“The Midwest has always been home for me,” states playwright Lisa Dillman. “When I was growing up, Chicago, located two and a half hours from my hometown, was the place my family and I went for art, theatre, and shopping. I spent many long weekends here from earliest childhood up through my teens. I fell in love with the city very young — the look of it, the pace of it, the sound of it, even its harsh weather. Later on, when I was considering where to pursue a career in the theatre, New York hardly crossed my mind. It was Chicago all the way.”
Lisa’s plays, which include The Walls, Detail of a Larger Work, Half of Plenty, Flung, Six Postcards, Rock Shore and Ground: A Play about Borders, have been produced and developed at such theatres as American Theatre Company, Goodman New Stages Festival, Hypothetical Theatre Company, the O’Neill Playwrights Conference, Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, Rogue Machine Theatre Company, and Steppenwolf Theatre Company. She has won the Sprenger-Lang New History Play Prize, the Sarett Award, and the Julie Harris-Beverly Hills Theatre Guild Award. She has also received two commissions from Steppenwolf, two fellowships from the Illinois Arts Council, and has had her work published by Dramatic Publishing, Smith & Kraus, Heinemann and New Issues Press.
“I’ll share an experience that ended up being transformational for me,” says Lisa, “One that really illustrates why I love Chicago theatre. In 2005, Tara Mallen commissioned me to write a play for her company, Rivendell Theatre Ensemble. The idea was that I would use ensemble members to create a play about women and mental illness throughout history. We began the process with a title — The Walls – but not one word of written dialogue. The actors, director, and I then took part in workshops over the next four years, during which time we collected and dissected contemporary and historical research on women treated and/or incarcerated for mental and emotional disorders. We shared personal impressions and experiences as well. The process involved little money but a great deal of time, trust, and commitment from all concerned. Over the course of the play’s development, we all had other projects, but we always came back to The Walls with renewed passion. The actors here are so generous. They’re gutsy and big-hearted. And working on The Walls I felt the strongest sense I’ve ever had of being deeply connected to a community of artists. In spring 2009, Rivendell was invited to produce The Walls as part of Steppenwolf Theatre’s Visiting Company Initiative. The play premiered at their Garage Theatre and has been nominated for a Jeff Award for Outstanding New Work. So that’s another fabulous component of the community here. We have large, well-established theatres that often throw their support behind smaller companies.”
Chicago
“The Midwest has always been home for me,” states playwright Lisa Dillman. “When I was growing up, Chicago, located two and a half hours from my hometown, was the place my family and I went for art, theatre, and shopping. I spent many long weekends here from earliest childhood up through my teens. I fell in love with the city very young — the look of it, the pace of it, the sound of it, even its harsh weather. Later on, when I was considering where to pursue a career in the theatre, New York hardly crossed my mind. It was Chicago all the way.”
Lisa’s plays, which include The Walls, Detail of a Larger Work, Half of Plenty, Flung, Six Postcards, Rock Shore and Ground: A Play about Borders, have been produced and developed at such theatres as American Theatre Company, Goodman New Stages Festival, Hypothetical Theatre Company, the O’Neill Playwrights Conference, Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, Rogue Machine Theatre Company, and Steppenwolf Theatre Company. She has won the Sprenger-Lang New History Play Prize, the Sarett Award, and the Julie Harris-Beverly Hills Theatre Guild Award. She has also received two commissions from Steppenwolf, two fellowships from the Illinois Arts Council, and has had her work published by Dramatic Publishing, Smith & Kraus, Heinemann and New Issues Press.
“I’ll share an experience that ended up being transformational for me,” says Lisa, “One that really illustrates why I love Chicago theatre. In 2005, Tara Mallen commissioned me to write a play for her company, Rivendell Theatre Ensemble. The idea was that I would use ensemble members to create a play about women and mental illness throughout history. We began the process with a title — The Walls – but not one word of written dialogue. The actors, director, and I then took part in workshops over the next four years, during which time we collected and dissected contemporary and historical research on women treated and/or incarcerated for mental and emotional disorders. We shared personal impressions and experiences as well. The process involved little money but a great deal of time, trust, and commitment from all concerned. Over the course of the play’s development, we all had other projects, but we always came back to The Walls with renewed passion. The actors here are so generous. They’re gutsy and big-hearted. And working on The Walls I felt the strongest sense I’ve ever had of being deeply connected to a community of artists. In spring 2009, Rivendell was invited to produce The Walls as part of Steppenwolf Theatre’s Visiting Company Initiative. The play premiered at their Garage Theatre and has been nominated for a Jeff Award for Outstanding New Work. So that’s another fabulous component of the community here. We have large, well-established theatres that often throw their support behind smaller companies.”
dpost@dramatistsguild.com