@dramatistsguild @mkconroy

The dog days of summer are behind us and it is time to greet the fall. As we transition from one season to another, I can’t help but anticipate change. Good change. This is the time of year when it’s time to re-focus and find the discipline to write. To put pen to paper, fingers to keyboard, and write that story that has been quietly whispering to us in the gentle breeze at the beach or on the long walk in the mountains. As I look at the various New England theatre company’s and their upcoming season, I see playwrights that have sat in the same chair you and I will sit in and I see them working time and again on that story that was once a whisper and is now going into full production. This is reiterates to me anything is attainable with hard work and perseverance.

What can we do as playwrights to better our craft? Besides sitting in the chair and writing, there are opportunities in the area that can benefit our craft and help us develop our work. I asked Dramatists Guild members from New England (via Facebook) if there were any opportunities for playwrights that they would like to highlight. Deirdre Girard, a member and a Boston area playwright, highlighted three development programs that are open to local writers.

First, there is the BCA Playlab (formerly known as the XX PlayLab). The following is an excerpt from their webpage, “All participating lab playwrights will also receive monthly one-on-one dramaturgical support from the dramaturgy staff of Company One towards the creation of a new full-length play, with a focus on storytelling that engages larger social questions, and characters that reveal the complexity of the world at large.” To learn more, you can go to: http://www.bcaonline.org/performance/bca-playlab.html.

The second submission opportunity is through New Rep’s NEXT VOICES. Their mission statement is as follows: “New Repertory Theatre is committed to the development and production of new work. Through our Next Voices Fellowship program, we are dedicated to providing a creative laboratory for four playwrights each season who will work as a group on tackling the challenges of their individual plays. We believe that bringing life from the page to the stage does not happen in isolation and neither should the writing process.” http://www.newrep.org/nextvoices/.

The third opportunity is through the Huntington Theatre Company’s Huntington Playwriting Fellows. “All writers regardless of their level of professional experience are invited to apply. New participants in recent years have ranged from unproduced playwrights to those with existing national profiles, and co-mentorship between participants is encouraged in the program. Professional representation (agents or managers) is of no consideration in the application process; most writers do not have agents when they enter the program.” http://www.huntingtontheatre.org/season/new-work/playwriting-fellows/.

I encourage all members to look further into these opportunities or other opportunities to further your craft. This is a great time for playwrights in New England. The theatre scene in Boston is exciting and more and more theatre companies are embracing new playwrights. Let’s better our work and make it hard for the Creative Directors to choose whom to work with.

Feel free to contact me via e-mail or join us on Facebook: Dramatists Guild – Massachusetts.

mconroy@dramatistsguild.com