When Lee Trull became the Dallas Theater Center’s Director of New Play Development in April, he told me a little bit about what DTC had in the works and what the newly created position would mean in the way of supporting and creating new work on both a regional and national scale. Now we have some concrete news: the theater company will launch the Dallas Playwrights’ Workshop, led by DTC’s playwright-in-residence, Will Power. It fills a gap for local playwrights who need a professional, yet creative environment to develop a script. For those interested in applying, the deadline for postmarked material is Monday, September 30. There’s no cost for the playwrights selected. More details:
The Dallas Playwrights’ Workshop is intended for emerging and mid-career professional playwrights who live in Dallas-Fort Worth, have previously written at least one play, and are able to demonstrate a unique and compelling voice. Interested writers should apply by submitting a completed application, a full length play (one or two acts), a 10-page writing sample and a one-page summary explaining why they would like to participate in the program, their writing goals and areas in which they’d like to develop. Applications are due to Lee Trull, Director of New Play Development, via email at [email protected].
Here’s the full release.
Dallas Theater Center
Launches
Dallas Playwrights’ Workshop
Led by Playwright in Residence Will Power
DALLAS (August 30, 2013) – Dallas Theater Center Artistic Director Kevin Moriarty and Playwright-in-Residence Will Power announced today a new initiative to support and nurture local playwrights. The Dallas Playwrights’ Workshop will provide participants with the opportunity to work directly with Will Power, the award-winning dramatist and Mellon Foundation Fellow at DTC to hone their craft, develop professional relationships and learn from their peers in a rigorous and supportive creative environment.
“The Dallas Playwrights’ Workshop is DTC’s inaugural effort to support local playwrights, which we hope will inspire the participating playwrights to explore their voices as writers, as well as benefiting our local theatrical community of artists and increasing awareness of the exciting new work being created by writers at theaters throughout North Texas,” said Moriarty. “Will Power is a remarkable teacher and artist. This initiative will allow him to provide mentorship to the workshop participants and inspire them to further develop as professional writers.”
This fall, program participants will join Power at the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre for 10 weekly sessions that will focus on developing dramatic works from the initial concept to the stage. Playwrights will work on a three-scene project throughout the fall semester that will culminate in a closed reading for workshop participants. This will be followed by a spring semester in 2014 that will allow the playwrights to continue working on their project from the first semester or to bring in an existing piece for further development. This session will end with an informal reading of the plays by members of DTC’s Brierley Resident Acting Company for a small, invited audience.
“I am thrilled beyond description to offer a space at Dallas Theater Center for DFW playwrights to develop their craft, connect with peers, and elevate their artistry,” said Power. “I have been so inspired by the level of talent and diversity that exists among dramatists in Dallas, and am excited at the thought of supporting these dramatists as they deepen the work.”
The Dallas Playwrights’ Workshop is intended for emerging and mid-career professional playwrights who live in Dallas-Fort Worth, have previously written at least one play, and are able to demonstrate a unique and compelling voice. Interested writers should apply by submitting a completed application, a full length play (one or two acts), a 10-page writing sample and a one-page summary explaining why they would like to participate in the program, their writing goals and areas in which they’d like to develop. Applications are due to Lee Trull, Director of New Play Development, via email at [email protected].
“The Dallas Playwrights’ Workshop will give DTC the opportunity to connect more fully with North Texas writers, provide them a playground for growth and innovation, and be challenged and inspired by their creative contributions,” said Trull.
Complete details about the Dallas Playwrights’ Workshop are available online at www.DallasTheaterCenter.org.
ABOUT DALLAS THEATER CENTER:
One of the leading regional theaters in the country, Dallas Theater Center (DTC) performs to an audience of more than 120,000 North Texas residents annually. Founded in 1959, DTC is now a resident company of the AT&T Performing Arts Center and presents its Mainstage season at the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre, designed by REX/OMA, Joshua Prince-Ramus and Rem Koolhaas and at its original home, the Kalita Humphreys Theater, the only freestanding theater designed and built by Frank Lloyd Wright. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Kevin Moriarty and Managing Director Heather M. Kitchen, DTC produces a seven-play subscription series of classics, musicals and new plays and an annual production of A Christmas Carol; extensive education programs, including Project Discovery, SummerStage and partnerships with Southern Methodist University’s Meadows School of the Arts and Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts; and community outreach efforts including leading the DFW Foote Festival and recent collaborations with the Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas Public Library, Dallas Holocaust Museum, North Texas Food Bank, Dallas Opera, and Dallas Black Dance Theater. Throughout its history, DTC has produced many new works, including The Texas Trilogy by Preston Jones in 1978, Robert Penn Warren’s All the King’s Men, adapted by Adrian Hall, in 1986, and recent premieres of FLY by Rajiv Joseph, Bill Sherman and Kirstin Childs; Fly by Night by Kim Rosenstock, Michael Mitnick and Will Connolly; Giant by Michael John LaChiusa and Sybille Pearson; The Trinity River Plays by Regina Taylor; the revisedIt’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Charles Strouse and Lee Adams; Give It Up! (now titled Lysistrata Jones and recently on Broadway) by Douglas Carter Beane and Lewis Flinn; Sarah, Plain and Tall by Julia Jordan, Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin; and The Good Negro by Tracey Scott Wilson.
Dallas Theater Center gratefully acknowledges the support of our season sponsors: American Airlines; Case; The Dallas Morning News; Lexus; Texas Instruments and WFAA.
Photo of Will Power via blog.smu.edu.
