@dramatistsguild

In early 2014 I was having a drink with Dave White – DG member and Associate Professor at Towson University, about ten miles north of Baltimore – and he invited me to check out the Towson Theatre Lab. The Lab typically meets every other week during the fall and spring semesters so that attendees can share and discuss their works in process—all are welcome, though most meetings consist of White and a half-dozen or more students in Towson’s thriving Department of Theatre Arts. (The department has over 150 undergraduate and graduate students and 13 fulltime faculty members; the Baltimore theatre landscape is flush with young companies led by Towson alums.)

I attended the Lab’s next meeting, and I’ve attended many since. Each time I’m invigorated by the enthusiasm for new works and the respect shown to – and shared by – young writers. White began the Lab in 2008, and over the years he and his students have developed a simple yet effective process for giving and receiving feedback. Following a cold reading of a scene or script, attendees discuss such questions as:

What lines, words, images stuck with you or “popped”?

What moments caused you to lean away from the piece?

What questions do you have for the piece (not for the writer)?

“New works are such a breath of fresh air,” says Chloe Mikala, the Lab’s current manager. A senior majoring in acting, Mikala is not herself a playwright, but she credits Theatre Lab with helping her to develop as both audience member and artist. “Having the opportunity to sink your teeth in a new script that you’ve never read before is terrifying, yet exhilarating,” she notes, then concludes, “New works keep the theatre world alive.”

In an effort to further nourish this lifeblood, in April Towson University will host Wright On!, a festival that White hopes will become a biannual event. Rehearsed, public readings of new works will happen around campus; students are also organizing workshops on feedback, cold readings, and the business of playwriting. (The Dramatists Guild will co-sponsor the feedback workshop.) White is also inviting other universities and community groups to participate in a “play slam” on April 3 and 4. The event – teams will have 24 hours to write, rehearse, and perform a play – will kick off a weeklong celebration of the forces that shape new generations of theatre-makers.

White views Wright On! partly as a way to continue the mission of WordBRIDGE Playwrights Laboratory, the playwright development program that he ran each summer from 2007 until 2012, when WordBRIDGE lost its space in Baltimore. “Playwrights need an environment in which to fail boldly,” White says. “Readings can be an important developmental step in a play’s life, as long as we’re developing the writer in addition to the work.” White’s position at Towson gives him the opportunity to help young writers develop over the course of years rather than a summer.

“I would love for Towson to be a center for new works in the region. We have the resources and the student interest,” White says. He also praises the support of his colleagues at Towson, noting that faculty directors have scheduled rehearsals around Theatre Lab so that cast and crew members can still attend. “As the department provides the space,” White declares, “I want to fill it with new works.”

Wright On! will happen April 9–12. All events are free and open to the public. For a schedule of events, visit www.towson.edu/theatre.

benglar@dramatistsguild.com