@dramatistsguild
@AoiseStratford
I am writing this on a cold and stormy evening having just returned home from The Kitchen Theatre in downtown Ithaca where WNY Rep Donna Hoke and I just hosted a Submission Seminar and Get Together for Dramatists Guild members here in the central New York area. Armed with cookies, tea and coffee, members from Syracuse, Spencer, Ithaca, Lansing (and Buffalo) gathered at The Kitchen to talk about playwriting, community, and how we as writers in far flung and fairly isolated places can develop a national presence by getting our work ‘out there,’ – wherever there might be.
The meeting, conceived of in part as a chance to update members on Guild activities nationally, and in part as an exchange of ideas about submitting work outside the immediate community, turned out also to be a celebration of what we do and where we do it. Syracuse members reported on a growing theatre scene in Syracuse, with several new theatre companies entering the fray. Faced with the all-too-common challenges of locating and financing resources, several representatives from different Syracuse organizations have banded together to form The District, a group whose purpose is to market collectively, exchange information, support each other, and share resources. A similar goal is also going into effect in Ithaca where representatives from local theatre groups have recently met with the aim of finding a way to work collectively toward securing space and pooling resources. With plans for the first Ithaca Fringe Festival under way, such a collective will bring a vital contribution to playwrights and the community. More on that as things develop.
We also heard from representatives of several Ithaca and Syracuse theatre companies and groups including Incognita, The Homecoming Players, The Kitchen Theatre, Armory Square Playwrights and Civic Ensemble, all of whom came to the session to meet Guild members and update us on their activities, plans and challenges, and all of whom expressed their enthusiasm for and support of new work and local writers. It was a delightfully helpful and supportive conversation between writers and theatres and one we hope to continue to facilitate in the future.
The informal submission seminar that followed this conversation helped to place the issues of community and career in a broader context. The primer covered the kinds of opportunities available to writers nationally (ranging from grants to fellowships, residencies, conferences, contests, developmental opportunities, festivals, publication, self-production, and of course productions), and then tips for how to find out about them, track them, and handle the submission process and the expectations that go with it effectively. Topics ranged from terminology and guidelines to cast size and ‘fit’ for different theatres, and members had a chance to exchange ideas about particular festivals, companies, and programs. After two hours everyone went home with a list of useful websites, a couple of upcoming deadlines for motivation–and a cookie or two for the long trip back home.