THE PROBLEM
Of all the excellent points and counterpoints made in recent discussions about how new work is suffering in the American theatre, perhaps the one that hits hardest home for me is that playwrights have generally drifted away from writing for a specific ensemble. I know I have been guilty of this sin; knowing even as I committed it that the scripts which I have written for specific actors have been some of my most artistically satisfying as well as popular among audiences. Local work means local actors, and playwrights need to form better connections with the talent that surrounds them in the city they call home.
ONE SOLUTION
The Sandbox Artists Collective has dedicated its Spring Salon to an experiment wherein member playwrights write material with specific member actors in mind.
WHAT? HOW?
On April 10 at the Elysian brew pub, five Sandbox playwrights (or their proxies) drew names from an envelope containing 15 Sandbox actors. Over the course of a month, the playwrights personally and individually met with each of actors we drew. We then wrote 10 – 25 pages of brand new material specifically for our selected actors. These pages will be read publicly at the Sandbox’s Spring Salon.
THE TWIST
Each of the playwrights gave another writer a list of ten words, seven of which they were obliged to include in their script. (For instance, Anita Montgomery gave me “magic”, “earthquake”, “bat-shit”, “circumcision”, “pilates”, “semi-sweet”, “funk”, “solipsistic”, “satsuma”, and “largesse”. Hell, those constitute a play in themselves!)
WHO
The Sandbox playwrights involved are Ki Gottberg, Elizabeth Heffron, Anita Montgomery, Paul Mullin and John Paulsen. The Sandbox actors involved are Shawn Belyea, Rik Deskin, Renata Friedman, Gin Hammond, Tracy Hyland, Mik Kuhlman, Leslie Law, Lori Larsen, Todd Jefferson Moore, Paul Mullin Dave Natale, Peter Dylan O’Conner and Seanjohn Walsh.
WHERE
The Sandbox Salon 2010 Spring Salon will take place at the THE STUDIO @ 15 MCGRAW, 15 McGraw Street, Seattle WA 98109, on the top of Queen Anne Hill.
WHEN
Monday, May 10 at 7PM.
HOW MUCH
Admission is free, though we may beg you for a $5 suggested donation to help bring you innovative Sandbox Projects like this in the future.