The Dramatist

Innovative Dramatists

Joey Stocks:  It could be said that writers are innovators by nature because you routinely create characters, context, relationships, sometimes languages, and even whole worlds in your art. And then in the midst of COVID-19, dramatists have had one of the signature ingredients of theatre—the gathering of both audiences and artists in the same space at the same time—suspended. Or at least so it seemed. These three scrappy and resourceful theatre writers put their well-practiced powers...
The Dramatist

Editor’s Notes on The Innovation Issue

Last fall, I stood on a college stage in Clarksville, Arkansas and told stories. I’d been booked for the lecture/performance series in 2019 and, after rescheduling several times, it happened—in person, not livestreamed or high-tech. There were about 150 people in the same room at the same time, and I was only related to twenty...
The Dramatist

Adrienne Kennedy Receives Dramatists Guild 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award

The Lifetime Achievement Award is presented by the Dramatists Guild Council in recognition of distinguished lifetime achievement in theatrical writing. Previous recipients include A.R. Gurney, John Guare, Micki Grant, Paula Vogel, Terrence McNally, Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock, Lanford Wilson, Joseph Stein, Horton Foote, August Wilson...
The Dramatist

The Dramatist LIVE: Artistic Director Roundtable

Towards the beginning of the May 14 edition of The Dramatist LIVE, co-host Christine Toy Johnson announced, “I’m excited to see all the people [on the show] today because they are some of the smartest people I know.” Our guests included Guild Council VP Lisa Kron, who came on to play a lightning round of Ten...
The Dramatist

The Dramatist LIVE: Remembering Terrence McNally

The March 26 episode of The Dramatist LIVE featured special guests including Lynn Ahrens, Stephen Flaherty, Andrew Lippa, Matthew Lopez, Ralph Sevush, Nicky Silver, and Doug Wright. The hosts, and their special guests discussed why the Guild isn’t a union, who is writing and who isn't, and paid tribute to Terrence McNally.