Greetings from Beantown. My name is Hortense Gerardo and I have the daunting task of following in the footsteps of fellow Boston playwright Amy Merrill in the role of Regional Representative to the Dramatists Guild. Our esteemed Executive Director and all-around champion for the plight of struggling playwrights, Gary Garrison, asked me to write a few introductory words about myself, something which I am generally reluctant to do in a highly-visible forum such as this (as some of you who patiently await my response to your kind invitations to Facebook have learned). But first, let me digress a bit by thanking Amy for the terrific job she has done to inform our community of events, organizing meetings and get-togethers, and reporting on the exciting things happening in our region to the Guild. Amy has been a tireless supporter of local playwrights, and it is always a joy to see her at various performance events. She took the initiative to invite the new Artistic Director of New Repertory Theatre, Kate Warner, to a meet and greet of local playwrights last month, at which time those of us fortunate to be in attendance had the opportunity to talk with Ms. Warner about our concerns and for her to find out more about the local theatre scene. Amy also took the time to talk with me about all the behind-the scenes work that Regional Representatives do for the Guild, and I can honestly say I have a much better appreciation for the organization after our talk. Thank you, Amy! I look forward to seeing your latest work on stage, and hope to meet with you again soon.
Now, a few obligatory words about me. I am a playwright, as one might expect. Those of you who have had the pleasure of attending the Kennedy Center Playwriting Intensive introductory talk by Gary Garrison, as I did in 2007, might recall that he has a way of determining your age as a playwright (and by extension the developmental challenges you might be expected to exhibit and face) by the number of years you have been writing. By that calculation, my life as a playwright began illegitimately while I was a graduate student in anthropology twelve years ago at Boston University, and writing plays was my secret recreational sport, away from reading ethnographies and undertaking fieldwork in Africa. Those first plays remained on a floppy disc, unseen, unread and un-produced until I graduated in 2004. Once my dissertation was finished, I finally sent some of my plays to local competitions, and wrote my first screenplay. I saw my first plays produced in 2005 at the Boston Theatre Marathon and at the Playwrights Platform, and my screenplay was produced into a narrative-feature romantic comedy film, Fourhand, in 2008. Also in 2005, the Cambridge Center for Adult Education first sponsored a play reading series I curate called The Gecko in Winter. The series continues to this day, featuring new work by local playwrights of merit and is distinguished from other play reading series by its dedication to providing honoraria to all participating writers and actors. It has also been fortunate to receive sponsorship from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and local corporations like Peet’s Coffee and Tea and Trader Joe’s.
Since that time I have “come out” as a playwright, I have been fortunate to continue to see my plays produced, my second screenplay was sold, and I have attended wonderful artist residencies at the Vermont Studio Center and Banff. I’m currently an Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Performing Arts at Lasell College, where I am excited to be directing their first full-length play in their newly updated Yamawaki Auditorium. It turns out, ethnography as a form of storytelling has been a powerful way to approach playwriting, and playwriting is a powerful way to approach ethnography. No more dirty little secrets hidden away on my disc drive in the form of plays. It’s all grist for the writing mill.
And so, I look forward to reporting to the Guild membership on a particularly fascinating tribe I’ve discovered in Massachusetts, of which I count myself one lucky member. Stay tuned.
Boston
Greetings from Beantown. My name is Hortense Gerardo and I have the daunting task of following in the footsteps of fellow Boston playwright Amy Merrill in the role of Regional Representative to the Dramatists Guild. Our esteemed Executive Director and all-around champion for the plight of struggling playwrights, Gary Garrison, asked me to write a few introductory words about myself, something which I am generally reluctant to do in a highly-visible forum such as this (as some of you who patiently await my response to your kind invitations to Facebook have learned). But first, let me digress a bit by thanking Amy for the terrific job she has done to inform our community of events, organizing meetings and get-togethers, and reporting on the exciting things happening in our region to the Guild. Amy has been a tireless supporter of local playwrights, and it is always a joy to see her at various performance events. She took the initiative to invite the new Artistic Director of New Repertory Theatre, Kate Warner, to a meet and greet of local playwrights last month, at which time those of us fortunate to be in attendance had the opportunity to talk with Ms. Warner about our concerns and for her to find out more about the local theatre scene. Amy also took the time to talk with me about all the behind-the scenes work that Regional Representatives do for the Guild, and I can honestly say I have a much better appreciation for the organization after our talk. Thank you, Amy! I look forward to seeing your latest work on stage, and hope to meet with you again soon.
Now, a few obligatory words about me. I am a playwright, as one might expect. Those of you who have had the pleasure of attending the Kennedy Center Playwriting Intensive introductory talk by Gary Garrison, as I did in 2007, might recall that he has a way of determining your age as a playwright (and by extension the developmental challenges you might be expected to exhibit and face) by the number of years you have been writing. By that calculation, my life as a playwright began illegitimately while I was a graduate student in anthropology twelve years ago at Boston University, and writing plays was my secret recreational sport, away from reading ethnographies and undertaking fieldwork in Africa. Those first plays remained on a floppy disc, unseen, unread and un-produced until I graduated in 2004. Once my dissertation was finished, I finally sent some of my plays to local competitions, and wrote my first screenplay. I saw my first plays produced in 2005 at the Boston Theatre Marathon and at the Playwrights Platform, and my screenplay was produced into a narrative-feature romantic comedy film, Fourhand, in 2008. Also in 2005, the Cambridge Center for Adult Education first sponsored a play reading series I curate called The Gecko in Winter. The series continues to this day, featuring new work by local playwrights of merit and is distinguished from other play reading series by its dedication to providing honoraria to all participating writers and actors. It has also been fortunate to receive sponsorship from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and local corporations like Peet’s Coffee and Tea and Trader Joe’s.
Since that time I have “come out” as a playwright, I have been fortunate to continue to see my plays produced, my second screenplay was sold, and I have attended wonderful artist residencies at the Vermont Studio Center and Banff. I’m currently an Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Performing Arts at Lasell College, where I am excited to be directing their first full-length play in their newly updated Yamawaki Auditorium. It turns out, ethnography as a form of storytelling has been a powerful way to approach playwriting, and playwriting is a powerful way to approach ethnography. No more dirty little secrets hidden away on my disc drive in the form of plays. It’s all grist for the writing mill.
And so, I look forward to reporting to the Guild membership on a particularly fascinating tribe I’ve discovered in Massachusetts, of which I count myself one lucky member. Stay tuned.
hgerardo@dramatistsguild.com