The Dramatist Quarterly Autumn 2025: Courage
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Roundup on Courage
Sep 01, 2025
Group of white paper ships in one direction and one red paper ship pointing in different way

What step of your creative process takes the most courage?

For me, the step that takes the most courage lies somewhere in the gap between what I already have in mind and what I’m about to put down on paper. That space between imagination and execution is where self-doubt tends to creep in. How will I ever make peace with a flawed first draft that falls short of the pristine, ideal concept in my head? I stop and restart, stop and restart, stop and restart… until, eventually, I let go of my fears, lose myself in the act of writing, and realize I actually like what I have in front of me better.

Sign In To Access This Article

Subscribe to gain full access to The Dramatist Issue Archive.

Join and become a Dramatists Guild Member, Business Subscriber or subscribe to the magazine with an annual plan for unlimited access.

Guild Members receive our magazine as a benefit of membership!

View Options

 

 
 
 
Durra Leung
Durra Leung

柯杜華 is a Guangzhou-born, NYC-based multilingual writer-composer whose genre-bending work includes the opera The People vs. American Cheese (Thompson Street Opera Company, AOP-NYU Opera Lab), play Hey Hey (Episodic Theatre Project), film score Your Smile (Cannes Marché du Film), and the revised Thoroughly Modern Millie, among others.

Kate Attwell
Kate Attwell

is a playwright working between London and New York. Commissions include Playwrights Horizons, Sloan, A.C.T. and Yale Rep. She is currently resident on the Jette Parker Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House, London. Recent productions include Testmatch at the Orange Tree and Octagon (“Riveting” - Guardian), and Big Data at A.C.T. (“Revolutionary” - SF Chronicle).

 

Heidi Kraay
Heidi Kraay

examines the link between brain and body on individual, global, and mythic scales. Plays include three exploring the hidden monsters inside us: Take Me Away, see in the dark, and How to Hide Your Monster. Additional projects include their memoir-adjacent essay collection 12 Lifetimes: A Century Cycle. www.heidikraay.com

Olivia Matthews
Olivia Matthews

is a writer from Central Florida currently living in Atlanta, Georgia. Notable works include The Nativity Starring Keisha Taylor, Absentia, Here Lies Vivienne Greene, and Hashtag Jones. Her work often explores family dynamics, the complexities of young women and teens, and the oddities and magic of The South.

Mikki Gillette
Mikki Gillette

is an award-winning playwright who’s been called “the Joan of Arc of the trans community in Portland theatre” by Oregon Arts Watch. Her shows have been produced by Salt and Sage, Fuse Theatre Ensemble, and Twilight Theatre. Learn more at mikkigillette.com

Jason Grasl
Jason Grasl

is an actor and playwright. His play Lying With Badgers premiered at Native Voices at the Autry two weeks before COVID shut the world down, so he decided to hone his craft with an MFA in Dramatic Writing at USC, graduating in spring 2025… fingers crossed for more productions.

Sanjit Sengupta
Sanjit Sengupta

’s plays involve contemporary and historical social themes. His short plays have received productions in San Diego, Anchorage, and Louisville. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild, Playwrights Center of San Francisco, Pear Playwrights Guild, and a Board Member at Play Café, Berkeley. 

Previous
Next