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There’s a new theater project in Buffalo, but don’t expect to find the latest Broadway export there, or musicals, or even the traditional classics. Or even for them to have a space to call their own. Called Against the Grain, this endeavor aims to be different, and so far, it’s succeeding.

ATG was founded by Neil Wechsler – author of Grenadine, the 2009 Yale Drama Prize winner chosen by Edward Albee – who says the company “exists to discover and promote rare and innovative plays from around the world.” The company’s first project, in summer 2014, was a fully staged reading of Henrik Ibsen’s The Master Builder, adapted by Wechsler, and set in three locations amid the grain elevators on Buffalo’s waterfront; the audience moved with the characters from site to site.

ATG followed up with the Against the Grain Theater Festival Story Series, which featured varied narratives held at different locations around the city. Searching for an American Identity in Literature took place at the 14th Street Community Gardens, The Tower of Babel and the Splitting of Languages began downtown at the Guaranty Building, Looking into a Broken Mirror was at Holmes Chapel in Westminster Presbyterian Church, and, just this past May, Buffalo Maritime Center hosted The Humble and the Brave. Each “story” uses various works of literature to explore a theme.

The next exciting announcement was the Student Playwriting Competition, which was open to high school and college students in eight cities: New York, Toronto, Chicago and Washington, D.C., Buffalo, Raleigh, NC, Toronto, Hamilton, ON “The first four are all well-known theater centers, and were obvious choices,” Wechsler explains. “But I also wanted to include some smaller that either have strong college theater programs, or have dynamic and developing theater scenes. Going forward, these eight cities will serve as hubs for our competition, but, next year, we’ll be opening the competition to plays written in English by students from around the world.”

The inaugural contest, even with its geographic limitations, drew nearly 100 entries. “The level of competition was extremely high,” says Wechsler, “Rachel Whalen, a senior at Williamsville South High School, won the high school competition for her play Canary. The play centers on a young man trying to cope with the loss of a friend. Wei He, a student in Carnegie Mellon’s Dramatic Writing MFA Program, won the college competition for her play My Birthday Party. The play focuses on a woman looking back on a close friendship.” Winners will receive a one-week workshop in Buffalo to develop their plays with local actors, directors, and designers; this will culminate in public readings of the plays on August 15 7:30 pm at Westminster Presbyterian Church.

Next on the development schedule is a new project called Dramalogue, which will be a series of filmed dramatic readings distributed for free on our website. “Instead of focusing on productions, we’ve shifted our focus to finding outstanding plays that haven’t received the attention they deserve,” Wechsler says. “We also hope that this series will help artistic directors find new work, because of its convenience and accessibility. Our other events will support our central mission by encouraging interest in great dramatic literature, and by supporting the efforts of students who show interest in the craft.”

For more information about Against The Grain, visit atgfestival.org.

dhoke@dramatistsguild.com

Against The Grain founder Neil Wechsler with actors Annette Daniels Taylor and Matt Witten