DG National Report: Northern Ohio by David Todd
As a native Clevelander, I’m happy to be back in the city and representing its playwrights for the Dramatists Guild of America. There’s always been a rich theater tradition here in Northeast Ohio—just one of the areas I’ll be covering as Regional Rep for the state—but I’m excited by the heightened activity in playwriting circles. In addition to the Cleveland Play House’s Playwrights’ Unit and Dobama Theatre’s Playwrights’ GYM, there are independent ventures including The Manhattan Project – Cleveland Lab that provide outlets for development. There are also producing companies including Convergence-Continuum and Ensemble Theatre that have local plays in their current seasons. As well, there is Talespinner Children’s Theatre, whose annual series of plays adapted from myths and folklore are penned by area scribes.
Another vehicle in Northeast Ohio is one I’m closely involved with, Playwrights Local. Now in our second season, Playwrights Local is the area’s only theater organization devoted entirely to developing and producing local writers. We stage full productions, offer playwriting classes, host outreach events, and conduct workshop programs such as our Play Lab. We also make an effort to cultivate a greater esprit de corps among dramatists here in our already close-knit, supportive scene. Our current production, Objectively/Reasonable: A Community Response to the Shooting of Tamir Rice, 11/22/14, is a documentary play incorporating contributions from playwrights including Tom Hayes, Lisa Langford, Mike Geither, and Michael Oatman. Later this season, we’ll stage our second annual Cleveland Playwrights Festival and the premiere of a one-person show by writer/actor Amy Schwabauer. In March 2017, we’ll host The Mac Wellman Homecoming, a three-day festival with performances of Wellman classics and new locally written works by multiple theater companies, all honoring a Cleveland product whose imprint on the playwriting world has been indelible.
In addition to working as the conceiver/dramaturg on Objectively/Reasonable, I’m finishing a new play entitled Things as They Are, which is a mediation on the life and work of American poet Wallace Stevens. Featuring an original score by Ben Chasny—known to music fans as Six Organs of Admittance—Things also includes original material by Stevens performed with the permission of Alfred A. Knopf. This play, which will premiere in Cleveland in May 2017, combines two of my main interests to this point, experimental theater and alternative music. My own playwriting experience tends toward the avant-garde and reflects my background in the less-heralded corners of the downtown NYC demimonde. I’ve also done some teaching of playwriting as an English professor, which was my main career for some time after earning a Ph.D. at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
As Regional Rep, I look forward to drawing attention to the often-unrecognized playwrights in the state. I’m also excited about hosting events that deal with issues affecting dramatic writers here in our markets. Lastly, the prospect of interacting with the other Reps, who appear such a vital and impressive group, is enticing to me. I look forward to meeting and disappointing them all in due time.
Before closing, I’d like to offer a special thanks to our outgoing Rep, Faye Sholiton. Faye literally put our region on the map as its first-ever emissary to the Guild. On behalf of all members in Ohio, I want to acknowledge Faye for her seven years of service.
