Prarthana Jayaram is a Philly-based writer and regular Festival Blog contributor.
Shakespeare is briefly mentioned in this article, so we've decided to put a picture of him up here.
Four hundred years ago when Shakespeare was writing plays, he never had to wonder if his hard work would go to waste. Once he had completed a piece, his theater company began the production process without delay. Not only was the bard guaranteed the opportunity to see his finished work on stage, he also had a stable position with his theater. Fast-forward to theater production today: once a playwright finishes a piece, s/he must find a theater company to produce it (if s/he is lucky) and it is not uncommon for production of the play to take several years to yield a performance. Worse, many plays get stuck in workshop purgatory, where they are continually changed and edited but never actually make it through the production process.
Playwrights of Shakespeare’s time would be confused.
To address some of the problems with the lengthy production process, Philadelphia’s Arden Theatre is implementing an innovative new program, The Writer’s Room. Over the course of this spring and summer, playwright Wendy MacLeod will write a new play, which the Arden will immediately put into production; the play will be cast, rehearsed, and open for audiences by mid-July.
Edward Sobel, associate artistic director at the Arden, spearheaded The Writer’s Room and is leading the program. Alongside Sobel, Becky Wright serves as the program’s producer, acting as a liaison to both the playwright and the audience members who will be involved with the process.
“We want to provide production-oriented development that keeps the writer close to the play,” explains Sobel.
Playwright Wendy MacLeod (middle) sits between Arden folks Becky Wright and Edward Sobel in a workshop with audience members.
Sobel’s work has focused on the pitfalls of the production process for several years now. His work has been driven forward by conversations with writers about what is missing in the field and what their needs are. He finds that even when a show does make it through the hoops to get produced, many plays suffer from a condition Sobel brands “premiere-itis,” in which there is a great deal of pressure on the first production of a play but not as much artistic momentum for additional productions.
Through the support of the The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage through the Philadelphia Cultural Management Initiative and the Independence Foundation, the Arden was able to move forward with The Writer’s Room, which Sobel hopes will give playwrights a taste of a shorter production timeline and allow the company to experiment with how the playwright fits into the production process. The Writer’s Room will offer a sense of immediacy and instant feedback for the playwright in seeing his/her play performed for an audience.
