If you're a playwright, you know the tedium of reading your own work to yourself (or maybe to your cat), wondering how the words sound, or how an audience might react. A way for playwrights to cope with their solitary profession is to get together with other writers to read and critique each other's work. In addition to helping writers develop their scripts, writing groups offer a sense of community that the lone playwright often misses. Chicago offers a number of options for playwrights seeking a writing group, as well as the opportunity to start one's own.
The Playwrights Collective
Lisa Rosenthal was taking a playwriting class at Chicago Dramatists in 1996 when she got the idea to start her own writing group. As the course came to an end, Rosenthal looked around the room and thought, "I can do this myself." She asked several of her peers to join her, and together they formed The Playwrights Collective, a group that has since grown to ten members and meets twice monthly.
Rosenthal's experiences with starting her own group were so positive that she edited a book called The Writing Group Book, a compilation of essays from members of writing groups all across the country. In the introduction to that book, Rosenthal describes how "a group of relatively green playwrights... blossomed into a nationally produced and award-winning group of writers" at the Playwrights Collective. Indeed, two of the members, Mia McCullough and Robert Koon, have won Jeff citations for Best New Work.
In addition to providing feedback on each other's work, the group shares theatre and contest information and marketing tips. Mark Young, a member, described how the writers help one another navigate the often overwhelming Chicago and national theatre scene. As they pool their knowledge, he said, "The theatre world becomes a little bit smaller."
The Playwrights Collective hosts a reading series of its members' work at the Chicago Cultural Center on Mondays at 7 PM each month. The reading series is open to the public, however, the group's membership is now closed. For more information about the reading series, email theplaywrightscollective@yahoo.com.
The Living Room Project
Sometimes a writing group can be started from scratch. Sara Berry Short founded the Living Room Project two years ago by running an ad in PerformInk and in the Chicago Reader. "When I first moved here [to Chicago], I was writing a lot, but I didn't know many writers here," said Short. "I wanted to do something I felt I belonged to." Called the Living Room Project because at first it met in members' homes, the writers are now artists in residence at Breadline Theatre. The group meets every Wednesday, and writers are required to attend 3 out of 4 meetings per month to maintain their membership.
In addition to playwrights and fiction writers, the group also incorporates directors and dramaturgs, who give feedback on the work. "Our dramaturgs, (Karen Petruska and April Winney) are more valuable than I can say," says Short. "They ask questions you don't ask yourself."
The relationship between the Living Room Project and Breadline Theatre has been fruitful for both. This fall the Living Room Project will produce a New Plays Festival and a night of storytelling at Breadline, and Breadline will produce Short's new play, Destination Lost later this season.
The Living Room Project is open to new members. Short says she is "always looking for talented individuals who have a unique voice." She especially encourages female writers and screenwriters to apply, but all writers in the Chicago area are welcome. For more information, or to apply for membership, visit the group's web site at www.thelivingroomproject.com.
The Project at Breadline
A different kind of writers group, also based at Breadline Theatre, is simply called, "The Project." Started last year by Paul Kampf, Artistic Director of Breadline, The Project's goal is to develop a play through writing exercises and improv. Instead of playwrights, the group's members include actors, directors, and designers who are all involved in the creation of the script. Unlike other writing groups that meet on an ongoing basis, the Project operates in cycles to develop new plays. This year, Kampf says, "We spent three weeks discussing as artists what we wanted to say or do on stage," both thematically and theatrically. After that, the group began writing. "When you have a production slated for opening, you work differently," explains Kampf. "The artists have a vested interest in the script."
This year's Project culminates with the play Click, opening September 26 at Breadline Theatre. "We hope the process gets other people interested in working this way," says Kampf, who encourages artists to contact him about joining next year's Project. Kampf can be reached via email at Breadline@breadline.org.
Chicago Dramatists
This fall, Chicago Dramatists is starting a new writers group for its Network members called the First Draft Series. Modeled on the Members Roundtable at the Playwrights' Center of Minneapolis, the series will allow members to read and critique one another's plays and network with other writers.
"We wanted to provide more opportunities for Network members," explains Robert Koon, Director of the Network, which has nearly doubled in size in the past two years. Less formal than the Saturday Series, the First Draft Series will focus on play development rather than audience response. Instead of a staged reading with actors, plays will be read aloud by other members of the group. Resident playwrights will moderate the critiques.
The First Draft Series will run on a trial basis for six Tuesdays in October and November, and the group will meet weekly starting with the new year. Chicago Dramatists will hold a meeting on October 7 to discuss the new series and the Network. For more information contact Koon at 312-633-0630 or email rkoon@chicagodramatists.org.
Of course, there are many other writing groups in the Chicago area, some of which are profiled in The Writing Group Book, available in bookstores in September 2003. And if you can't find a group that appeals to you, there's always the possibility of starting your own. "Make your own opportunities," advises Sarah Berry Short, "because they're not going to come knocking on your door." She hopes her success with starting her own group will encourage others to do the same. "At first I just wanted to get together with people who were doing the same thing as me," Short recalls. "Now people are seeking me out."