DG National Report: Portland by Francesca Piantadosi
Oregon New Play Prize at Artists Repertory Theatre Offering A Unique Approach To New Play Selection
In 1982, six artists looking for an opportunity to present the work of contemporary playwrights in an intimate setting formed Artists Repertory Theatre. It operated as a cooperative in the local YWCA’s 110–seat Wilson Center for the Performing Arts. Now in its 31st season, it is Portland’s longest-running professional theatre with two stages and a full season of plays.
While they’ve done many readings and productions of new work throughout their many seasons, the current artistic director, Damaso Rodriguez, has made it a priority. Not only are they commissioning new work, they’re also establishing a unique way of looking for plays.
Luan Schooler, Director of New Play Development, said she read an article on Howlround by Gwydion Suilebahn (“From Submission to Searching: A Paradigm Shift in Connecting Plays and Producers”) and thought there must be a better way for her theatre to find plays worth producing while “supporting playwrights in our home state.” She wanted to give the same opportunity to the “unknown writer from Hermiston or Crater Lake” who they might not otherwise be aware of.
Thus The Oregon Play Prize was born. The rules state the play must be written by an Oregonian and (along with the artistic staff) will be chosen by Oregonians. Yes, she thought it would be “an interesting idea to let the audience have the same input into the final selection as the organization.”
The first step is that a panel of Artists Repertory Theatre’s staff and volunteers will read all blind submissions and select three finalists. Then descriptions and writing samples of the finalists will be posted in the spring of 2016. Oregonians can then read those samples and vote for the one they most want to see produced.
In addition to the $10,000 prize, the theatre will also provide the playwright with development support before producing the play in an upcoming season.
Scripts may be in any stage of completion, from a well-developed idea to a completed draft. Plays must be unproduced.
While the current model of playwrights submitting plays to the powers-that-be might be the way it’s always been done, it’s nice to know that at least one theatre is striking out to find new ways to reach out to playwrights and find new work to be explored.
fpiantadosi@dramatistsguild.com
