Playwriting

Theatre journalist Jim O’Quinn writes about eighty-three year old Yvonne Bechet, whose life and work inspired a new play about policing and racial justice in her hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana. 

Enterprise is a satire of American business-speak that is also a critique of capitalism.

Following the success of The Wolves, Helen Schultz looks at why are there so few dramas about teenage girls on stage and compiles a short list of plays about teenage girls by women playwrights.

Michael Wright discusses how his playwriting residency program WomenWorks is helping tackle the underrepresentation of female playwrights in the US. 

DC based playwright Annalisa Dias interviews fellow The Welders collective member Deb Sivigny on the world premiere of her new play, Hello My Name Is....

Playwright Kirsten Greenidge and her family travel to feminist historical landmarks around New England.

Shelby-Alison Hibbs analyzes Matthew Paul Olmos’ so go the ghosts of mexico, part 2.

Canadian playwright Colleen Murphy writes about the importance of including Indigenous characters in plays and Indigenous artists in the process of making them.

In the third installment of this series, Australian playwright David Finnigan discusses how he navigated the attacks of climate deniers on his provocatively titled play. 

David Dudley talks with Maria Striar and Michael Bulger of Clubbed Thumb about how they curated a program directly after the election.

Rehana Lew Mirza and Mike Lew document their first year as parents and Playwrights-in-Residence at Ma-Yi. 

Trevor Boffone, the creator of the 50 Playwrights Project, a digital archive of interviews with Latinx playwrights, discusses how he founded the website and what’s he’s learned since the project launch.

Allison Raynor and Walt McGough discuss how productions that provoke or play to audiences’ fears offer a shared intense experience, which can be useful to generate understanding and empathy.

Anđela Vidović talks about the challenges facing contempoary Croatian playwrights.

Expat playwright Lydia Stryk considers living and working at a distance from the US.

Playwright and poet Jonathan Garfinkel on what draws him to Montreal.

Andrew Saito, participant in the Djerassi Playwrights Initiative, speaks to his experience at the residency.

Tom Block writes about how Taoist philosopher Chuang Tzu's ideas can provide inspiration for theatre artists.

In this last installment, Irene Loy discusses a character’s drive to renounce their desire, and advocates for diversifying how desire is written for stage and film. 

Lauren Gunderson continues her series of videos asking "Why theatre?" In this class, she addresses active characters in plays, and dramatic structure.