On August 23, 2016, five Guild members—all over 50—gathered in a teleconference to discuss becoming playwrights later in life. The conversation was led by Amy Crider (Chicago, IL), who wrote her first play at 47. The panel included Nancy Gall-Clayton (Jeffersonville, IN) who wrote her first play at 50, Josh Gershick (Los Angeles, CA) whose first play was written at 41, Bruce Olav Solheim (Glendora, CA) who began his first play at 50, and Tsehaye Geralyn Hébert (Chicago, IL) whose MFA came after AARP.
Amy Crider: I belong to Chicago Dramatists where I’m a network playwright. And I’ve noticed that many of the network playwrights there are of retirement age. So often we think of a starting-out-playwright as someone who’s just gotten their MFA. So I wanted to talk to some others who, like me, are older starting out, and possibly don’t have an MFA.
Do you feel it’s harder to compete with these young writers who might be fresh out of getting an MFA?
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