@dramatistsguild @mkconroy

Is it summer yet? As I write this report I look out my window and see four, five feet of snow encompassing my house. Seriously, what happened this winter in New England? Hopefully as the Dramatists lands in your mailbox the snow will have melted and spring will be sprung with summer beckoning us to barbeques and beaches. And you all know what else is happening this summer…the third National Conference of the Dramatists Guild. I have had the pleasure to attend the first two national conferences. The experience is amazing and gets better every (other) year. I walk away rejuvenated, revived, refreshed, re-everything. Here’s the thing; playwriting isn’t always about the writing or the play. You really need to get out and meet other like minds. It is healthy for the soul and the craft. I think of the conference like this, it is an investment. I invested the money to buy my computer to write my plays, I invested the money to buy craft books on playwriting, and I invested the money to meet a community of playwrights. Either way I invest in playwriting. And the return on this investment is priceless. Look at past programming at the conferences and look at the current program. How can you not gain from this experience?

Speaking of experiences, I am thrilled with all the Dramatists Guild members that have reached out to introduce themselves to me and help me along this new path as the Regional Representative for Massachusetts. I feel strongly in finding ways to educate our members on what is happening in the New England area theatre scene. There is only so much one can google to learn about what is currently happening or who is producing new work or what theatre leans towards absurd plays and so on. With that said, I want to publicly thank Dramatists Guild member Patrick Gabridge for introducing me to his organization, The New England New Play Alliance. This is an organization that every playwright should take a look at. I have taken the following from their website http://www.stagesource.org/?page=NewPlayAlliance. “Purpose: To bring together the collective energy and resources of new play producers and developers in New England to: Grow audiences for new plays. Encourage more new play development and production. Spread the word outside of Boston about play/playwrights from Greater Boston/New England.” The New England New Play Alliance is a tool that should be used and is very accessible. I encourage members to sign up to receive their weekly e-newsletter for information on upcoming productions and readings in the New England area. All that time on google search can now be used to write that great play.

I would like to also highlight Argos Productions. If you haven’t heard of Brett Marks or his production company, here is the website www.argosproductions.com Brett is for the playwright and for new play productions. Argos Productions is currently accepting full-length scripts for their upcoming season. Please note, if there are other production companies that are embracive to the playwright, let me know so that I can let you all know.  

The Boston Theatre Marathon is upon us. Kate Snodgrass, Artistic Director for Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, organizes and manages this one-day event that is dedicated to ten-minute plays that were selected from hundreds of submissions from New England playwrights. Over fifty ten-minute plays are fully produced and performed in one day and net proceeds go to Theatre Community Benevolent Funds, an organization that helps area theatre artists and companies in crisis. http://www.bu.edu/bpt/our-programs/boston-theatre-marathon/.

Please feel free to contact me at mconroy@dramatistguild.com or join the Dramatists Guild – Massachusetts page on Facebook where you can post up-to-date information about your work and/or organizations benefitting the playwriting community of New England.

mconroy@dramatistsguild.com