National Reports

It’s said that necessity is the mother of invention, and many Utah theatre makers have found other ways to touch an audience at a safe and social distance—and many of the plays which have been created and produced in this unprecedented time are new.      Back in late March, Plan-B Theatre Company was starting tech for the final show on...

I’m quite sure I echo all the Regional Representatives when I say that most theatres are dark across this country. It’s hard to believe that I was in New York in late February seeing Beetlejuice on Broadway. Now Broadway is just another street in New York.      The Portland theatre scene is equally silent. Everyone has had to re-think budgets, rental income, Equity contracts and, most of all...

If you’re a Philadelphia composer, lyricist, librettist—or maybe all three—there’s finally a place where you can present your work-in-progress. That place is MusiCoLab, a Salon Series for creators with a song (or two) to sing from shows they are working on and the brainchild of Philadelphia resident, BARBARA BELLMAN.      A...

This summer saw our Dramatists Guild Ohio Zoom panel discussion, “What’s Next? Getting Your Play Produced.” Collaboratively presented with the Cincinnati Playwrights Initiative (CPI), the discussion welcomed over 70 participants and was co-hosted by me and CPI’s Susan Decatur.       Panelists included dramaturg Hannah Montgomery and...

This was the summer of COVID-19, economic strife, and a reckoning for racial justice in our streets and in the American theatre.

As you read this, a newly elected New York State Regional Rep will be in place, and I will have transitioned to Western New York ambassador and member of the Dramatists Guild’s new Regional Committee. In these positions, I’ll continue to create programming for WNY playwrights; assist the new rep in broadening the scope of DG activity across the state; and act as advocate and liaison between the Guild and not only the WNY theatre community, but also...

As I write this, summer is ending with just a handful of professional theatres announcing live in-person performances this fall. By the time you are reading this, 2021 will be approaching. What will the state of our industry be then? Will there be improved virtual techniques that will make us feel like we are theatre-making? Or will the abyss still be open and wide?      We reached out to three...

A cacophony of political voices rage in the news and on the streets as Black activists and artists fight for basic human rights. There is an urgency to participate in public protest or at least to connect with other artists doing engaged work. Yet writing, especially during the time of COVID-19 quarantine, has been primarily a solo act. I am a Black artist working in South East Michigan who yearns to connect with other storytellers to create new work...

I am honored and excited to take over the Kentucky regional rep post and look forward to advocating for the playwrights of the bluegrass state for the next three years.      A bit about me: I am a playwright living in LaGrange, KY. I started producing my own plays in my late twenties and have also produced eight festivals of ten-minute plays written by local playwrights, in addition to full-length...

In my final dispatch as your Southern California Regional Rep, the topic is ageism, or, more specifically, sageism, as L.A. playwright SARAH TUFT calls it, “the intersection between sexism and ageism.”