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

How do we get better at what we do?  This was the unspoken premise behind “Writing in Three Dimensions,” a seminar organized by member Pat Gabridge,  Four designers (two lighting, two sound), and about thirty playwrights gathered in the Central Square Theater on a beautiful spring afternoon.  First, the designers showed and played examples of their work and talked about their experiences of working with playwrights. All expressed a desire to expand the director/playwright relationship beyond  encounters at the first read through and tech rehearsals “when it’s all over.”

Sound designer David Remedios (American Repertory Theatre) said that, whenever possible,  he liked to be in the room during the entire rehearsal process, because “a sound designer is supposed to help actors and the director tell the story.”  He also spoke at length about working with member Leslie Dillen on her solo shows, a process that starts with listening to her voice reading the script, then trying different sound ideas in real time with text.

The designers were then asked how they read a script.  PJ Strachman (lighting): said if the script wasn’t new, she skipped the stage directions. Karen Perlow (lighting) said that if stage directions referred to blocking, she skipped them. If they were “poetical,” she paid attention because she felt that they were important to the playwright (living or dead). David Reiffel (sound) circles everything he knows he’ll have to deal with. David Remedios: “Read The Play.”

The designers also gave examples of when their work was supposed to be invisible and also when it was supposed to advance the action. Someone asked Karen Perlow if she had ever been asked to make lights “funnier.”

PJ Strachman: “The thing I love most about theatre is that people work together,” All talked about how to work with small theatre companies in order to get the best results on a limited budget.  Strachman said that if she was too busy too take on a  project, that she was happy to make referrals to colleagues.  When the panel broke up, we came away feeling grateful for the insight and generosity of these Boston-area designers. And looking forward to future panels with costumers, scenic designers and fight choreo- graphers.

 As I was preparing this report, I happened to hear from Leslie Dillen (leslie.dillen@comcast.net), while she was doing her solo show Stepmother in a Sari, a “fraught family travelogue,” at the Jackson Repertory Theatre in Jackson Heights, Queens, NY.  First, she told me that she had landed the engagement as a result of a Guild networking event in New York. When I told her about the panel she then wrote:  “The show is going well here and I’m learning a lot. Glad Dave (Remedios) talked about the work we’ve done together.  He’s been an amazing collaborator, a real gift for my process and the work. Just love him!’

Finally, I’d like to extend a warm welcome to two incoming artistic directors: Kate Warner (New Repertory Theatre) and Diane Paulus (American Repertory Theatre).

In May 2010, ART will be presenting Emerging American, a festival dedicated to “launching the new American voices of tomorrow.”  I look forward to writing about Diane and Kate’s leadership and next year’s festival.

amerrill@dramatistsguild.com