The Newsletter of the International Center for Women Playwrights

Greetings to all you female playwrights (and to our supportive men friends, and to anybody who finds the traditional gender binary system limiting).

In the hope that you’ll make more (good) news that we can print in the next Seasons, we have published lots of notices for production and grant opportunities and playwriting competitions. So pull those scripts out of the printer (or the sock drawer) and starting sending them places. If you need inspiration to begin a script-sending blitz, read Mary Lathrop’s article "Send out those scripts!," detailing her and other listers’ quest to send out at least one play submission or query every week and report back to the ICWP mailing list. Find out how to make the most effective dialogue sample submission by reading Michael Wright’s demystifying survey of literary managers’ preferences and processes, courtesy of Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA).

The ICWP Board has been busy this year--so much so that we are realizing how much of the Board's work, and the contributions of our worthy members, is passing by without fanfare. Though we aren't in this to "toot our own horns" we would like to share the activities of the past year with the membership, and are moving forward with plans to share ICWP activities, member benefits, and projects with the members on a more regular basis!

The Newsletter--the news you're getting now has been put together through the volunteer efforts of Rebecca Nesvet and Margaret McSeveney. Diane Taber-Markiewicz, one of the founders of ICWP, is hoping to return to duty as Seasons Newsletter editor at some time in the future, but that may not be soon. The Board would like the Newsletter to continue on a regular basis, as, in the past, it came out at least 4 times a year. Volunteering to be a long-standing Newsletter editor may be too daunting for many, but perhaps editing just one Newsletter might be within the reach of several members. So we're asking someone to volunteer to edit a Spring edition for publication at the end of March. The newsletter will be posted to the list and sent backchannel to the members--we'll also be sending a paper version to our snail-mail-only members. (If you're going to a conference, a printed copy or two would be a great way to share the work of ICWP, so don't hesitate to print it out and pass it around!)

The Monologue Book--call for submissions went out on February 1st!
After the terrific response to the ICWP Call for Short Plays (see below), which brought over 50 member and lister plays to the reading committee, the Interim Publications Committee has proposed that a book of member monologues be published. Literary Director Ellen Margolis has researched publication options and is eager to see what will no doubt be an exciting collection of member-written pieces. Submission guidelines can be found in later pages.

The Short Plays Book--

Acrosstown Repertory Theatre Playwrights' Contest
Jo J. Adamson, winner, She Was the Kind
Actors Theatre of Louisville Ten-Minute Play Competition, Heidemann Award
Vicki Cheatwood, finalist, The Risen Chris
Nancy Gall-Clayton, finalist, Felicity's Family Tree
Mrinalini Kamath, finalist, The Some of All Parts
Robin Rothstein, finalist, One Last Cigarette
Jewel Seehaus-Fisher, finalist, Excrement
Alabama Writer's Conclave
Sandra de Helen, 2nd place winner, short story, Vince
Gina Stewart, honorable mention, A Dent For Every Word
Artist Trust Fellowship in Theatre
Maria Glanz, winner, $6000 unrestricted grant
Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) PlayWorks 2002
R. L. Nesvet, 1st place winner, full-length, The Shape Shifter
Diane Grant, 2nd place winner, full length, A Dog's Life
Sandra Dempsey, 3rd place winner, full length, Enigma
Mrinalini Kamath, 3rd place winner, one-act, Boom
Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) 2002 New Play Development Workshop
J.D. Eames, winner, Intimate ASCII
Mrinalini Kamath, winner, The Some of All Parts
Berrilla Kerr Award for New American Theatre
Lauren Gunderson, 1 of 10 recipients, Parts They Call Deep
Best of Fest, Winnipeg Fringe Festival
Maria Glanz, winner, See Me Naked
Boulder Acting Group New Play Festival,
Tami Canaday, finalist, Custer's Grave
CineStory Screenwriting 2002 Awards
Carole Clement, finalist, Let's Pretend
City of Chicago Dept. of Cultural Affairs
Jill Elaine Hughes, winner, writers' retreat grant
Coe College Playwriting Contest
Nancy Gall-Clayton, finalist, General Orders No. 11
Robin Rice Lichtig, finalist, Humans Remain
Drama Association of Wales Playwriting Competition 2002
Shirley Barrie, Third Prize, Revelation
Fade In: 6th Annual Screenwriting Awards
Carole Clement, quarter-finalist, Let's Pretend
First Annual Lesbian Playwriting Contest, Bailiwick Repertory Theatre
Robin Rice Lichtig, winner, Embracing the Undertoad
Flash Fiction Contest, Doorknobs & Body Paint
Francine Witte, first place winner, Love Story
Fringe Impresario Award, London Fringe Festival
Allison Williams, winner, TRUE STORY
FutureFest2002
Linda Escalera Baggs, first place winner, Silent Heroes
George Kernodle New Play Competition
Nancy Gall-Clayton, finalist, The Poet from Pikeville
Robin Rothstein, finalist, Raspberries
Robin Rice Lichtig, honorable mention, The High Noon of Miss Grace Wren
H. E. Francis Short Story Competition
Caitlin Hicks, semi-finalist, One South
Henrico Theatre Company Annual One-Act Playwriting Competition
Linda Escalera Baggs, winner, Parting Words
Hollywood's Next Success screenplay competition
Kathy Coudle King, quarter-finalist, The Goddess Formula
Jane Chambers Playwriting Award Competition
Hope McIntyre, runner-up, Revisioning
Nancy Gall-Clayton, honorable mention, The Colored Door at the Train Depot
Lindsay Price, honorable mention, Mad Alice
Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute, Ohio State University
New ICWP Archive collections:
Judith Pratt, Ludmilla Bollow, Mary Steelsmith, Robin Rice Lichtig, Daphne Hull,
Kristen Lazarian, Tami Canaday, Nancy Gall-Clayton, Kristan Ryan
Additions to existing collections:
Carole Clement, R. L. Nesvet

Jewel Box Theatre Playwrighting Award
Carole Brendlinger, Winner (full-length), Money Matters
John Spencer Hill Fiction Award
Caitlin Hicks, shortlisted, That Rescue Feeling
Joseph Jefferson Award, best new work
Jamie Pachino, winner, Waving Goodbye
Lamia Ink! One-Page Play Contest
Karin D. Williams, first place winner, The Witching Hour
Karin D. Williams, second place winner, The Parking Garage
Long Beach Playhouse New Works Festival
Rachel Rubin Ladutke, finalist, Clary's Exodus
Rachel Rubin Ladutke, finalist, The Belles of the Mill
Marco Island Film Festival
Kathy Coudle King, screenplay winner, Shrimp Po'boy
Masters Poetry Contest
Donna Spector, winner
McLaren Comedy Playwriting Competition
Carole Brendlinger, honorable mention, Money Matters
Midtown International Theatre Festival
Rachel Rubin Ladutke, Best of the Fest, The Belles of the Mill
Mill Mountain New Play Competition
Andrea Stoliwitz, finalist, Knowing Cairo
Mary L. Hagy, semi-finalist, At Risk
National League of American Pen Women, Gainesville Branch
Sarah Bewley, Certificate for Outstanding Achievement in Letters
National New Play Showcase, InterAct Theatre and the National New Play Network
Mary L. Hagy, finalist, At Risk
New Millennium Writing Contest
Claire Braz-Valentine, honorable mention, An Open Letter To John Ashcroft
New Professional Theatre Festival
Francesca Sanders, finalist, Lilac Samba
Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting
Kathy Coudle King, semi-finalist, Shrimp Po'boy
Palm Springs International Playwriting Festival
Carole Clement, finalist, Waltzing on Flowers
Pittsburgh New Play Festival
Linda Escalera Baggs, winner, Silent Heroes
Francesca Sanders, finalist, Rising from the Sugar Bowl
Playing by the Lake Festival
Carole Brendlinger, 2nd place winner, Money Matters
Jewel Seehaus-Fisher, finalist, Wilde in Leadville
Playwrights Platform Festival 2002
Monica Raymond, second prize, Creche
Poets & Writers League of Greater Cleveland
Carole Clement, honored writer, Babes in America and Flight from Southern Egypt
2002 Reva Shiner Full-Length Play Contest (Bloomington Playwrights Project)
Laura Henry, finalist, The Perseverance of Plenitude
Richard Hugo House New Play Award
Maria Glanz, winner, VIC (Spirit Made Flesh)
The Robert J. Pickering Award For Playwriting Excellence
Ludmilla Bollow, finalist, Flickering Dreams
Carole Brendlinger, finalist, Money Matters
Sandra Dempsey, finalist, Armagideon
Laura Henry, finalist, The Perseverance of Plenitude
Valerie Stocking, finalist, The Choice
Samuel French Playwriting Competition
Robin Rice Lichtig, finalist, The Fortification of Miss Grace Wren

Seattle Arts Commission
Mary Lathrop, winner, $2000 Fellowship
Senior Theatre Festival Instant Theatre Competition
Nancy Gall-Clayton, winner, Fun Fun Fun in the Fulsome Field
Shirley King, winner, Pac Bell Park
Kathy Coudle King, winner, Mourning Coffee
Robin Rice Lichtig, winner, Squeezing Papayas
Gina Stewart, winner, So This Is It
Vanda, winner, Kvetching with the Virgin Mary
Alan Woods, winner, Not the Delany Sisters
Eliza Wyatt, winner, Shut Door
Shenandoah International Playwrights
Ludmilla Bollow, semi-finalist, Poems of Passion
Short and Sweet Sydney (Australia) Short Play Season
Ludmilla Bollow, finalist (shortlist), Ozmania
Short Attention Span Playfest, Billerica, MA
Nancy Gall-Clayton, Best of Fest, Felicity's Family Tree
Francesca Sanders, finalist, I Am a Black Girl
Sonoma County Rep's SCRipts Festival
Geralyn Horton, Final Ten, one-act, Fantasia For String Trio
R. L. Nesvet, Final Ten, full-length, The Shape Shifter
Walter Davis, finalist, full-length, Cowboy's Sweetheart
Mrinalini Kamath, finalist, 15 Minute, The Some Of All Parts
Karen Mueller-Bryson, finalist, full-length, The Story of What Happened When Bebe Romano Said She Was Having a Baby
Valerie Stocking, finalist, 15 Minute, Alien Love Story
Source Literary Prize,
Linda Escalera Baggs, winner, Silent Heroes
Southern Appalachian Rep Theatre Playwright's Contest
Ludmilla Bollow, finalist, Choke Cherry Corners - Tavern & Dance Hall
Southeastern Theatre Conference's New Play Project
Nancy Gall-Clayton, finalist, The Colored Door at the Train Depot
Southwest Festival of New Plays, Latino Division,
Linda Escalera Baggs, 2nd place, Silent Heroes
Stages Repertory Theatre Southwest Festival of New Plays, Women Playwright's Division
Molly Best Tinsley, first place winner, Extended Care
Streisand 2002 Festival of New Jewish Plays
Nancy Gall-Clayton, 1 of 3 winners, General Orders No. 11
Sundance Screenwriters Lab
Olga Humphrey, finalist, Hyperactive
Theatre Babylon - "Nine Holes Goes Crazy" - Seattle, WA
Ludmilla Bollow, finalist, Shelter Skelter
Theatre Conspiracy Annual New Play Contest
Carole Brendlinger, winner, Money Matters
Top Ten Plays, Centaur Theatre, Montreal Fringe Festival
Maria Glanz, top ten, See Me Naked
Toronto Arts Council, 2002 Grants to Writers
Diane Forrest, Level One ($1,500), China 1938
Toronto Fringe Festival
Diane Forrest, Patron's Pick, Life and How to Avoid It
Vagabond Theater Festival: Ten by Ten
Ludmilla Bollow, first alternate, Shelter Skelter
Vermont Council on the Arts Grant
Jenny Bloomfield, winner, Apples & Stones
Village Playhouse of Wauwatosa One Act Playwriting Competition
Ludmilla Bollow, winner, Best Script Award, The Children of Sin
War Poetry Contest, Winning Writers
Claire Braz-Valentine, finalist, An Open Letter To John Ashcroft
William P. and Arlene R. Lewis Playwriting Contest for Women
Linda Escalera Baggs, semi-finalist, Silent Heroes
Writer's Digest Playwriting Competition
Linda Escalera Baggs, finalist, Silent Heroes
Writer's Digest Short Short Story Competition 2001 - top 100
Katherine Burkman, #22, Enough Pigs
Young Playwrights Award, Young Playwright's Inc. (NYC)
Lauren Gunderson, 1st place winner, Parts They Call Deep
Young Playwrights Competition, Green Theatre Company, New Malden, Surrey, UK
Mrinalini Kamath, winner (1 of 2), senior division, Sweet Dreams, Baby

"While we are proud of these honorees," states ICWP Communications Director Shoba Trivadi, "we also recognize that our talent pool is comprised of many other members who may or may not have participated in such competitions. Art, being a very subjective and creative energy, transcends the realm of competitions as every writer touches the soul of some of us at some time or the other. With that in mind, we recognize every one of our members as do we recognize the talents of all writers and artists who open their souls to the rest of the world."

Questions about awards listed on the ICWP Marquee may be directed to Linda Eisenstein, ICWP Marquee Editor, PR@internationalwomenplaywrights.org

Editor’s Note: Compiled from info supplied by Sarumpaet to ICWP via Linda Eisenstein.

(Courtesy UK Copyright Office)

Copyright gives the creators of a wide range of material, such as literature, art, music, sound recordings, films and broadcasts, economic rights enabling them to control use of their material in a number of ways, such as by making copies, issuing copies to the public, performing in public, broadcasting and use on-line. Copyright also gives moral rights to be identified as the creator of certain kinds of material, and to object to distortion or mutilation of it.

The purpose of copyright is to allow creators to gain economic rewards for their efforts and so encourage future creativity and the development of new material which benefits us all. Copyright material is usually the result of creative skill and/or significant labour and/or investment, and without protection, it would often be very easy for others to exploit material without paying the creator."

*Non USA residents should know that works can be registered at the US Copyright office. There is a treaty to which many countries have signed up (WIPO) . Writers from the treaty countries are entitled to register their work in the U.S.A.

Some Online Copyright Resources

• QuickFind - downloadable fact sheets/registration forms, checklists etc. on different areas of copyright law- in both text and .PDF formats.

See No. FL119 Dramatic Works: Scripts, Pantomimes & Choreography
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/index.html#fl

• Copyright Factsheets via Fax-on-Demand.

Frequently requested Copyright Office circulars and announcements are available via fax. Call (202) 707-2600 from any touchtone telephone. Key in your fax number at the prompt and the document number of the item(s) you want to receive by fax. The item(s) will be transmitted to your fax machine. If you do not know the document number of the item(s) you want, you may request that an index be faxed to you. You may order up to three items at a time. Note that copyright registration forms are not available by fax.

UK
Information on UK Copyright Law and procedures is held on the UK Patents Office website
Quote from the Copyright Information page UK Patents Office

"Copyright protection is automatic as soon as there is a record in any form of what has been created (there is no official registration). However, steps can be taken by the creator of a work to provide evidence that he or she had the work at a particular time. For example, a copy could be deposited with a bank or solicitor. Alternatively, a creator could send himself or herself a copy by special delivery post (which gives a clear date stamp on the envelope), leaving the envelope unopened on its return. A number of private companies operate unofficial registers, but it would be sensible to check carefully what you will be paying for before choosing this route"

Website provides Legislation, FAQ's, History, Tribunal Information,
http://www.patent.gov.uk/copy/index.htm
Downloadable Information
Downloadable File (PDF)
"Looking after your ideas (pdf file 263Kb)"
Canada
CIPO - Canadian Intellectual Property Office
Click on 'Copyright' link
The Canadian Copyright Act and Copyright Regulations can be found
on the Department of Justice Canada web site
http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/C-42/index.html

http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/sc_mrksv/cipo/links/links_intl-e.html takes you to a page of links to official Copyright sites in the following countries in Europe, South America, Asia and the Pacific.

$$$ means a fee is charged. The Dramatist Guild of America discourages the charging of reading fees: for more info on that see www.dramaguild.com.

$$$ Old School Theatre Company

SEEKING SCRIPTS FOR STAGED READINGS IN 2003-01-19. Accepting plays 30-120 minutes long. Selected scripts will have an AEA Staged Reading in March/April 2003 with possible full production in fall 2003. Original scripts that have not been published or produced are eligible. Send cover letter, one page treatment, twenty sample pages from script and $5 reading fee (check or money order made out to Old School Theatre Company) to: Old School Theatre Company, c/o SEIFERT, 2403 Cambreleng Ave., #B, Bronx, NY 10458. Deadline is February 15, 2003. Reading fee: $5. Last year OSTC presented two new plays: "QWERTYUIOP" by John Gonzalez of Seattle, and "Thundermug" by Jeff Loshinsky of NYC's YouGotSoul Productions. For more info on OSTC, please visit the website at: http://www.oldschooltheatre.com or e-mail: oldschooltheatre@yahoo.com. Info courtesy: Playbill.com.



The Peep Hole Group

A New York City based theatre group "working on plays that have direct contact with our American Society" wants full length plays or one acts (NO MUSICALS), age range of 20s-30s. Mail to: F.Collins, 375 Grand Ave. # 2, Brooklyn,NY 11238. Info courtesy of Playbill.com.

The Unique Thistle Dew Theatre

… in Sacramento, CA, USA is looking for new, innovative and controversial plays with social problem emphasis for new, innovative and controversial production company. No more than five characters, simple set(s), one or two acts. No musicals or children's plays. Selected plays will receive production and 10% share of box office receipts as royalty, and possible publication in new, and innovative form Submit resume, synopsis & first 12 pages via email Attachment to tom@thistle-dew.net

BOX OF CRAYONS PRODUCTIONS

Box of Crayons Productions, a new theatre company, founded and based in Brooklyn, NY is currently seeking new, full-length musicals and plays to produce in our 2002-2003 season. Our target audiences are FAMILIES of ALL makeups...including all races, sexual preferences and spiritual beliefs. Please visit our website at www.geocities.com/boxofcrayonsproductions to review our mission. We will cover small-scale production and marketing expenses, and will be willing to workshop or hold readings of works still in development. For consideration, please send submissions, with your contact information and a brief synopsis of the play to the address listed. (.doc or .rtf formats please.) If unable to send electronically, please send to the address listed, Attn. Kevin Scott Collins, Managing/Producing Director. BoxofCrayonsNYC@aol.com Attn. Kevin Scott Collins Managing/Producing Director 37 Woodhull Street, Bsmt. Brooklyn, NY 11231. Info courtesy stageplays.com.

Repertorio Espanol

METLIFE FOUNDATION NUESTRAS VOCES IV NATIONAL PLAYWRITING COMPETITION 2003 SEEKS PLAYS FOR PRODUCTION AT REPERTORIO ESPANOL IN NYC. The competition looks to promote the talent of Latino/a playwrights as well as highlight subjects depicting Hispanic culture(s) in the United States. Subject matter should be relevant and of interest to the Hispanic community at large. All plays must be original full-length (minimum running time: 1 hr., 30 min.) New and unproduced plays preferred. Plays that have had readings or a workshop productions are acceptable. One-act plays, musicals, translations/adaptations or screenplays not accepted. Scripts can be written in Spanish or English. Playwrights must be at least 18 years of age and residents of the US or Puerto Rico. Deadline: May 1 2003 (postmarked). Please contact a.astorvargas@repertorio.org with questions or requests for applications and guidelines.

STAGES

The first transgender theatre festival is seeking long and short, traditional and avant-garde, new and old works for the stage for September 2003. Deadline May 1, 2003. Looking for for two things: scripts, all by themselves, looking for a director, some actors and black box theatre; AND shows that you have done or are willing to do and drag
to downtown NYC in the fall. Submission requirements Also looking for volunteers: TG/TS/genderqueer directors, actors, stage managers, set & costume designers, musicians, crews, staff. No pay. For guidelines and submission requirements, contact: STAGES; 151 1st AVE, suite 228; New York, NY 10003 or stages@wowcafe.org or see http://www.wowcafe.org/stages.

Dedicated to theatre that explores Middle Eastern culture and identity as represented throughout the globe. Producer of ReOrient, an annual festival of short plays by playwrights from the Middle East or about themes concerning the Middle East. Submission Guidelines for ReOrient: Length: 10-40 minutes. Deadline: March 1^st; Accepting full-length plays year-round; Allow six months for response. Submit to: Golden Thread Productions, PMB 153, 4096 Piedmont Ave. Oakland, CA. 94611 www.goldenthread.org. E-Mail: information@goldenthread.org

The author of SubUrbia and Banging Nails into the Floor with my Forehead, etc., is doing a Residency at Atlantic Center for the Arts October 6 - 26, 2003. Bogosian wants 5 actors and writers to workshop new writing. Application Deadline: August 1, 2003
For complete info, see: www.atlanticcenterforthearts.org. Writing associates should submit a resume and either a sample of written work with a proposal of their project or a draft of the project itself.

http://www.usafunds.org/borrowers/access_to_education_scholarship.html

The Talbots Charitable Foundation provides philanthropic support to nonprofit organizations for civic and cultural activities, social welfare, and health and education services. The foundation annually sponsors the Talbots Women's Scholarship Fund, a $100,000 scholarship program that awards 5 $10,000 scholarships and 50 $1,000 scholarships to women seeking a bachelor's or associate's degree later in life. Since its inception in 1997, the program has awarded college scholarships to nearly 280 women ranging in age from 20s to 60s. Applicants to the Fund must be women currently residing in the United States who earned a high school diploma or GED at least 10 years ago; be seeking a degree from an accredited 2- or 4-year college, university, or vocational-technical school; and have at least 2 full-time semesters or 24 credits remaining to complete their undergraduate degree. Deadline: March 3, 2003, or until 1,000 applications have been received. Applications will be available in Talbots U.S. stores, alternately, see www.talbots.com/about/scholar/scholar.asp.

Women’s Foundation of Minnesota

The Women's Foundation of Minnesota (WPM) works to aid women and girls organizing for economic, political, and social change, by providing resources and a voice for their cause. The foundation does not fund projects outside of Minnesota. WFM is currently accepting applications for the following funding programs: The Social Change Fund provides resources for women and girls projects that are designed to have a significant impact on societal attitudes and behaviors or result in systems change. Grants are awarded in the following areas: 1) Social Change/Systems Change ‹ grants for programs by and for women and/or girls that are designed to have a significant impact on societal attitudes and behaviors, or result in needed systemic change benefiting women and girls. Grants in this area may be made to grassroots groups or more established organizations. WFM does not generally fund direct service unless the program is a new model with strong potential for replication. 2) Grassroots Empowerment ‹ Grants to help bring together previously unorganized, traditionally underserved groups of women and/or girls as an initial organizing step in the process of social/systems change. Grants in this area are generally limited to grassroots groups and organizations. 3) Women, Money, and Social Change ‹ Grants to fund new and innovative efforts that will stimulate giving and increase support for organizations, projects, and efforts benefiting women and/or girls. (Deadline: October 1, 2002) The GirlsBEST (Girls Building Economic Success Together) program is a five-year grantmaking and public awareness initiative focused on increasing the readiness of girls, ages 10-18, to achieve economic well-being. Grants will go to girl-driven programs that have the support and involvement of women, mentors, community organizations, schools, and other organizations serving women and girls. WFM is seeking applicants from a wide range of communities, with priority given to under-represented and underserved girls and communities. (Deadline: September 1, 2002) Complete guidelines for both programs are available at the WFM Web site.
Contact: http://www.wfmn.org/

-To submit your monologue(s), send it as a Word attachment to Ellen Margolis at the following e-mail address: emdm154@hotmail.com
If you are unable to submit electronically, please see below.* (Be careful˜don‚t post your entry to the ICWP-L List!)

If you have any questions regarding this opportunity, please direct them to Ellen Margolis at emdm154@hotmail.com

BBC WORLD SERVICE RADIO PLAY COMPETITION

This competition allows BBC World Service Drama to draw on undiscovered radio drama writing talent from around the world and gives voice to new writers. Previous winners have gone on to gain further commissions for BBC Radio Drama. Prize is £2500 sterling and a trip to London to see your play being recorded. The play must be original, unpublished, your own work, and about 60 mins. Long, with a maximum of 6 characters. Open to anyone not normally resident in the UK. Deadline: received by 30 April 2003. Full details, rules, and entry forms are available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/competition/playwriting/

Kristen Ryan sent out 67 mail merged queries about a play one week (!) and so far has received 7 or 8 requests to read the full script; Francesca Sanders sent out plays to 3 theatres yesterday; Linda Eisenstein sends out plays constantly;
Me? I can go weeks without mailing anything, but today, I sent TALES FROM THE SALTMINES to a producer/director I know in California and a followup email message to an agent in NY who is considering representing my work.

It's like the punchline to that old joke--if you want to win the lotto, you gotta buy a ticket first. It's quite inspiring, not to mention a kick in the seat, to hear that others are printing, collating, querying and mailing out their work!
Anybody who'd like to join us and have a place to report in re: sending out work, email me at lathrop@sprynet.com and I'll subscribe you.

A discussion which arose on the ICWP-L email discussion List prompted member Michael Wright to ask colleagues on the LMDA discussion List for their opinions.

A recent post to the International Center for Women Playwrights List raised this question (I paraphrase):  "When it says on a submission listing that the theatre wants a letter, synopsis and ten sample pages, which ten should I send? Beginning, middle, end?" 

Responses:

*I get teased sometimes for reading the whole play ... and I certainly understand that volume makes us all make hard choices. 

The decision on if you should read the whole play really depends on what you are looking for ... if you are looking for a readily produceable work, then there is no point (well, very little) in reading the whole play. Most people on this list can tell after a few pages if the play is right for their theater. 

Where it really helps to read the whole play is if you are looking for a "voice." If you  really want to know what someone is capable of ... you need to read the whole play. Some plays grow on you as they go on their journey. Some plays won't read well, but will haunt you for weeks afterward. I've often dismissed a script on an initial read, but after then I realize that I keep thinking about it days afterward. Some part of the characters' journey has stayed with me and made me think. Then I know I have to go back and see what this playwright has to offer. 

But in a busy world, and especially when you are looking to fill a hole in your season, 10 pages is enough.

*I have been the one to read submitted plays and also the person who works directly with new playwrights.  I don't care about "formula" or anything else when I receive a script. What I care about is whether the play grabs my attention by the third page.

*To paraphrase Robert Patrick:  the audience always experiences the first ten pages first.  If the script doesn't engage us early on, what good is a boffo climax?  The audience may have left by then!

The workshop was my second class with Mr. Albee. I find him to be a remarkable human being. He truly strives to have his students take themselves and their work seriously. His encouragement and style of teaching and feedback given certainly made me think differently about what I most wanted to say in my plays as well as why I wanted to write for theatre. Through his encouragement and my reawakened ambition to contribute, to a part of the theatre community, I applied for and was accepted into the MFA program in Theatre at the University of Houston. Because of prior classes taken with Mr. Albee and Stuart Ostrow who directs the Musical Theatre Collaboration each Fall at UofH, I have now reached the half way point in my program. At sixty-two, after a life time of raising children, marriage, and a host of responsibilities and interests in the communities where I have lived, I want to have my say, too.

"What the ATHE conference has to offer playwrights" Plenty! This event which started out as a gathering primarily devoted to the interests of actors and directors has gradually, over the last several years, come to be dominated by the interests of playwrights. How could that happen? Because the playwrights program got active, got creative and assertive, and proposed so many programs of such obvious value that they couldn't be denied and then they got behind those programs and made them work. ATHE is organized into Focus Groups, which is to say, interest groups, and these groups really drive the conference. Our group is the Playwrights Program and it is a dynamite group, not a bunch of individuals coming together to see what they can get from the Program but a group dedicated to serving the playwriting profession. We have created some wonderful developmental programs. There's the short play development program, the full-length Playworks. You'll read about these elsewhere. Our biggest award is the David Mark Cohen Award competition. The winner receives $1000 cash, $500 toward the expenses of attending the convention, a well-cast and directed, script-in-hand performance of the play at the conference, and publication by Dramatic Publishing Company. Entries in this competition must have received one and only one production by a University of College theatre and have been entered by that theatre in the ACTF and nominated by ACTF to the DMCohen. New plays are hot at ATHE. They're not some exotic strange fruit but one of the basic food groups. I would think that ICWP members would want to be in both the Playwrights Program and the Women and Theatre Groups.

W&T says "Members receive three newsletters a year and are offered the opportunity of attending an annual summer pre-ATHE conference at an additional fee [in the same location as the main conference]. Members can also participate in the WTP-L discussion list and receive synopses of all the winners of the Jane Chambers Award." And then there are the hallways and the restaurants where the really important business of making new friends and renewing old friendships is done. Some of the most important deals for collaborations and productions are made in these hallways.

Editor’s Note: The board are discussing having an ICWP booth at the 2003 Conference. For membership fees, etc., please see www.athe.org.