Author: ethan

Writers Reflect on Black History Month

Posted on by ethan

Earlier this month, we reached out to a small group of Black writers in our community to respond to one or more question prompts regarding their thoughts on the intersection of Black History Month and Theater as part of an evolving record of writers’ voices and opinions on important topics. These prompts were:

In your opinion, what is the relationship between Black dramatists and the general public’s understanding of American history?

How does the theater help preserve, complicate, and celebrate Black history?

Are there any Black writers, living or deceased, that you would like to bring particular attention to?

These are their responses:

Kirsten Childs (The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin, Bella: An American Tall Tale)

The relationship between Black dramatists and the general public’s understanding of American history is the relationship between all dramatists and the general public’s understanding of history. It‘s fraught, it’s subjective and it’s always worthy of tackling.

I truly don’t know how theater preserves and complicates Black history, but I can tell you how it celebrates it in America. Not before and not past the twenty-eight days of February for whoever the lucky Black writer is, chuckle.

Since I’m a musical theater writer, I’m just going to focus on writers who’ve written for musical theater.  These are folks that you either 1. know about; 2. will know about soon; 3. will never know about until it’s too late or too expensive because you decided to pass on going to their shows, oh foolish ones.

Micki Grant. Michael R. Jackson. Masi Asare. Marcus Gardley. Cheryl Davis. Charlayne Woodard. Angelica Chéri. Scott Davenport Richards. Fred Carl. Regina Taylor. Sukari Marie Jacobs Jones. Morgan J. Smart. Jacinth Greywoode. AriDy Nox. Janice Lowe. Douglas Lyons. Imani Uzuri. Troy Anthony. Marcus Scott. Janelle Marie. Charles Randolph-Wright. Jarrett Murray. Dionne McClain-Freeney. Kahlil Daniel. Darrel Alejandro Holnes. Aurin Squire. Ayesu Lartey. Elizabeth Addison. Bil Wright. Bridgette Wimberly. Charles Vincent Burwell. Dahlak Brathwaite. Darius Smith. Ed DuRanté. Gregory F. Jackson. Joseph-Vernon Banks. Mkhululi Matyalana Ka Mabija. Nambi E. Kelley. Naomie Harris. Shawn Rene Graham. Will Power. Charles Innis.

France-Luce Benson (Deux Femmes on the Edge de la Revolution, Boat People)

Unfortunately, I think our understanding of American history continues to lean towards a narrow and frequently revisionist perception of events. While I know many Black dramatists (myself included) who challenge these ideas in their work, in innovative ways – the problem is we are not hearing their voices. I do appreciate that many more theatres are making major efforts towards to create seasons that are inclusive, and yet there is still a significant imbalance. Additionally, we just aren’t seeing enough work by a variety of black dramatists – particularly those who represent the expanse of the Afro-Diaspora. Until we understand how America’s involvement in the Afro-Atlantic slave trade impacted ALL countries of the Afro-Diaspora, and our relationship to those countries, as well as the contribution Blacks from all over the diaspora have made to America – I don’t think we can have a clear picture of America’s history. Simply put, we need to hear from more voices.

That said, I’d like to bring attention to a few initiatives led by Black Dramatists: 1) Acclaimed playwright Carlyle Brown started the Afro-Atlantic Playwrights program in collaboration with the Camargo Foundation and The Jerome Foundation. I was honored to be among the inaugural co-hort. I was also delighted to be selected for subsequent festivals featuring the work produced during the one month residency. The festivals took place at The Playwrights Center in Minneapolis, and NYU. The work Carlyle is doing to celebrate playwrights from across the Diaspora is inspiring and important. My co-hort included Genevieve McCall, Zainabu Jallo, Kara Lee Corthron, Bode Asiyanbi, Kimberly Ellis, Blessing Hungwe and Femi Osifisan – all writers you should know. 2) Playwright and Actor Magaly Colimon-Christopher founded “Hear Her Call” in 2019. Hear Her Call is an annual festival of Caribbean Playwrights, and Magaly is a force of nature. The next Hear Her Call Festival opens in March of this year.  Conch Shell Productions – Hear Her Call

Khiyon Hursey (Sean’s Story, Eastbound)

I think there are a number of dramatists working today to celebrate black history. I also think History can include the past, present and future.  I think artists such as Jackie Sibblies Drury, Michael R. Jackson, Robert O’Hara, Donja Love, and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins are creating work that looks at our current history as black people while  also looking back into the past to further unpack the complex histories of Black Americans. With that said, the theater, at times, does not give our grant our great black artists the “so called honor of” having their work on the great white way while continuing to usher in the mediocre work of white men. Broadway is changing, yes, but until we see a more diverse array of writers, the theater continues to not celebrate, complicate, and preserve our history to the fullest.

Happy Black History Month!

Jonathan Payne (Opal Root, The Revolving Cycles Truly and Steadily Roll’d)

I would love to hands down shout-out Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm! I admit, I am biased as once his classmates at Juilliard, but his work is just stellar. I haven’t heard anything like his work, and have just been riveted every time I hear or see something of his. He’s wonderfully funny and sharp, and mixes the black experience and genre in unusual ways. He’s also a bit of a hip prophet. It’s worth it to just sit with him and trade thoughts. He has a unique insight and way of maneuvering about the world. He is hands down one of my favorite writers and humans out there.

 

 

Your help has impact

Posted on by ethan

As we gather with loved ones this holiday season, we share stories to strengthen the bonds between us, reminding us of the power of human connection. Plays and musicals have the power to do this on a massive scale, healing our divisions and uniting our entire human family. But in this season of celebration, many of the writers who shape our world for the better are in jeopardy.

DGF’s Emergency Grants give financial support to writers who find themselves in severe circumstances. These writers face challenges that make creative expression impossible – unexpected medical crises, childcare emergencies, domestic violence, natural disasters, and more. On this day of universal philanthropy, please support DGF with a gift so we can provide Emergency Grants to every writer in need. Gifts of $250 or more entitle you to membership with exclusive benefits in The Write Stuff Society, DGF’s giving community.

Read on to meet some of our recipients and see how your contributions provide much needed relief for writers, composers, and lyricists in distress.

“In January of this year my rent department notified me that they’d miscalculated my rents for September, October, November, and December 2018. They also informed me that unless I paid the back rents IMMEDIATELY I would be evicted. And indeed, I received four such notices. Unfortunately, my income doesn’t allow for a financial crisis of that kind. Also the threat of eviction with a life-partner in the final stages of COPD ended my ability to write for five months. Fortunately for us, Dramatists Guild Foundation Emergency Grants intervened and paid my building most of what they’d suddenly decided I owed. The relief provided was not only financial. I am again writing and have completed a new script. Thank you Dramatists Guild Foundation for your Emergency Grants!”

  • Lanie Robertson, Playwright (The Insanity of Mary Girard, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill)

“I’m writing to say thank you. Not only did your care and generosity rescue me financially, the sense of security it provided served as a wellspring for an artistic, educational, and compassion-based project, QUEER, ILL + OKAY.”

  • Joseph Varisco, Program Director, QUEER, ILL + OKAY

“I really appreciate that the Dramatists Guild Foundation considered my proposal and the conferral of the Emergency Grant. Puerto Rico was significantly damaged by Hurricane Maria. Most of my work is voluntary and is meant for marginalized communities. I have access to these communities through creative writing workshops and dramatic art programs that have become an outlet for individual and collective sorrow. We have developed stronger communities able to express their inner voices through the arts and have given them tools to deconstruct their past and construct a brighter future. I really appreciate this opportunity and feel blessed to know that artists in the world are supporting each other.”

  • María Teresa Marichal Lugo, Playwright

Your impact

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Every show you have seen, read, listened to, shared, and loved all began with a blank piece of paper. The struggle of filling that paper is something we can all relate to. Thankfully, the thousands of writers every year that interact with the Dramatists Guild Foundation have found ways to push through that doubt. They have inspired me and our whole team to take bold steps to better serve our community across the United States.

Personally, I faced the blank page, paper after paper while pursuing my Masters in Nonprofit Management at Columbia. I am proud to share with all of you that I graduated this year, and could not be more excited to be putting my new skills to use for DGF.

The last year and a half has been full of new beginnings. We have welcomed new staff and Board members, ushered in a new program, and expanded our outreach to writers in exciting ways. First, our Traveling Masters, supported by Roe Green and the Roe Green Foundation, has now reached writers and students in nearly all 50 states – we will reach this goal by the end of 2019!

We launched the New Voices program last year and have now expanded into a new school, doubling the number of 4th grade students we have helped find their unique voices. The program is already receiving generous support to help it grow, including a grant from the Maurer Family Foundation that supports formal evaluation of our curriculum to improve our efficacy and ensure that young students are receiving the best playwriting education possible.

In December 2018, we received an incredibly generous gift from the Seller-Lehrer Family Foundation for $2 million in support of our Fellows program and Emergency Grants. The Fellows program continues to be a leading entity in identifying and elevating the most promising voices of the future, with former Fellows like Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, Michael R. Jackson, Antoinette Nwandu, Lauren Yee, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, and others making tremendous waves in the community with their groundbreaking work. We also awarded the inaugural Stephen Schwartz Award to former Fellow Oliver Houser. Thank you, Stephen!

We have worked to grow our community, reaching out to several luminaries of the stage who have become wonderful allies of DGF and our mission. In March, we were joined by legends Judith Light and Tony Kushner, who we awarded the Madge Evans and Sidney Kingsley Awards for Excellence in Theater. We also had the distinct honor of being joined by Hadestown composer, lyricist, and bookwriter Anaïs Mitchell for a Salon in June, just days before she and the production won eight Tony Awards. As these individuals inspired us with their commitment to the preservation and continuation of the craft, so did many of you by joining DGF’s new The Write Stuff Society. Thanks to our newly hired Development Director Mady Schuman and our Development Manager Jamie Balsai, The Write Stuff Society brings together our most dedicated supporters from all backgrounds.

Please click here and take at the Donor Impact Report to learn more about our programs and see first hand how your support is creating exponential benefit to the lives of writers across the country. Educational programs, free space, and awards, grants and stipends that you help fund are having a huge impact on writers at all stages of their careers. Those programs, and all of the wonderful milestones we have hit this year, are all because of you. Just as writers inspire us to challenge ourselves and reach toward a more beautiful future, you too inspire us to thrive in our mission every day.

Thank you!

Meet the 2019/2020 Fellows and New Fellows Chairs

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DGF Announces New Fellows and Program Chairs Dramatists Guild Foundation would like to formally announce a new 2019-2020 class of DGF Fellows, as well as new Chairs to the program.

The new Fellows class includes Melis Aker, Nolan Doran and Avi Amon, Kate Douglas, Elliah Heifetz and Jessica Kahkoska, Nikhil Mahapatra, Kyoung H. Park, Andrew Rincón, Andy Roninson, and Paulo Tiról. Each of these writers and writing teams has proven themselves to be of exceptional talent and promise. These writers will spend the year developing full-length shows with the guidance of the Program Chairs. In addition, Fellows receive a stipend, access to guest artists, and an additional opportunity with one of DGF’s partner organizations to further develop their piece. The program will culminate in a presentation of their work at an Off-Broadway theater.

Furthermore, after seven years of service as the Playwriting Chair of the Fellows program, Diana Son (Stop Kiss) will be stepping down from the position, and Migdalia Cruz (El Grito Del Bronx) and Lucy Thurber (The Hill Town Plays) will be the new Playwriting Chairs. Cruz and Thurber will join Musical Theater Chairs Laurence O’Keefe (Heathers) and Michael Korie (Grey Gardens) in stewarding the program. On the announcement of the new chairs, DGF Program Manager Tessa Raden Gregory said, “DGF is grateful to welcome Migdalia and Lucy into the position of Fellows Program Chairs. As artists whose work resonates with audiences across the country, they embody DGF’s commitment to serving the national theater community. We are excited for them to continue Diana’s legacy of education and artistic excellence.”

The Fellows program is a selective, year-long opportunity for playwrights, composers, lyricists, and bookwriters to develop full-length pieces. The Fellows program is highly sought after for its uniquely successful format of partnering playwrights and musical theater writers together in the learning process, with the musical theater writers working particularly closely with the Musical Theater Chairs, and the playwrights working more closely with the Playwriting Chairs. On her enthusiasm with the new crop of Fellows, Cruz added: “I am excited to continue a journey begun by Diana Son with patience and beauty, alongside my fierce colleague Lucy Thurber. We will tell the truth and keep it real. Looking forward to begin working with five brave and talented writers. Mentor, n. Someone who tortures you into becoming who you were always meant to be.”

Former Fellows include Kristen Anderson-Lopez (Frozen), Michael R. Jackson (A Strange Loop), Antoinette Nwandu (Pass Over), Lauren Yee (King of the Yees), Stacey Rose (Legacy Land), Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (Dear Evan Hansen) and many more.

Reflections on Pride

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This is one of a two-part series. Click here to hear from seven different writers on why it is crucial to make space for queer voices on stage. 

In celebration of PRIDE month, we have been reflecting on the legacy of queer writers and their impact on the theatrical community, society, and in our own personal lives. Our theatrical community has been not only enriched but arguably created by the works of queer artists. Writers for the stage have played a key role in both spreading acceptance and educating on the queer experience. We thank the queer-identifying writers of yesterday, today, and tomorrow for speaking up and speaking out.

The stage has always been ahead of the curve in regard to offering queer representation. While queer characters have existed since the dawn of theater itself, explicitly queer characters have appeared on American popular stages as early as the 1920s. But these shows, more often than not written by straight writers, offered a flawed portrayal of these characters that viewed them through the lens of the moral standards of the day. By the sixties, this was changing, and out writers were creating out characters that challenged previous portrayals. There are famous examples such as Boys in the Band, and later The Normal Heart, but there were also many smaller productions performed at institutions like Caffe Cino, WOW Café Theatre, or by groups like Hot Peaches and Charles Ludlam’s Ridiculous Theatrical Company. These shows emboldened activists, helping to communicate the human core of their work, and also offered a perspective on queer life that could also include joy and irreverence.

While some of these smaller shows have unfortunately been unacknowledged or lost to history, it is through writers that a direct lineage to this radical openness is maintained. As Keelay Gipson says: “As a queer, black boy in the middle of the country, I looked to the storytellers illuminating our history and our stories through the written word. James Baldwin, Tony Kushner, Robert O’Hara, Paula Vogel, Tarell Alvin McCraney—these writers shaped me as a person and as a dramatist. Their brave work could illuminate for folks like me—not yet out of the closet or sure of their voice, not yet living in a time of radical acceptance—how to build, unapologetically, a life in the theater telling queer stories.” Today, many companies such as Diversionary Theatre in San Diego and The Theater Offensive in Boston are carrying on the tradition of centering queer narratives on the stage. Contemporary theatergoers are also revisiting the work of queer writers like María Irene Fornés, who’s work has never achieved the level of recognition that its influence merits.

For queer people, seeing one’s experience reflected onstage – particularly when that representation is housed in authentic characters grappling with real human problems – can be a necessary balm for the hurt of living in a hostile society. In March of this year, President of Jujamcyn Theaters Jordan Roth presented Tony Kushner with the DGF Madge Evans & Sidney Kingsley Award for Excellence in Theater for his body of work and for work yet to come. Roth described what it felt like to be a young queer person encountering Angels in America as a “soon-to-be-out seventeen-year-old:”

“…My friends and I passed around his writing like secret sacred texts. Passages underlined, sentences highlighted, questions/hopes/prayers scribbled in the margins. Devouring everything we could find that he ever wrote, said or even considered. Those lucky enough to have been witness to a production, to have received the word directly, regaled the rest with tales of magic made manifest.”

So many shows had and continue to have tremendous impact on the heartscape of the nation. In honor of this ripple effect, we decided to maintain a chronological list of some of the pieces written by queer writers that have helped shine a light on the community and those that are continuing to challenge the sense of what it means to be queer in America.

Over the last several decades, we’ve seen the emergence of thrilling, heart-breaking, joyful, rich stories by and about women, trans people, and people of color, led by writers who have refused to have their own experiences written out of queer history. This is a tribute to the seminal works that have helped American theater get to where it is today AND an invitation to the next generation to help steer the ship, using theater as a launchpad for larger conversations about the LGBTQIA+ community and intersectionality in America.

Because this list captures only a fraction of the many groundbreaking, illuminating pieces that queer artists have made, we welcome your suggestions in the comments below:

  • Mart Crowley – The Boys in the Band (1968)
  • María Irene Fornés – Fefu and Her Friends (1977)
  • Harvey Fierstein – Torch Song Trilogy (1978)
  • Jane Chambers – Last Summer at Bluefish Cove (1980)
  • Larry Kramer – The Normal Heart (1985)
  • Kate Bornstein – Hidden: A Gender (1989)
  • Tony Kushner – Angels in America (1991)
  • William Finn and James Lapine – Falsettos (1992)
  • Terrence McNally – Love! Valor! Compassion! (1994)
  • John Cameron Mitchell – Hedwig and the Angry Inch (1998)
  • Harvey Fierstein and Cyndi Lauper – Kinky Boots (2012)
  • Tarell Alvin McCraney – Choir Boy (2012)
  • Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori – Fun Home (2013)
  • Paula Vogel – Indecent (2015)
  • Taylor Mac – A 24-Decade History of Popular Music (2016)
  • Basil Kreimendahl – Orange Julius (2017)
  • Donja R. Love – Sugar in our Wounds (2018)
  • Michael R. Jackson – Strange Loop (2019)

We are happy for this canon to grow, for “secret, sacred texts” to be made known, and for new generations of queer writers to have their voices heard. That is certainly something to be proud of. 

 

Sincerely,

The DGF Staff

 

P.S. If you think there is an important work about the queer experience written by a queer writer that should be on this list, please leave it in a comment below!

Speaking Out: Seven Writers on the Importance of Queer Voices in Theater

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The art of queer writers helps to translate the joy, rage, history, and humanity of the LGBTQI+ community. Hear why these seven artists believe it is crucial that queer writers are given space on the American stage:

 

“As a trans and yellow American person making theater, I am aware that stories from my communities have been systematically and institutionally silenced so it’s important to get our work out no matter how it is produced or if it is produced, because our folx need to see ourselves onstage in order to feel that same theater magic that makes a person feel alive, possible, and human.”

  • Kit Yan, Playwright, Lyricist, and DGF Fellow

 

“At a time when trans people, and especially black and migrant trans women, are facing so much violence, the humanizing power of authentic trans stories on stage can be lifesaving.”

  • Corinna Schulenburg, Playwright and WAG Recipient

 

“As a queer, black boy in the middle of the country, I looked to the storytellers illuminating our history and our stories through the written word. James Baldwin, Tony Kushner, Robert O’Hara, Paula Vogel, Tarell Alvin McCraney—these writers shaped me as a person and as a dramatist. Their brave work could illuminate for folks like me—not yet out of the closet or sure of their voice, not yet living in a time of radical acceptance—how to build, unapologetically, a life in the theater telling queer stories.”

  • Keelay Gipson, Playwright, New Voices Teaching Artist and DGF Fellows Alum

 

“It’s important to tell many different kinds of Queer stories about many different kinds of Queer people, because our history has so often been forced into the shadows. We’re proud to be Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellows, DG Members, and Queer artists who make things that celebrate LGBTQ+ stories and complicate traditional narratives.”

  • Brandon James Gwinn and EllaRose Chary, Composers, Lyricists, and DGF Fellows Alumni

 

“Visibility is survival. The centering of queer narratives validates our right to live, create, succeed, fail and thrive. It is essential now more than ever because queer people are fucking dying all around the world and no one seems to care. Queer visibility is survival.”

  • Khiyon Hursey, Composer, Lyricist, and DGF Fellows Alum

 

“Queer people exist in the world, so when our stories aren’t included, it’s a lie about what the world is. Let’s all enjoy learning about the lives of everyone in our beautifully diverse world.”

  • Bill Nelson, Playwright, Lyricist, and DGF Fellows Alum

Click here to hear our thoughts on the important legacy of queer writers.

 

Four Artists on Terrence McNally

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In our commitment to supporting writers at all stages of their careers, we’re often thinking about and celebrating legacy, uniting the luminaries who have lit the way with the writers of today and the storytellers of tomorrow.

So this season, it seems fitting that the 2019 Tony Awards are honoring “theater titan” and beloved DGF Board Member Terrence McNally with the Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre.

Amongst many other accomplishments and honors, Terrence is the winner of Tony Awards for his plays Love! Valour! Compassion! and Master Class and his books for the musicals Ragtime and Kiss of the Spider Woman.

We asked several members of our community, “what about Terrence McNally’s writing speaks to you?” And we were met with warmth and enthusiasm indicative of both Terrence’s work and his reputation. What’s more, several of these artists know Terrence’s work through the roles they’ve played and also through the shows they love.

To experience a writer’s work both as a performer and as an audience member is a unique perspective, and we’re lucky to share some of these responses with you here:

“Terrence’s ability to express the complicated yet beautiful intricacies of the human condition make his work so fulfilling and rewarding to work on as an actor, and heart-wrenching and thrilling to experience as an audience member…Ragtime is one of my all-time favorite musicals. From its profound storytelling, to its sweeping powerful score by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, this show is amazing.”

–Derek Klena, Anastasia

And then there’s the connection of word to human spirit…

“Terrence McNally is not just a writer, but a true poet. It’s such a gift as an actor to go onstage and know that the words you are speaking stand alone; there’s no pressure to try and add to them, or to embellish. The emotion is pure; the meaning deep. Each sentence is like a little present for the heart. I recently saw Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune and was completely blown away by the intricacies of his writing — there is such romance and vibrancy within the raw storytelling. It’s not to be missed!”  

–Kathryn Boswell, Anastasia

As we’ve shared of our own Music Hall, the history of a Broadway theater (and a show itself) add to the texture and energy of a space, like layers of paint. What a time, then, it must be at the Broadhurst Theatre, currently home to Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, still warm from the two-year run of Anastasia (which closed March 31st).

“Terrence is not only a dear friend to me but also one of the world’s greatest gifts to the theater. I am continually inspired by the way he takes in his surroundings and crafts them into timeless words and stories that touch our hearts. His ability to see value and wonder in everyone and everything is an attribute we can all aspire to. Terrence’s work will stand the test of time and continue to speak to audiences for generations to come.”

–Audra McDonald, currently starring in Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune

We’re proud to have Terrence in the DGF Family and to celebrate his work. For someone to write so keenly on the human condition, it follows that they’d value and nurture their professional relationships. Terrence embodies our core value of writers supporting writers.

“I came to New York City in 1987 hoping to meet great writers who, by virtue of their writing alone, would inspire me to write well. Little did I know that what would most inspire me, over time and tears, were the great writers who were also great human beings. Terrence McNally is a great writer, of this I am certain. But it has been his kindness, his generosity, his gentle support, his powerfully compassionate presence and his loving heart that have taught me where true greatness lies.”

-Andrew Lippa, Composer, Lyricist, Bookwriter, and DGF Board President (Unbreakable, Big Fish)

In honor of Terrence’s Lifetime Achievement award, we’ll be re-releasing The Legacy Project (June 10th on the DGF Youtube Channel) starting with a conversation between Terrence McNally and Annie Baker. This intimate glimpse into the struggles, triumphs, unique creative process challenge and inspire us to create and consume art in different ways.

As Terrence puts it, “Anything that makes us feel more connected to our fellow man is important. I think it’s so easy for us all to feel alone– somehow no one understands me. No one is like me…We are unique people, yes, but there is a bond between people that I think theater makes us realize.”

Thank you, Terrence, and congratulations on this incredible honor.

A Letter from Andrew Lippa

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Theater is not just my passion, it is also my community. I wake up grateful every day I am surrounded by people committed to creating stories that aim not only to entertain but to inspire. Why am I committed to strengthening this community to ensure more artists can tell their stories through the art and craft of writing? Because I believe live theater can reach us like no other art form.

In the spirit of community then, I am pleased to invite you to join the Dramatists Guild Foundation’s Write Stuff Society as an inaugural member. This is a new community within a community composed of our most committed allies. With your vital assistance in the past, DGF has been able to accomplish acts of generosity to write home about. Last year, DGF awarded $135,000 in Emergency funds to writers facing dire circumstances. That was because of you. The DGF Music Hall has saved writers $1 Million in rehearsal room fees since 2015. That was you, too.

It’s now time to take DGF to the next level. I am confident DGF is able to take on the considerable challenge of growing our programs even further. But in order to do so, we need you. We have the right team, the right strategy, and now we need The Write Stuff Society.

Please click here to learn about the benefits offered to members of The Write Stuff Society. We developed these recognition opportunities and private experiences to bring you inside DGF and give you a closer look at how integral your contributions are to the fabric of our cherished organization. I believe the most satisfying benefit is this: Your gift enhances the lives of playwrights, composers, lyricists, and bookwriters, and the vast and diverse audiences we reach. See what you do? You help a writer, they change the world. Simple and right. Or, as we are now saying, Write Stuff.

With your gift to The Write Stuff Society at any level, you are introducing more children to the craft of playwriting through the New Voices program; You are sending more Traveling Masters to arts communities across the nation to enrich the culture and craft; You are amplifying the voices of writers who shape our thinking for the better and inspire us to reach toward a more beautiful future. It’s easy to forget about writers; Our very task is for our words and music to fit so seamlessly into our pieces that it appears they spring from the minds of the characters themselves. But we are there. Starting with a blank piece of paper, a blank computer screen, an empty room. Always. Luckily for us, you’ve always been willing to write yourself into the story, too. Keep writing. Please.

I hope we can count you in as an inaugural member of The Write Stuff Society.

With warm regards,

Andrew Lippa
President of the Board, DGF

DGF is going to Ohio and Minnesota!

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The Dramatists Guild Foundation (DGF) has announced that it will be bringing its Traveling Masters program to Ohio and Minnesota over the course of this month. Traveling Masters is a nationwide education program providing master classes and events on the craft of writing. The program presents an incredible opportunity for students, aspiring professionals, and theater lovers to connect with the giants of American theater to be inspired, challenged, and empowered. Participants get the chance to interact with award-winning writers, allowing them to learn, ask questions, and develop their talents with input from true experts. Participants in each of these states will gain insight into the real-life experiences of these renowned playwrights.

Steve Yockey will be in Cincinnati on April 20. Steve Yockey is a Los Angeles based writer with work produced throughout the US, Europe, and Asia. His plays Bellwether, Pluto, Afterlife, Octopus, Large Animal Games, CARTOON, Subculture, Very Still & Hard to See, The Fisherman’s Wife, Wolves, Disassembly, and Niagara Falls & Other Plays are published and licensed by Samuel French. Other plays include Blackberry Winter, The Thrush & The Woodpecker, and Mercury. This season: Reykjavík will open as a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere at Actor’s Express (Atlanta), Rorschach Theatre (DC), Kitchen Dog Theatre (Dallas), and Southern Rep (New Orleans) and Sleeping Giant will premiere in the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Steve holds an MFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and currently serves as a writer/producer for the television series Supernatural. To learn more about Steve Yockey’s events in Cincinnati, please email info@dgf.org.

Daniel Alexander Jones will be in Minneapolis on April 25. He is an acclaimed interdisciplinary artist. Performance works include Black Light (Public Theater, Greenwich House Theater), Duat (Soho Rep), An Integrator’s Manual (La MaMa), Bright Now Beyond (Salvage Vanguard), and Radiate (Soho Rep and National Tour). His alter-ego, Jomama Jones, is completing a forthcoming fifth album of original music, Anew, for release in 2019. Among many honors, Daniel received the Doris Duke Artist Award, the Alpert Award in the Arts, and was in the first class of Creative Capital grantees. A primary contributor to the Theatrical Jazz Aesthetic, he is Associate Professor of Theatre at Fordham University. Daniel Alexander Jones began his relationship with PWC as a 1994 Many Voices Fellow, was a Jerome Fellow, and held a McKnight National Residency. Jones will be presenting excerpts from his upcoming book and participate in a conversation about the intimate relationship between creative practice and personal transformation. The evening will be facilitated by Professor Sarah Myers of Augsburg University and feature Jones’s longtime collaborator Elissa Adams. To attend this reading and conversation, you can reserve a ticket here.

The Dramatists Guild Foundation will be presenting these Traveling Masters in partnership with Know Theatre of Cincinnati and Playwrights’ Center.

If you will be in any of these areas during this time and would like to know more about the public events with these writers, please reach out to info@dgf.org.

SPACE: The importance of cultivating creative environments for writers.

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“Personal space.” “Claiming space.” “Safe space.”

All of these expressions inspire feelings of safety, empowerment, freedom, imagination. And they all speak to the power of space. Give the same word to 100 writers, and you’ll never find the same idea twice. But the following is undeniable: All writers need space where they can feel inspired, supported, and free to explore.

That’s the founding philosophy behind the DGF Music Hall. Our salon-style rehearsal space has all the resources a writer might need: a conference table and chairs, music stands, a state-of-the-art projector, surround sound system, a small theatrical library, and a baby grand piano (donated by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty).

What makes us most proud, however, is that we’re able to offer this space for free thanks to the generosity of the Grisham Foundation and the beloved late Carol Hall (Best Little Whorehouse in Texas).

 

“ From the first moment I walked in the Music Hall, I felt a warm and safe energy. It was the perfect place for my collaborator and me to explore our script without the pressures of the outside world.”

— Nolan Doran Lyricist, Bookwriter WOODY – A New Fairytale, Honor and Family

 

When you strip away the piano, the sound system, the library… what’s most important about the Music Hall is the space. That’s the real luxury.

The Dramatists Guild Foundation is located in midtown Manhattan, an area where real estate is priced by what seems like the millimeter. And for many writers, budgeting for rehearsal space is stressful, renting a separate office space is often impossible, and working from a cafe is an unreliable option. All of these present limitations. It’s hard enough to get into a creative flow without someone’s latte dangerously tipping near your laptop, overhearing a primetime-worthy breakup at the table over, or choosing between renting space and eating breakfast.

This is particularly true in New York City, but the same can be said of anywhere that creative communities struggle to connect and thrive because of fiscal or physical constraints.

When it comes to space, of course it’s about cost, but it’s more about the value for these artists.

 

“As an emerging writer, the greatest cost of my craft is simply space. We live in New York City where real estate is the hottest commodity, and every writer in the room at [my] reading came up to me afterwards to ask what the catch was. How could DGF just give space away? I hope you’ve all had the opportunity to see a writer’s face light up when they are told that there is no catch.”
-Alex Rubin, Playwright, Lyricist, Bookwriter The Actual Paucci, Dear Diary

 

Moreover, for writers with a dedicated space to work, the quality of output is much higher.

From the point of view of traditional corporate settings, the ability of those in creative fields to work from home may be enviable. But we would challenge that mindset with a brutally candid question: when you work from home, are you expected to work from home well?

And let’s not forget the gifts that collaboration and co-working can bring.

Without space, a writer can not easily share their words with other artists. With actors, audience, producers, even other writers. This is a critical step in the creative process. Where a new work leaves the vacuum of writer and page and enters the space of the world, where it can, hopefully, find a home.

We are endlessly impressed by the work being developed in the Music Hall.

Because of access to space, the work of artists like Cara Reichel and Peter Mills has been nurtured and transformed into wildly successful works like Hello, Girls.  The Music Hall helped Bobby Cronin and Crystal Skillman create Mary and Max. Every day, new productions join us to discover, share, and experiment on new pieces (some of which you can see on our Instagram feed).

This buzzing energy of creation in the office inspires our own work as an organization. We are passionate about the benefits of the Music Hall on both practical and creative levels, so our challenge to you is…

 

What spaces can you establish? Where can you encourage writing to happen?

We’re living in the Share Economy. From AirBnB to Lyft and co-working communities, people are increasingly willing to open up their spaces and to open up their lives to others.

And you certainly don’t need a baby grand and a wall of books to offer enormous value to writers.

Maybe your office has some scratch paper and an empty conference room a couple times per week.

Maybe your empty nest craves a community, and your own living room could host a salon-style reading once a month!

Perhaps you’re a small theater company whose volunteer base could monitor before or after-hours access to a writing group. (Our own Music Hall operations would be nearly impossible without the aid of our incredible volunteers).

People are everywhere. And thus, writers are everywhere. When we consider the amazing things that have come out of our space, we get excited to ponder what could come out of other communities. You have the opportunity to cultivate work like this. To stimulate your local art scene. To awaken your own creative pursuits.

Think what could happen if more writers could take creative journeys and get lost in space, rather than having the space simply be lost. That’s a world we want to live in!

For more information about the DGF Music Hall, visit https://dgf.org/programs/music-hall/