Finding Artistic Support

I’m so happy to announce I received a grant from the Metropolitan Arts Council that will go a long way in helping me develop my new play 1999. The money will be used toward a developmental workshop and reading in Austin, Texas at 3rd Course: Theatre in November!  

I’ll get to work with long-time collaborators Lisa Neely and Leslie Dovale, as well as other company members. Working with 3rd Course: Theatre is such an amazing gift because over the last 15 years their audience has seen quite a few of my plays. So, they are able to have a dialogue with me about my body of work in a deep way. I find long-term collaborations, which don’t happen often enough in mainstream theatre, essential to my development as a writer. I’m so grateful to @macartscouncil for their foresight in allocating money for artists to collaborate. In my case, they are giving it to the part of the process that, by design, is unseen by a wide audience but is necessary to get it there.

One of the things I love about Greenville is the focus on supporting the arts. For a small city, there is a thriving arts community and an emphasis on supporting arts events for a Greenville audience. While my reading will take place in Austin, I hope it’s just another step toward future readings and productions in Greenville and beyond!

• “This program is funded in part by the Metropolitan Arts Council which receives support from the city oil Greenville, BMW Manufacturing Company, SEW Eurodrive and the South Carolina Arts Commission.”

Playwriting workshop with Erik Ehn

I had the opportunity to take a workshop with Erik Ehn at GPTC. It was genuinely one of the weirdest 90-minutes of my writing life. But there were also so many things that have found their way into my subconscious mind about writing.

We stood in a circle and did some shintito martial arts kind of movement — walking slowly toward the middle and backwards again, breathing exercises, and other kinds of movement. If you know me, you know that I’m a quiet, internal person who’s not overly comfortable performing or doing things that might get me noticed. So I was out of my depth, but actually there was something in the monk-like person of Ehn that made it okay and even seem normal.

After that, we sat in chairs in our circle and created our own alphabet while breathing. Why? No idea, but it was fun. I’ve since learned that there is something about drawing or focusing your creative mind on a task like drawing that translates to the kind of focus you need to write.

He said we should write with the pace of drawing.

A couple of other quotes I wrote down by Ehn: “Theatre’s purpose is to learn to get over yourself.”

“Theatre is an occasion where a community can discover itself.”

After all of this we did some writing that resembled a play. I don’t think I wrote anything particularly good. But I learned a ton about process, about being focused and present with my writing in a new way.

It was so cool. I would love to continue to learn from him.

Great Plains Theatre Conference

I'm so excited to announce that my play Dough & Cookies was selected to receive a PlayLab reading at GPTC this summer. It was one of 21 plays chosen out of over 800. With those odds, I feel incredibly lucky. 

Check it out: http://www.gptcplays.com/playlab/

It's especially gratifying because of the intensive revision I did to the play after attending the Kenyon Institute last summer. Seriously, I can pinpoint specific sessions at Kenyon that helped feed the latest revision. So if you're a playwright who needs to recharge, get a reminder of some core craft, and meet some inspiring people, you should apply. 

After revising, I was invited to do a developmental workshop at Third Course: Theatre in Austin, TX, which helped solidify those changes. Lisa Neely (director), Leslie Dovale (dramaturg), and the talented cast provided me with the necessary next step. 

I also received some notes from my mentor, Brian Silberman. It's been more than a decade since I studied with Brian, and he's still willing to read my work and give me thoughtful feedback. How great is that? 

Maybe that's the lucky part, having the convergence of so many wonderful people who helped me get this one ready.