DG National Report: Boston by Hortense Gerardo and Mary Conroy
@dramatistsguild @hfgerardo
Notes from the Field: New Beginnings – It’s been an honor and a pleasure to report on the theatre scene in Boston as Regional Representative for the past five years. I am currently on sabbatical and will serve as the Regional Representative for the New England area during this time. It is with pleasure that I introduce Mary Conroy as the new representative of the Greater Boston area.
In Vermont, Ruby Berryman began a theatre project with the Vermont Correctional Facility in St. Johnsbury. The work, devised by inmates at the facility, is inspired by a thirteen-portrait exhibit titled “Englewood Boys” by the artist Julian Williams of Chicago. The play will be performed for the prison population in November and presented by inmates or actors in January 2015 when the exhibit moves to the Catamount Arts Center in St. Johnsbury.
On matters related to Washington DC, David Dower, the former Associate Director at Arena Stage and current Director of Artistic Programs at ArtsEmerson: The World on Stage, succeeds Rob Orchard, the founding Executive Director on January 1, 2015. Dower is committed to furthering Orchard’s vision of increasing the impact on the local community by bringing in new work by established and emerging artists from around the world.
HORTENSE
The very first time I visited our esteemed Capital was the summer of 2010. Two impressions struck me: the first was the cleanliness of the city, I think I could have eaten off the sidewalks. Secondly, while the rest of the country seemed to be in a recession, DC was booming. It offered me hope of a brighter future for our economy. The reason for my visit that summer was the Kennedy Center Playwriting Intensive.
The Playwriting Intensive was held at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, a living memorial to our 35th president. The Kennedy Center, located on seventeen acres overlooking the Potomac River, is beautiful and awe inspiring. It is the nation’s busiest arts center as well as a theatre co-producing over 300 news works in the past forty years. If you’re in DC, check it out.
The intensive was just that: intense. Dramatists from all over the country convened to write under the guidance of theatre professionals led by Gary Garrison. Each day was filled with writing assignments, readings, and more writing. But more importantly, this experience evolved into a community of writers. To this day, I am still in contact with my fellow intensive writers whether via Facebook, email or a phone call. They know what it’s like behind the keyboard when all the assignments are over and we’re left to our own devices doing something we love. These are the people that I surround myself with.
Continuing the sense of a playwriting community here in Boston is very important. After the Kennedy Center, Boston-area participants and I formed a playwriting group: Proscenium Playwrights. We gather together once a month and have professional actors read our work. It is extremely rewarding and has been the platform to springboard productions. There are other writing groups in Boston, some are open to new members and some are closed. If this is something that you are interested in, assert yourself and find a group of like minds. A great tool to use is social media. Or perhaps you will start a playwriting group.
In and around the Boston area, groups of playwrights are collaborating and making theatre happen. Open Theatre Project, Boston Public Works, and Stickball Productions, to name a few with Dramatists Guild members involved, all have taken to the streets, are doing the leg work, and producing their own work. They are not waiting for theatre creative directors to finally say yes to their work. They are taking the bull by the horns and making their plays come to life. I applaud their successful efforts and their great examples of how new work happens in Boston.
I look forward to working with members of the Dramatists Guild of America and watching as the community of playwrights moves forward. Please feel free to contact me and introduce yourself. Let’s work together to create a strong and dominant community of playwrights in Boston.
