PlayPenn 2010 has come to a close. This year’s conference offered resources to a host of artists. Primary, in our hearts and minds, are the playwrights. The six writers whose work was given the full range of our resources – James Christy, Kara Lee Corthron, Dan Dietz, Sam Hunter, Charlotte Miller and Nicholas Wardigo brought their individual and collective sense of purpose to Philadelphia, each one leaving having made great strides with the plays they developed at the conference. And each left their mark on Philadelphia audiences that stretched capacity at the Adrienne theatre, proving once again that Philadelphia is a new play town. In keeping with our mission to support new work at every stage of its development, PlayPenn offered lesser – though much needed – resources to three other writers. Rehearsal and public reading time was provided for Bruce Graham, Deborah Margolin and Matt Ocks. A company of about seventy artists – directors, dramaturgs, designers, and actors made the two-and-a-half weeks replete with exuberant, creative activity. Add to that a symposium on “story telling” and the stimulation to artists and community alike was enriching and satisfying.
Thank you to all who took part, as artists, as audience and as supporters.
PlayPenn can’t happen without each and every one of you.
Paul Meshejian, Artistic Director |
WHAT IS PLAYPENN?
PlayPenn is an artist-driven organization dedicated to improving the way in which new plays are developed. Employing an ever-evolving process, PlayPenn creates a relaxed tension within which playwrights can engage in risk-taking, boundary-pushing work free from the pressures of commercial consideration.
PlayPenn gives time and attention to playwrights from around the nation whose work is poised for a developmental workshop environment. Each summer PlayPenn hosts a two-week conference, inviting playwrights to develop new plays in a collaborative workshop environment. In order to encourage active revision and rewriting during the period of the conference, PlayPenn provides professional actors, directors, designers and dramaturgs with space, technical and administrative resources and ample time to use them. The process culminates in a series of staged readings to be presented to members of the local, regional and national professional theatre communities and to the community at large.
PlayPenn is a new play development conference. The goal of the conference is the development of plays, through a process of collaboration, experimentation, rehearsal and rewriting rather than fully realized productions of finished works. We like to think of what we do as “development heaven”. By focusing on playwrights’ needs, PlayPenn makes the fundamental work of the theatre possible without the constraints and pressures of production, promotion and commercial concerns. |
