimes you’ll have school groups where the ized that there’re a lot of idioms that we just take for teacher has said, “Behave. Don’t misbehave,” and the granted and understand, but the kids have no clue. But kids won’t respond at all. I had some characters in our show who were Dust Bun- L D: Right. They beat it out of them. You nies. We had the backup singers in a song underneath a can tell. couch. The backup singers were dust bunnies. Which I thought was enormously imaginative. [Laughter.] Z G: Our shows have been performed for But it turns out that for a four-year-old, they might a lot of school groups—and our audience skews just not know that dust collects under a couch, or that it’s slightly older. So it makes it just a bit easier when it called a “dust bunny” by adults. [Laughs.] And so when comes to attention span. That being said however, if these rabbits showed up on the stage, it looked like you do not captivate them in some way and continu- Dada to them. And they just checked out. They hated ally find fresh and creative ways to do that, they have
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pp34-47 Features E F & G.indd 38 10/5/16 1:02 PM no problem letting you know that they are bored. And they’ll be polite in many cases, but you can just look MICHAEL J. BOBBITT is the Artistic Director of Adventure Theatre across the audience and see butts moving in seats, or MTC, the longest running children's theatre in the DC region. During his they’re starting to tug at their clothes, or they lean tenure, he has commissioned and/or premiered over 40 new works. His plays and musicals include Garfield, the musical with Cattitude, The over to their friends. Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings, The Yellow Rose So there are technical requirements in addition to of Texas, Jumanji, and Caps for Sale. His new musicals, Bob Marley’s the art of it. I’m the composer half of our team. And so Three Little Birds and Caps for Sale appeared at the New Victory it’s always about just finding that really fun groove that Theatre in NYC and toured nationally and Three Little Birds received they hopefully can’t resist [laughing] and really limiting a Charles MacArthur Award Nomination for Outstanding New Play or the length of songs. Many of the song forms are just Musical. Michael has also directed, choreographed and performed at many theatres in the DC region. ABA instead of AABA. LYDIA DIAMOND’s plays include: Smart People, Voyeurs de Venus, M B: Oh wow. Stick Fly, The Bluest Eye, The Gift Horse, and Harriet Jacobs. The- atres include: Arden, Arena Stage, Chicago Dramatists, Company One, Z G: Because basically in the B section, Congo Square, Cort Theatre (Broadway), Goodman, Hartford Stage, you’re getting to the point or the chorus. And they Huntington, McCarter, MPAACT, Steppenwolf, and Underground Rail- don’t want to hear a lot of windup. They don’t want way. Lydia has had some fellowships and has won some awards. to sit through too many A sections. So most of those ZINA GOLDRICH (Composer), won the Fred Ebb Award for outstand- songs end up ABA. And if you’re lucky, you get a bal- ing songwriting with Marcy Heisler. Their shows includeEver After lad. On the last show we just did, Junie B’s Essential (Paper Mill Playhouse) and The Great American Mousical, directed Survival Guide, we actually had two ballads, which is by Julie Andrews (Goodspeed). New Projects: An unnamed musical with extremely unusual. The only reason we were allowed Universal Pictures’ theatrical division and Hollywood Romance. Family this second ballad (which we had to cut, cut, cut, cut entertainment shows include Dear Edwina, Junie B. Jones and Junie down) is because it was comedic. The lead character B.’s Essential Survival Guide. She has composed for numerous televi- sion shows including Wonderpets and Peg + Cat. is writing an apology letter, but she’s writing horrible things. [Laughs.] Because the kids were interested in SARAH HAMMOND is a New Dramatists Alum and a current resident the actual process of what she was doing, they didn’t artist at Ars Nova’s Uncharted. Her plays includeGreen Girl (SPF ‘08); House on Stilts (South Coast Rep Commission); Kudzu (Trustus). Her notice it was a ballad. musicals are String (Rodgers Award, NAMT ‘14), and Pete the Cat M B: That’s so interesting. (Theatreworks USA ‘16). Z G: And then by the end, she gets a short ballad of discovery. So it’s actually fairly specific in craft when you come down to it. The audience will absolutely tell you when they’ve checked out. That be- ing said, it’s more important to try to reach past those limitations and make your show as creative and excit- ing as you can. L D: Interesting. That is so technical.
MEMBERS: Read the completion of this roundtable on our web- site: http://www.dramatistsguild.com/dramatistmagazine/ currentissue.aspx
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pp34-47 Features E F & G.indd 39 10/5/16 1:02 PM A Primer on Literary Executors PART ONE By Ellen F. Brown
hen doctors die, they can is Jonathan Larson, who died unexpectedly on the no longer treat patients. day of Rent’s first preview performance. The show When plumbers die, they went on to earn numerous honors and awards, in- no longer fix leaky toilets. cluding the Tony for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Writers though often go on Prize for Drama. to have active and lucrative Successful posthumous careers do not hap- careers for years—and, in pen on their own though. When a creative person some cases, generations—after they’ve left this dies, if the work is to remain (or become) fruit- Wworld. One of the many virtues of the literary arts ful, someone must step in and actively oversee is that plays, novels, and poems live and endure the intellectual property in the creator’s stead. apart from their creators. Even writers who did not Copyrights and trademarks require tending. Sales enjoy enormous commercial or critical success of publishing and theatrical rights have to be care- while they were alive have a chance of making it fully planned: When to sell, what to sell, and how big after they die. A compelling recent example to structure the transactions require thoughtful
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pp34-47 Features E F & G.indd 40 10/5/16 1:02 PM decision making. There are also noncommercial and beneficiaries are not always well qualified to issues to address, including how best to nurture oversee intellectual property or may lack the time the dead writer’s legacy. If the work is to endure, and resources to do so effectively. Difficulties somebody needs to be shaping perceptions of the can also arise where there are conflicts of opinion work and what it stands for. As one court noted, among interested parties over how the creative as- posthumous oversight of literary rights “requires a sets should be handled. Dissension may arise, for delicate balance between economic enhancement instance, where multiple beneficiaries inherit re- and cultural nurture.” lated rights or where a deceased playwright shared So whose job is it to handle this important bal- rights with a co-author who disagrees with the ancing act? beneficiaries about how to manage the property. If a writer leaves a will, there likely will be a There may also be conflicts between the economic family member, friend, or associate designated in interests of the beneficiaries and the creator’s that document to oversee transfer of her assets to legacy. For instance, if a writer’s estate receives an the specified beneficiaries. If no estate planning attractive offer to license the decedent’s work for has been done, the rules of intestate succession a series of commemorative tchotchkes, cash-hun- will come into play and a third party, typically one gry beneficiaries may be inclined to accept even of the decedent’s heirs, will be appointed by the though doing so might negatively affect percep- local court to represent the estate. Terminology tion of the work. varies from state to state as to what these desig- When faced with these complex issues, literary nees are called, but for ease of reference the term estates often turn to third-party consultants to of- “personal representative” will be used to refer to fer advice and oversight. As entertainment lawyer the point person who is responsible for gathering Joan Bellefield Davis describes it, some intellec- all of the decedent’s assets, collecting debts due to tual property estates have “an arsenal of experts” the decedent, resolving the decedent’s liabilities, on hand, including lawyers, agents, appraisers, and then distributing the remaining assets. While tax advisers, accountants, investigators, and even the estate is pending, this person owes a fiduciary branding experts. But bringing in a crew of outsid- duty to the beneficiaries and is obligated to man- ers can create its own set of complications. What age all of the assets, including the intellectual if the involved parties do not agree on who should property, in a prudent manner. be hired? What if the beneficiaries disagree on Once the estate closes, responsibility for the whether to accept the expert advice? intellectual property typically transfers to the For many literary estates, these sorts of issues beneficiaries. It is they who, in the long run, will can be dealt with proactively by appointing what is be responsible for overseeing the creator’s posthu- often referred to as a “literary executor,” a person mous career. Beneficiaries are not fiduciaries and whose specific task it is to manage the intellectual thus are not held to any specific standard of duty property rights and to bring in and oversee outside toward their benefactor’s assets. But because they assistance as needed. The position can take a wide have the potential to earn income from the prop- variety of forms, but in general the goal is for the erty, they have an incentive to manage the property designee to step into the dead writer’s shoes for efficiently. purposes of overseeing his posthumous career. Thus, after a playwright dies there is generally Ideally, the literary executor will be handpicked by going to be somebody responsible for managing the decedent and identified in the estate plan. As her posthumous affairs: first, a personal represen- Davis notes, “if the idea is to make sure the artist’s tative and, then, the beneficiaries. A recurrent career is managed consistently with his wishes, it problem, however, is that personal representatives makes sense to have the artist personally select the
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pp34-47 Features E F & G.indd 41 10/5/16 1:02 PM literary executor and have the person ready to step also be of value in planning the decedent’s funeral. into action immediately upon the death.” If a dece- They can be useful in resolving such questions as dent did not make such an election, however, the whether the service should be a family event or estate and beneficiaries may be able to agree on a open to the public, where the decedent should designee to advise them. be buried, and who should give the eulogy. While Though there is a centuries-old tradition of some estates may prefer to keep the grieving pro- writers appointing literary executors, there is cess private, others will want to take advantage of relatively legal authority on the subject. The con- the opportunity these types of gatherings present cept of literary executorship is not included in any for promoting a positive view of the decedent’s life estate administration statutes and is mentioned and work through favorable speeches and remem- in only a handful of published judicial decisions. brances. Nor is there much published guidance on the sub- As the estate moves into the administration ject. As a result, many writers and estate planning phase, literary executors can be of service in professionals are not as familiar with the concept valuing the intellectual property for purposes of as they should be and may be missing out on an im- probate and calculating estate taxes or overseeing portant aspect of estate planning. To fill that gap, others who perform such services. Depending on the following discussion offers an overview of how the size of the estate, the “to do” list here may be literary executorship works and presents an array extensive and complex. Because intellectual prop- of options for how you may want to incorporate erty assets are divisible, the rights may be spread such an advisor into your estate planning. out among multiple licensees and subject to a wide variety of terms. Were there deals or productions The Scope of a Literary Executor’s in progress at the time of death? With a famous Responsibilities playwright, how much is the person’s name worth Because the position of literary executor is posthumously? Are there any unpublished or un- not established or defined by statute, there is no sold works that are marketable? If literary assets specific list of responsibilities that go along with will have to be liquidated to pay the taxes or other the job. The role will vary from situation to situa- debts, which assets should be sold and how should tion depending upon the writer’s intent, the size the transactions be structured? and nature of the estate’s portfolio of intellectual Relatedly, literary executors often play an inte- property, the skillsets of the other people in- gral role in handling the decedent’s “papers”—a volved in the estate, and the skillset of the person term that traditionally referred to the letters, man- selected as literary executor. At a minimum, the uscripts, drafts, research files, notebooks, diaries, literary executor’s role will be to assist in decision sketches, and books that accrue over the course making and to facilitate communication among of a creative career. In recent years, the scope of the involved parties. For small estates, the job may the term has been expanded to include digital as- be hands-on, with the designee handling issues sets such as e-mail, social media, cloud storage, directly. In more complex cases, the executor may and domain names. For all of these types of mate- need to hire and manage outside experts. rials, decisions will have to be made about what Depending on the type of estate involved, it should be retained, sold, donated, or destroyed. may be important for the literary executor to be This process can be complex and time-consuming, ready to step into action immediately upon the especially when dealing with the digital assets for death so as to maintain continuity for pending which there are not yet standardized rules regard- business transactions or to protect assets. In the ing postmortem disposition. case of high-profile estates, literary executors may Some writers will want their literary executors
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pp34-47 Features E F & G.indd 42 10/5/16 1:02 PM to be involved with the day-to-day job of handling keep the work fresh, relevant, and interesting to the intellectual property and extracting value audiences. As John Irving has said, novelists have from that property. They can help with transfer- the luxury of living on their own planets but plays ring copyright registrations, monitoring licens- aren’t really plays until they’re produced. ing agreements and royalty streams, and policing A literary executor also can be useful in nur- copyright infringements. There may be issues turing a writer’s posthumous legacy. Indeed, to relating to renewals and recaptures, as well as re- some writers, financial success is secondary to the quests for permissions to quote from or reprint the creative vision. To that end, what should be done decedent’s work. If there are any unpublished or to keep the creator’s name in the public eye? How unfinished manuscripts, the literary executor may does the estate foster continuing demand for the be called upon to evaluate which ones should be work? Should a biography be authorized? In juris- finished posthumously and perhaps even take the dictions where the decedent’s right of publicity lead in editing or finishing them. Estates holding survives death and is descendible, consideration trademarks must be sure to keep the mark in con- should also be given to opportunities for licensing tinual use, file maintenance documents, and moni- the decedent’s name, image, or likeness. tor potential violations. For each of these issues, the literary executor Literary executorships can even be structured will have to weigh the competing interests inher- to give that person a hands-on role in overseeing ent in creative endeavors. Just as living artists future productions of a playwright’s work. Many struggle with where to draw the line between earn- writers understandably worry about how their plays ing a living and being true to the art, the literary will be interpreted after their deaths, when they executor will have to balance economic consider- are no longer around to protect their personal vi- ations of maximizing value from the playwright’s sion of those works. Tennessee Williams sought to portfolio against protecting her long-term repu- address this problem by including a provision in tation and the public perception of the work. As his will stating: “It is my wish that no play which the court handling author Lillian Hellman’s estate I shall have written shall, for the purpose of pre- described the process, literary executors have to senting it as a first-class attraction on the English- navigate between “keeping the books” and “keep- speaking stage, be changed in any manner, whether ing the flame.” such change shall be by way of completing it, or adding to it, or deleting from it, or in any other READ PART TWO OF THIS ARTICLE IN THE way revising it, except for the customary type of JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017 ISSUE OF T D. stage directions.” His trustee Maria St. Just ruffled more than a few feathers trying to comply with ELLEN F. BROWN is a lawyer and an award-winning freelance his wishes in the face of requests for permission writer. She is co-author of Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the to stage new interpretations of his plays. More Wind: A Bestseller’s Odyssey from Atlanta to Hollywood and is working on a book about the impact literary estates have on the leg- recently, Samuel Becket’s estate has courted con- acies of the writers they represent. You can read more about her work troversy by trying to preserve the integrity of his at www.ellenfbrown.com and follow her on Twitter @ellenfbrown. work in a manner that some critics say is too limit- ing. Play production is an inherently collaborative and interpretative process, the argument goes, and estates need to be flexible and allow for give and take after the writer dies. One way to do this is to appoint a literary executor charged with balancing the playwright’s vision with interpretations that
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pp34-47 Features E F & G.indd 43 10/5/16 1:02 PM Houghton:James COSTANZO GREGORY A TRIBUTE
NEW YORK, NY – On August 2, 2016, Founding Artistic discovered, finally appreciated. Signature believed Director of the Signature Theatre James Houghton passed not in a playwright’s hits but in a playwright’s career, away after a two-year battle with stomach cancer. He was in making an audience aware of the range of a play- 57 years old. He was a true friend and steadfast supporter of wright’s life work. playwrights including Edward Albee. Several Guild members We talked about Tennessee Williams, floundering wrote tributes to Jim and, with their permission and the per- around the last twenty years of his life without an artis- mission of the Signature Theatre, we share some of them here. tic home. He wanted to name me Signature’s 1998/99 playwright. My god – follow Edward, Horton, Sam John Guare Shepard, Romulus Linney, Lee Blessing, Adrienne Kennedy. The upcoming 1997/98 season would be Jim Houghton believed by saving the past you cre- Arthur Miller’s. ate the future. “Yes!” Jim kept the reputations of playwrights alive. But shouldn’t a theater that gives playwrights a Jim was supposed to be here for decades more. home have one of its own? Signature had just lost their I think the first words I ever heard from Jim when space at the Public Theater. Before that, trundling be- he called me in the spring of 1997 were: Could we tween various downtown spaces. meet? “Those days are over. We have a home.” We did hours later at a coffee shop on the corner of We left the coffee shop and went next door to a bo- West 42nd Street and Eleventh Avenue, not exactly a dega. “This is it.” Shakespeare didn’t look at the Globe theatrical hub. with more pleasure. Jim was shining. My first image of him was that of a I said “Jim, shoppers are in the aisles pushing carts, man in love with the world, a world he was creating. taking food off the shelves, waiting in line at the ca- Signature seasons had redeemed the reputation shier. In what aisle will Signature be performing?” of Edward Albee who’d been out of favor for two “No worry! The bodega lost its lease. Signature decades. Thanks to Signature, Horton Foote was re- will take it over and open Arthur Miller’s season in
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pp34-47 Features E F & G.indd 45 10/5/16 1:02 PM September.” my favorite four productions. He was totally a person “But, Jim, this is May.” not a producer. He had no show biz persona. I liked “Yes?” him. And then it was September. Arthur’s The American He was also very kind to Adam when we did Sleep Clock opened beautifully in the sparkling new Signa- Deprivation. I never doubted for a moment that it was ture Theater which would be its penultimate home. important to him that my plays were done right. Often We got to work. when you work with people there comes a moment Jim wanted the last slot of my season to be my when you realize they have a different agenda. That three Lydie Breeze plays that had never been performed moment with Jim NEVER came. He wanted what I together. As we got closer to production, Jim realized wanted. Years later when Estelle and I didMadame that project was too big for Signature to pull off. ‘Did I Bovary he was exactly the same. He was in tune with have another play no one had seen?’ what was right for you…what you were hoping for. He “No.” understood how having my picture on the wall made “Then write one.” me feel. I could say to him it makes me feel like a Six weeks later we went into rehearsal with Lake movie star like in the movie lobbies of my childhood… Hollywood. and he understood. Sam Shepard had given me one piece of advice be- I found him to be quiet, but he was a great fore my season began. “Hang on. Seat of the pants. It’s man. And I have lost a very, very great friend. the ride of your life.” I did hang on. I did have the ride of my life. Will Eno A few years later he wanted a new play from me. He Jim was the best person I’ve ever known. He was a produced A Few Stout Individuals. In 2006, he produced true visionary genius, a very practical philosopher, and a perfect revival of my 1977 play Landscape of the Body. a leader in every sense of the word. He was also some- The best thing had happened to me. I was a Signa- one you could call up and say, “Hey, Jim, guess what? ture playwright. I got stung by a bee today.” Or, “I made my daughter a Last May’s opening night was the last time I saw desk.” He always took time with you, he made you feel Jim, standing in the light waving to the audience who like your heart was important, like your thoughts were cheered him and the dazzling production. important. Kindness, respect, and clarity were a part I can’t believe that Edward Albee, Maria Irene of him like eye color and height are a part of the rest Fornes, and Adrienne Kennedy would outlive him. of us. I can’t remember if he actually put his feet up on He was supposed to be here for decades more. his desk, but it always felt that way—that he wasn’t in a My heart goes out to Joyce, to Lily, to Henry. rush, that you didn’t have to put on any act, that things The happiest I ever saw Jim was when Henry won were good—and then Jim would look out the window the lottery that got him an apartment on the West Side and say something you’ll remember for the rest of your or prouder than when Lily got into Bennington. life. He’s going to be missed in the plainest most real I can’t imagine New York without him. way that someone or anything can be missed. The only upside, and it’s hard to see the upside, is that there are hundreds of people, it’s really probably thousands of Adrienne Kennedy people, who got to know him and work with him and During my Signature Season, when Jim talked to love him and be loved by him and were inspired by him me it wasn’t that show biz impersonal chatter. He actu- and learned good, true, noble things from him, and we ally talked to me and looked at me. He always made me will all be trying and trying to be a little bit more like feel he wanted to do my plays totally to my liking. His him for the rest of our lives and a world that is even production of June and Jean that he directed is one of a tiny bit more like Jim Houghton is a much better
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pp34-47 Features E F & G.indd 46 10/5/16 1:02 PM world. That sounds like advertising but it’s true—Jim is a great and lasting example of how to be a person. And I hope and like to think that all our sincere but bumbling efforts to continue his work will make Jim, Regina Taylor wherever he is and in whatever form, smile a humble Deeply loved but very real smile. A great and kind man A brilliant visionary Amazing friend Naomi Wallace Caring mentor When I first met Jim two years ago, he said some- I cannot find the sufficient words thing to me in our initial meeting that no artistic To describe director has ever said to me: “To hell with the critics.” the meaning of Jim For a playwright like myself, who has written on the And cannot give enough thanks periphery of American Theater for twenty-five years For having him in my life and almost always alongside an antagonistic press, his words were a gift I didn’t realise I’d been longing for all my life: unwavering support and encouragement for Tony Kushner the work I was doing. Jim gave me a true home within his theater and this home will always, always reside in Jim created the Signature Theatre out of a beauti- my heart. ful, original idea, born of his unswerving certainties that dramatic writing is serious writing which merits and rewards sustained, in-depth exploration; and that David Henry Hwang theaters should be homes for artists, not factories for manufacturing marketable product. What never Jim was both a great person and a good person. I ceased to amaze me was Jim’s cheerfully unstoppable have not known a kinder soul, a more supportive col- determination to give his best ideas and strongest laborator, a more generous friend. We sometimes fear convictions immediate, palpable, actual existence. that those with hearts of gold lack the toughness to He made wonderful things happen, enlisting in his make impossible things happen in today’s world. Jim schemes the eager participation of artists, audiences, disproved the cynics, and constantly dispelled my own patrons, all of us drawn in by the clarity of Jim’s vi- doubts. As an Artistic Director, he was something of sions, by his assumption that worthwhile effort will a throwback to the early days of not-for-profit the- be rewarded, and of course by his astonishing gift for atre: giving playwrights complete authority over their friendship. Jim shared his entire being with his col- productions, founding a theatre rooted in values of leagues; he was joined in this joyfulness, openness, community and family, with ticket prices affordable generosity and presence by his magnificent wife, enough for the middle-class, and little interest in com- Joyce, and by his beautiful kids Lily and Henry. The mercial subsidies or transfers. Jim managed to prove time I spent with Jim, as a colleague and a friend, are that the highest standards of our field can still yield among my life’s brightest, happiest moments, and I’m enormous success. We are so lucky for every moment going to miss him terribly. Everyone who knew him he was with us. Now he remains in our hearts and and who worked with him will miss him—and that’s a memories, in the theatre he founded, and in the many staggeringly large number of people. Everyone who lives he made better. Jim will always be my inspiration, loves theater is in his debt. Jim made American theater and I will always cherish his friendship. smarter, kinder, more human, more representative and more worthy of the world in which we hope to live.
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pp34-47 Features E F & G.indd 47 10/5/16 1:02 PM Dramatis2015-2016 Guild Fellows FELLOWS c Gr
he inspiration in the room is contaous. You see someone writing something daring and exciting and want to be that brave, too. I learned so much from the playwrights in the group. Hearing Ttheir dialog made me realize that sometimes saying less can convey more. An example in this scene is the line, “Zolo pen. Classic.” used to be “I hate pens from drug companies.” When I fir brought in the charaer Depression, she was very one-sided and didn’t have an arc. Our discussions helped me think about what her motivation is, what is beautiful about her, and how she might change through the show.
RACHEL GRIFFIN is a composer/librettist/lyricist and a passionate mental health advocate. Her musical, We Have Apples, has been featured in The Wash- ington Post, The Huffington Post and on CBS National News. She started the viral mental-health campaign #imnotashamed. www.wehaveapples.com 48 | The Dramati
pp48-53 Fellows.indd 48 10/5/16 1:03 PM JOEY STOCKS W Hv Book, music & lyrics by Rachel Griffin Additional music by Aron Accurso
We Have Apples follows JANE, a quirky 20-year-old writer who is determined to overcome her depression and attend college. Paralyzed by the intensity of Depression, JANE’s illness personified, JANE is forced to check into a psychiatric facility. In the hospital, she meets a band of fabulous fellow patients who join together to ex- pose their inadequate healthcare and fight the stigma associated with mental illness. In this scene, JANE has just checked in to the facility and is meeting with the psychiatrist.
DR WILLIAMS DEPRESSION “The Ocean” You don’t seem too sure about this (racing, shouting) whole thing. He can’t help you. Maybe he can. DR WILLIAMS He can’t! He can! He-man! She-ra! Hi Jane. I’m Dr. Williams. It’s nice JANE Comic books! to meet you. I’m sorry- I’ve done this before… a few times. I know you have just 20 JANE DEPRESSION minutes… …chaotic. You can’t trust him. DEPRESSION DR WILLIAMS JANE (notices his timer) We can take more time, Jane, and (polite but sad) I hate timers. I want you to know I really care Nice to meet you, too. about my patients and take my job JANE DR WILLIAMS very seriously. …to decide what’s wrong with I’m sorry to hear about what’s been me… DEPRESSION going on. We’re going to get you He does not care. Octopus-tie-man well again, ok? DEPRESSION just wants to have sex with you! (notices his pen) DEPRESSION Zoloft pen… classic. JANE You’ll never be well. I like your tie. JANE DR WILLIAMS …and I just don’t think that’s DEPRESSION Jane? enough time. This isn’t a sprained Picture yourself having sex with JANE ankle, this is my brain, my mind… him. (skeptical) and I love my mind… well, when DR WILLIAMS Oh… ya… thanks. it’s not so… Thanks. My son picked it out. He likes jelly-fish.
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pp48-53 Fellows.indd 49 10/5/16 1:03 PM v JANE DR WILLIAMS PONDS ARE BEAUTIFUL That’s an octopus. (looking at chart) AND EASY TO KEEP I see you’re not taking any medica- BUT I NEED TO DIVE ¡¢r DEPRESSION tion? TO LEAP Ha! He can’t correctly classify I HAVE AN OCEAN ROLLING ocean life! Like he can help you JANE IN ME with your fucked up brain! I- don’t- SOMETIMES I’M SWIMMING SPLASHING, I’M FREE DR WILLIAMS DR WILLIAMS I HAVE AN OCEAN WITH NO I’m pretty sure it’s a jellyfish. I think you’d really benefit from an END IN SIGHT SSRI. BUT WHEN THERE’S A STORM DEPRESSION I GET LOST- IT’S A FIGHT Picture yourself having sex with DEPRESSION AND I DON’T WANT TO him and an octopus! I bet he’s on meds! DROWN (JANE looks agitated and uncomfort- BUT I DON’T WANT TO LOSE able) JANE THE OCEAN I don’t want to take medicine. DR WILLIAMS SOME FEEL THE WATER So… Your aunt told me you’re a DEPRESSION ADMIRE THE SCENE published writer? That’s why he’s in this field! He’s on THE LANDSCAPE IS NICE Prozac and Xanax…. AND EVERYTHING’S CLEAN DEPRESSION THEY’RE SO HAPPY THERE Your writing sucks. DR WILLIAMS THIS SAFE PLACE TO BE Why not? BUT I WANT TO RIDE JANE THE SEA Uh-huh. DEPRESSION I HAVE AN OCEAN ROLLING Seroquel… IN ME DR WILLIAMS SOMETIMES I’M SWIMMING That’s impressive! JANE SPLASHING, I’M FREE A lot of reasons. I HAVE AN OCEAN WITH NO JANE END IN SIGHT Thanks. That’s why I need to get DR WILLIAMS (getting an idea, more hopeful, strong) out as soon as possible. (anxiously) I have time. Tell me. I want to go to school for creative I’LL SEARCH FOR A BOAT, writing and I have to get the sub- JANE AND A MAP-AND A LIGHT mission essay finished… Well… It’s complicated. I WON’T LET MYSELF DROWN BUT I HAVE TO HOLD ON TO DR WILLIAMS “I Have An Ocean” THE OCEAN Well, first, we’re going to get you back on track, Jane. JANE SOME HAVE A FOUNTAIN END OF SONG JANE INSIDE OF THEIR HEAD Ok… well, I’ll work on it here. OR MAYBE, A POND THAT LIES THERE INSTEAD
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he Fellows Program gave me the time and space to write a different kind of play—to experiment with one room, continuous time,T and no reprieve from a harrowing situation.
SYLVIA KHOURY’s work has been featured at the Eugene O’Neill Playwrights’ Conference, the Roundabout Underground Reading Series, NNPN’s National Showcase of New Plays and MFA Play- wrights’ Workshop and on the Kilroys List. She is a member of EST’s Youngblood and the 2016-2018 Women’s Project Lab.
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pp48-53 Fellows.indd 51 10/5/16 1:03 PM Selling Kabul
by Sylvia Khoury
Evening. A small but well-decorated TAROON AFIYA living room in Kabul in April 2013. A And Bibi? Sleeping, together. large oriental carpet covers most of the room. A floor couch wraps around the AFIYA TAROON room, with pillows propped up against Healthy. Wow. the wall. Downstage center, a nice tele- vision sits on the floor with a cable box TAROON AFIYA and tangled wires beside it. Upstage left, Ten fingers? Ten toes? Bibi, she looks like she was meant the living room opens onto the kitchen. to look. Like a picture. AFIYA A sink is visible. Downstage right, a Yes. TAROON door to the master bedroom. And she’s well? TAROON As the play begins, TAROON, 30s, Bibi’s brother, he’s missing a pinky. AFIYA is trying to fix the cable box. He tries Tired, but she can’t stop smiling. this for a long time, then gives up, ly- AFIYA ing face down the carpet. The sound of I counted them. TAROON movement outside the door. TAROON Was it difficult, for her? jumps up and rushes into the closet, try- TAROON ing not to make any noise. A boy. AFIYA Yes. She didn’t want me holding His sister, AFIYA, 30s, walks in, hold- AFIYA her hand. She wanted you. ing a handbag and removing her burqa. Yes. TAROON AFIYA TAROON Did she ask where I was? It’s just me. You held him? Taroon emerges from the closet, eager. AFIYA AFIYA She knows better. TAROON No, but I touched him. He’s too So? small to hold. TAROON Was she looking around, hoping I AFIYA TAROON might come? A boy! Too small? AFIYA TAROON AFIYA No, Taroon. She was accomplish- Healthy? He’s normal, Taroon. I asked. Ev- ing the considerable task of push- erything is normal. ing a child into the world. AFIYA He paces. He stops pacing. Yes. TAROON TAROON And when you left? This isn’t right.
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pp48-53 Fellows.indd 52 10/5/16 1:03 PM AFIYA TAROON TAROON No. You recognized him? But?
TAROON AFIYA AFIYA My son, he— No. The doctors looked wary of him.
AFIYA TAROON TAROON Would like to see you alive one day. You’d never seen him before? How do you mean?
TAROON AFIYA AFIYA The hospital is what? Two kilome- No. They jumped out of his way. ters away? TAROON TAROON AFIYA Not even in a picture? The doctors? He would prefer you be at his wed- ding than for you to risk everything AFIYA AFIYA for a moment he won’t remember. Taroon. Yes. TAROON TAROON TAROON Was he armed? I’d be careful. Taliban? Afiya looks down. Afiya shakes her head. Afiya nods. A moment. TAROON TAROON Unbelievable. TAROON What did he do? Was anyone else there? AFIYA Afiya looks away. AFIYA Jawid is there now. He brought Nothing. He circled the floor a few people with him. They came with AFIYA times. presents, so it didn’t seem obvious. Her sister. The doctor. The nurses. TAROON TAROON TAROON Did he speak to you? Bringing a gun into a hospital. (Eyes narrowing.) Afiya. AFIYA AFIYA AFIYA To me? And the doctors said she can leave No one bothered us. soon. They said it was uncompli- TAROON cated. Your son is healthy. TAROON To anyone? Was anyone else there? TAROON AFIYA Circling the floor. AFIYA No. I told you everything was fine, will AFIYA you rest? TAROON This is why I didn’t want to tell you. Was he with anyone? TAROON TAROON Who was there? AFIYA I want him away from my son and No. my wife. AFIYA Seeing her look away. There was a man. END OF EXCERPT
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pp48-53 Fellows.indd 53 10/5/16 1:03 PM SEATTLE
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FLORIDA EAST
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an off-off-Broadway theatre where, unde- THE GUILD HAS 30 terred by performing above a police precinct Atlanta REGIONAL REPS with prostitutes in front, a metal-detector in urban areas with the greatest entrance, and no AC, Fazio came away with by Pamela Turner concentrations of Dramatists Guild members. Your Regional Reps are “some New York reviews and a serious jonesin’ there to answer any questions you to make more plays, particularly with challeng- alking to young(er), launch-pad may have about your membership, playwrights can be a butt-kicking keep you informed on local ing roles for women.” experience. Their bright-eyed en- programming sponsored by the That relates to the writing she loves. Fazio Guild, and provide up to three mentions “Sarah Ruhl’s language and magic. thusiasm brings back the moment regional reports for The Dramatist Twe each realized our own calling, and then each subscription year. A complete Annie Baker’s silences…Tina Fey’s celebration list of Reps (and their email of the brainy, quirky 40-something woman reminds us not to spend so much time looking addresses) can be found on the back that we get stuck there. Then there’s the Staff Directory page of the Guild’s writing her own rules of life.” The last may late starter who doesn’t worry about looking website. describe Fazio herself, as after studying acting back. One thing I share with Atlanta-based as an undergrad, and realizing she “didn’t have playwright-actor-lyricist and graphic designer the cajones to be a working actor,” she got a Daryl Lisa Fazio is the realization that some master’s in graphic design “so I could snag this “dumb-luck” and it started in the early that coveted tenure-track teaching job and starts aren’t entirely planned (i.e., it may not 2000s when she was teaching at Truman State be an MFA-kind of launch) and as she voiced it retire a happy, old, distinguished professor.” University and impulsively wrote a (first) play Fortunately, the track didn’t stay straight and “there’s something to be said for the fearless- because there weren’t any two-woman shows ness and risk-taking that comes with having no Fazio fell in with people including a composer to do with an actor friend. Her luck continued collaborator who finally pulled her completely idea what the heck you’re doing.” Fazio calls when that play Greyhounds was picked up by
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Freed Spirits –table work
PORTLAND
MINNEAPOLIS BOSTON ST. PAUL MICHIGAN WESTERN NATIONAL NY ITHACA CONNECTICUT PHILADELPHIA CHICAGO UTAH NEW JERSEY REPORTS OHIO PITTSBURGH SAN FRANCISCO BALTIMORE COLORADO D.C. MISSOURI
KENTUCKY NORTH CAROLINA Fazio mentioned having someone “who’s got LOS ANGELES TENNESSEE Daryl Lisa Fazio your back when you’re not in the room” and “if ATLANTA it’s on the page….will get the actors there.” Two recent projects that demonstrate DALLAS FT. WORTH Fazio’s increasing presence in Atlanta were both at Emory University. The first was an invitation for her to participate in (Emory Play- GULF AUSTIN COAST wright Fellow) Edith Frenli’s 48-hour (Paula HOUSTON SAN ANTONIO FLORIDA Vogel-style) Bakeoff workshop where Fazio WEST learned that when “procrastination and self- doubt are obliterated due to time constraints, FLORIDA EAST you can write a surprisingly good play…That knowledge has informed every bit of writing I’ve done since.” She also took part in local directors David Cook and Patricia Henritze’s “Inside Voices” collaboration—“and now I’m writing a full-length play and a TV pilot based on it.” Asked how other people could get on “the list” for such opportunities, Fazio said if there is a list “it’s about staying visible, meet- ing people and keeping those relationships active, and taking 95% (because you should be discerning) of the opportunities that come your way.” In response to the question “Does age matter for writers,” she responded that off and into her new “fantasy” of being part respect and recognition as a playwright when “Life experiences matter. Perspective matters. of a real theatre community. “I chose Atlanta you’re relatively unknown.” But she could get Observing people matters. Most of us require because it’s accessible and has survivable past some barriers as a graphic designer, “prov- age to collect those…” winters.” The impressive part is her strategy for ing myself to be creative and dependable and Currently this talented (and hard-working) also surviving the stranger/strange land stage of motivated, getting to know the theatre’s mis- playwright has three things going up with her a new town. Fazio got graphic design gigs “at sion and audience, then submitting a script…” name on them: a production of Split in Three any theatre that would have me,” joined Work- Fazio also met and began to collaborate with at Aurora Theatre, a world premiere of (com- ing Title Playwrights, went to “every playwriting director Justin Anderson even before any pro- missioned) Freed Spirits at Horizon Theatre workshop I could find,” and “auditioned for ductions were on the table, leading not just to Company, and a reading of (Bakeoff piece) stuff.” In essence she used a four-prong strat- working together when a paid gig presented it- The Flower Room as part of Actors Express egy to meet people and show that she meant self, but also to becoming champions for each Threshold New Play Series. Figures that Fazio business. She also knew how to use her most other in whatever was going on for either of describes her kid self as “quiet and introverted prominent assets. “It can be difficult to get them. As for what she looks for in any director, but creative and driven…nose-to-the-grind-
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pp54-66 NationalReports.indd 55 10/5/16 1:04 PM and remain active in ministry within my de- as my own work and to keep an eye out for nomination. Thank you to Pamela Turner for interesting and unusual works by writers from choosing me to learn alongside her. She is a across the country and even overseas. (William Split in Three at jewel to this community. Thank you also to the read over 900 plays that came across his desk Florida Rep Atlanta theatre community for embracing an last year.) emerging artist.’ I also work with the Southwest Association -Amina S. McIntyre of Literary and Dramatic Artists (SWALDA). We’re creating a web series based on a play [email protected] we produced at OT. Also, teaching gives me a chance to hone ideas. Taken together with the many personal writing projects I’m currently Austin/ engaged in, there is some narrative that can be expressed about where I’m going with all this. San Antonio SR: Talk to me about San Antonio theatre. by Sheila Rinear WR: Unless resources are redirected towards the production of new work, the theatrical an Antonio proudly boasts being the community in San Antonio will revert to a stone with a goofy streak.” hometown of gifted Dramatists Guild cargo cult where even the most “bold” of And here’s a goodbye from our outgoing member William Mohammad Razavi. the local theatres will present highlights from Young Ambassador: His life, on-going achievements, and Chicago and New York seasons from five Scontinued selfless outreach to build theatre years ago and the rest of the city will continue ‘As a Young Ambassador for the Dramatists NICK ADAMS PHOTOGRAPHY NICK ADAMS and grow playwrights so impact from behind Guild, I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect. to present the greatest hits of 1955 thinking the scenes that they define him as a beacon there’s nothing wrong. Part of the problem? I hoped to make acquaintance with more who outshines any spotlight we could put on playwrights, to provide a diverse outlook on Performers drift toward the well-known pieces him. and performers are driving lots of the enthusi- theatre, and bring voice to new companies William is the Artistic Director of The without the clout and backing of larger com- asm in this community which in turn drives the Overtime Theater (theovertimetheater.org), decision making process. I don’t blame them panies. What I learned was that the playwriting the only theatre in San Antonio doing all world is so large, yet small (and that produc- for wanting to play iconic roles, but in a world original work for the stage with approximately of limited resources? That creates a situation tion space in this town is hard to come by). fifteen productions a year and several late- Each person and every production (in addition where most of the resources go toward pro- night series and an Improv Troupe…all with ductions of old work and almost no resources to DG events like workshops, our Coffee loyal followings. William teaches Playwriting with an Actor, and readings) challenged me to and Screenwriting at both St. Mary’s University rethink what I thought was possible on stage and Our Lady of the Lake University. He works and how/where it could be performed. More in the Classical Studies Department at Trinity importantly, I learned that networking after a University where he lectures on Numismatics. show, before the show, and during intermission While William is charming, engaging, produc- is equally significant as the art itself. Being a tive, and omniscient, the term most used in Young Ambassador has made me a more con- the city when his name comes up is, “genius.” fident, more bold, more reflective, and more William wrote his first play in the 1990s as dedicated artist. For that I am grateful. a youngster at Trinity University. He went on to With my term ending, my current plans earn his MFA in playwriting from Brandeis and, include writing more and submitting regularly. although he can claim a huge canon of work in Since graduating from seminary in May, I’ve several genres, he’s written over 60 plays and completed two new residencies (Taleamor been widely produced. I asked William what Park and Blackacre Conservancy) and will at- the focus of his life is right now. tend Hambidge Residency in November. Addi- tionally, I’m working with Little Five Arts Alive, WR: I’m not sure I have a singular focus. Be- a partnership with Horizon Theatre Company; ing AD at the Overtime Theater gives me continuing work with Karibu Performing Arts opportunities to develop local writers as well William R Razavi
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pp54-66 NationalReports.indd 56 10/5/16 1:04 PM are left in the community to make new work. The production received at least five per- directors resided in Baltimore city or county.) The economic and political leadership formances. A complete breakdown is available at www. of the community needs to understand that brentenglar.com/demographics. if they want to have a vibrant arts culture they The production opened in Baltimore city It is too soon in my study to draw con- need to take stock of whether or not they want between September of one year and Au- clusions about trends; furthermore, by the to be a cultural center that actually produces gust of the next. time I published the data most Baltimore art instead of being just a location of reproduc- I am also counting the occasional produc- theatres had already planned their upcoming tion or simply a market and venue for travelling tions by Baltimore-based theatres that, for seasons, so the numbers had no bearing on professional productions of works originating idiosyncratic reasons, run in a neighboring those decisions. Based on this past season’s from other places. county: for example, the Chesapeake Shake- data, however, we might reasonably infer that The challenge is the disheartening degree speare Company’s annual summer production the relatively high percentage of non-male of territoriality that goes with fighting over in Ellicott City, and the two productions at dramatists in 2014–2015 was an aberration. limited resources and attention. This leads to Towson University by Center Stage during its Meanwhile, this past season’s uptick in shows a serious enthusiasm gap when it comes to recent renovation. These shows are part of the by African-American authors was due mainly to supporting new work, new writers or even new mainstage season for theatres that are other- the expanding presence of On The Road The- work by established writers. It’s difficult to be wise based entirely in Baltimore, so they seem ater Company; remove OTR from my count, in the position of referee balancing out the appropriate to include in the data. (Frankly, this along with the Arena Players (whose mission needs of the many while also trying to act as approach also is easier!) includes “illuminating the African-American advocate for my own work. For the 2015–2016 season, I compiled experience through the performing arts”), and the percentage of shows by white authors SR: What play are you writing now? lists of dramatists and directors—categorized by gender, race/ethnicity, and region—for jumps to 88%. WR: The Bronson Pinchot Civil War Cupcake 114 productions by 33 theatres and theatre I haven’t yet begun to analyze the 2016– Experience. It explores the problematic eco- companies. (I was unable to confirm data for 2017 season. However, a quick glance at the nomics of the boutique cupcake shop craze several other companies on their websites or slates planned for many Baltimore theatres— along with the even more problematic politics via email.) Of these 114 productions, five were including some of the longest established and of Civil War commemoration in the present. generated by ensembles. Of the 109 produc- best known—suggests that our stages will con- It’s also a weird homage to Perfect Strangers tions that credited specific authors: tinue overwhelmingly to feature the perspec- and the dynamics of mid 1980s sitcoms. tives of white men. Being a white man myself, Approximately 75.5% were written by I am privileged to belong to a community that SR: Genius! men, up from 71% the previous season. goes out of its way to make me feel welcome. [email protected] Approximately 23% were written by It is long past time to extend that courtesy to women and 1.5% were written by drama- everyone else. tists whose gender is non-binary. [email protected] Approximately 80.5% had white authors, Baltimore down from 82% the previous season. Ap- by Brent Englar proximately 15% had African-American au- thors, 2% had Latin or Hispanic authors, Colorado ast year at this time I published the re- and 2.5% had Asian-American authors. by Josh Hartwell sults of my first effort—inspired by the Approximately 24% were written by peo- Guild’s national count as well as local ple in reside in Baltimore city or county, ne of the reasons I decided counts such as Gwydion Suilebhan’s down from 25% the previous season. to write this particular article Lanalysis of DC—to analyze the demographics is to celebrate the success Approximately 35% were either world of the Baltimore theatre scene. My plan is to of my dear friend and gifted premieres or second or third produc- update the study each fall by publishing data ODenver writer, John Moore. Also, this being tions, up from 33% the previous year. for the season just concluded, so that Balti- the “Age” issue of The Dramatist, I figured it moreans can more systematically answer the Once again, the data for directors, in would be relevant since Moore started writing question of who is being produced, and who terms of gender and race/ethnicity, resembled plays relatively late in his career/life. Moore is directing the productions, at our theatres. A the data for dramatists. (The unsurprising ex- was the theatre critic at The Denver Post for reminder: I am counting only productions that ception is that three-quarters of last season’s twelve years and is now expanding his writing meet these criteria: horizons. I asked him a few questions about his
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pp54-66 NationalReports.indd 57 10/5/16 1:04 PM play Waiting For Obama and the journey to the with anyone? fellow dramatists and fellow theatre artists. New York Fringe. Maybe, as an added bonus, “I am a cauldron of contradiction here. I The laughter flowed as easily as the wine. The his recent accomplishments will inspire other think it’s true that in many fields, true geniuses ideas of collaborations bubbled as efferves- writers from all the DG regions. often do their best work before the age of 30. cently as the local craft hops. “I consider myself a lifelong journalist who But the literary world is filled with examples In a time when I have been questioning has dabbled in many creative-writing forms of writers who didn’t get serious about it the relevance placed on artists simply because throughout my adult life,” he said. “I have until later in life . . . Many journalists (critics of age, what struck me was the diversity of a very thick stack of never-seen short plays, and reporters) have been successful transi- our group and how we represented gender, poems, songs, short stories and film treat- tioning to playwriting later in life, once they heritage, and age across a vast spectrum. It was ments I pray remain unknown to the world, stopped working 60-hour newspaper weeks. a lovely reminder of how theatre can bridge even though they have served a very important, Issue-oriented plays that are based largely on gaps to weave together what we all love of our clandestine purpose in my interior life . . . I do interviews and journalistic research also have craft: the magic of storytelling for the stage. consider myself a new playwright because I their own niche in the theatre. My advice is, When I took this photograph of Dramatists have never before attempted to have one of yes, absolutely, share your work with someone Guild members David W. Christner of Rhode my plays professionally produced. But this was you trust. But trust your own instincts to know Island and Natalie Osborne of Connecticut, not my first completed play.” when your time to share arrives. Be reasonably I was fascinated by the fact that Natalie, a Waiting for Obama tells the twisted story sure your script is in decent, working shape. It member of the Guild for less than a year, and of a Colorado Springs family, anticipating the doesn’t have to be finished, but the promise of David, a member of the Guild for decades and arrival of the president—who will certainly your idea has to be there, because you only get decades, were sharing stories of their lives as come to take away all of their firearms any one chance to give someone a first impression dramatists. minute now. The play reports on recent shoot- of your writing . . .Take the leap. The only sure David is a prolific writer born in Tennessee, ings in America, and actually does a wonderful way to guarantee that you will never become a raised in a small farming community in south- job of presenting both sides of the gun control produced playwright is if you never give anyone western Oklahoma. He received a BA and an argument. a chance to see it.” MA from the University of Oklahoma. Two Moore finished his working draft just in Wise guidance for any writer. To read up on plays of his Vietnam Trilogy—The Wall and Bui- time for the January 30 Fringe deadline, then Moore or see some samples of his writing, visit Doi: The Dust of Live—have been recognized didn’t do any editing until he found out the www.moorejohn.com. in national playwriting competitions, and The play had been accepted at the end of April. [email protected] Walk, Red Hot Mamas, The Babe, The Bard, and Denver audiences were then lucky enough to the Baron, The Bitch of Baily’s Beach, Ezra and sit in and watch two weekends of rehearsals Evil, and This Blood’s For You have also been before the cast and play traveled to New York. finalists or winners in national/international “When I heard Waiting for Obama had playwriting competitions. His plays have been been accepted, I went from being tickled to Connecticut produced throughout the United States, as terrified in about 60 seconds flat because I well as in Canada, Australia, and Russia. quickly started to realize what staging that the by Charlene Donaghy Natalie is a playwright, anthropologist, play from scratch was going to entail. But after activist, and visual artist. She graduated from having written thousands of articles and reviews “I never fear age…if you have creative work, you Bennington College in 2015, majoring in (mostly) championing the local and national don’t have time to age.” drama and anthropology. Her play The Seven theatre communities, I admit it swelled my Louise Nevelson (1980), in Alexandra Robbin, Ravens was read at Classic Theatre of Harlem soul to have the opportunity to be considered, Aging a New Look (1982) Playwright’s Playground Program. She is part of for a brief time, a full-fledged member of the 365 Women a Year and her play Making Fran- creative community, as opposed to a sniper.” n a warm summer evening, with kenstein is published in Indie Theatre Now. Waiting for Obama was well received by the sun setting over the shore of Natalie has worked with La Mama Theatre in audiences and six out of the seven reviewers. eastern Connecticut, a group NYC, the Kattaikkuttu Sangam in India, and But more important to Moore was the chance of fun and funny, dedicated and The Athena Project in Denver. Recently, she to present seven of Denver’s most talented Osupremely talented dramatists gathered for was part of Reasons for Leaving, a devised piece actors to the New York crowds. Based on this our 2016 Summer Social. We came from Con- based off of the life and writings of Barbara new success, what advice would Moore give necticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Newhall Follett. Natalie created NOplays, a to other writers who are starting some of their even Missouri. New England based theatre group supporting first plays later in life, or who have written their We talked of being creative, of being a and producing works from under-represented first couple plays and haven’t yet shared them community. We talked of new work, revision, voices in the American theatre, with a special
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pp54-66 NationalReports.indd 58 10/5/16 1:04 PM Double V was the result. The title refer- of the highest level carrying its message with ences the World War II campaign for victory force and clarity.” Buster! takes its title from overseas and against discrimination at home, the nickname of Louisville’s gadfly activist Rev- apropos since Stanley had been part of a group erend Louis Coleman (1943-2008). that convinced President Harry S. Truman to Coleman and his trademark bullhorn desegregate the military. were seen daily at the courthouse, city hall, a Muhammad uses the pen name of Cisco building site where minority contractors were Montgomery for his “edgier urban plays,” underrepresented, and anywhere else he including Murder the Devil about an Al Qaeda believed raising his voice would make a differ- reject who slips through Homeland Security on ence. a bloodthirsty mission that goes awry. At one time, Muhammad thought Cole- David W. Christner and Natalie Osborne The playwright’s real name appears on his man’s style was less than effective, but he history plays, and Muhammad has established changed his mind after poring over 1,200 sto- interest in emerging female writers. Kentucky Black Repertory, a nonprofit orga- ries in the Courier-Journal’s files and interview- David is wise with his years, aging with bold nization, to produce his scripts about African ing several dozen people when doing research complexity like a fine whiskey, writing plays American Bluegrass history and heroic figures. for Buster! that seep into our consciousness as we con- The company produced Jockey Jim in 2016 and Muhammad came to admire his subject sider who we are in this world we live in. He is, Buster! in 2015. deeply, realizing Coleman was like Don at any age, relevant. Jockey Jim, which a reviewer found “finely Quixote. In an interview shortly before the Natalie is wise in her years, boldly pushing crafted” and a “compelling piece of theater,” play’s premiere Muhammad said, “He’s like a forth to create not only her own art but to sup- is about Kentucky native Jimmy Winkfield bumbling idiot who turns out to be wiser and port and give voice to the art of others. She is a (1882-1974), the last African American jockey more courageous and more hopeful and open true collaborator. She is, at any age, relevant. to win the Kentucky Derby. Winkfield won hearted than the people around him.” And at our 2016 Summer Social, we all in both 1901 and 1902. After placing second How does one go from journalist to play- felt the creative energy that both David and in the 1903 Derby, he moved to Russia and wright with nine plays being produced and Natalie radiate. These amazing artists, decades later, France, winning every important race in having staged readings in four states? Muham- apart, have no fear of age, on either end of the Europe. He returned to this country after Nazis mad credits attending and reading plays to spectrum, because they have creative work. requisitioned his stables during World War II. study structure and stagecraft. In addition, he [email protected] When he retired as a jockey, Winkfield had found several books valuable including The won more than 2,600 races, but in 1961, suc- Dramatist’s Toolkit by Jeffrey Sweet, a lifetime cess on the track wasn’t enough for someone member of the Dramatists Guild Council. of his skin color to enter through the front door Mentors also have been integral to Mu- of Louisville’s fashionable Brown Hotel for a hammad’s success. About his friend William Kentucky banquet being held in his honor. McNulty, an actor with more than 150 credits Buster! was praised as “entertainment at Actors Theatre of Louisville, he says, “Bill by Nancy Gall-Clayton Gregory Rahming as Louis Coleman ixteen years ago, Larry Muhammad in the musical Buster! took up playwriting and joined the Dramatists Guild. The motivation behind his Sfirst play was an assignment from his then- employer, the Louisville Courier-Journal, to write a Black History Month story about Frank L. Stanley Sr., (1906-1974), a crusading civil rights activist and long-time senior editor and publisher of the Louisville Defender. Delving into Stanley’s papers, which had just been donated to the University of Louis- ville Archives, Muhammad realized Stanley’s life could be portrayed well on stage.
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pp54-66 NationalReports.indd 59 10/5/16 1:04 PM Los Angeles by Josh Gershick A Meditation on Emergence Emergence [ 'm rj ns] noun. 1. The process of coming into view or no- tice. The process of coming into being.
ave you emerged as a playwright? How do you know that you have? Jonathan Josephson What are the hallmarks of emer- gence? immersive, site-specific theatre company that HIs the yardstick the number of plays we’ve has produced his adaptations of classic works written? The number we’ve published or had by Mark Twain, Arthur Conan Doyle and Edgar produced? What if we’ve produced them our- Allen Poe, among others. “[Emergence] is Larry Muhammad selves? Does that count? Is the type of theatre complicated and subjective, and it’s different has read and critiqued all my plays and jokes relevant? The size of the house or audience? for every writer.” that he’s my personal dramaturg.” How many successes on the intimate stage Josephson’s short play Grandpa and the Another mentor is William P. Bradford II, equal one solid LORT production? Gay Rabbi was winner in 2016 of the Samuel a nominee for a Tony Award in Excellence in Have you emerged when Variety covers French Off-Off Broadway Theater Festival. He Theatre Education, who directed both Jockey your show, or when you get a mention in the had a 10-minute play at the Humana Festival. Jim and Buster! New York Times? Can we emerge at 90 as He is a five-time finalist for the Actors Theatre Muhammad is currently at work on a well as 30? Do playwrights have a “use by” of Louisville’s Heideman Award, and a finalist musical about James Herndon, better known date? for the O’Neill National Playwright’s Confer- as “Sweet Evening Breeze,” a pioneering and “I wrestle with this all the time,” said Jona- ence. Twelve of his plays have been published. openly gay transvestite in Lexington, Kentucky, than Josephson, 33, co-founder and executive But even with some objectively impressive in the mid-twentieth century. director of L.A.’s Unbound Productions, an markers, he’s still not sure he has “emerged.” For more information about the playwright “Yes, I feel like I’ve done a lot. I have a and his work, please contact Larry Muhammad body of work. It’s wonderful! This is the most on Facebook or [email protected]. I’ve ever had and done in a year. I feel re- Keep up with Kentucky members and ally fantastic! Then I look at this other tier of submit your own news by joining our Facebook playwrights, people who are getting multiple page Dramatists Guild-Kentucky Region. commissions from the Oregon Shakespeare [email protected] Festival and the Woolly Mammoth, companies whose work gets written up in American The- atre, playwrights [who can] make a living mean- ingfully, if not completely, on playwriting,” said Josephson, who works by day as director of marketing for a firm in Burbank. “No matter who you are, or what you’re doing, everybody is on a continuum. Everybody is looking up at somebody, and everybody has someone look- ing up at them.” “The central question, for me, is, do we define emergence for ourselves, or do we al- low someone else—‘The Business’—to define it for us?” said Mary Crescenzo, 67, who wrote Amy Simon her first play, Janet’s Halloween Dream, in the
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pp54-66 NationalReports.indd 60 10/5/16 1:04 PM said, I come to playwriting with more life experience, more patience, an ability to see a bigger picture [and] … a better sense of who I am.” Emergence – “coming into notice” – said Simon, suggests a certain “critical mass,” in which a playwright’s efforts are recognized by leading theatre companies, festivals and reviewers. It’s a process, added Mary Crescenzo, with highs and lows along the way. “You’ve just got to hold on. There are Lojo Simon Mary Crescenzo blockades and barriers that fall down in front of you when you least expect it,” said Cres- fourth grade, in the Bronx. Once I got the play on the stage, I emerged. cenzo. “But you find your way over them. You “They staged it, and I was like, ‘Wow! This The play resonated. And I found my voice as a keep holding on. You do the best you can. And can be fun!” said Crescenzo, who worked as playwright.” you march on.” a journalist—writing for the New York Times, At 51, Simon started She’s History, a play [email protected] Cosmopolitan, Playboy and the Huffington about “women who make and made history.” Post, among others—and as a broadcaster, ac- “I wrote it because we know more about Kim tor, singer, casting director and teacher before Kardashian than Abigail Adams. And that is just returning to playwriting at around 50. not right,” she said. “We emerge when we begin to get rec- She’s History, like Cheerios, began as a ognized, when we have stage works produced solo show but has evolved into a play for multi- anywhere, when our words leave the page,” ple actors. In her own second act, Simon feels Michigan said Crescenzo, whose play Planet A grew out as though she’s just getting started. of her work teaching the arts to adults afflicted “Margaret Edison wrote Wit when she by Anita Gonzalez with Alzheimer’s. was approaching 40. Gloria Steinem, not a veryone knows that Michigan is shaped “Is [emergence] also when we get a LORT playwright but a writer, is in her 80s and still like a mitten, but did you know we production? Maybe. When we’re published? kicking ass,” said Simon. “There is no use-by have our own play incubation center? That’s a part of it. Is it how many grants or date as a writer. On the contrary: We live and This month I focus on the MITTEN fellowships we get? When we get an agent? have stories to tell. I just turned 60, and I am ELab, a new playwright’s support organization Maybe it’s not about numbers or chronology still emerging.” founded by Rachel Sussman and Katherine at all,” she said. “Maybe it’s how you immerse After a career as a journalist, Lojo Simon Carter. Their goal is to nurture artists who are yourself in the thing that you want to do.” (no relation to Amy), returned to school in her emerging in their practice, seeking a pipeline Amy Simon wrote her first play—Cheerios 50s, earning an MFA from the University of into Michigan theatres for their plays. The in My Underwear (and Other True Tales of Idaho. After years of professional recognition Lab offered its first residency program in Sep- Motherhood) in her 40s. The play holds the as a writer, she said, it’s hard to start over, “to tember 2016, inviting three local playwrights, record as L.A.’s longest-running solo show. be considered emerging – or worse, invisible.” Monet Hurst-Mendoza, Emilio Rodriguez and “Motherhood completely and utterly in- “All my years of writing experience don’t Zoe Sarnak, to northern Michigan. The Lab spired my playwriting career,” said Simon, 60, count…in the theatre, where I’m still a rela- intends to re-establish Michigan as a fertile, who was co-producing the all-female variety tive newcomer,” said Simon, 55, author of The sustainable ground for new and exciting the- show Heroine Addicts at L.A.’s now-defunct Adoration of Dora, which won the Kennedy atrical work. Sussman and Carter explain their Bang Studio when she conceived the idea for Center American College Theater Festival’s passion for founding the lab: “We grew up do- Cheerios. David Mark Cohen National Playwriting Award ing community theatre in Michigan. At the pro- “I needed to share what I learned with in 2012. Her play Love All premiered to ac- fessional level, there are not a lot of theatres. future mothers,” she said. “How it’s common claim at the OC-Centric New Play Festival, in There is really not a connection between them to feel one laundry-load away from a nervous August. and they are not producing a lot of new work, breakdown. No one was talking about the iso- “I still have to pay my dues, climb the rather they are doing old standards. Why do lation and sheer volume of hard physical labor ladder and compete for attention with much you have to leave Michigan to have a career? involved in taking care of miniature humans. younger (and less experienced) writers. That We don’t live in Michigan so we can’t solve
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pp54-66 NationalReports.indd 61 10/5/16 1:04 PM Rhiana Yazzie its problems. Instead, we have conversations with existing professional theatres like Theatre Nova, Detroit Public Theatre or Parallel 45.” Minneapolis/ These three professional Michigan the- atres have a track record of producing new St. Paul plays and are committed to advancing the work by Laurie Flanigan Hegge of playwrights at all stages of their careers. I interviewed playwrights Monet, Emilio hen Dramatists Guild member FARRINGTON LLEWELLYN and Zoe about their current projects and their Rhiana Yazzie first came to the residency plans. Monet’s new play, Blind Twin Cities ten years ago on a Je- Crest, has been in development for two years. rome playwriting fellowship, she The play deals with the many fraught and bi- Wfound it difficult to cast a reading of a new play ased issues surrounding class and race in our with Native American actors, even though the criminal justice system, and grapples with black Twin Cities is home to one of the largest urban identity in white America. A dark twist on a Native American communities in the nation. “boy-meets-girl” story, Blind Crest is inspired Fast-forward ten years, and Rhiana has single- by the unfolding true story of Ronell Wilson, handedly changed the face of the Twin Cities a current Death Row inmate, and the female theatre scene. Her New Native Theatre has prison guard he had a relationship with and forged an artistic home for Native performers impregnated. As an artist, Hurst-Mendoza is who are exploring careers in theatre by walking Aj Kapshesit in Indians and Other Friends by passionate about creating a platform for untold through the welcoming doors of a theatre in Rhiana Yazzie; National Native American Ten stories about people of color and the chal- their own community. As an enrolled member Minute Play Festival lenges they face in my work. She once interned of the Navajo nation, she understands the at the Dramatists Guild in NYC and she fondly complexities of inviting her community to walk remembers culling research for the directory through those doors, which have been tradi- that would later feed her career. tionally shut to Native American artists. She Playwright Zoe Sarnac spends her time at recognizes that many of the artists she is work- Delinda Oogie Pushetonqua in Sell Fish by the MITTEN Lab looking at song moments ing with never imagined the possibility that the Joseph A Dandurand; NNATPF within a new work commissioned by Transport theatre was a place they could call home. And Group. She strongly supports the Dramatists she is inspired by the ways in which individuals Guild and believes it’s crucial for writers have and the community as a whole find healing and ting for Native adults who may have hungered a way of organizing to provide support on the transformation through the experience of be- for these opportunities their whole lives, but business side. While not all of the writers live in ing on stage, telling authentic stories, and see- never thought they belonged. Rhiana finds this Michigan, they all appreciate the opportunity ing themselves reflected on stage without that particularly thrilling. “When someone comes for work space without distractions. Monet reflection being filtered through a white lens. to me and says they’ve long had a secret heart sums it up when she writes: “The Michigan air Rhiana’s approach is holistic. In her words, for theatre, I’m excited to work with them. is crisp and the landscape is lush with greenery NNT isn’t just a non-profit “painted red,” rath- Sometimes they come to us as part of a healing - you could not provide me with a more inspira- er, her work intentionally takes into account process. Seeing yourself on stage, telling your tional place to incubate and test out my ideas the individual as a whole person, including their own stories, or watching a play whose narrative as a playwright! Best of all, the retreat will personal history, the impact of shared trauma actually changes the future or the past for two allow me to fully dedicate myself to my craft - her larger community has faced in the past hours—that’s an incredibly healing experience. something that I can forget to do for myself in and present, and the context of life for Na- When an audience sees a play in which the the city. That freedom and support, in turn, will tive Americans in both urban and reservation Indians actually win, that changes the nervous make me a stronger, more focused artist that I settings. “I care about the well-being of each system.” hope will carry me forward to other opportuni- individual I work with,” Rhiana explains. “There I asked Rhiana, as an outsider to her com- ties and institutions where my work can be are a finite number of us. We experienced munity, how best I could support her work, heard and experienced... did I mention they’re genocide—there’s no getting around that and she said first and foremost to come see going to have popcorn and peanut butter?” truth. I truly feel that theatre is a healing art it. She explains that she has no trouble finding The MITTEN Lab (www.themittenlab.org) form and we can change the course of history audiences for her work—every major produc- [email protected] by telling different stories.” The invitation to tion New Native Theatre has produced has the community includes training for actors, im- had sold-out attendance by both Native and provisation and on-camera classes, playwriting non-Native audiences. She explained how the classes, and a supportive and welcoming set- best work by Native American writers is not 62 | The Dramati
pp54-66 NationalReports.indd 62 10/5/16 1:04 PM Playwrighting and is working on a co-commis- minute plays. sion from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Dramatists Guild member June Guralnick and the Public Theater for American Revolu- was one of the playwrights involved in the tions: the United States History Cycle. This fall “Occupy the Theatre” event. Guralnick feels she heads to The MacDowell Colony for a that the, “WTF will be a game-changer in writing residency. North Carolina, and I’m thrilled I could be a And speaking of influential (and funny) part of this fabulous festival.” Native American writers, Minnesota lost one Guralnick’s play, Finding Clara, was pre- of the greats with the passing of award-winning sented during the “Occupy the Theatre” event Anishinaabe playwright, poet, and author Jim in addition to one of her ten-minute plays,On Northrup this past August. The first time I met the Dreamhouse Sea. More Than Anything by Jim, I sat at his kitchen table where he told me fellow Dramatists Guild member, Adrienne a story about a bear that had wandered into Pender, was also presented during the event. his yard. He went out to his deck and shooed “From the initial meeting with more than a it away, but it just looked at him, until he said, hundred women in attendance,” noted Gural- “get out of here” in Ojibwe, and then the bear nick, “I knew it [WTF] was going to be exciting got it. Giga waabamin miinawaa, Nimishoomis as well as impactful for our region. Based on Makwa. And thank you. my experience as the former Executive Direc- lfl[email protected] tor of the City of Raleigh Arts Commission Aj Kapshesit in Indians and Other Friends by and past North Carolina Arts Council Theatre Rhiana Yazzie; National Native American Ten Director, I was well aware that nothing like this Minute Play Festival had happened in our state.” After participating in the WTF event, diluted to be more digestible for a non-Native North Pender and Guralnick joined a few other fe- audience (in spite of the fact that Native writ- male playwrights on the August 9 to present ers are frequently asked to make their work Carolina their works during an evening at So & So Books more accessible to white audiences), and that in Raleigh in order to benefit Partners Against audiences from outside the community might by Kim Stinson Trafficking in Humans in North Carolina be surprised to see how much humor perme- (PATH-NC). ates Native writers’ work. And not surprisingly, he Women’s Theatre Festival “PATH is thrilled that some of North New Native Theatre could use financial sup- (WTF) has been feminizing the stag- Carolina’s most exciting dramatists have come port. Most of the work Rhiana is doing is on es of North Carolina theatres over together to support us,” stated Martha Kera- a shoestring budget, and she is a staff of one, this past summer. A new venture vuori, PATH Board member. Tstarted by a faculty member at Shaw University Guralnick said of the evening that, “the functioning as producer, director, curator, and educator. in Raleigh, Ashley Popio, with the help of 179 range of material and extraordinary diversity This past April, NNT produced The other women, this project included seven plays and strength of the voices made for a provoca- National Native American Ten Minute Play written and directed by women which were tive, memorable night.” Festival, featuring work by ten Native American presented in August and September at various Putting works on the stage is not the only playwrights. This summer and fall NNT toured locations in Burlington, Carrboro, and Raleigh. activity of the WTF. They are also offering two productions, Stolen Generation by Ardie According to their website, their mission is: classes and discussions in various theatrical Medina, and Sneaky by William S. Yellow Robe “To create, produce, and promote extraordi- subjects such as the “Cross Gender Casting Jr. The last Friday of every month NNT pres- nary theatre by women.” Panel,” “Fight Like a Girl: Basics of Stage ents the Well Red Play Reading Series at the In addition to the seven scheduled runs, Combat,” and “Women’s Forms: Experiential All My Relations Gallery on Franklin Avenue the WTF also held a twenty-four hour event Writing.” All classes are free with a suggested in Minneapolis. Check out the New Native to raise awareness of the lack of gender equity donation of five dollars at the door—for those Theatre website for the monthly line up: www. in theatre. “Occupy the Theatre” took place who can afford it. Those who cannot are still newnativetheatre.org from 8:30 a.m. on July 30 and held the stage encouraged to attend. On top of her work with New Native until 8:30 a.m. on July 31. Over the twenty- For more details about The Women’s Theatre, Rhiana is a busy playwright. She was four hours, the event included performances of Theatre Festival, visit their website at http:// recently awarded the McKnight Fellowship in eleven plays, two plays workshopped with teen www.womenstheatrefestival.com/ where you actors, and the double presentation of ten ten- can find information on future productions and
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pp54-66 NationalReports.indd 63 10/5/16 1:04 PM classes, as well as, links to multiple sources of Geither, and Michael Oatman. Later this sea- research on gender parity in the theatre. son, we’ll stage our second annual Cleveland [email protected] Playwrights Festival and the premiere of a Philadelphia one-person show by writer/actor Amy Schwa- by Jacqueline Goldfinger bauer. In March 2017, we’ll host The Mac Wellman Homecoming, a three-day festival he 2016-17 theatre season an- with performances of Wellman classics and nouncements are out in Philadel- Northern new locally written works by multiple theatre phia, and a record number of 13 companies, all honoring a Cleveland product world premieres with professional Ohio whose imprint on the playwriting world has Tcompanies by local playwrights and makers been indelible. have been announced: Marcus/Emma by Mary by David Todd In addition to working as the conceiver/ Tuomanen at InterAct, Shitheads by Douglas dramaturg on Objectively/Reasonable, I’m fin- Williams at Azuka, Feed by Applied Mechanics, s a native Clevelander, I’m happy to ishing a new play entitled Things as They Are, Adapt! by Blanka Zizka at The Wilma, VIII Days be back in the city and representing which is a mediation on the life and work of after… by Kash Goins at GoKash, Color Me its playwrights for the Dramatists American poet Wallace Stevens. Featuring an Bearded by The Bearded Ladies, The Carols Guild of America. There’s always original score by Ben Chasny—known to music Show by Jen Childs at 1812, Destiny Estimate Abeen a rich theater tradition here in Northeast fans as Six Organs of Admittance—Things by MJ Kaufman funded by the Pew, White by Ohio—just one of the areas I’ll be covering as also includes original material by Stevens per- James Ijames at Theatre Horizon, This Is The Regional Rep for the state—but I’m excited by formed with the permission of Alfred A. Knopf. Week That Is by the Ensemble at 1812, my play the heightened activity in playwriting circles. This play, which will premiere in Cleveland in The Arsonists at Azuka, Breathe Smoke by In addition to the Cleveland Play House’s May 2017, combines two of my main interests Douglas Williams at Orbiter 3, as well as an Playwrights’ Unit and Dobama Theatre’s to this point, experimental theater and alterna- additional Orbiter play, and this doesn’t even Playwrights’ GYM, there are independent tive music. My own playwriting experience include the Fringe in September or collectives ventures, including The Manhattan Project tends toward the avant-garde and reflects my that announce productions on a rolling basis. – Cleveland Lab, that provide outlets for background in the less-heralded corners of the It’s a revolutionary change. We’ve gone development. There are also producing com- downtown NYC demimonde. I’ve also done from a community in which brand new work panies including Convergence-Continuum and some teaching of playwriting as an English was valued but limited to a community in Ensemble Theatre, that have local plays in their professor, which was my main career for some which you will be able to see world premieres current seasons. As well, there is Talespinner time after earning a Ph.D. at the University of by local playwrights and makers every month, Children’s Theatre, whose annual series of Illinois at Chicago. all season long. plays adapted from myths and folklore are As Regional Rep, I look forward to draw- When I moved to Philadelphia in 2008, penned by area scribes. ing attention to the often unrecognized audiences could expect to see only one new Another vehicle in Northeast Ohio is playwrights in the state. I’m also excited about work by one of four well-established local one I’m closely involved with, Playwrights Lo- hosting events that deal with issues affecting playwrights each year; a new play by Bruce cal. Now in our second season, Playwrights dramatic writers here in our markets. Lastly, the Graham, Michael Hollinger, Seth Rozin or Local is the area’s only theater organization prospect of interacting with the other Reps, Thomas Gibbons. If we were lucky, we would devoted entirely to developing and producing who appear such a vital and impressive group, get to see two new plays from these gentle- local writers. We stage full productions, of- is enticing to me. I look forward to meeting men. However, the perfect storm of increased fer playwriting classes, host outreach events, and disappointing them all in due time. interest in local artists, an increased generation and conduct workshop programs such as our Before closing, I’d like to offer a special of new work, and increased interest by funders Play Lab. We also make an effort to cultivate a thanks to our outgoing Rep, Faye Sholiton. in supporting new work has led to the found- greater esprit de corps among dramatists here Faye literally put our region on the map as its ing and support of new work initiatives at both in our already close-knit, supportive scene. first-ever emissary to the Guild. On behalf of established theatres as well as the forming of Our current production, Objectively/Reason- all members in Ohio, I want to acknowledge a new work development group, The Foundry, able: A Community Response to the Shooting Faye for her seven years of service. which focuses solely on developing new plays of Tamir Rice, 11/22/14, is a documentary play [email protected] by local writers. The Foundry makes it possible incorporating contributions from playwrights for theatres that could not afford to develop including Tom Hayes, Lisa Langford, Mike
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pp54-66 NationalReports.indd 64 10/5/16 1:04 PM new work to have polished new work by local “I write a play to figure something out,” said writers given to them ready for production. The Elaine. “How we embrace our decline as we Foundry then also inspired an off-shoot, Or- age is one.” biter 3, which is comprised of local playwrights The next phase of Elaine’s career was committed to self-producing their own work in marked by experimentation with both subject the model of 13P and the Welders. matter and technique. She and her daughter I hope that you will join us in Philadelphia Kate wrote (a man entered) because, as she next season to see phenomenal new work by said, “they wanted to explore why a man local playwrights! would decide to stop having contact with his children.” Two Stories, her next play, focuses Here is where you can find more information on what happens when your neighbor builds a about each new work: house that blocks your sunlight and your view. Salt Lake Acting Company premiered both Marcus/Emma by Mary Tuomanen, Inter- plays. Act: www.interacttheatre.org Elaine Jarvik Plan-B Theatre in Salt Lake City produced Shitheads by Douglas Williams and The her next two plays. Marry Christmas is a docu- Arsonists by Jacqueline Goldfinger, mentary about gay couples in Salt Lake City Azuka: www.azukatheatre.org Utah who married immediately after the ban was lifted against same-sex marriage. Her most re- Feed by Applied Mechanics: www.ap- by Julie Jensen cent play, Based on a True Story, defies theatri- pliedmechanics.us cal conventions. As Elaine put it, she had been he plays drums in a band called The Adapt! by Blanka Zizka, Wilma: wilmathe- trying to get away from people sitting around ater.org Distractions, she volunteers at a coun- talking. Then one of her directors showed her a seling center for young people who’ve picture of a woman in aviator goggles and said, VIII Days after… by Kash Goins at Go- experienced loss, she’s the mother of “Write a play.” She immediately thought of Kash: www.gokashproductions.com Stwo, grandmother of five. And she writes plays. time travel. “What would happen if a woman But before all this, Elaine Jarvik was a profes- accidentally found herself 30 years in the fu- Color Me Bearded by The Bearded La- sional journalist with degrees from Syracuse ture after arguing with her husband?” she said. dies: www.beardedladiescabaret.com University and Northwestern, who worked for And that was it. “No more people sitting in The Carols Show by Jen Childs and This is 27 years at the Deseret News, a daily newspa- chairs talking!” the Week that Is by the Ensemble at 1812: per in Salt Lake City. When asked about what she was working www.1812productions.org She launched her playwriting career most on now, she answered, “A play about someone impressively when her short play, Dead Right, considered the worst at what he did. I don’t Destiny Estimate by MJ Kaufman funded was produced at the Humana Festival in Louis- want to jinx it by saying anything else.” by the Pew: http://www.pcah.us/ ville. It’s an off-center look at an aging couple, And so, our mother, drummer, journalist, grants/9875_destiny_estimate arguing about the content and style of obituar- playwright, compelled as ever by the story, White by James Ijames at Theatre Hori- ies in the newspaper. Several of her early short the chance to tell a story, is hard at work. As zon: www.theatrehorizon.org plays also focused on issues of aging. The she puts it, “I regard my desk as both a refuge subject compelled her, because of problems and a tiny precipice exposed to the elements, Breathe Smoke by Douglas Williams and she saw with both her parents and her in-laws. where I am either relieved or despondent.” One Additional Play at Orbiter 3: www. “I was also propelled by stories I reported for One of the most disciplined and talented writ- orbiter3.org the newspaper,” she said. “And of course there ers around, she is at it and getting better all was my own impending old age and the fact jgoldfi[email protected] the time. that I’m both a pessimist and a worrywart.” [email protected] And so her first full-length play, The Coming Ice Age, focused on a retired couple in conflict about keeping or leaving their home. It pre- miered at Pygmalion Theatre in Salt Lake City.
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pp54-66 NationalReports.indd 65 10/5/16 1:04 PM When I realized that none of Amy Herzog’s to provide resources throughout the process, plays had been done in Buffalo, it seemed and that may include conversations with other Western clear that we should do all three.” ensemble members, such as designers,” says Herzog says an entire season of her plays is RLTP Artistic Director Scott Behrend. “We New York a first, and “When I learned that JRT would be plan to dip into the ensemble actor pool for by Donna Hoke doing a season of my work, I was completely actors; we will definitely use all local actors.” delighted. I’m especially excited that JRT will “There’ something immersive about com- erhaps it’s the all the glowing national stage The Great God Pan, a less frequently pro- ing to Buffalo and being put up and working press Buffalo’s been getting, but play- duced play that I like as much as the other two. out of my comfort zone,” Joseph says. “I’m ex- wrights seem to be visiting here with It’s about a completely different family, but cited by the prospect of trying something new. astonishing regularity! This past spring, all three plays touch on memory, identity, and It’s all about hearing early drafts read aloud; Pwe hosted Terrence McNally; Tom Dudzick— what’s passed down in generations of a family.” that’s how I determine what’s working or not.” in town to direct his fourth play at Kavinoky— And as if this hasn’t been enough, Rajiv Finally, also in May, Road Less Traveled was chair of Curtain Up! September 16; the Joseph will visit Buffalo not once, but twice, in will host Donald Margulies when he attends its next day, Jeffrey Sweet led an Improvising Your the coming season, the first time in Novem- production of The Country House, the second Play workshop in Rochester; and October ber, the second in May. As the recipient of Margulies play of the season; the first, Dinner 27, Amy Herzog met with playwrights prior to Road Less Traveled Productions’ first national With Friends, was RLTP’s Curtain Up! offering. the opening of 4000 Miles, the first of three residency, he’ll be here workshopping his new, RLTP plans to have a public Q&A moderated Herzog plays comprising Jewish Repertory Goodman-commissioned play, Santa Maria, by RLTP Literary Director Jon Elston on May 6, Theater’s (JRT) 2016-167 season. about a group of men aboard Columbus’ larg- and Margulies will be in attendance at a special “There are many female playwrights, in- est ship. viewing of The Country House that evening. cluding Annie Baker and Wendy Wasserstein, The theatre department at Buffalo State Watch your regional e-blasts for more whose plays we have already done,” says JRT College will be involved with the workshops details on upcoming events involving these Artistic Director Saul Elkin. “After I read 4000 that culminate with two staged readings at the playwrights. Their visits are further testament Miles, I was so touched, I went on to readAf- Donald Savage Theater on campus, and Joseph to Western New York’s status as an arts desti- ter the Revolution and The Great God Pan, both will also participate in community events dur- nation. of which made a powerful impression on me. ing this longer, spring visit. “We’re going to try [email protected]
Since 1979, Chicago Dramatists has nurtured resident CHICAGO playwrights with the space, resources, and collaborators DRAMATISTS needed to realize new work and thrive as artists. The Center for New Play Development CURRENT RESIDENT PLAYWRIGHTS
Mary Ruth Clarke Kristiana Rae Colón Cheryl Coons MT Cozzola Will Dunne Reginald Edmund Stuart Flack New play Dana Lynn Formby Ricardo Gamboa development. Anne García-Romero Isaac Gomez Every day. Georgette Kelly Rohina Malik Arlene Malinowski Jayme McGhan Susan H. Pak Steven Peterson Elaine Romero Jon Steinhagen Robert Tenges Jay Torrence Scott Woldman chicagodramatists.org • (312) 633-0630 Martín Zimmerman
pp54-66 NationalReports.indd 66 10/5/16 1:04 PM FROM THE DESK OF DRAMATISTS GUILD FUND Getting A Word In Agewise
BY TRAVELING MASTER CHISA HUTCHINSON
CHISA HUTCHINSON, a 2010-11 DG Fellow these people in the way of wisdom? ing a mother forcibly putting make- and one of twelve DGF Traveling Masters in Turns out I didn’t have to offer up on her male-identified trans kid 2016, lead workshops in Shepherdstown, WV much. Lectures were out of the ques- while small-talking him to death. where her play The Wedding Gift had its world tion. I suck at talking. It’s why I write. One youngsta wrote a brave piece premiere at the Contemporary American So I’d go the nothing-to-it-but-to-do- about a girl grappling with obesity and Theater Festival. Her plays include: Somebody’s it route. I simply posed some writing body image. Everyone hollered back Daughter, Dead and Breathing, Dirt Rich, She Like Girls, This Is Not the Play, Sex on Sunday. prompts, offered some examples. And with something not only artful, but I’m not sure if anyone else learned distinctly theirs. Which is the whole ramatists Guild Fund Trav- anything, but here’s what I learned: point, right? And a relief for me. Like eling Masters. Sounds for- all writers—all people, arguably—no phew, I don’t have to teach squat. I just midable as fuck, don’t it? matter what age, just need a spark. have to give people a proper platform. Like some literary kung-fu They’ll give you fire if you just give I just have to share what I love about Dtype shit. That’s what I was think- them a spark. This was the common playwriting, that possibility of creat- ing when the Dramatists Guild Fund denominator for three otherwise ing something new out of battered, asked if I’d like to participate in the wide-ranging workshops. old experiences. program during my time at the Con- I asked the Road Scholars to think Hell, that’s something you can en- temporary American Theater Festival of a time they should’ve said some- joy whether you’re nine or ninety. in Shepherdstown, WV. thing but, for whatever reason, didn’t, CHISA Um. Yeah, I would. and then rewrite that moment in http://dgfund.org Of course, as soon as I agreed, monologue form. I figure folks of that doubts cropped up. Like, “Wait, am I vintage are likely to have at least one The Dramatists Guild Fund’s Traveling Masters accomplished enough? Did they run moment like that. The MFA students program is a national outreach program that out of more experienced people to who basically already know everything sends prominent dramatists into communities ask?” I really had to take inventory, there is to know about dramatic writ- across the country for writing workshops, mas- y’all. Like I had to check my bio for ing? I had them put what they know to ter classes, talkbacks, and other public events. In partnership with leading regional theaters reassurance. And even then, I couldn’t work and focus on theatricality, write help panicking when I learned that I’d and universities, Traveling Masters creates something that had to happen on local programs that give theater profession- be running a workshop not just for the stage because it wouldn’t work in any als and the public first-hand experience with super-sweet, uber-enthusiastic teens other medium. And those eager teens renowned artists. from a theater bootcamp program got ferocious with their prompt: write called HostelYOUTH!—I figured I something that would embarrass your 2016 Traveling Masters have included Lynn Ahrens & Stephen Flaherty, Madeleine might be able to fool them—but also mom. one for wily sexagenarians who love George, Chisa Hutchinson, Laura Jacqmin, The results were kind of astonish- Josefina Lopez, Philip Kan Gotanda, Terrence theater so much, they chose to spend ing. One older gentleman revised his McNally, Chris Miller & Nathan Tysen, Adam a chunk of their retirement studying it regret of not having asked a young Szymkowicz, Paula Vogel, Lauren Yee, and with a program called Road Scholars. lady about suspected abuse. A Point Anna Ziegler. Oh yeah, and a third workshop for Park student exploited the shit out Delta is the official presenting sponsor of the Point Park University MFA students. of some visual dissonance by depict- What the heck could I possibly offer Traveling Masters Program
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pp67-69 Departments.indd 67 10/5/16 1:05 PM FROM THE DESK OF BUSINESS AFFAIRS Speaking of Elections… 2017 Reonal Council Seats
BY AMY VONVETT
e are pleased to an- have the opportunity to elect a fel- members will serve to eliminate a nounce the Council low dramatist to our Council that perceived disconnect between you, of the Dramatists understands what it is like to live and the Member, and the New York office Guild voted to add work in your region. We could not be by offering you a voice from your own fiveW Regional Council seats to serve more thrilled at the potential impact backyard. among the ranks of our esteemed these regional seats could have on The concept of members of Coun- Council members. Those of you at the future of the Dramatists Guild. cil serving outside the New York the Member level of the Guild, will The election of regional Council tristate area is not unknown to us.
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pp67-69 Departments.indd 68 10/5/16 1:05 PM Thanks to the advancement of push further onto the national stage. sense to add regional input on a more streaming technology we’ve been We will implement Regional frequent basis. By adding a regional able to welcome two members to Council members during our 2017 component, we expect more work of Council that reside outside the Council Election starting in January this caliber to come out of the new New York tristate area: Charlayne 2017. We have broken up the country seating of Council. Woodard (Los Angeles) and Rebecca into five separate regions: California, Candidates that are being consid- Gilman (Chicago). The decision to Northern, Southern, Mid-Atlantic, ered will need to show a high level add more regional Council members and New England / Abroad. Each of commitment to the Guild, and a gives the Guild an opportunity to region, as seen in the graphic on deep understanding of our practices the opposite page, will have its own and our mission. The new Council REGION 1: CALIFORNIA independent election of members members will have the same responsi- Regional Reps currently serve in Los Angeles into the Council. The regions were bilities to our members as the current & San Francisco. split evenly according to how many Council members. Regional Council members reside in each region. Each members will be voting members REGION 2: NORTHERN Member will receive a ballot, either and, therefore, required to attend Includes: OR, WA, NV, UT, ID, MT, WY, by mail or online, specific to their monthly meetings. Many of the can- CO, KS, NE, SD, ND, MN, IA, MO, IL, WI, IN, MI, AK, HI region. In other words, a member didates you’ll see on the ballot will be Regional Reps currently serve in Portland, in Maine cannot vote for a Regional your very own Regional Representa- Seattle, Salt Lake City, Denver, Minneapo- Council member running in the Cali- tives as they possess the key balance lis, Kansas City/St. Louis, and Chicago. fornia region. of experience and commitment re- The new Council members will quired to hold a position on Council. REGION 3: SOUTHERN serve a three-year term where they Connecting New York with the Includes: AZ, NM, TX, OK, AR, LA, MI, TN, AL, FL, GA, SC, NC will attend monthly meetings. Atten- rest of the country is a challenge the Regional Reps currently serve in Austin/San dance at these meetings gets to the Guild has enthusiastically attacked. Antonio, Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, heart of why it will be so important to We will only continue to do so. We’ve Florida (West & East), Charlotte, NC and have our regions join Council. In the come so far over the last decade and Atlanta. past, regions have only had one op- the Regional Council Member Elec- REGION 4: MID-ATLANTIC portunity annually to speak on issues tion will only serve to advance our Includes: OH, KY, VA, WV, PA, MD, DE, important to them: the February An- community. Washington DC and NJ nual Meeting. The Annual Meeting Voting for the Dramatists Guild Regional Reps currently serve in Louisville, is so important to the function of the Council will be held both by paper Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Washing- Guild and has produced some of the ballot and online. The election will ton DC, Philadelphia and New Jersey. Guild’s best work. The Count was begin in January 2017. Watch your REGION 5: NEW ENGLAND born at an Annual Meeting because inbox and your mailbox for further & ABROAD so many of our Regional Represen- information. Includes; ME, NH, VT, MA, RI, CT, all of tatives had concerns about gender AMY NY outside a 79-mile radius of Manhattan, parity in the theater. It only made [email protected] and all countries beyond the U.S. Regional Reps currently serve in Boston, Ithaca/Syracuse, Greater Buffalo and CT. v m r/D c m r 2016 | 69
pp67-69 Departments.indd 69 10/5/16 1:05 PM DRAMATISTS DIARY
Swing by HOLLY M. EATON, Negro Ensemble The Jamb by J. STEPHEN BRANTLEY. Kraine The- Company Inc., First Floor Theatre, La MaMa ater, New York, NY. Dramatists ETC. The Collector by ROBIN ELLEN BROOK. 2nd An- Suddenly, a Knock at the Door by ROBIN GOLD- nual Lift-Off New Play Series, The Navigators FIN. Theater for the New City. Theater Company, the Grand Theatre. Diary Zora Neale Hurston by LAURENCE HOLDER. Mary V by REBEKAH CARROW. Dream Up Festival, New Federal Theatre, Castillo Theatre. Theater for the New City, Johnson Theater, New The Real Actors of NYC book, music, and lyrics by York, NY. Submit your news items online. The KARLAN JUDD. Musicals, Duh!, Anne L. Bern- Through The Cracks by KAREN CECILIA, HERE, Member News Form allows you to update stein Theater at The Theater Center. New York, NY. us on productions, readings, workshops, Tick, Tick…BOOM! book, music, and lyrics by The Servant of Two Masters by Carlo Goldoni, publications and more. And all through one JONATHAN LARSON. Keen Company, Acorn adapted by CONSTANCE CONGDON. The- form that allows you to choose where you Theater, Theater Row. atre for a New Audience, Polonsky Shakespeare 1001 Nights: A Love Story About Loving Stories Center, Brooklyn, NY. want the news item to appear: the online music and lyrics by ROBERT LOPEZ, book by The Convent of St Clare by JOANNE DE SIM- member bulletin boards, the e-Newsletter Adam Koplan and ROBERT LOPEZ. Atlantic ONE. Thespis Theater Festival, Hudson Guild or the magazine. Or, all three! The choice for Kids, Atlantic Theater Company, The Linda Theatre, New York, NY. is yours. Gross Theater. The Future Has an Ancient Heart by ERIC EBER- 90210! The Musical! by BOB and TOBLY MC- WEIN. 2nd Annual Lift-Off New Play Series, The To contribute a news item visit: http:// SMITH. Theatre 80. Navigators Theater Company, the Grand The- www.dramatistsguild.com/memberdirec- The Widow of Tom’s Hill by ALEKS MERILO, ater, New York, NY. 59E59. Wounded by MARIO FRATTI. Lower East Side tory/magazine/getnews.aspx or find the The Sandman by LYNN NAVARRA, American The- Festival of the Arts, Theater for the New City, Member News button at the bottom of atre of Actors. Johnson Theater, New York, NY. our website’s home page. What Did You Expect? The Gabriels: Election Year Null & Void by CHARLES GERSHMAN. Dream in the Life of One Family, Play Two by RICHARD Up Festival, Theater for the New City, Cabaret Items submitted for publication in The NELSON. The Public Theater, LuEsther Theater. Theater, New York, NY. Dramatist will be printed in the earliest Women of a Certain Age, The Gabriels: Election Understanding Lear by JOE GODFREY, Gallery Year in the Life of One Family, Play Three by Players, Brooklyn, Brooklyn, NY. possible issue. RICHARD NELSON. The Public Theater, LuEs- The Bronx Queen by JOSEPH GULLA. Joe’s Pub. ther Theater. New York, NY Please remember, the Dramatists Diary is a Sweat by LYNN NOTTAGE. The Public Theater, Murmurs and Incantations by DAHN HIUNI, record of past events. These listings are not Martinson Theater. FringeNYC, Soho Playhouse. advertisements. You may not submit a news Alice In Black and White by ROBIN RICE, 59E59. Zuccotti Park book and lyrics by CATHERINE KOE- item that is older than one year. Storage Locker by JEFF STOLZER. IATI Theater. NIG HURD, music by Vatrena King. FringeNYC, Kingdom Come by JENNY RACHEL WEINER. Flamboyan Theater, New York, NY. Please do not send your news items via Roundabout Theatre Company, Black Box The- CHANCE: A Musical Play About Love, Risk atre in the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center & Getting It Right book, music and lyrics by USPS mail. for Theatre. RICHARD ISEN. Fresh Fruit Festival. New York, NY. Questions? Email OTHER NEW YORK Taming The Male Chauvinist by LANCE JOHN- [email protected] Miss by MICHAEL ROSS ALBERT. FringeNYC. New SON, The DeSotelle Theater, New York, NY. York, NY Visiting Hours by JOSHUA KAPLAN, Theaterlab, BROADWAY Millennium Mom by LIZ AMADIO. Dream Up Fes- New York, NY. Holiday Inn, music by IRVING BERLIN. Written tival, Theater for the New City, Cabaret Theater. Movin’ On Up by JEREMY KEHOE, Wow Cafe The- by GORDON GREENBERG and Chad Hodge. Lured by FRANK AVELLA. Dream Up Festival, The- atre, New York, NY. Roundabout Theatre Company, Studio 54. ater for the New City, Community Theater, New Uniforms by JEFFREY JAMES KEYES. The East 13th Falsettos music and lyrics by WILLIAM FINN, book York, NY. Street Theatre. Samuel French OOB Festival. by WILLIAM FINN and JAMES LAPINE. Walter Election - Selection Or, You Bet music by New York, NY. Kerr Theatre. JOSEPH-VERNON BANKS, book and lyrics by It’s All About Lorrie by JOSEPH KRAWCZYK. The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov, adapted by Crystal Field, Theater for the New City, New Thespis Theater Festival, Hudson Guild Theatre. STEPHEN KARAM. Roundabout Theatre Com- York, NY. The Gold book by ANDREA LEPCIO, music and lyr- pany, American Airlines Theatre. Lady Liberty’s Worst Day Ever and No Irish Need ics by Phil Yosowitz. New York Musical Festival. Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet Of 1812 by Apply by MONICA BAUER. Lady Liberty The- New York, NY. DAVE MALLOY. Imperial Theatre. ater Festival, Urban Stages, New York, NY. The Troubadour Struck By Lightning by ED MA- Dead Shot Mary by ROBERT KEITH BENSON, The LIN, FringeNYC, New York, NY. OFF-BROADWAY Bridge Theatre, Shetler Studios, New York, NY. Children of Hooverville by HOLLIE MICHAELS. A Taste of Things to Come book, music, and lyrics Insomnia: A New Musical music and lyrics by Arts Live Theater. Fayetteville, NY. by DEBRA BARSHA and Hollye Levin. York The- CHARLES BLOOM, book by THEO WOLF. Crackskull Row by HONOR MOLLOY, The Work- atre Company. Midtown International Theater Festival, New shop Theater, New York, NY. Marie and Rosetta by GEORGE BRANT. Atlantic York, NY. Camera-Ready Art by EDWARD MUSTO, Thespis Theater Company. Douds, Iowa by DEBBIE BOLSKY, Tehachapi Com- Theatre Festival, New York, NY. Conversations with an Average Joe by JOSEPH munity Theatre, Tehachapi, NY. The Chaplin Plays: A Double Feature by DON CARRARO. The Theater Center.
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NIGRO. Dream Up Festival, Theater for the and Laura Berguist, book and lyrics by PAUL Arts Live Theater, Fayetteville, NY. New City. WOODS COZBY, The Forum Theatre Company, Compos Mentis by MARILYN MILLSTONE. Fells The Underpants Godot by DUNCAN PFLASTER, Wichita, KS. Point Corner Theatre 2016 10x10 Festival, Balti- The Secret Theatre, Long Island City, NY. The Lady and ‘The Tyger’ or William Blake’s more, MD. A Muslim in the Midst by ANAND RAO. Thespis ‘How I Met Your Mother’ by TRACE CRAW- Hearts of Palm by PATRICIA MILTON. Central Theater Festival, Hudson Guild Theatre, New FORD, The Stella Adler Theatre, Hollywood, Works. Berkeley, CA. York, NY. CA. The Consul, The Tramp, and America’s Sweet- Catatonic by NEDRA PEZOLD ROBERTS. Blue The Sum of Your Experience by TRACE CRAW- heart, by JOHN MOROGIELLO, Oldcastle Pearl Theatrics. New York, NY. FORD. Lionheart Theatre Company. Norcross, Theatre Company, Bennington, VT. Spinoza’s Ethics by EMILY CLAIRE SCHMITT. GA and WildClaw Theatre - Deathscribe 2016 at Brechtian Alienation by SEAN O’DONNELL, War- Dream Up Festival, Theater for the New City, Lincoln Hall, Chicago, IL. ner Theatre Company, Torrington, CT. Johnson Theater. My Three Sons by DENNIS JAY DANZIGER, Stella All The Details by CARY PEPPER, Rover Dra- Lou Bitterman, Attorney at Law by SUSAN SHA- Adler Theatre, Hollywood, CA. mawerks, Plano, TX. FER, Equity Library/Piney Fork Summer Playwrit- The Lilac Ticket by C. J. EHRLICH, Little Black Mark My Worms by CARY PEPPER, St. Louis Ac- ing Festival, New York, NY. Dress INK at the Prescott Center for the Arts, tors’ Studio, St. Louis, MO. Superman’s Defeat by SUSAN SHAFER, Manhattan Prescott, AZ. I Did That and Finding Love @ .Com by CARY Repertory Theatre, New York, NY. Wallaroo, the Goldfish by NANCY GALL-CLAY- PEPPER, The Theatre at Hollywood and Vine, Catch the Mah Jong Beat! by SUSAN SHAFER, TON, The Changing Scene Theatre Northwest, Plymouth, MA. Manhattan Repertory Theatre, New York, NY. Tacoma, WA. Mark My Worms by CARY PEPPER, Starlite Players, The Curse of Batvia book and lyrics by KATHERINE The Estate Affair by NANCY GALL-CLAYTON, Sarasota, FL. BURGER, music by ROLAND TEC. Maverick Kentucky Playwrights Workshop, Kentucky State Visiting Edna by DAVID RABE. Steppenwolf The- Concert Hall, Woodstock, NY. Fair, Louisville, KY. atre Company, Chicago, IL. The Pearl Diver by E. THOMALEN. Thespis The- The Eaton Woman by ANTHONY ERNEST GAL- Anatomy of a Hug by KAT RAMSBURG, Trustus ater Festival, Hudson Guild Theatre, New York, LO. Greenbelt Arts Center, The Seventh Street Theatre Company, Columbia, SC. NY. Playhouse, Greenbelt, MD. Seared by THERESA REBECK. San Francisco Play- Harpies Shooting Craps by ROSEMARY FRISINO Dinner Theater by ALEX GOLDBERG, Greenway house, San Francisco, CA. TOOHEY, Marble Collegiate Church’s The Court Theatre, West Hollywood, CA. The Way of the World by THERESA REBECK. Dor- Puzzle, New York, NY. Between Riverside and Crazy by STEPHEN ADLY set Theatre Festival, Dorset, VT. FATFATFATFATFATFATFAT! By JAMES ANTHO- GUIRGIS. Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Homescreen and Let’s Pretend by SHEILA L. NY TYLER. The Tank, New York, NY. Chicago, IL. RINEAR, One Minute Play Festival - Austin Play- Talkin’ to This Chick Sippin’ Magic Potion by Brittle by DANIEL GUYTON, New Origins Theatre house, Austin, TX. JAMES ANTHONY TYLER. F*ck!ng Good Pl@ Company, Chamblee, GA. We Got This! by SHEILA L. RINEAR, Pittsburgh ys Festival, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, New Roz and Ray by KAREN HARTMAN. Seattle Reper- New Works Festival - Carnegie Stage, Carnegie, York, NY. tory Theatre, Seattle, WA. PA. Love, Almost Forever by DAVID VAZDAUSKAS. All of What You Love and None of What You You Hear That? by BEN COREY SCHROTH, 2nd Annual Lift-Off New Play Series, The Naviga- Hate by PHILLIP HOWZE. San Francisco Play- Bishop Arts Theatre Center, Dallas, TX. tors Theater Company, the Grand Theater, New house, San Francisco, CA. The Fundamentals by ERIKA SHEFFER. Steppen- York, NY. Miss You Like Hell book and lyrics by QUIARA wolf Theatre Company, Chicago, IL. Roughly Speaking by SHARA ASHLEY ZEIGER, ALEGRIA HUDES, music and lyrics by Erin Ramayana Past in Present libretto, music and lyr- Tada Theater/The Platform Group, New York, McKeown. La Jolla Playhouse, La Jolla, CA. ics by JOHN SHERWOOD. Kelly Theater. West NY. Lyman by ANNE JOHNSTONBROWN. The Grove Liberty, WV. Theatre. Upland, CA. All My Distances Are Far by LEDA SISKIND, The- REGIONAL Einstein’s Theory of Relativity by LIN KEMP, TCR atre 40, Los Angeles, CA. Dora’s Dynamic Dates by MARJORIE ANN BICK- New Play Festival, Cedar Rapids, IA. Candid Candidate by DONALD V. TONGUE, NELL, The Group Rep at the Lonny Chapman The Last Schwartz by DEBORAH ZOE LAUFER. Hatbox Theatre, Concord, NH. Theater, North Hollywood, CA. Theater J, Washington, DC. Cosmic Fruit Bowl by ROSEMARY FRISINO Another Conversation by MARJORIE ANN BICK- Underfoot In Show Business adapted by CHARLES TOOHEY, Holmes Theatre, Detroit Lakes, MN. NELL, Gamut Theatre, Harrisburg, PA. LEIPART. Deertrees Theatre. Harrison, ME. Miss Holmes by CHRISTOPHER M. WALSH, Life- Frankenstein adapted by MARJORIE ANN BICK- In the Open by JOHN LEVINE, Stella Adler The- line Theatre, Chicago, IL. NELL, Hershey Area Playhouse, Hershey, PA. atre, Hollywood, CA. It’s Your Funeral (A Loving Parody) by BARRY H. The Tangled Skirt by STEVE BRAUNSTEIN, Hicklin Tiger Style! by MIKE LEW. La Jolla Playhouse, La WEINBERG, Potomac Playmakers, Hagerstown, Studio Theatre, Whitewater, WI. Jolla, CA. MD, Hagerstown, MD. Bicycle Built For Two by DELVYN CASE, JR., Byhalia, Mississippi by EVAN LINDER. Definition A Desert Serenade by JOHN FLETCHER YAR- Crowbait Club, Portland, ME. Theatre Company and The New Colony, Upstairs BROUGH, Theatre Southwest, Houston, TX. Safety by DAVE CINTRON, Warner Theatre, Tor- Theatre, Steppenwolf, Chicago, IL. All Too Human by ROSEMARY ZIBART, Warehouse rington, CT. We Work Out by RHEA MACCALLUM, Beekay 21 Theater, Santa Fe, NM. Chick Flick the Musical book, music, and lyrics by Theatre, Tehachapi, CA. SUZY CONN. Tilted Windmills Theatricals, The Asking For It by RHEA MACCALLUM, Acadiana ABROAD Royal George Theatre Cabaret, Chicago, IL. Repertory Theatre, Lafayette, LA. Cowbirds by DT ARCIERI, Leduc Drama Society at Hospice: A Love Story by ELIZABETH COPLAN. Mowing Down The Junipers by RHEA MACCAL- the Edmonton Fringe Festival, Edmonton, AB, The Group Rep at Lonny Chapman Theatre. Los LUM, City Theatre of Independence, Indepen- CAN. Angeles, CA. dence, MO. The Death Of Darcy Sheppard by MARY HUM- Christmas Letters music by PAUL WOODS COZBY Children of Hooverville by HOLLIE MICHAELS, PHREY BALDRIDGE, “The Studio” at trinity/St.
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Paul United Church, Toronto, ON, CAN. Kennedy Center, Washington, DC. Lounge at the Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis, Red Hot Mamas by DAVID W CHRISTNER. The- No Word for Schadenfreude and The Making of MN. ater Company GAD of Trento, Italy. Bosentino, Medea’s Medea by CHAS BELOV. Shelton The Four Immigrants: An American Musical Trentino, ITA. Theater/Playwrights’ Center of San Francisco, Manga book, music and lyrics by MIN KAHNG. The Lady and ‘The Tyger’ or William Blake’s San Francisco, CA. TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. Palo Alto, CA. ‘How I Met Your Mother’ by TRACE CRAW- The Best Apple Pie in the County by MARJORIE Dee, All Alone in Her Cottage libretto, music and FORD. Short+Sweet Play Festival at Can- ANN BICKNELL. Cicada Festival and Hershey lyrics by THOMAS E KLUNZINGER. Riverwalk berra Theatre Centre. Canberra, ACT, AUS and Area Playhouse, Mt. Gretna and Hershey, PA. Theatre, Lansing, MI. Short+Sweet Play Festival at TAPAC. Auckland, Character Building adapted by MARTIN BLANK All Bark, No Bite by KARA EMILY KRANTZ. Be- Auckland, NZL. from Booker T. Washington. American Ensemble coming More Productions, Whitinsville, MA. Hitchers by KATE DANLEY and Joe Purcell, New Theater, 15th Annual Page-to-Stage New Play Fes- Mine & Yours by CAROLYN KRAS. The Road The- Theatre of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, CAN. tival, Kennedy Center, Washington, DC. atre Company, North Hollywood, CA. A Package Deal by C. J. EHRLICH, Seoul Players, Strings by CAROL BUGGÉ. Tonic Theater Compa- Rich and Unfamous by JOHN LEVINE. Core Artist Seoul, KOR. ny, 15th Annual Page-to-Stage New Play Festival, Ensemble, New York, NY. L’imboscata (The Ambush) by MARIO FRATTI. Kennedy Center, Washington, DC. What They Heard by MONA MANSOUR. The Lady Festival della Drammaturgia Italiana. Rome, ITA. Hooded, or Being Black for Dummies by TEAR- Liberty Theater Festival, Urban Stages, New Benched by TERENCE PATRICK HUGHES, Haddo RANCE ARVELLE CHISHOLM. Mosaic Theater York, NY. House Theatre Festival, Methlick, Ellon, Scot- Company of DC, 15th Annual Page-to-Stage New What Difference Does It Make? by DEB MARGO- land GBR. Play Festival, Kennedy Center, Washington, DC. LIN. Unexpected Stage Company, 15th Annual Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know by JAMES A Little Lower than the Angels by DAVID W Page-to-Stage New Play Festival, Kennedy Cen- WAYNE JAMESON and Bronwyn Elizabeth Jame- CHRISTNER. Break A Leg Productions/ ter, Washington, DC. son, Lazy Bee Scripts, Scotland, GBR. Bloomingdale Library. New York, NY. Feeding the Furies by ANDREA MARKOWITZ. B4 U Know It by JOHN LEVINE, New Theatre of Around the Snake Turn by PATRICIA CONNELLY. Baltimore Playwrights Festival, 15th Annual Page- Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, CAN. ABG Playwrights and Thelma Theatre, 15th An- to-Stage New Play Festival, Kennedy Center, The Rooster Rebellion by ANTHONY LOUIS nual Page-to-Stage New Play Festival, Kennedy Washington, DC. MARIANI, The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Dray- Center, Washington, DC. Wendy by GRETCHEN MIDGLEY and John Hen- ton Arms Theatre, Scotland, GBR. Black Super Hero Magic Mama by INDA CRAIG- derson. Monumental Theatre Company, 15th Best Intentions by CATIE O’KEEFE. Shark Eat Muf- GALVAN, Skylight Theatre Company, Los Ange- Annual Page-to-Stage New Play Festival, Kennedy fin Theatre Co., Bread and Roses Theatre - Lon- les, CA and Artemisia, Chicago, IL. Center, Washington, DC. don, England, GBR and Greenside Mint Studio, The King of the Cimbri by TONI DORFMAN, New Indian Summer by GREGORY S. MOSS. Arcturus Edinburgh, Scotland, GBR. Mexico Actors Lab, Tucson, AZ and Steep The- Theater Company, 15th Annual Page-to-Stage Build A Wall and The Answer by CARY PEPPER, atre, Chicago, IL. New Play Festival, Kennedy Center, Washington, The Stage TLV, Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv, ISR. Shoah Business by JENNIE BERMAN ENG. GPC DC. Cosmic Fruit Bowl by ROSEMARY FRISINO Productions, 15th Annual Page-to-Stage New Play Never Again by J MARCUS NEWMAN. Scripteas- TOOHEY, Elmwood Players, Buderim, Festival, Kennedy Center, Washington, DC. ers, San Diego, CA. Queensland, AUS and Christchurch, Christ- (verb) A play on words by SETH FREEMAN. I Got Lost by J MARCUS NEWMAN. Diversionary Church, NZL. Baltimore Playwrights Festival, 15th Annual Page- Theatre, San Diego, CA. Great change happens at the edges. In The Tank by ROSEMARY FRISINO TOOHEY, 3B to-Stage New Play Festival, Kennedy Center, Ahab, A Musical Odyssey book, music and lyrics Creative, Buderim, Queensland, AUS. Washington, DC. by BUD NOBLE. Sardi’s Restaurant (4th floor), A Musical Medley, book, libretto, and lyrics by New York, NY. Join us there. READINGS AND WORKSHOPS ANTHONY E. GALLO, music by John Ward, So When Are You Leaving? by SHEILA L. RINEAR, Going Down The Pigeon-Hole (a monologue) by Beatrix Whitehall, Margaret Bagley, and Grant Cape May Stage, Cape May, NJ. CHINITA L. ANDERSON. Woolly Mammoth Bagley. Seventh Street Playhouse, 15th Annual My Goddamn Bat Mitzvah by JENNIFER ANNE Theater, Washington, DC. Page-to-Stage New Play Festival, Kennedy Cen- RUDIN. Electric Lodge, Venice, CA. Forgotten Kingdoms by RANDY BAKER. Rorschach ter, Washington, DC. The Fundamentals by ERIKA SHEFFER. Works & MFA IN Theatre, 15th Annual Page-to-Stage New Play Fes- Frank Talk by SHARON GOLDNER. Baltimore Process at the Guggenheim, New York, NY. tival, Kennedy Center, Washington, DC. Playwrights Festival, 15th Annual Page-to-Stage Songs My Brother Sang by MYRA SLOTNICK. The Time We’ve All Been Dreaming of... by MARY New Play Festival, Kennedy Center, Washington, Torrent Theatre, West End Lounge, 955 W End CREATIVE HUMPHREY BALDRIDGE. The Acting Studio, DC. Ave., New York, NY. New York, NY. Fly Babies by RUSTY HARDING. WingSpan Theatre Girl in the Red Corner by STEPHEN Eat It Too by JENNIFER BARCLAY. 1st Stage, 15th Company, Bath House Cultural Center, Dallas, SPOTSWOOD. The Welders, 15th Annual Page- WRITING Annual Page-to-Stage New Play Festival, Kennedy TX to-Stage New Play Festival, Kennedy Center, SPECIALIZE IN Center, Washington, DC. Ole White Sugah Daddy by OBEHI JANICE. Washington, DC. Aglaonike’s Tiger by CLAUDIA BARNETT. 5th Wall SpeakEasy Stage Company, Boston, MA. A Very Present Presence by ANN TIMMONS. All PLAYWRITING Productions, Charleston, SC. All Bark, No Bite by KARA EMILY KRANTZ. Be- of the Above, 15th Annual Page-to-Stage New SCREENWRITING The Swinging Nuns by MARINA BARRY. Emerging coming More Productions. Whitinsville, MA. Play Festival, Kennedy Center, Washington, DC.
TELEVISION WRITING STEPHANIE LEARY Artists at TADA!, New York, NY. Summer Solstice by MATT HENDERSON. The Crazy Mary Lincoln by JAN TRANEN and Jay STEPHANIE LEARY The Higher Education of Khalid Amir and Anne Happy/Sad Artist Collective. Pittsburgh, PA. Schwandt. Pallas Theatre Collective. 15th Annual LIBRETTO A R P T P T A Frank in the Gaza Strip by MONICA BAUER. The Writer and the Thief by LYNN STEVEN Page-to-Stage New Play Festival, Kennedy Cen- FICTION PLAYWRITING AND SCREENWRITING FACULTY Lady Liberty Theater Festival, Urban Stages, New JOHANSON. End of the Road Play New Play ter, Washington, DC. POETRY Kyle Bass Deborah Brevoort Rogelio Martinez Susan Kim Darrah Cloud York, NY. Festival, South Baldwin Community Theatre, Juliana by VANDA. Venus Theatre, 15th Annual Page- GRAPHIC NOVEL Exit Pluto by AMY BERNSTEIN. Strand Theater, Gulf Shores, AL. to-Stage New Play Festival, Kennedy Center, VISITING WRITERS AND INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS CREATIVE NONFICTION 15th Annual Page-to-Stage New Play Festival, Paper Son by CHRISTINE TOY JOHNSON. Kitchak Washington, DC. Philip Himberg, Sundance Institute Theatre Program David Greenspan, Playwright and Performer John Clinton Eisner, Artistic Director, The Lark Lynda Barry, Playwright and Cartoonist Christopher Durang, Playwright Jane Anderson, Playwright, Screenwriter, Director Polly Carl, HowlRound and Theatre Commons Greg Kotis, Playwright and Librettist 72 | The Dramati Learn more at Christine Vachon, Film Producer Todd Haynes, Screenwriter and Director goddard.edu/MFAwriter Dael Orlandersmith, Playwright Marisa Smith, Smith and Kraus Publishers or call 800.906.8312. Nilo Cruz, Playwright Terry Nolan, Artistic Director, Arden Theatre
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Traversing “Discursive Faultlines” of Sexual Iden- Sword Play by CHARLENE A. DONAGHY. The Best tity Inquiry by CARTER A. WINKLE, TESOL American Short Plays 2014-15. Applause Theatre Convention and Exhibition, Toronto, ON, CAN. & Cinema Books. The Lilac Ticket by C.J. EHRLICH. The Best Ameri- PUBLICATIONS can Short Plays 2014-15. Applause Theatre & The Grass is Greenest at the Houston Astrodome Cinema Books. by MICHAEL ROSS ALBERT. The Best American Losing Sight by KEVIN D. FERGUSON. The Best Short Plays 2014-15. Applause Theatre & Cinema American Short Plays 2014-15. Applause Theatre Books. & Cinema Books. Ditmas by GLENN ALTERMAN. Best 10-Minute Sunshine Quest by WILLIAM IVOR FOWKES. Plays of 2017. Smith and Kraus. Infinity Stage. “Jane” from Closed Windows, Opened Doors by Super Hot Raven and Raven II: The Ravening by GLENN ALTERMAN. Best Women’s Monologues MEGAN GOGERTY. The Best American Short of 2017. Smith and Kraus. Plays 2014-15. Applause Theatre & Cinema With a Bullet (Or, Surprise Me) by JOHN PAT- Books. RICK BRAY. The Best American Short Plays 2014- The Hour by SUSAN GOODELL. The Best Ameri- 15. Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. can Short Plays 2014-15. Applause Theatre & Crazy Eddy by BOB CANNING. STARS: The Nan- Cinema Books. tucket Short Plays Anthology Winners: 1992-2016, The Boy Who Cried Werewolf by DANIEL GUY- Autopscot Press. TON. Pioneer Drama Service. The Gulf by AUDREY CEFALY. The Best American Dead Giveaway by DANIEL GUYTON. Heuer Short Plays 2014-15. Applause Theatre & Cinema Publishing. Books. Kim Arthur and the Nerds of the Round Table by Love Is A Blue Tick Hound by AUDREY CEFALY. DANIEL GUYTON. Infinity Stage. Samuel French. Tea & Misery by TERENCE PATRICK HUGHES. Dolor by HAL CORLEY. The Best American Short Clockhouse Review, Literary Journal of Goddard Plays 2014-15. Applause Theatre & Cinema College. Books. Appropriate by BRANDEN JACOBS-JENKINS. Dra- Living On Love by JOE DIPIETRO. Dramatists Play matists Play Service. Service. Winning by MERCILEE JENKINS. The Best American
Great change happens at the edges. Join us there.
MFA IN CREATIVE WRITING
SPECIALIZE IN PLAYWRITING SCREENWRITING STEPHANIE LEARY TELEVISION WRITING STEPHANIE LEARY STEPHANIE LEARY LIBRETTO A R P T P T A FICTION PLAYWRITING AND SCREENWRITING FACULTY POETRY Kyle Bass Deborah Brevoort Rogelio Martinez Susan Kim Darrah Cloud GRAPHIC NOVEL VISITING WRITERS AND INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS CREATIVE NONFICTION Philip Himberg, Sundance Institute Theatre Program David Greenspan, Playwright and Performer John Clinton Eisner, Artistic Director, The Lark Lynda Barry, Playwright and Cartoonist Christopher Durang, Playwright Jane Anderson, Playwright, Screenwriter, Director Polly Carl, HowlRound and Theatre Commons Greg Kotis, Playwright and Librettist Learn more at Christine Vachon, Film Producer Todd Haynes, Screenwriter and Director goddard.edu/MFAwriter Dael Orlandersmith, Playwright Marisa Smith, Smith and Kraus Publishers or call 800.906.8312. Nilo Cruz, Playwright Terry Nolan, Artistic Director, Arden Theatre
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Short Plays 2014-15. Applause Theatre & Cinema atre & Cinema Books. AWARDS Books. Play Nice! by ROBIN RICE. Original Works Publish- Palooka by CLAUDIA BARNETT. Andaluz Award Kill Floor by ABE KOOGLER. Dramatists Play ing. Jury Prize, Fusion Theatre. Service. Nice Girl by MELISSA ROSS. Dramatists Play MARIO FRATTI. Career Award. Rome, ITA. Delirium’s Daughters by NICHOLAS KORN. Dra- Service. MARIO FRATTI. International Award Magna Grecia. matic Publishing. Feathers by JUDD LEAR SILVERMAN. The Best Sicily, ITA. The Subterraneans by ADAM KRAAR. The Best American Short Plays 2014-15. Applause Theatre All-American Boy by DONALD JAMES GECE- American Short Plays 2014-15. Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. WICZ. Great Gay Play and Musical Contest. & Cinema Books. A Particle of Dread (Oedipus Variations) by SAM Donald Gecewicz Finalist. Pride Films and Plays. Gonna Need to See Some ID by DONNA SHEPARD. Dramatists Play Service. Our Lady of Palmyra by ALLSTON JAMES. Short- LATHAM. The Best American Short Plays 2014-15. Vertical Constellation with Bomb by GWYDION listed finalist, 2016 British Theatre Challenge. Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. SUILEBHAN. The Best American Short Plays London, GBR. The Unknown Freud: Five Plays and Five Essays 2014-15. Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. The Snowmaker by ALEKS MERILO. Best New by ROBERT L. LIPPMAN. International Psycho- B’Hoys Do Macbeth by JONATHON WARD. The Play. Aleks Merilo Playwrights First analysis Books. Best American Short Plays 2014-15. Applause The- Gram Scams by CARY PEPPER. Audience Favorite. Name Me by RHEA MACCALLUM, Audition atre & Cinema Books. Lakeshore Players Monologues for Young Men 2016. Pioneer Drama Walking in the Words of LGBTQ English Lan- Murmurs and Incantations by DAHN HIUNI. Ex- Service. guage Teaching Professionals by CARTER A. cellence in Playwriting, FringeNYC, New York, The Unborn Children of America and Other Fam- WINKLE. Social Justice in English Language Teach- NY. ily Procedures by MICHELE MARKARIAN. A ing, TESOL Press, Alexandria, VA. The Mark of Cain by GARY EARL ROSS. The Eman- collection of plays by Michele Markarian. Fomite Petra by JOHN YARBROUGH. The Best American uel Fried Outstanding New Play Award, Artvoice. Press. Short Plays 2014-15. Applause Theatre & Cinema Berry Season by ROSEMARY FRISINO TOOHEY. Call Me by MICHELE MARKARIAN. The Best Ten- Books. 2016 British Theatre Challenge. One of ten win- Minute Plays 2015. Smith and Kraus. ners, Sky Blue Theatre, London, GBR. Chaos Theory by COURTNEY MEAKER. Original RECORDINGS Works Publishing. Discovering Magenta music by MICHAEL BITTER- OTHER Norma’s Rest by JORDAN MORILLE. The Best MAN, book and lyrics by James Corey Kaufman. The Brazilian Dilemma film version of the play by American Short Plays 2014-15. Applause Theatre CD Baby and iTunes. WILLIAM IVOR FOWKES. The Collective NY, & Cinema Books. The Next Move by WILLIAM IVOR FOWKES, Peta- New York, NY There’s No Here Here by CRAIG POSPISIL. The luma Radio Players. Best American Short Plays 2014-15. Applause The-
74 | The Dramati
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MARYLAND Eher Ruth Schwarzbauer ..Silver Spring The Guild Rachel Neuburger ...... Harvard MICHIGAN Jose Casas ...... Ann Arbor Welcomes... Patrick Grasiewicz ...... Engadine Eva Stapleton ...... Brimley
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You deserve the time, space, and support to discover your unique voice. Playwrights’ Center programs serve emerging and established playwrights with financial support, playwright-driven development workshops, connections to theaters, and an artistic home that invites risk-taking.
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Marguerite Louise Scott ...... Santa Fe Meghan Rose ...... New York James Van Oort ...... Mitchell Jay Rosen ...... New York NEW YORK Lilia Rubin ...... Aoria TENNESSEE Andrew Abel ...... Windsor Jeffrey Sanzel ...... Sound Beach Yasmine Van Wilt ...... Nashville Hali Alspach ...... New York Andre Thierry ...... New York Eric Williams ...... Nashville Alicia Marie Beatty ...... New York Gil Varod ...... Brooklyn Katie Cappiello ...... Brooklyn Ali Viterbi ...... New York TEXAS JC ...... New York Matthew Web er ...... Aoria Andy Coughlan ...... Beaumont Leslie Corn ...... New York John Windsor-Cunningham ....New York William M. Ellis ...... Fort Worth Santino DeAngelo...... Endicott Sarah Ziegler ...... New York Richard Ford...... Houon Simona Agnes ...... Brooklyn Joshua Hundl ...... Houon John Dirrigl ...... Jackson Heights NORTH CAROLINA Joanna Evans ...... New York Amy da Luz ...... Winon-Salem VERMONT Shira Flam ...... New York Jasmyne Jones ...... Durham Philip Stern ...... Burlington Kevin Free ...... Aoria Keri Gannon ...... White Plains OHIO VIRGINIA Jack Gilliat ...... Aoria Maxwell I. Gold ...... Newark John Teahan ...... Charlottesville Lauren Gundrum ...... New York Shuhui Zhou ...... Williamsburg Maya Hormadaly ...... New York PENNSYLVANIA WISCONSIN Sohyun Kim ...... New York John Elisco ...... Pittsburgh Nancy Heerens-Knudson...... La Crosse Minhui Lee ...... Brooklyn Cary Mazer ...... Elkins Park Sandi Sandor ...... Madison Gary McEnery ...... Findley Lake Jean Marie McKee ...... New York SOUTH CAROLINA Kri en Rose Franz ...... Myrtle Beach ABROAD Roberta Pyzel ...... New York Saskia Janse ...... Warder, NLD Walter Raubicheck ...... Elmont Reza Shirmarz ...... Athens, GRC Deneen Reynolds-Knott ...... Brooklyn SOUTH DAKOTA It’s time to write. “Your writing will get beer, no doubt about that. All of the faculty are approachable and dedicated professionals, willing to share their expertise as well as their stories of success and failure. This kind of honesty gives strength to those of us at the beginning of our careers.” –Catherine Rush ’12, Edgerton Foundation New American Play Award winner
SPALDING.EDU/MFA A top 10 low-residency MFA in Writing program —Poets & Writers
Our award-winning playwriting faculty: Gabriel Jason Dean, Qualities of Starlight Kira Obolensky, Lobster Alice 76 | The Dramati Charlie Schulman, The Goldstein Variations 76 | The Dramati Larry Brenner, Saving Throw Versus Love Eric Schmiedl, The Kardiac Kid
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The Guild cannot vouch for the reliability of SAVE 10% on all DPS Acting Editions. Drama- atre magazine – with artist profiles, production this information. Publication does not con- tists Play Service, Inc., established by members listings, five complete play scripts – and dis- stitute an endorsement or recommendation by the Guild. of the Dramatists Guild in 1936 for the handling counts on TCG Books, ARTSEARCH and more. of acting rights of members’ plays, and the en- Call 212-609-5900 with code DGLD15 for $25 Advertisements of goods and services that are useful to dramatists are accepted on a couragement of the American theatre. Call 212- Guild discount rate. www.tcg.org first-come basis at a rate of $40 for 40 words 683-8960 with code DGDPS10 for 10% Guild or less and $0.75 for each additional word. discount and more information. CALIFORNIA ARTISTS RADIO THEATRE’S Current Guild members receive one 40-word CD RECORDINGS of Felix And Fanny and classified ad free every calendar year. We may edit advertisements for style or content. PROFESSIONAL MUSIC NOTATION/AR- Brigid Of Kildare by MYLA LICHTMAN- RANGEMENTS. Lead sheets, piano/vocals, FIELDS featuring Michael York, Samantha You may mail your ad to: The Dramatist, Dra- matists Guild of America, Inc., 1501 Broad- orchestra scores, etc., transcribed, edited, Eggar, Monte Markham, James Lancaster, way, Suite 701, New York, NY 10036. A check meticulously prepared to order. State-of-the- Elizabeth Dennehy, among other superb artists. or money order must accompany the ad. You art, publishing-quality printouts. Arranging and Order copies [email protected] or phone may also email your ad to jstocks@dramatist- sguild.com and process your payment with a producing for demos, readings, and produc- (323)851-4232. credit card by phone: (212) 398-9366. tions. New York’s finest. Ipsilon Music Ser- LOOKING FOR THE RIGHT WORD? With The deadlines for advertisements (with pay- vices. (646) 265-5666. Web: www.ipsilonmusic. ment in full) are as follows: July 1st – Septem- com WORDROCKETS! you might discover that de- ber/October issue; September 1st – Novem- serving word for your next script or you might st ber/December issue; November 1 – January/ SAVE 30% on AMERICAN THEATRE when you simply have fun with words. WORDROCKETS! February issue; January 1st – March/April is- sue; March 1st – May/June issue; May 1st – July/ join Theatre Communications Group, the na- available now at Amazon.com. August issue. tional organization for American theatre. TCG members receive ten issues of American The-
It’s time to write. “Your writing will get beer, no doubt about that. All of the faculty are approachable and dedicated professionals, willing to share their expertise as well as their stories of success and failure. This kind of honesty gives strength to those of us at the beginning of our careers.” –Catherine Rush ’12, Edgerton Foundation New American Play Award winner
SPALDING.EDU/MFA A top 10 low-residency MFA in Writing program —Poets & Writers
Our award-winning playwriting faculty: Gabriel Jason Dean, Qualities of Starlight Kira Obolensky, Lobster Alice Charlie Schulman, The Goldstein Variations Larry Brenner, Saving Throw Versus Love v m r/D c m r 2016 | 77 Eric Schmiedl, The Kardiac Kid
pp70-77 BackOBook.indd 77 10/6/16 3:35 PM Dramatists Guild Dear Dramati: of America Authors Coalition Survey PLEASE HELP U S HELP YOU! Here’s all you need to do: ➡ 1 Read the letter below,
2 Complete the Authors Coalition form, and
3 Mail it to: THE DRAMATISTS GUILD OF AMERICA 1501 BROADWAY, SUITE 701 NEW YORK, NY 10036 Your response then translates into money the Guild receives on behalf of all dramatists, which means more resources for better programming, expanded publications and a greater range of services. As in years past, The Dramatists Guild continues to work with the Authors Coalition of America to compensate American dramatists for non-title specific royalties earned from the photocopying abroad of published works. Your prompt and accurate answers will determine how much money we receive in the com- ing year. So, we need you to read the survey form carefully (including the instructions), and then complete and return it to us by January 31, 2017. When filling out the form, please understand that, in addition to the definition of “published author” described at the top of form, a dramatist is also a “published author”, for purposes of the survey, if (a) his or her work has been performed in the U.S. and thereafter disseminated for the purpose of promotion or production to producers, promoters, or presenters; OR (b) if his or her work, in the form of a performable script, has been deposited in a theatrical library or other theatrical institution which permits the photocopying or circulation of such work. Please be aware that if you submitted a dramatic script to the Guild as part of your original membership application, that meets the definition of “published author” as set forth above. But rest assured that no photocopying of your deposited script is permitted unless you have specifically authorized such photocopying by written direction to the DG. If you have any questions regarding this form, please contact us at 212-398-9366 or outside of NYC at 800-289-9366. Sincerely,
DOUG WRIGHT, President D G A
1501 Broadway Suite 701 New York New York 10036 Tel: 212.398.9366 Fax 212.944.0420 www.dramtistsguild.com
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PLEASE HELP U S HELP YOU! or the past year, the Dramatists Guild of America has been working FORMAT with many other author groups ➡ELECTRONIC PRINT as part of the Authors Coalition ■ 10 ■ 11 Nonfiction author Fto reclaim non-title specific royalties If you checked this box, you must also check one or more of the sub-types below. Do not check more than from photocopies made abroad. With one box for one piece of work, i.e., the same book cannot qualify you as both a Textbook and Nonfiction Other author; however, you may check two or more boxes for two or more different pieces of work. your help, in the past year the Guild has
ELECTRONIC PRINT collected a significant amount of funds, which has allowed us to represent the ■ 12 ■ 13 Textbook author (instructional material) interests of dramatic authors in a good range of activities. Our share of the money ■ 14 ■ 15 Academic author (scholarly book or journal article primarily for other academicians) collected is determined by the responses ■ 16 ■ 17 Other nonfiction book author that we get from the genre survey to the left; your prompt and accurate answers will ■ 20 ■ 21 Nonfiction book or journal translator determine how much money we receive in the coming year. ■ 30 ■ 31 Art, music, theatre, film, or literature critic Please check the categories to ■ 40 ■ 41 Journalist, including freelancers (nonfiction writing for a periodical such as a which you belong, i.e., in which you qualify newspaper, magazine, or newsletter) as a published author. (Do not check more than one genre for each published work.) ■ 50 ■ 51 Newspaper Editor For purposes of this survey, a “published” ■ 60 ■ 61 Technical and Professional Press Editor work means that 1) the work is reasonably capable of being photocopied abroad and ■ 70 ■ 71 Author or translator of fiction, poetry and/or drama is not self-published, or 2) if the work is (including plays and musicals) self-published, that there have been no ■ 80 ■ 81 Music author fewer than 1,000 copies sold, that the work is commercially distributed outside ■ 90 ■ 91 Designer and illustrator the U.S. and is reasonably capable of being ■ 100 ■ 101 Visual artists (one whose work is the reproduction of another’s or one’s own original photocopied abroad. For purposes of this artistic expression. Examples: the photograph of a museum piece, the illustration of a survey, author-subsidized publications blueprint, the sketch of a scientific diagram.) shall be considered self-published. We ■ 110 ■ 111 Arts and Crafts Designers know that the list is not inclusive, but all Coalition members must use this list ■ 120 ■ 121 Photographers, fine arts, editorial, or commercial because this is how foreign reprographic rights organizations conduct their surveys to determine what kinds of non-title spe- cific works are being photocopied. I hereby affirm that I am a published author in the categories I have checked.
SIGNATURE______DATE______
1501 Broadway Suite 701 New York New York 10036 NAME (PLEASE PRINT)______Tel: 212.398.9366 Fax 212.944.0420 www.dramtistsguild.com SURVEY FORMS MUST ARRIVE IN THE DRAMATISTS GUILD’S OFFICE BY JANUARY 31, 2017
pp78-79 AuthorsCo.indd 79 10/5/16 1:30 PM ILLUSTRATIONBY DAN ROMER Emily Mann
joined the Dramatists Guild because Edward Albee told me to. And if any of you know Edward, you can imagine that as a young writer, I hung on his every word. I remember he said: “Every American playwright should be a member of the DG if he or she has any self-respect.” He looked me piercingly in the eye with a malicious grin, encouraging and testing me at the same Itime. I remember he told me the names of some of the the job left the network. “Playwrights own their own playwrights who were members and simply imagining work,” said Edward, “but will only continue to do so if being listed in the company of these giants gave me we band together.” I have been a passionate Dramatists more self-respect than I could ever imagine having at Guild member for 35 years. that time. He also knew that the issue of owning my own work EMILY MANN: Artistic Director/Resident Playwright, McCarter Theatre. Plays include: Having Our Say; Execution of Justice; Still Life; Mrs. Packard; Gloria was paramount in my mind, having spent too much time (Steinem) Live at Lincoln Center. Adaptations: Scenes from a Marriage, Uncle paying the rent by writing for television and losing some Vanya, Cherry Orchard, A Seagull in the Hamptons, House of Bernarda Alba. Favorite awards: Hull Warriner, NAACP, Margo Jones, Helen Merrill, Peabody Awards. of my best work after the executive who hired me for
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