National Reports

Nearly a decade ago, JuCoby Johnson left the warmer climes of Jacksonville, FL, and headed north to the Twin Cities to find stability in an otherwise unstable career as a theatre artist.

Before the pandemic, the Philadelphia region had a sweet arrangement with the Free Library of Philadelphia. Thanks to the generosity of Juanita Vega de Joseph, Assistant Head of the Library’s Art and Literature Department, we were holding our DG Footlights™ readings (and any other event we chose) in its beautiful new Heim Center. After the pandemic, we had Zoom.

2020 has brought Oregon dramatists’ inherent can-do spirit to the fore. 

Before COVID-19 related shutdowns, DG member DAVID HANSEN had taken up the discipline of writing one short play every morning as a way to process reflections on what he called “both grief and memory.”

As I near the end of my third year, I started to reflect on our past gatherings and recent events. Of course, none of what we achieved would have possible without the hard work and support of our Ambassadors, ERICA MCGEE (NC) and TRIZA COX (SC).

The voices of playwrights are powerful tools in creating social change, including being an active force to address climate change. Some of our region’s members who have written plays about climate change share their thoughts on writing, activism, and their potential impact.

In November, Dramatists Guild Michigan held a series of Meet & Greets via Zoom hosted by CATHERINE ZUDAK, the incoming DG Regional Rep. EMILIO RODRIGUEZ, the new Ambassador for Detroit/Southeast area, and STEVE FEFFER, the long serving Ambassador for the Grand Rapids/Southwest area, served as co-hosts for their respective regions. 

Kentucky hosted its first Friday Night Footlights® in December featuring Lexington playwright EMMA GRACE IMES’ new play Paradoxical Contact.

It’s a harsh reality that the theatre community will be hard-pressed to weather the current political upheavals and economic downturn. But agile Southern California theatres pivoted their offerings to fit into new pandemic realities. Dramatists were able to find community and comfort by embracing technology. Thanks to Zoom, writers’ groups old and new became a lifeline for dramatists throughout the region. Examples include, among many others,...

I am originally from Akron, Ohio, but I’ve spent half of my life in Texas and I’ve been writing since I picked up a pencil—as attested to by the 150 plays in my computer, although I’ve only produced a few of them.