@dramatistsguild @hartplaywright

The very mention of the word ‘potluck’ is likely to present anyone with the visual of a meal or party to which each of the guests contributes a dish. In Kansas City’s Crossroads Art District, one is more likely to think of theatrical tastes delivered by Potluck Productions. Established in 1994, Potluck was formed to create more opportunities for emerging female playwrights to produce their work. Dramatists Guild members Nancy Parks and Lezlie Revelle serve as two of the company’s producers.

One great contribution this production company makes in our region is offering women a venue for their voices, and a process for developing their work. For many years Potluck produced an annual festival open to all female playwrights, helping to develop the best in new scripts written by women. Potluck now hosts a First Friday Play Reading Series, showcasing scripts written by women playwrights residing in Kansas and Missouri. The company also showcases short plays—often chosen from among 40 or more submissions by women playwrights—during the annual Kansas City Fringe Festival. Guild member Catherine Browder has had several plays developed in the Potluck tradition. She appreciates the company’s commitment to meaningful play development. “They have a fairly large ensemble of semi-pro, non-equity actors they enlist. They encourage the playwrights to attend the rehearsals for the readings, and they have often hire professional directors for their staged productions, such as the 2014 Fringe Festival production, which made it a serious and effective show.”

The signature dish of Potluck is their First Friday Play Reading Series, which are performed before an audience. What sets them apart from other production teams is the company’s constant commitment to helping the playwright develop her work through professional readings and staged productions. “Potluck provides opportunities for women writers to submit their work and hear it read by seasoned actors. That is invaluable for any playwright,” said Lezlie Revelle. She continued, “We offer opportunity. Success breeds success. And even if that success isn’t immediate, it breeds the taste for more success, for another opportunity. It feeds the hunger that keeps an artist writing, submitting…the hunger that keeps us going. I believe—and this belief is backed up by conversations I’ve had with women who yearn to pursue their art—what we provide is a place where new women writers are welcomed and encouraged. They are given a chance.” Nancy Parks believes even for an experienced playwright “the opportunity to do a reading is an important tool for polishing a play. You can see what it sounds like and how the audience reacts.”

Many female dramatists stay connected to Potluck because they believe in what the production company does best: providing an ongoing venue for growing creativity. The company has produced a dozen festivals consisting of over one hundred short plays and monologues, and has worked with local and regional directors. “We’re getting a chance to see more writers,” says Parks. And they would love to see more, so every female playwright in this region should consider to submitting their new work. Potluck’s submission guidelines can be found on their website, www.potluckproductionskc.com.

All of us as dramatists seem to be isolated enough, in need of an encouraging voice far too often. Given our chosen craft continues to be a world where the words of men are produced more than women, I can’t help but think the cheers for most female playwrights still seem faint. This is why Potluck Productions is so important to our region. As Catherine Browder states, “I know of no other group in Kansas City who focuses (exclusively) on women playwrights.” These are women writers diligently dedicated to developing the work of other women writers. And they are members of our fabulous Guild!

hwright@dramatistsguild.com