Lost Wisdom Found

Clearing out some old filing cabinets in my office at the theatre today and found many articles, reviews, and folders with quotes that sparked my first thinking about the direction of the eventual dissertation. Here's one from the late Dorothy Heathcote that will bring some new energy to my theatre classes in the year ahead:

"You can do things because you self-consciously feel a fool. But in the theatre, you do things because you are conscious of self for the audience. You GIVE to the audience. You don't take from the play."

There is a notation that this statement came from a master class given by Heathcote to students at NYU. I believe the comment was recorded either in an account of the event by Cecily O'Neill (not sure if it is this book, or in other writing), a video of the workshop, or Theatre for Change by Landy & Montgomery. I can't source it to any of those at the moment, but I imagine you can find it - and similar wisdom - in any of those locations.

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Young Playwrights Map: Update

Image created by Jodomondo
Accessed on Wikimedia Commons

The summer has provided me with much needed time for updating the Young Playwrights Map, which had been neglected for too long as I wound down school-year responsibilities at the theatre and at the high school. However, I have not yet updated the old listings as my social media and internet news alerts have brought to my attention a number of previously unknown opportunities within the United States, Canada, and the UK. These have been added throughout the month of June and the Map has suddenly grown from an off-shoot of my dissertation research into an international resource of 117 opportunities for young writers ages 18 and younger.

I enjoy adding programs both new and established and there have been a share of both this past month. It still surprises me that programs with histories of multiple years are only now becoming visible to me. I would think the almighty Google would pick up those hits automatically, but nevertheless, I am grateful to find them now.

What I am uncertain about at the moment is how useful the Map is for young writers. To date, the Young Playwrights Map has 3,206 views since it was first shared in May 2015. That's roughly 1,000 views per year. Google analytics help me see where views originate, but I don't know how the information is being used, or if it is useful at all. Programs are excited when I contact them to be added (although I did have one program refuse to give information and the head of an organization offer to share information only if I was a member). Playwrights are thrilled with the idea of finding new places to share their work. Some of the playwrights with whom I've worked in the New Jersey Young Playwrights Festival have plays produced at other festivals, but I do not believe they connected with those organizations because of the Map. Information about how the Map is used is something I am working on. If you have any suggestions, please do share them.

I also would like to conduct another overview of the field similar to what I did in Mapping the Field of Young Playwrights Programs, which was published in ArtsPraxis in October 2016. However, that may need to wait until the start of 2019 while I wrap up some other projects. In the meantime, I look forward to continuing to update the map and reaching two milestones: 100 programs in the United States and 120 listings overall. With any luck, those will come before the summer is out!

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January in July

Janus coin

This past month has been a busy one with the close of the school year, the 35th annual New Jersey Young Playwrights Contest, and a flurry of activity bringing new listings to the Young Playwrights Map. Over the next two weeks I will also wind down a second semester of classes in the Alternate Route Certification program at Monmouth University. Not to mention that this past week I have been catching up on work around the house: tomorrow morning I will take my first stab at painting the deck and we've discovered the power of Letgo as a way to complete some of those projects and unloading some of the things that a family of five accumulates along the way.

Once the deck painting is done, and we get some help with a couple of unruly landscaping projects, my focus will shift to reflection and planning for the year ahead. That has always been a part of my summer experience - a remnant of so many years in and/or working with the school system. It's my "January in July", perhaps, with the week of July 4th serving as something as I imagine the last weeks of December being for other people.

Some of my first projects this week will include formally selecting a play for the fall production (looks like I will be doing the play I first thought of back in the spring!) and setting up calendars for the fall programs at the theatre. This should be followed by curriculum development and writing schedules for a couple of research projects that I want to complete in the remaining months of 2018.

It is a busy summer, as always, and I'm looking forward to diving in! (An ironic idiom for someone who dislikes the pool).

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