TRU Beginnings Practical PLAYWRITING: How to Write for Commercial Production

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) in association with Diana Amsterdam, presents Practical PLAYWRITING: How to Write for Commercial Production, a one-day intensive on Saturday, August 22, 2015 from 11:00am to 5:30pm at the Desotelle NuBox Theatre, 300 W. 43rd Street, 3rd floor. This is a unique writer’s workshop with a happy ending: a chance to pitch your work to a panel of producers, and is part of The TRU Beginnings series of opportunities for works in early development.

The premise: What often holds playwrights back is that they rarely consider the person who will buy and produce their product: the producer. With all the work, hope and sweat they invest in considering character, theme and plot, playwrights rarely take into account produceability. This one-day intensive addresses some of the major areas of concern for producers:

• WHAT IS PRODUCEABILITY? The fact that producers always ask this question, and playwrights hardly ever do, causes a serious disconnect between the commercial producer and most playwrights.

• WRITING TO A MARKET - We will ask each playwright questions he or she has probably never considered before: Who is your market? Who is going to buy tickets? Who is this play written for?

• WRITING VIABLY - Creating writing that holds the attention of the audience with a strong storyline and defined events. This module will cover such primary writing elements as: arc, desire, motivation, conflict, and the clear delineation of theme.

• WRITING ECONOMICALLY - Number of characters, number of sets, extravagance of sets: all these are serious considerations for most commercial producers. Does the play require a casting director, or can it be done successfully by seasoned unknowns? Is there a chorus of thirty that can be pared down to two? Are you kidding yourself when you think one actor can play eight parts?

The workshop will be taught by dramaturg and published and produced playwright Diana Amsterdam (The Dodgers, Fast Girls, Sex and Death, Carnival Round the Central Figure), TRU’s Program Director for Playwrights. Crucial segments of the workshop will be taught by commercial producer Patrick Blake (39 Steps revival, Bedlam Theatre’s Hamlet/St. Joan, The Exonerated, In the Continuum, Play Dead), marketing consultants Bob Ost and Gary Hughes who will help writers capture the essence of their piece in an effective synopsis, and presentation coach Gillien Goll who will teach you how to present yourself successfully. The day ends with a panel of commercial producers who will offer feedback on writers’ pitches as well as suggest appropriate markets for the works. Past panelists have incuded Margot Astrachan (Busker Alley, On a Clear Day, Nice Work If You Can Get It), Jeremy Handelman (White’s Lies, F#@king Up Everything ), Pam Koslow (Jelly’s Last Jam, Jane Eyre, Yank!) and Cheryl Wiesenfeld (The Heidi Chronicles, Rocky, All the Way, Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike, A Steady Rain, The Exonerated, Legally Blonde, Elaine Stritch: At Liberty).