DG National Report: Connecticut by Charlene Donaghy
“I never fear age…if you have creative work, you don’t have time to age.”
Louise Nevelson (1980), in Alexandra Robbin, Aging a New Look (1982)
On a warm summer evening, with the sun setting over the shore of eastern Connecticut, a group of fun and funny, dedicated and supremely talented dramatists gathered for our 2016 Summer Social. We came from Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and even Missouri.
We talked of being creative, of being a community. We talked of new work, revision, fellow dramatists and fellow theatre artists. The laughter flowed as easily as the wine. The ideas of collaborations bubbled as effervescently as the local craft hops.
In a time when I have been questioning the relevance placed on artists simply because of age, what struck me was the diversity of our group and how we represented gender, heritage, and age across a vast spectrum. It was a lovely reminder of how theatre can bridge gaps to weave together what we all love of our craft: the magic of storytelling for the stage.
When I took this photograph of Dramatists Guild members David W. Christner of Rhode Island and Natalie Osborne of Connecticut, I was fascinated by the fact that Natalie, a member of the Guild for less than a year, and David, a member of the Guild for decades and decades, were sharing stories of their lives as dramatists.
David is a prolific writer born in Tennessee, raised in a small farming community in southwestern Oklahoma. He received a BA and an MA from the University of Oklahoma. Two plays of his Vietnam Trilogy—The Wall and Bui-Doi: The Dust of Live—have been recognized in national playwriting competitions, and The Walk, Red Hot Mamas, The Babe, The Bard, and the Baron, The Bitch of Baily’s Beach, Ezra and Evil, and This Blood’s For You have also been finalists or winners in national/international playwriting competitions. His plays have been produced throughout the United States, as well as in Canada, Australia, and Russia.
Natalie is a playwright, anthropologist, activist, and visual artist. She graduated from Bennington College in 2015, majoring in drama and anthropology. Her play The Seven Ravens was read at Classic Theatre of Harlem Playwright’s Playground Program. She is part of 365 Women a Year and her play Making Frankenstein is published by Indie Theatre Now. Natalie has worked with La Mama Theatre in NYC, the Kattaikkuttu Sangam in India, and The Athena Project in Denver. Recently, she was part of Reasons for Leaving, a devised piece based off of the life and writings of Barbara Newhall Follett. Natalie created NOplays, a New England based theatre group supporting and producing works from underrepresented voices in the American theatre, with a special interest in emerging female writers.
David is wise with his years, aging with bold complexity like a fine whiskey, writing plays that seep into our consciousness as we consider who we are in this world we live in. He is, at any age, relevant.
Natalie is wise in her years, boldly pushing forth to create not only her own art but to support and give voice to the art of others. She is a true collaborator. She is, at any age, relevant.
And at our 2016 Summer Social, we all felt the creative energy that both David and Natalie radiate. These amazing artists, decades apart, have no fear of age, on either end of the spectrum, because they have creative work.
David W. Christner and Natalie Osborne
