september 2011 newsletter
Tuesday, September 20, 2011 at 04:41AM Shameless self-promotion and finding information easier
We’ve been tweaking the WLPG website, finding more ways for WLPG members to let us know what they’re doing:
- We are now listing theatres that develop new work in our database. Does your theatre have a commitment to developing new work? If so, let us know and we’ll post the information.
- We’ve just launched a What’s happening? blog on the site. Please send information on your region or your country. Feel free to even ‘shamelessly self-promote’ yourself, your company or your best friend. So long as it’s (vaguely) about Theatre for Young Audiences and isn’t offensive, go for it!
We’ve also been working to make it easier to find the information you want:
- You can now search our diverse Community by profession and country to find out playwrights, directors, producers, composers, arts managers, teaching artists and educators who create, support, develop, critique and view plays for young audiences around the world
- Our organizations/events/resources index now lists by category and country as well as title.
- You can now subscribe to an RSS news feed of WLPG news here
- And don’t forget – our search engine is always a useful shortcut to finding what you need.
Speaking of shameless self-promotion…
We have now grown to more than 250 members from 37 countries! Not bad, we think, especially considering we've only been up and running for about four months. We also like to list the country and profession/s of our members in Community. If your details are incomplete or incorrect, please send the correct information to editors@writelocalplayglobal.org.
There's an African saying that 'it takes a village to raise a child'. In a similar way, our global village (of playwrights, directors, actors, composers, educators, dramaturgs) can help nurture new plays for young audiences.
SUBMISSIONS / OPPORTUNITIES
PlayWriting Australia is calling for entries for the National Play Festival 2012 now
PlayWriting Australia will hold the 2012 National Play Festival in Melbourne from 21 to 25 February.
The National Play Festival is a unique opportunity to develop and present your work, in performance, to a national and international audience of theatre companies and producers. It is Australia’s leading showcase for exploring exciting, innovative and bold new directions in writing for theatre.
Applications are now invited from Australian playwrights with a new, unproduced work ready for performance. You may be working independently or in a creative team with a director or dramaturg, and nominations from Australian theatre companies are also welcome.
Find out more and get the guidelines.
Frankfurt Playwrights Forum for Theatre for Young Audiences
The 23rd edition of the Frankfurt Playwrights Forum for Theatre for Young Audiences will take place this year from 1st to 3rd December. The Children’s and Young People’s Theatre Centre in the Federal Republic of Germany is expecting 150 theatre experts who will follow readings of new plays, discussions and round tables.
LATEST NEWS
Want to get a news feed on the latest WLPG news and newsletters?
You can subscribe to an RSS news feed here.
Writers workshop at the first ASSITEJ India National Conference, August 2011
The 1st National Conference on TYA was a unique event in India attended by over 150 theatre persons, writers, educators and parents from all over India, as well as eight guests from abroad. Together they debated, networked and suggested ways of strengthening TYA throughout the country. A special feature of the Conference was the writers’ workshop, designed for writers/directors to explore the raw materials for playwriting, in keeping with the needs of their young audiences..
Playwrights and new play development at the 2011 American Alliance for Theatre and Education conference
The American Alliance for Theatre and Education annual national conference (in Chicago in August 2011) had the overall theme of 'Lakeside Reflections'. Of special interest to the WLPG community, of course, are reports on playwrights and new play development and we've gathered four stimulating pieces.
Playwright David Megarrity captures the lives of young people in Brisbane using Verbatim Theatre
Verbatim theatre is a modern form of documentary theatre in which the playwright uses the real words of interviewees to construct a play. Like its theatrical forebears, such as the 'Living Newspapers' produced by the Federal Theatre Project in the US in the 1930s, it is often associated with coverage of current events and controversial political issues. But what about using verbatim theatre as a form to capture the lives of young people in their own words? David Megarrity is doing just that with students at the Queensland University of Technology, developing a play around the theme of ‘love, adrenaline and transitions.
A Most Creative Collision: Playwright Pearl Cleage riffs on her encounter with 21 teens during the Alliance Theatre’s ‘Collision Project’
For the past 10 years, the Alliance Theater in Atlanta, Georgia has chosen 20–24 teens to participate in a summer high school playwriting program envisioned by Artistic Director Susan V. Booth and entitled 'The Collision Project."
The young people extract what is interesting and meaningful within the classic text and create their own play in response to the original work. Each year a different playwright is in residence to assist in the formation of the script and to ask questions that offer insights specific to their view of the text. The result is a magical collision of ideas. 2011 Collision Project playwright Pearl Cleage writes most eloquently about her experience
NEW RESOURCES
Wan Smolbag Theatre (Vanuatu) [Theatres that develop new work]
Wan Smolbag or ‘One Small Bag’ started as a theatre group producing plays about health issues in 1989. With one small bag of costumes, the group of 15 actors would travel around the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu encouraging people to think about sensitive issues. Today Wan Smolbag have a staff of around 100 full- and part-time staff and over 400 volunteers.
Theatre Mala Scena (Croatia) [Theatres that develop new work]
The aim of the Catalogue is to collect and arrange the largest possible amount of information about contemporary drama works for children and young people, intended for staging in all kinds of theatres.
Cahoots NI (Northern Ireland, UK) [Theatres that develop new work]
Cahoots NI is a professional children's touring theatre company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Company was formed in 2001 by Paul Bosco McEneaney and Zoe Seaton. The Company concentrates on the visual potential of theatre and capitalises upon the age-old popularity of magic and illusion as an essential ingredient in the art of entertaining. Each production is at the centre of a body of outreach work designed to maximise artistic potential, customise the individual theatre experience and extend the imaginative life of the piece beyond the actual event.
A Final Word – and a New Email
Please note we are now phasing out the old yahoo email address. You can now contact us at editors@writelocalplayglobal.org. We will continue monitoring our old email for some time though.
Are we listing:
- the TYA playwrights in your region or country?
- the organizations and events that support and develop them?
- all the calls for submissions or playwright awards/competitions/opportunities that you know about?
Please let us know via the inform us page, or simply email us at editors@writelocalplayglobal.org.
Best Wishes,
Deirdre, Tony, and Kim
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