Zoo playwriting?
A resource linking you to some of the coolest new trends as well as classics particular to playwrights and their craft. -- And check out the Playwright Zoo Archive for past musings and featured artists.
Polar Bears
The coolest.
Gregory MossGregory Moss is a playwright, performer and director from Cambridge MA. He is an MFA student at Brown University's Playwriting Program, and he runs Independent Submarine Productions, a DIY production company dedicated to presenting challenging artistic content in various media (www.independentsubmarine.com). Gregory is a recipient of the Lucille Lortel Playwriting Fellowship for 2006-2007. Recent and upcoming productions of his work include Play Viewed From A Distance at The Empty Space Theater in Seattle; The Yankee City Theater Project at the Firehouse Center For The Arts; The Accident at Theatre Limina's Double Vision Festival in Minneapolis; and No One Remembers When as part of the Provincetown Tennessee Williams Festival. Recent solo performances include 1000 Proms at The Zeitgeist Gallery in Cambridge MA and "let's pretend" (adults only) at P.A.'s Lounge in Boston. His latest play, House of Gold, debuted in February as part of Brown University's New Play Festival. Gregory is a member of The Dramatists' Guild.
I met Greg in Florida at the Atlantic Center for the Arts where we were both part of a seven person playwrights bootcamp for 3 weeks with Paula Vogel. Since then we've both be seeing each other around the Brown University campus for the past two years; he is completing his masters in playwriting, and I am working on my undergraduate degree. This has given me a chance to see some of Greg's latest work, and to watch him create it. I am always amazed at how he he gets me hooked into such absurd and disturbing stories-- but he does GET ME HOOKED on impossible people. Impossible! Greg revels in the grotesque and bizarre and always manages to scratch away at those levels to reveal something deeply human and deeply desirous of love. Magic. Weird. But magic.
Here's a few questions for Greg, just after the presentation of his new work PUNKPLAY at the Brown New Play Fest:
Where'd 'Punkplay' come from?
Punkplay came from a couple places. Last year I wrote a play called House of Gold which upset some people when it was done at Brown, which I found oddly surprising, and caused me to think a bit about my approach to making plays. Not so I could change it, but to figure why I was in fact I seem to be so intent on upsetting people. My default mode, as a writer, is to write from a position of aggressive provocative and irony, and I realized that attitude came from early exposure to first and second wave punk rock. So in part I wanted to explore my base assumptions about the world and art, which were so heavily influenced by an adolescence spent absorbing punk music and culture. But also House of Gold had been about growing up as a girl in America, and I write mostly female protagonists, so I wanted to do a boy play. I did the first draft in a class for Paula Vogel in which we studied Jacobean and German Expressionist drama, so some of that got in there too - this imaginative relationship of the individual to History. There's a lot of my own life in there.
How important is music to your stuff?
I am not a musical theatre person, but almost every play I write these days has at least one song in it, like new original songs. But music is one of the Aristotelean elements and I am nothing if not Aristotelean. Using the right song at the right moment can add inflection to a dramatic moment - ironize it or make it creepier. I don't want to use music to underscore (I hate that in theatre) or manipulate emotion, but it's a good way to linger in a moment without slowing a play's momentum.
Where do you go after Brown?
I will either be in Providence another year, or I will be in New York. Probably teaching, definitely writing, hopefully continuing to act and find other creative outlets as well.
What's the difference between being an educator and being educated?
Uh, I don't know. I learn as much or more teaching as I do as a student, cliched as that sounds. Educating, especially in writing and theatre, I feel, is mostly about presenting different approaches to students in a non-threatening, practical and contextualized way. To cultivate their curiosity and ingenuity, so they can write the plays they wanna write - and also to help them delay that reflexive "bullshit!" reaction so many people have when confronted with new or challenging work.
Are you ever compelled to fix people's spelling?
Not in like emails or whatever, but as a teacher, yeah, sometimes. I don't like misspellings, and if it's something glaring I will draw their attention to it. I try not to be a composition teacher - the spelling can get fixed later, once the play is in place.
What do you think every playwright should read?
Sheesh. I feel I should advocate for someone no one is gonna read on their own here. Fornes is my first and favorite, but I'm gonna say everyone should read the "Little Theatre of The Green Goose" plays by Konstanty Iidefons Gaiczynski. They are very short, absurd and hilarious sparks of resistance to socialist realism written by a crazy Polish writer post WW II. I directed 'em as a student project as an undergrad, and I've loved 'em ever since
Also everyone should read Ann Marie Healy.
What's the beverage that keeps you going?
Whey protein smoothie made with vanilla soy milk, a banana, and frozen blueberries. Every morning and sometimes again in the afternoon.
Why puppets?
Anyone who grew up in America with a television set grew up surrounded by talking frogs and anthropomorphic furniture. These things are our friends as kids and then we are very quickly asked to forget that world of living objects. Puppets and object with souls remain a fixture of my imagination, like dolls and toys and dead people coming back to life.
Got a personal mantra?
Work work work.
Anything else?
Naw. Thanks for asking though.
PUNKPLAY will be presented on June 9 at Ars Nova in NYC.
HOUSE OF GOLD will be presented this July as part of PlayPenn 2008 in Philladelphia.
The Monkey House
Musings on the state of theater-arts
On the nature of 'Boo-hooing'from the mind of Kato McNickle
Who hasn't heard this story?
I can't get my plays done because I don't have a resume.
I can't get my plays done because I'm unconnected.
I can't get my plays done because no one will read them.
I can't get my plays done because of where I live.
I can't get my plays done because no one is producing new work.
And on and on and on.
Boo hoo for playwrights. No one wants to do your plays, or even look at them, or even give you a fair chance or even... you get the idea.
You are a playwright. You are writing works for the theater. So? Get a space (like a church basement, or a rec center, or a gallery, or a room at your library, or your back yard) find some actors (audition or invite them) make some copies, and produce your play.
It can be performed as a staged reading with blocking but no props; as a concert reading while standing at music stands; or as a production, either with minimal production values or with sets and costumes and the works.
Be a maker of theater.
Stop with the excuses and with the boo-hooing and get to work!
Visit the Playwright Zoo Archive.
Zebra Bits
What's black & white & read all over?
From Page to Stage, Experienced Guides Showing the WayBy STEVEN McELROY
The Cherry Lane Theater's Mentor Project, now in its 10th year, is trying to remain both singular and solvent.
PLAYWRIGHTS who bemoan those long periods of readings and revisions that rarely lead to a production must have been intrigued last fall when the Roundabout Theater Company announced Roundabout Underground, an initiative to help usher plays by lesser-known writers to the stage. Just a few weeks ago Lincoln Center Theater declared that this fall it would present the inaugural production of its new play enterprise, LCT3. And the Public Theater, already a venerable theatrical incubator, recently started an Emerging Writers Group, which, while not providing early career playwrights with productions, will offer other resources.
Certainly New York is teeming with companies that aim to present original works, but this season's new programs, coming as they do from established theaters with real budgets, suggest a heightened interest in cultivating nascent talent. In this landscape the Cherry Lane Theater's Mentor Project, now in its 10th year, is trying to remain both singular and solvent.
"In the last decade we were the pioneers, and now everyone is doing it," said Angelina Fiordellisi, the artistic director of the Cherry Lane, which has sponsored its Mentor Project matching up-and-coming writers with professionals since 1999.
"Everybody's copying, and they're taking all the funding too," she said. But if she seemed frustrated, she was pleased as well: a sharpened focus on young playwrights is a good thing. "I think what's become more and more important to people is the idea that in order for the theater to last, especially when we lose so many to film and television, we have to nurture these writers and give them hope," she said.
Ms. Fiordellisi started her program, which annually matches three playwrights and mentors, to fill a void. "There was this black hole for playwrights between those who were students and those who had been produced in New York," she said. "That was a niche I thought we could fill." She found a kindred spirit in the playwright Michael Weller, who helped start the project and has been a mentor every year.
read it all
Creative Creatures
Opportunities for inspiring the creative spirit
A Writer's RetreatMay 11-16, 2008 (5 nights, Sun - Fri)
with Susan Piver
Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health
in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts
What do writers want more than anything in the world? Time to write! Yet, even when precious time can be found, it's not always easy to settle into the writing groove. Yoga and meditation can help synchronize the mind and body in a way that truly supports the creative process.
The focus of this week is on having plenty of personal time to write. To support our writing, there will be meditation instruction and practice, and you are encouraged to attend one of the Kripalu Yoga classes offered each day. There will also be opportunities to read and discuss your work. Guiding and weaving the week are award-winning writing teacher Sanford Kaye, who teaches at both Harvard and Curry College, and Buddhist meditation teacher and best-selling author Susan Piver.
The retreat-like atmosphere at Kripalu offers a peaceful and supportive setting for a writing retreat. No previous experience in yoga or meditation is necessary. The retreat is open to dedicated writers of fiction and nonfiction, published and unpublished.
Susan Piver is an authorized meditation instructor in the Shambhala Buddhist lineage and the New York Times best-selling author of The Hard Questions series. She has practiced meditation for more than 10 years. Her most recent book is How Not to Be Afraid of Your Own Life.
Two New Prizes for Playwrights
The board of the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust announced on Thursday the creation of two theater awards for American playwrights. The first, to be given later this year and every other year afterward, will go to a midcareer American playwright who has received recognition for his work. That award comes with a cash prize of $200,000, making it among the largest ever given in the American theater. The second award, to be given in 2009 and every other year after that, will go to two playwrights in the early stages of their careers. That award comes with $50,000 for each honoree. Among those on the advisory committee nominating playwrights and selecting the winners are André Bishop, the artistic director of Lincoln Center Theater; Oskar Eustis, the artistic director of the Public Theater; and Martha Lavey, the artistic director of the Steppenwolf Theater Company of Chicago. Contemporary Playwrights
Who's who in the Zoo?
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Sarah Ruhl
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Caridad Svich
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FastLinks to theaters
These theaters accept unsolicited plays
- Actors Theatre of Louisville
- Louisville, KY. National 10-minute play contest.
- Act II Playhouse
- Ambler, PA. Full length plays, musicals, and solo pieces.
- African Continuum Theatre
- Washington, DC. Multicultural work relevant to African-American community.
- Alabama Shakespeare Festival
- Montgomery, AL. Plays from Southern writers with Southern or African-American themes.
- Amas Musical Theatre, Inc.
- NYC. Multicultural casts and themes.
- ART Station
- Stone Mountain, GA. Full-length plays, musicals, solo pieces that describe Southern experience.
- Asian American Theatre Company
- San Francisco, CA. Innovative rendrings about the Asian American experience.
- Bristol River Theatre
- Bristol, PA Cutting-edge works, plays that experiment with form.
- Celebration Theatre
- West Hollywood, CA. Plays not previously produced that provide a prgressive gay and lesbian voice in contemporary theatre.
- Centre Stage-South Carolina
- Greenville, SC. Full-length, unproduced plays.
- City Theatre
- Miami, FL. One acts only that represent a diverse mix of subjects and themes.
- Columbus Children's Theatre
- Columbus, OH. Social issue one-acts acceptable for audiences in grades K-5.
- Dad's Garage
- Atlanta, GA. Full-length nontraditional plays, comedies.
- Detroit Repertory Theatre
- Detroit, MI. Full-length issue oriented plays.
- East West Players
- Los Angeles, CA. Plays by or about the Asian American experience.
- El Centro Su Teatro
- Bilingual and/or Spanish language plays, plays dealing with the Chicano/Latino cultural asthetic or political experience.
- Express Children's Theatre
- Houston, TX. Plays for young audiences.
- 5th Avenue Theatre
- Seattle, WA. Adventure Musical Theatre: ongoing program that commissions original musicals performed for K-6 students.
- Foothill Theatre
- Nevada City, CA. Seeks full-length plays. New Voices of the Wild West: annual spring series of plays about the rural American West.
- Growing Stage Theatre
- Netcong, NJ. Accepts plays with a production history suitable for family audiences.
- Hangar Theatre
- Ithaca, NY. Accepts one-acts for for young audiences only.
- Huntington Theatre
- Boston, MA. Accepts plays from Boston area playwrights only; agent submission all others.
- Jewish Theatre of the South
- Atlanta, GA. Works on Jewish themes.
- Jobsite Theater
- Tampa, FL. Topical, politically and socially relevant theatre; plays appealing to 20- and 30- somethnings.
- Kitchen Dog Theater Company
- Dallas, TX. Plays from Texas and Southwest playwrights.
- Kuma Kahua Theatre
- Honolulu, HI. Plays set in Hawaii or dealing with Hawaiian experience.
- Merry-Go-Round Playhouse
- Auburn, NY. Plays for young audiences.
- Mill Mountain Theatre
- Roanoke, VA. Accepts unsolicited one-acts for CenterPieces reding series only.
- Miracle Theatre Group
- Portland, OR. Hispanic playwrights, plays that deal with the Hispanic experience.
- Mu Performing Arts
- Minneapolis, MN. Asian-American expeience, plays combining traditional Asian performance with Western theatre styles, short plays suitable for school tours.
- New Georges
- NYC. plays by women only, works with vigorous use of language and heightened perspectives on reality.
- New Jersey Repertory Company
- Long Branch, NJ. Work not produced professionally, social or humanistic themes.
- A Noise Within
- Glendale, CA. Translations or adaptations of classical material only.
- Oldcastle Theatre Company
- Bennington, VT. Accepts musicals and plays.
- OpenStage Theatre & Company
- Fort Collins, CO. Accepts full-length plays.
- Oregon Children's Theatre
- Portland, OR. Plays and musicals for young and family audiences.
- Playhouse on the Square
- Memphis, TN. Full-length plays and musicals.
- Playwrights Horizons
- NYC. American writers only, works with strong sense of language that take theatrical risks.
- Porchlight Music Theatre Chicago
- Chicago, IL. Full-length and one-act musicals.
- Sanctuary: Playwrights Theatre
- Brooklyn, NY. Accepts playwrights with at least one professional production only; prefers plays with unusul structure, radical core ideas, epic form, work that's off the map or otherwise seen as impractical.
- Seattle Children's Theatre
- Seattle, WA. Accepts unsolicted plays for Drama Summer School season only: one-act plays suitable for young actors.
- Seem-To-Be-Players
- Lawrence, KS. Plays for young audiences.
- Soho Repertory Theatre
- NYC. Accepts unsolicited scripts for Writer/Director Lab only, deadline: May.
- TADA! Youth Theater
- NYC. Plays for young audiences.
- Thalia Spanish Theatre
- Sunnyside, NY. Plays with Hispanic themes.
- Theater by he Blind
- NYC. Works by and about being blind.
- Theater for the New City
- NYC. Experimental American works; plays with poetry, music, and dance; social issues.
- Trustus Theatre
- Columbia, SC. One-acts for late night series - 45-75 minutes in length. No topic or experimental structure is taboo.
- Two Chairs Theater Company
- Grand Junction, CO. Full-length, one-acts, 10-minute plays. Annual short play fest, deadline Jan. 31.
- Unicorn Theatre
- Kansas City. MO. Full-length contemporay social issues.
- Victory Gardens Theater
- Chicago, IL. Accepts plays from Chicago residents only. All others submit 10-page sample and letter of inquiry.
- VS Theatre Company
- Los Angeles, CA. Accepts unique and edgy full-length unproduced plays with submission form.
- West Coast Ensemble
- Los Angeles, CA. Plays not previously produced in Southern California.
- Wings Theatre Company, Inc.
- NYC. Gay themed musicals and plays only.
- The York Theatre Company
- NYC. Small cast musicals.
FastLinks to more theaters
These theaters accept samples & queries
- About Face Theatre
- Chicago, IL. Queer scripts only; particular interest in lesbian plays; material that breaks traditional ideas about dramatic form.
- Actor's Express
- Atlanta, GA. Contempory, socially relevant material; minority and gay themes; works with poetic dimension; multiethnic works.
- Actors Guild of Lexington
- Lexington, KY. Full-length and solo pieces.
- ACT Theatre
- Seattle, WA. Northwest playwrights only; plays theatrical in imagination and stirytelling; multicultural themes.
- Algonkuin Theatre Company
- Bellingham, MA. Native American plays.
- American Theater Company
- Chicago, IL. Distictly American; language oriented plays that utilize heightened theatrical reality; social and political themes.
- Arden Theatre Company
- Philadelphia, PA. New adaptations of literary works.
- Arena Stage
- Washington, DC. Plays of the Americas with emphasis on living writers; American themes, culture, history and literary traditions.
- Arizona Theatre Company
- Tucson, AZ. Special programs: National Latino Playwriting Award.
- Artists Repertoty Theatre
- Portland, OR. Special program: Play Lab staged reading series.
- Arvada Center for the Arts & Humanities
- Arvada, CO. Plays for preschool thru grade 6.
- Asolo Repertory Theatre
- Sarasota, FL.
- Atlantic Theater Company
- NYC. Small cast plays and musicals.
- Attic Theatre and Film Center
- Los Angeles, CA. Simple sets, no wing or fly space.
- Aurora Theatre Company
- Berkeley, CA. Plays emphasizing language and ideas.
- Barrington Stage Comapny
- Pittsfield, MA. Cast limit of 4-8 for plays. 15-16 for musicals.
- The Barrow Group
- NYC. Special programs: Short play festival.
- Barter Theatre
- Abingdon, VA. Social issues, current events; works that expand theatrical form; nonurban oriented material.
- Berkeley Repertory Theatre
- Berkeley, CA. Accepts unsolicited scripts from Bay area residents only, all others professional recommendation.
- The Black Rep
- St. Louis, MO. Works by African-American and Third World playwrights.
- Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble
- Bloomsburg, PA. New translations of classics; rural themes; plays suitable for small acting ensemble.
- BoarsHead Theater
- Lansing, MI. One-act plays for young audience and late night theater; social issues; comedies; plays that make use of theatrical conventions or create new ones.
- Brat Productions
- Philadelphia, PA. Material that connects with audiences in new and unique ways.
- Burning Coal Theatre Company
- Raleigh, NC. Accepts unsolicited scripts from NC playwrights only, all others submit inquiry via e-mail.
- The Cape Cod Theatre Project
- NYC. Contempory American works.
- CenterStage
- Baltimore, MD. Plays about the African-American experience.
- Center Theatre Group
- Los Angeles, CA. Formerly Mark Taper Forum/Kirk Douglas Theatre.
- Cincinnati Playhouse
- Cincinnati, OH. Previously unproduced works that take linguistic and/or theatrical risks.
- City Garage
- Santa Monica, CA. Nonrealistic, experimental work only; no family dramas or confessional plays.
- City Theatre Company
- Pittsburgh, PA. Plays of substance and ideas; unconventionl approach to form, content, and/or use of language.
- Clarence Brown Theatre Company
- Knoxville, TN. Contemporary American plays.
- Cleveland Playhouse
- Cleveland, OH. Special programs: The Next Stage Festival of New Plays.
- The Colony Theatre
- Burbank, CA. Full length plays.
- Contemporary American Theatre Company
- Columbus, OH. Special interests, Ohio and midwestern playwrights.
- Conetemporary American Theater Festival
- Shepherdstown, WV. New American plays with contemporary issues.
- The Coterie Theatre
- Kansas City, MO. Ground breaking works for family audiences; plays with culturally divers casts and themes.
- Court Theatre
- Chicago, IL. Translations and adaptation of classic texts only.
- Curious Theatre Company
- Denver, CO. Plays with cultural, social, and/or political emphasis; plays with challenging design elements.
- Dallas Children's Theater
- Dallas, TX. Works for family audiences.
- The Dell'Arte Company
- Blue Lake, CA. Physical theatre; new adaptations of classics; physica plays for young audiences.
- Denver Center Theatre Company
- Denver, CO. Residents of Rocky Mountain states may send sample and query.
- Diversionary Theatre
- San Diego, CA. Plays about lesbian, gay, transgendered people only; prefers cast limit of 6.
- The Empty Space Theatre
- Seattle, WA. Plays unique to the event of live theatre.
- Express Children's Theatre
- Houston, TX. 40-minute plays, multicultural, bilingual, for young audiences.
- FirstFlights
- Eugene, OR. Full-length plays, adaptations, translations.
- First Stage Children's Theater
- Milwaukee, WI. Works for young audiences.
- Ford's Theatre
- Washington, DC. Small scale musicals and works that celebrate the American experience from a historical perspective.
- Furious Theatre Company
- Pasadena, CA. Edgy, innovative, and original theatre.
- GableStage
- Coral Gables, FL. Full-length plays.
- Gala Hispanic Theatre
- Washington, DC. Plays by Spanish, Latino or Hispanic-American writers in Spanish or English; plays that reflect these sociocultural realities.
- George Street Playhouse
- New Brunswick, NJ. Plays that present a fresh perspective on society; one-acts for school touring.
- Germinal Stage Denver
- Denver, CO. Adaptations that use both dialogue and narration.
- Geva Theatre Center
- Rochester, NY. Special programs: American Voices New Play Reading Series.
- Goodman Theatre
- Chicago, IL. Full-length plays, translations, musicals.
- Goodspeed Musicals
- East Haddam, CT. Musicals.
- Greenbriar Valley Theatre
- Lewisburg, WV. Regional plays.
- Greenway Arts Alliance
- Los Angeles, CA. Large casts, current poltical themes.
- Harbor Theatre
- NYC. Character driven works.
- Harwich Junior Theatre
- West Harwich, MA. Intergenerational casts; plays for family audiences or young adult themes.
- Hedgerow Theatre
- Wallingford, PA. New plays by NJ, DE, & PA playwrights; mysteries; comedies.
- Hip Pocket Theatre
- Fort Worth, TX. well-crafted stories with a poetic, mythic slant that encorporate ritual and ensemble; works utilyzing masks, puppetry, music, dance, mime, and strong visual elements.
- Honolulu Theatre for Youth
- Honolulu, HI. Contemporary themes for preschool thru high school audiences; small cast adaptaions; new works based on Pacific Rim cultures; socially relevant to people of Hawaii.
- Horizon Theatre Company
- Atlanta, GA. Contemporry issues; plays by woman and African-Americans; southern urban themes; comedies.
- Hyde Park Theatre
- Austin, TX. Special programs: Annual reading series developing new work.
- Illinois Theatre Center
- Park Forest, IL. Full length plays and musicals.
- Illusion Theater
- Minneapolis, MN. Emerging writers, woman writers, issue plays.
- Imagination Stage
- Bethesda, MD. Innovative treatment of children's classics.; culturally diverse material.
- InterAct Theatre Company
- Philadelphia, PA. contemporary plays that theatrically explore issues of political, social, and cultural significance.
- Irondale Ensemble Project
- Brooklyn, NY. Ensemble driven work, developed with company that explores political and socially relevent ideas.
- Jewish Theater of New York
- NYC.
- John Drew Theater
- East Hampton, NY. Comedies; plays with contemporay setting.
- Jungle Theater
- Minneapolis, MN. Full-length plays.
- LAByrinth Theater Company
- NYC. In residence at The Public Theater. Unproduced works.
- Live Bait Theatrical Company
- Chicago. IL. Chicago-area playwrights only. Non-realistic plays; performance art, multi-media.
- Losta Nation Theater
- Montpelier, VT. Small casts; no "spectacles."
- Lyric Stage Company of Boston
- Boston, MA. Special programs: developing new writers; commisioning MA playwrights.
- Magic Theatre
- San Francisco, CA. World and American premiers; plays with a sense of urgency, original voice and wit.
- Main Street Theater
- Houston, TX. Plays dealing with multicultural issues; plays by women.
- Ma-Yi Theater Company
- NYC. Works by Asian-American and non Asian-American playwrights.
- MCC Theater
- NYC. Full-lengths, one-acts, musicals.
- MetroStage
- Alexandria, VA. First Stage reading series every fall. Full-length plays.
- Mixed Blood Theatre Company
- Minneapolis, MN. Political, issue-oriented comedies; contemporry plays set in the USA; world theater; plays about people living with disabilities.
- Montana Repertory Repertory Theatre
- University of Montana. Full-length plays, one acts, musicals.
- Moving Arts
- Los Angeles, CA. Dramas and comedies not previously peoduced in LA area.
- National Theatre of the Deaf
- West Hartford, CT. Culturally diverse plays; deaf issues.
- New Conservatory Theatre Center
- San Francisco, CA. Gay plays for adult audiences.
- The New Group
- NYC. Challenging and risk-taking plays that explore character and emotions in a contemporary context.
- New Repertory Theatre
- Watertown, MA. Plays of ideas that center around pressing issues of our time; mulicultural themes; intimate, interpersonal themes.
- New Stage Theatre
- Jackson, MS. Eudora Welty New Play Series for full-length plays.
- New Theatre
- Coral Gables, FL. Theatrical, laguage-driven plays and plays with socio-political themes.
- New York Stage and Film
- NYC. Unproduced full-lengths for readings and workshops.
- New York State Theatre Institute
- Troy, NY. Works for family audiences only.
- New York Theatre Workshop
- NYC. political and historical events nd institutions that shape contemporary life.
- North Coast Repertory Theatre
- Solana Beach, CA. Full-length plays.
- Northeast Theatre
- Scranton, PA. Small cast plays and musicals.
- Northlight Theatre
- Skokie, IL. Plays of ideas; heightened realism.
- North Shore Music Theatre
- Beverly, MA. Musicals only.
- Odyssey Theatre Ensemble
- Los Angeles, CA. Culturally iverse works; works with innovative or provocitive subject matter; works explorng the enduring questions of human existance.
- Old Globe
- San Diego, CA. Strongly theatrical material.
- Open Circle Theater
- Seattle, WA. New works and adaptations that speak to the human condition through fantasy and mythic stortelling; language oriented plays; site specic renderings.
- Open Eye Theater
- Margaretville, NY. Plays for multigenerational audiences; culturally diverse themes; ensemble plays.
- Oregon Shakespeare Festival
- Ashland, OR. Plays of ideas; language oriented.
- Pan Asian Repertory Theatre
- NYC. Asian or Asian-American themes only.
- Pangea World Theater
- Minneapolis, MN. Adaptations of world literature; multiethnic works.
- Pasadena Playhouse
- Pasadena, CA. Full-length plays and musicals.
- PCPA Theaterfest
- Santa Maria, CA. Small cast plays and musicals; annual stage reading series; electronic inquiry only.
- Pearl Theatre Company, Inc.
- NYC. Translations (not adaptations) of classical plays.
- Pagasus Players
- Chicago, IL. Full-length plays, musicals and solo pieces.
- Pendragon Theatre
- Saranac, NY. New Directions play reading series and development workshops.
- Penumbra Theatre Company
- St. Paul, MN. Works that address the African-American experience and the AFrican diaspora.
- People's Light and Theatre Company
- Malvern, PA. Intelligent, original scripts for a family audience.
- Performance Network Theatre
- Ann Arbor, MI. Full-length plays and musicals.
- Perserverance Theatre
- St. Douglas, AK. Alaskan playwrights; Native-American themes and playwrights; ensemble-based works, documentary theatre.
- Phoenix Arts Association Theatre
- San Francisco, CA. Plays about women, especially mature women's issues; plays in French and English.
- Phoenix Theatre
- Phoenix, AZ. Plays suitable for a general audience.
- Pillsbury House Theatre
- Minneapolis, MN. A multi-cultural company of artists; plays that provoke examination of the world around us; synopsis & letter of inquiry.
- Pittsburgh Public Theater
- Pittsburgh, PA. Full-length plays, translations, adaptations.
- Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey
- Madison, NJ. Full-length & one-act plays of substance and passion.
- Portland Center Stage
- Portland, OR. Just Add Water West Fest.
- Portland Stage Company
- Portland, ME. Little Festival of the Unexpected.
- Primary Stages
- NYC. Highly theatrical American works for NYC premiere.
- Public Theater
- NYC.
- Purple Rose Theatre
- Chelsea, MI. Plays that speak to a middle-American audience.
- Queens Theatre in the Park
- Queens, NY. Mainstream theatre, and plays that reflect the diverse population of Queens.
- Red Barn Theatre
- Ket West, FL. Full-lengteh plays, musicals, cabaret/revues, cast limit 8.
- Repertorio Espanol
- NYC. Plays dealing with hispanic themes. Nuestras Voces National Playwriting Competition.
- Repertory Theatre of St. Louis
- St. Louis, MO. Full-length non-naturalistic plays, contemporary social and political themes.
- Riverside Theatre
- Vero Beach, FL. Full-length plays, translations, adaptations, cast limit of 10.
- Riverside Theatre
- Iowa City, IA. Full-length plays, translations, adaptations, cabaret/revue.
- Sandra Feinstein Gamm Theatre
- Pawtucket, RI. Full-length plays, translations, adaptations.
- Santa Monica Playhouse
- Santa Monica, CA. Full-length plays, translations, adaptations, plays for young audiences, musicals, cast limit of 8.
- Seaside Music Theatre
- Daytona Beach, FL. Musicals for young and adult audiences, cabaret/revue.
- Second Stage Theatre
- NYC. Heightened realism, sociopolitical issues, plays by women and minority writers.
- Serendipity Theatre
- Chicago, IL. Work that provides a social dialogue; work by early career and lesser-known playwrights.
- Shakespeare & Company
- Lenox, MA. Full-length plays, adaptations. Special interests: pays based-on or adapted from works by Edith Wharton and other women authors or autors with a Berkshire or olde New England connection.
Blasting Womprats
"It's not impossible. I used to bullseye womprats in my T-16 back home. They're not much bigger than two meters."--------- Luke Skywalker, taking on a skeptic regarding the rebel's chances of destroying the Death Star.
Gunning for womprats
by Kato McNickle
Sending out your play to a theater and getting a production out of it is a lot like the chances the Rebel Alliance had in destroying the Death Star, but they had to try. For them it was a life or death battle. For you and me it's a matter of credibility and identity. Will my life as a playwright survive? Without that production coming along, the answer is "no."
How do you get that production? First you have to bullseye a whole lotta womprats in your T-16 back home.
Where are these elusive creatures? They take on a variety of forms, from reading books on playwriting, to taking a class, to going to the theater, to reading new plays, to local readings of your latest play, to 10-minute play festivals, to concert and staged-readings of your work. Womprats are everywhere. So why can they be so hard to see?
Read the rest
FastLinks
Places to go for info
- The Playwrights Foundation
- A Bay Area project developing new works by American playwrights.
- Playwrights Binge
- A group for playwrights interested in periodic marketing binges: exchanging information and reporting progress to the group.
- National New Play Network
- An alliance of not-for-profit professional theatres that foster new work.
- En Avant Playwrights
- An EZ-Board for playwrights, including opps and convo.
- The Playwrights Forum
- An international online community of playwrights hosted by Stageplays.com.
- Women's Theatre and Arts Groups
- An online resource with clickable links.
- The Drama Workshop
- Articles about the "nuts-and-bolts" of dramatic writing.
- Atlantic Center for the Arts
- Artist residency community.
- Sundance Institute
- Film, performance, and theater.
- The Loop
- Garry Garrison's monthly posting for playwrights people who support playwrights.
- Playwriting Opportunities for the E-Merging Writer
- Playwriting contests, competitions, retreats, workshops, theatre links, ongoing submissions, year-round deadlines for playwrights
- Write Angle
- Looking for ten-minute plays.
- Dramaturgy
- On-line list serv of Dramaturgs
- Original Works
- On-line play publisher.
- Playwrights Center
- Opportuniities board.
- US Copyright Office
- Page for the Performing Arts.
- Burry Mans Writer's Center
- Play submission and contest page.
- Broadway Play Publishing
- Specializes in full-length, contemporary, American plays
- New Dramatists
- The NYC playwrights organization.
- The Dramatists Guild
- The only professional association which advances the interests of playwrights, composers and lyricists writing for the living stage. The Guild has over 6,000 members nationwide, from beginning writers to the most prominent authors represented on Broadway, Off-Broadway and in regional theaters.
- An Eclectic Guide for Submissions
- Playwright Steve Patterson's impromptu guide with loads of links and info.
Visit the Zoo Archive
Playwright Zoo Archive- Monkey House Musings
- Featured Playwright Bios and Links
- Essays about the business of the biz
Blog Log
Favorite theater blogs
- Puzzlewit
- Puzzlewit. diary of Kato McNickle: playwright ~ director ~ artist ~ dog wrangler.
- Independent Submarine
- SUBLOG - radio plays, etc - gregory s moss
- Trinity Rep
- A backstage pass to the inner workings of a Tony Award Winning LORT Theater
- Sheila Callaghan
- Playwright in residence lotsa places.
Zebra Heard
What's black & white and read all over?
Backstage.com, that's what.
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Good guano
From NYTimes.com Theater
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i(show)Tunes
Gotta dance or sing?
Give My Regards to Broadway (From "Little Johnny Jones")
Price: $0.99
Reader's Digest Music: Everything's Coming Up Broadway! - Best-Loved Musicals, Vol. 2
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Slaughter on Tenth Avenue (1954 Original Broadway Cast) [1997 Reissue]
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Composers On Broadway - Rodgers & Hart
New Guestbook
edd
two great big thumbs up! this is on my favorites list.
Posted February 26, 2008
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CWPRO
Hey. I am new to squidoo! So SQUIDOO to you! I like this article!! Great for playwrights! What else ya got? :-) Posted February 08, 2008 |
Edward Crosby Wells
What a wondrous space. Bravo!
Posted July 29, 2007
