As a member of the Dramatists Guild, you receive a rundown of the latest industry news, DG events, member shout-outs, and so much more. From submission deadlines to community engagement opportunities, we’ll keep you in the loop. Not a part of the Guild yet, but still want access? Join today.
NEWS
Letter to Audible: Stop Charging Authors for Returns
The Dramatists Guild of America announces upcoming changes to its staff and Council. Tina Fallon has decided to step aside from her role as Executive Director for Creative Affairs, inspired by the Guild’s ongoing efforts to address systemic inequalities in the field, in order to encourage the industry to embrace dynamic, innovative new leadership.
As stated on The Authors Guild's website, "Audible is promoting this easy exchange policy as a benefit to increase its subscriber base, allowing listeners to purchase and listen to entire audiobooks and then return them for a refund or exchange them for a new book—all at the detriment of authors’ earnings. This is not an exchange policy, but an unauthorized audiobook rental arrangement supported by authors’ reversed royalties, and it must stop.
Creative Affairs Executive Director Tina Fallon To Depart The Dramatists Guild of America to Clear Path for New Leadership
The Dramatists Guild of America announces upcoming changes to its staff and Council. Tina Fallon has decided to step aside from her role as Executive Director for Creative Affairs, inspired by the Guild’s ongoing efforts to address systemic inequalities in the field, in order to encourage the industry to embrace dynamic, innovative new leadership.
Actors Equity and SAG-AFTRA Reach Agreement on Streamed Performances
Last week, unions Actors Equity and SAG-AFTRA came to an agreement regarding whether live-streamed performances should be considered theatre or television. Typically, live-streamed work falls under SAG-AFTRA's jurisdiction. However, for the duration of the pandemic (currently defined as taking place through December 2021), Actors Equity will be responsible for covering digital work presented as a supplement to, or a replacement of, live theatre productions that were cancelled due to COVID-19. This agreement also allows for the possibility of theatres streaming archival productions, provided that certain parameters are observed, such as the size of the digital audience.
EDtA Publishes Report Detailing Impact of COVID-19 on School Theatres
Many Dramatists Guild members have had their shows licensed by school theatre programs. The Educational Theatre Association has surveyed these programs, and recently published a report containing an in-depth analysis of how theatre education in schools around the country has been impacted by the pandemic.
Play Discovery Research Survey
DG members are invited to participate in a research study being conducted by investigators from The University of Iowa and The University of California, Irvine. The purpose of the study is to ask faculty, students, and professional practitioners in the field of drama about how they discover plays, how they acquire plays, if there are particular types of plays that interest them, and if they have a format preference (i.e., physical or digital) when reading plays.
Chicago Dramatists: Early Bird Discount on Winter Classes
Our friends over at Chicago Dramatists have announced their winter line up of writing courses. From now until December 1, 2020, they will be offering a 20% Early Bird Registration Discount on specific classes, when students select the Early Bird Registration option at checkout. We hope you’ll make use of this offer, and join Chicago Dramatists for their newest round of courses, which will be held online via Zoom.
Medicare Open Enrollment
Here at the Dramatists Guild, we believe that affordable healthcare should be accessible to everyone, including writers who are freelancers. We encourage those members to utilize Medicare's Open Enrollment period (now through December 15 or January 31, depending upon your state) to find the healthcare plan that works best for you.
Our friends at The Actors Fund are busy dispelling myths about Medicare's enrollment process; they are scheduling special Zoom workshops on the basics of Medicare. To learn more, please visit The Actors Fund website or call (800) 221-7303.
WATCH NOW: Banned Together 2020
New videos from Banned Together 2020 are now available to view via the Dramatists Guild website. This series of events, presented by The Dramatists Guild Legal Defense Fund (DLDF) in partnership with The Dramatists Guild Political Engagement Initiative, included two online panel discussions highlighting BIPOC writers who have previously been left out of significant cultural conversations.
ADVOCACY
Season two of our podcast, The Dramatists Guild Presents: TALKBACK, is now available to download! In this new season, host Christine Toy Johnson and her weekly special guests explore the notion of access, and what inclusivity in the theatre industry really means.
EPISODE ONE: PIPLINES
The first episode of the season features writers Georgia Stitt and Lloyd Suh discussing the concept of the pipeline. Their conversation with Christine Toy Johnson addresses the problems of the pipeline, who is granted access to jobs in the industry, and whose stories are being told.
EPISODE TWO: MFA PROGRAMS
The first episode of the season features writers Georgia Stitt and Lloyd Suh discussing the concept of the pipeline. Their conversation with Christine Toy Johnson addresses the problems of the pipeline, who is granted access to jobs in the industry, and whose stories are being told.
EPISODE THREE: PHYSICAL ACCESS
The third episode focuses on physical access, and what meaningful inclusion looks like for artists with disabilities. Actors Gregg Mozgala and Katy Sullivan speak with Christine Toy Johnson about performing in Martyna Majok’s Pulitzer Prize winning play Cost of Living, their own advocacy work, and the extra role they take on just by stepping into the rehearsal room.
EPISODE FOUR: ACCESS AT ANY AGE
In the fourth episode, the conversation moves to the importance of receiving access at any age, as Christine Toy Johnson explores the topic of ageism in the theatre with actor Caroline Aaron and writer Sarah Tuft.
EPISODE FIVE: ALTERNATIVE ACCESS
Episode five centers around the notion of alternative access; actor-writers Nikkole Salter and Bianca Sams discuss their own experiences with Christine Toy Johnson, sharing their perspectives on work, audiences, and opportunity beyond traditional brick-and-mortar models of theatrical access.
EPISODE SIX: RADICAL HOSPITALITY
The sixth and final episode of the season is all about radical hospitality. Directors Robert Barry Fleming and Charles Randolph-Wright join their longtime friend Christine Toy Johnson for an investigation into how artists can claim the space to tell their own stories, and how radical hospitality can be extended towards the audiences for whom these stories are intended to reach.
VISIT THE BROADWAY PODCAST NETWORK
COMMUNITY
As a national organization, we understand that no two theatrical communities are the same. Our Regional Representatives work tirelessly across the country to keep us abreast of new developments in each of their dynamic and ever-evolving communities. These Reps share updates through their National Reports and help us to direct our focus, ensuring the creation of meaningful programming to benefit our members.
As we say goodbye to our former Regional Representatives, we are also excited to welcome the newly elected Regional Representatives (below). Each new Rep was chosen by their communities, via a nomination and election process, to serve a three-year term as the representative of their area. We are so lucky to be welcoming a truly inspiring group of individuals into the fold. Please join us in sending them a congratulatory note, saying hello, and welcoming them into their new positions. We are very much looking forward to what comes next.
RESOURCE CALENDAR
Nov 27
WGGB ONLINE: Blow the Bloody Doors Off! Breaking Down the Barriers for Disabled Writers
Dec 01
NEW ENGLAND EAST ONLINE: December Gathering/ Happy Hour
Dec 02
NYC ONLINE: Write Now!
Dec 03
PENNSYLVANIA-TENNESSEE ONLINE: DG Footlights™ City Swap
Dec 04
NYC ONLINE: Write Now!
NYC ONLINE: Friday Night Footlights® feat. Clytemnestra in Hades by Richard Vetere
Dec 06
NEW MEXICO ONLINE: DG Footlights™
Dec 07
MAINE ONLINE: Dramatists Gathering
Dec 09
NYC ONLINE: Write Now!
NORTH/SOUTH CAROLINA ONLINE: Holiday Playwrights Slam
Dec 10
PHILADELPHIA ONLINE: DG Footlights™ feat. Woman in a Hat by Brian T. Silberman
NEW ENGLAND EAST ONLINE: Writing/Adapting Plays for Zoom and Streaming
BALTIMORE ONLINE: Reflection and Connection
Dec 11
NYC ONLINE: Write Now!
NYC ONLINE: Friday Nights Footlights feat.® Members Only by Joe Gulla
KENTUCKY ONLINE: DG Footlights™ feat. Paradoxical Context by Emma Grace Imes
Dec 12
CHICAGO ONLINE: Membership Check In - Looking Forward
Dec 13
SAN DIEGO: Second Sunday Readings
Dec 15
ONLINE: De-Mystifying the Playwriting Process with Basil Kreimendahl, Madeleine George & Cori Thomas (Rattlestick Theatre)
OHIO ONLINE: Holiday Meet & Greet
Dec 16
NYC ONLINE: Write Now!
Dec 17
NYC ONLINE: Write Now!
Dec 18
NYC ONLINE: Write Now!
FLORIDA ONLINE: Holiday Mocktail/Cocktail Gathering
NYC ONLINE: Friday Nights Footlights feat.® SADIE'S DAY by Daniell DeCrette
THE DRAMATIST
New Articles on The Dramatist Blog
NEWS: GTG Announces Speakers' Corner Writers Group
Utah: Theatre in Unprecedented Times
by Melissa Leilani Larson
Portland: Update on Portland Theatre Scene
by Francesca Piantadosi
Philadelphia: Philadelphia's "Music (Wo)man"
by Marjorie Bicknell
by Marjorie Bicknell
by Marjorie Bicknell
North and South Carolina: Playwright as Producer
by Jaqueline E. Lawton, Erica McGee, and Triza Cox
NEWS: DG Members Nominated for Audelco Awards
New York State: A New Chapter
by Donna Hoke
New England - West: Squarewrights, Chester Theatre Company, and Theaterworks
by Emma Palzere-Rae and Jennifer Persechino
Memories of Steve Carter: A Humble Playwriting Teacher, Mentor, and Friend
By Clyde Santana
Michigan: A Quarantine Pod for Black Lives
by Anita Gonzalez
Kentucky: Introducing our New Regional Rep
by Brain Walker
NEWS: Christine Toy Johnson Wins Festival of Short Plays
Colorado: New Work at Buntport Theater
by Josh Hartwell
Southern California: Don't Call Us, We'll Call You (Unless You're a Woman Over 40)
by Josh Irving Gershick
Atlanta: Mark Swanson and Rus McCoy
by Pamela Turner
Artists and Activists in the Twin Cities
by Laurie Flanigan Hegge
Matthew-Lee Erlbach is Fighting for a New Arts Economy
by Josh Irving Gershick
PODCAST: The Dramatists Guild Presents Talkback - Season 2
NEWS: Courtney and Vernon Among 2020 PEW Grantees
NEWS: #ENOUGH Announces Seven Winning Plays
NEWS: MacDowell to Reopen Doors for Fall Residencies
SUBMISSION OPPORTUNITY: Good Medicine and/or Indigenous Futurism
AMBASSADOR REPORT: Wisconsin
by Danielle Dresden and Paulette Laufer
AMBASSADOR REPORT: Washington State - East/Spokane
by Byran Harnetiaux
SUBMISSION OPPORTUNITY: Voices, A New Interdisciplinary Art Campaign for Black Women
AMBASSADOR REPORT: Virginia - East
by Clyde Santana
AMBASSADOR REPORT: Tennessee - Knoxville
by Harrison Young
AMBASSADOR REPORT: South Carolina
by Triza Cox
NEWS: Taylor Mac Receives International Ibsen Award
FINANCIAL HELP
DGF has distributed over $750,000 in Emergency Grants this year.
For over 50 years, DGF has administered Emergency Grants that provide financial aid to writers in serious need. These grants are available to playwrights, composers, lyricists, and librettists at all stages of their careers.
TICKET OFFERS
Share Your Live Stream Productions!
We are rebuilding this newsletter feature to better promote member productions. Members are now able to submit their live stream readings and productions to our new Productions webpage.
Upcoming Live Streams
Final Boarding Call
by Stefani Kuo
Maria Indomable
by Dorothy Velasco
Ain't Congregatin'
by Patrick McGeever, Karen Clark, Edward Schechter, Reva Rosard, Patricia Wisch, Gerry Schneeberg, Fran Hunter, Bernie Littman, Marjorie Fiterman
NAMT'S 32nd Annual Festival of New Musicals
Lester Collins Takes Five
by Mel Nieves
Roosevelt: Charge The Bear
by Marni Freedman, Phil Johnson
The Who & The What
by Ayad Akhtar
Empress Mei Lotus Blossom- Parts 2 & 3
by Christine Toy Johnson
Sleep Deprivation Chamber
by Adam P. Kennedy and Adrienne Kennedy
The Liz Swados Project Celebration
The Half-Life of Marie Curie
by Lauren Gunderson
Queer Heartache
by Kit Yan
Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens
by Bill Russell