Playwriting

Michael Rau and Will Davis share different approaches to make collaboration work in theatre-making.

Stage combat is the art of creating the illusion of violence for the sake of storytelling. Some illusions are easier and/or less expensive than others. One thing I’ve found myself saying many times is that the difference between one character pulling a knife on another versus breaking a bottle and threatening to attack them with the broken base is hundreds of dollars.

This week's conversation topic is "The Playwright and The Panel: Improving Theatrical Discourse" and will be moderated by Doug Howe @NITEcorp—who like all of our moderators, authors, and content producers—self-selected to peer-produce on this commons-based platform! This hour-long Howl will take place on Thursday, March 13 on hashtag #newplay at 11am PDT (Vancouver) / 1pm CDT (Austin) / 2pm EDT (New York) / 18:00 GMT (London) / 7pm CET (Berlin). On Thursday, get heard in the conversation by searching for #newplay in Twitter (sort by “all”) and by putting “#newplay” somewhere in your messages. Spread the word!

What Playwrights and Dramaturgs Need to Know About Staging Violence. These two articles are based on a workshop I’ve taught at venues that include ATHE (Association for Theatre in Higher Education), Region I KC/ACTF (Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival) , The Last Frontier Theatre Conference, and other organizations. The idea for it was based both in the experience of fight directing premieres of new plays and from my own experiences in the classroom during my MFA in playwriting.

This week's conversation topic is "How Universal is Your Writing?" and will be moderated by Ross Howard @rhplaywright and Samuel French, Inc. @mrsamuelfrench—who like all of our moderators, authors, and content producers—self-select to peer-produce on this commons-based platform! This hour-long Howl will take place on Thursday, February 27 on hashtag #newplay at 11am PST (Vancouver) / 1pm CST (Austin) / 2pm EST (New York) / 7:00pm GMT (London) / 8pm CET (Berlin). On Thursday, get heard in the conversation by searching for #newplay in Twitter (sort by “all”) and by putting “#newplay” somewhere in your messages. Spread the word!

Artistic director and playwright Wendy MacLeod and I wondered aloud: what would happen if, right then, that playwright was placed in a remote community of writers for two weeks, at Ohio’s quiet and serenely beautiful Kenyon College? And what if that playwright could work with the commissioning theater’s literary manager as an advising voice and with all the tools at hand—actors to read, writers to hear, and, at the end, a fully staged reading? And no ticket sales. No critics.

So I ask, is there a way to make disability a part of the world of a play, without reducing it to stereotype or "triumph-over-adversity" tales? Is there a way to make disability business as usual while sharing it with someone unaware of the daily accommodations involved? Is it possible for disability to serve as a metaphor for the emotional and social deficiencies we all carry around? Can it be the driving examination of a play without seeming wholly negative?

Most of the shoppers at Stop & Shop and Marketbasket and Kroger’s and even Whole Foods don’t know any farmers and have never been to a farmer’s market and never will. My tiny organic farm can’t compete with the price and distribution of the big guys. Or influence—the farm bill doesn’t really take me into account. Small organic vegetable farmers don’t get much more crumbs thrown at them than individual artists get from the NEA or big charitable institutions.

In this essay, playwright David Kranes reflects and expresses gratitude to the directors who have brought his plays to life onstage.

Through the comparison of farming to theatre, Patrick Gabridge advises makers to not expect an abundance of money but of work that fuels the soul.

Tired of waiting for a production and the loneliness writing entails, The Welders formed to take action. The warm reception made them realize how much can be done when having a community.

Every month, this column will investigate the ways in which technology can inspire us, transform us, and help us chart a new course in the 21st century. This edition, Gwydion Suilebhan talks about the pros and cons of new approaches to the way we write.

In my life as a farmer and as a playwright,  there really is a time to plan, to sow, to weed, and a time to reap. Talent is great. But endurance and luck are really what it takes.