@dramatistsguild @laurieflanigan 

Ah, what a beautiful thing for a playwright to be asked: What is the play you want to write? That is exactly the call Walking Shadow Theatre Company put out when they asked for submissions for their first-ever new play commission program this past fall. Playwrights from Minnesota and western Wisconsin were asked to send up to three two-hundred word pitches for new projects, specifically pieces that had not gotten past the idea stage. I sat down with Dramatists Guild member John Heimbuch, one of the co-artistic directors of the theatre, to find out how his own experience as a playwright informed the submission process as he and his wife/co-artistic director Amy Rummenie and their executive director David Pisa solicited and selected ideas for two commissions, which they hope to see through to production.

John, the Twin Cities’ DG rep prior to my tenure, is himself an incredibly prolific and well-respected writer; Walking Shadow frequently produces and develops John’s work. In seeking new writers, they created a submission process that mirrors the way John himself would pitch a project to his long-standing collaborators. The beauty of their method is that folks who were entirely unknown to Walking Shadow were granted the privilege of the pitch (usually a situation only given to those who have cultivated a close relationship with an artistic director) as a blind submission. Once John, Amy and David each identified their favorite ideas, they looked at work samples to further determine a match, and only late in the game did the identities of the playwrights emerge. John explained that he learned a great deal about the playwrights in our community from hearing what we are interested in exploring next. I myself generated some pitches for this submission, and while I wasn’t chosen, I have started working on one of them, which I was delighted to report to John when he expressed his hope that the submission process itself might spark playwrights to consider new projects. They were also interested in discovering local playwrights they didn’t know, and supporting playwrights in our community who may have self-produced at the MN Fringe Festival in the past but hadn’t yet made the leap to a full-length production, tailoring their work sample request to include fringe-length material with that in mind. As a result, the team received pitches from newbie playwrights and post-emerging artists, all pitching on a level playing field.

In talking with John about the commissions, which were awarded to playwrights Gemma Irish and Savannah Reich, I was struck by how intentionally open-ended the commissions are. John’s own experiences as a playwright have granted him the understanding that the pitch the Walking Shadow team loved might transform into an entirely different play in the writing process, and that is exactly as it should be. In Gemma’s words: “Because its administrators are also practitioners, Walking Shadow has empathy for its artists, which comes through in the way they have set up this commission. They are very open to the creative process, and the inherent uncertainty therein.” As John said, “It’s the playwrights prerogative to take the work where it needs to go. If we’re not the right home for it anymore, I’ll do everything in my power to help them find the right home.” In a world where the submission process can be frustrating, this is a breath of fresh air.

On the winter solstice, I happened to be in the audience for John’s new play A Midwinter Night’s Revel, set exactly one hundred years before to the day. This play, borrowed characters from A Midsummer Night’s Dream and landed them in WWI England. John created this piece with the support of a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. His initial idea, given the time to incubate and the financial support for travel and research, grew into a beautiful and bold play written entirely in verse. I can’t help but see the direct correlation between the support John has received for his own projects and the support Walking Shadow is now giving in the form of this openhearted commission. I’m looking forward to what emerges next.

Walking Shadow was just named Best Company of the Year (2015) by the Twin Cities’ l’étoile Magazine (Congrats!). Next up: The Aliens by Annie Baker and Lasso of Truth by DG member Carson Kreitzer in a co-pro with Workhaus Collective.

Compleat Female Stage Beauty by Jeffrey Hatcher, directed by John Heimbuch, produced by Walking Shadow Theatre Company, 2012, featuring Wade Vaughn; photographer Dan Norman

Co-Artistic Director Amy Rummenie; photographed by Christopher Bowlsby

Co-Artistic Director John Heimbuch; photographed by Elise Radtke-Rosen

A Midwinter Night’s Revel by John Heimbuch, directed by Amy Rummenie, produced by Walking Shadow Theatre Company, 2015, featuring Philip D Henry, Kayla Dvorak Feld, Eric Weiman, Heidi Fellner, & Jaxen Lindsey; photographer Dan Norman

lflaniganhegge@dramatistsguild.com