This New York Times article talks about how many working playwrights often find themselves writing for television – between the need to pay the bills and the opportunity to get their work made.
Playwrights for television
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Tag Archives: playwriting
“Stop Talking to Me” – blog post, NY Times
This is a blog post on the NY Times blog called Theatre Talkback addressing the proliferation of Direct Address speeches (asides, soliloquies, etc) in recent playwriting.
Visiting guest artist – Paul D. Patton
Visiting with us Sept. 20-22 will be guest artist Paul D. Patton, playwright of Lifting the Veil, which will premiere on September 21. Lifting the Veil is based on the true story of the runaway wedding of evangelists Katherine Kuhlman and Burroughs Waltrip, as they struggle to divine the will of God in their hasty marriage.
Paul is the author of over 30 works for the theatre and was the founder of Trinity House Theatre in Detroit. He is the co-author of the recently published “Prophetically Incorrect: a Christian introduction to Media Criticism”.
Paul has lectured on topics such as “The Idolatry of the Cult of Celebrity” and “God Talk: Lessons in the Manipulative Use of Religious Language.” He is an associate professor of Communication and Drama at Spring Arbor University in Michigan, where he lives with his wife, Beth.
Paul visited Belhaven previously in 2007 when we produced his play, Kurt Gerstein, winner of the 2007 Christians in Theatre Arts New Play Contest.
Paul will be guest lecturing at several classes, including our Scriptwriting course and performance classes, and will make a special presentation at a whole department gathering on Tuesday afternoon.
2010 Pulitzer Prize
Next to Normal – the musical by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey – has been named the 2010 Pulitzer Prize winner.
Playwrights listed as finalists include Kristoffer Biaz, Rajiv Joseph, and Sarah Ruhl.
Article on Playwrights’ royalty percentages
Some of you may or may not be aware of how the legality and royalty situation works in the theatre, but in recent years, it’s become more and more of an issue where producing organizations are asking for a percentage of future royalties on a play, in order to capitalize on the success of a play after they’ve produced it. The two producing companies mentioned in this article, The Public Theater and the Roundabout Theatre are two significant stages in new work development, and this is a good step forward to relieve the burden placed on the potential for a playwright to actually see the financial benefit of the success of his or her own work.
Article on “Tropes” – LA Times
Here’s an article in the LA Times about “tropes” or elements of storytelling that repeatedly appear particularly in pop culture (film, television). It references a wiki site that lists these tropes and where they have previously appeared. Could be a helpful site to remind beginning writers of how these story elements have been used before…