DG National Report: Chicago by Cheryl Coons
@dramatistsguild @cheryl_coons
I last wrote about Chicago Dramatists in the March 2015 issue of The Dramatist, a tribute to the 30 years of leadership of retiring Artistic Director, the late Russ Tutterow. Chicago Dramatists’ new Artistic Director, Meghan Beals, inherited not only the captain’s seat of a unique theatrical institution, but also an extended creative family of playwrights and artistic associates. One of Beals’ newest initiatives is the Tutterow Fellows, a diverse cohort of emerging playwrights, honoring Russ’s commitment to nurturing new talent.
Beals was also charged with the sensitive and necessary task of revisiting the model of the Resident Playwright program. Previously, though Residents served three-year terms, they could serve an unlimited number of consecutive terms. New playwrights were added annually, and the number of Residents had stretched beyond the capacity of the company to support them effectively. Now the Residency is limited to two consecutive three-year terms, during which Residents have access to the development resources the company provides for every phase of the life of a new play. These include public readings in the company’s Saturday Series, private table readings, and 28 Hour Workshops. Chicago Dramatists also partners with area theatres with The Grafting Project, hosting world premiere productions penned by its Resident Playwrights in the company’s 77-seat theatre.
Resident Playwright Elaine Romero’s play A Work of Art received its world premiere at Chicago Dramatists in 2015 in partnership with the Goodman Theatre. “My residency at Chicago Dramatists has become my lifeline back to my collaborators in Chicago since I started working as a professor at the University of Arizona in Tucson. At Chicago Dramatists, I am given amazing actors, photocopies, astute collaborators, and love. How can we crawl into that vulnerable place we must reside in as playwrights without those things?”
Rohina Malik agrees. “My residency at Chicago Dramatists has been an enormous gift. It gives me exactly what I needed to develop my plays: free photocopying, free space, help with casting and paying actors for their time. I can also walk into Meghan Beals’ office anytime and get advice or just chat about theater in Chicago.”
Besides the changes to its Resident Playwright Program, Chicago Dramatists recently transitioned its paid membership program, formerly called The Playwright’s Network, to The Writer’s Studio, which offers a menu of classes, script review and dramaturgical services, and table readings. Key courses at The Writer’s Studio are taught by some of the company’s Resident Playwrights, as well as the Dramatists Guild’s new Northern Regional Super-Rep, Douglas Post.
Resident Playwright Will Dunne teaches his enormously popular Scene Shop for The Writer’s Studio, and credits his residency with helping develop three books, The Dramatic Writer’s Companion, The Architecture of Story, and the upcoming Character Scene, and Story. “Chicago Dramatists has been my lifeline to the Chicago theatre community over the past ten years. Saturday Series readings have helped me not only develop new work but also find productions for every play I’ve presented.”
Resident Playwright Mary Ruth Clarke, co-writer of the original Meet the Parents, teaches screenwriting for The Writer’s Studio. She recently had a 28 Hour Workshop for her musical, Fay Burns! “I’d like to believe I’m not the only writer out there who secretly harbors the cocky idea that my plays spring forth from me fully formed and don’t need much rewriting. (I never learn.) During the workshop, I was blessed with a fantastic dramaturg, director, and musical director. But it wasn’t until we did a Bambi-on-Ice stumble-through, that some plausibility holes, transition clunkers, muddy character motivation problems, and an extraneous song came to light.”
Resident Playwright Steve Peterson agrees: “Here I encounter directors, actors, and audiences who put my theatre writing through the wringer. What come out the other side sometimes gets produced, sometimes not, but always makes my plays sharper, clearer, and much more playable.”
The variety of artistic voices is part of the strength of the cohort of 23 Residents, as Ann Garcia- Romero shares. “I’m deeply connected to the vibrant community of Chicago theatre artists. Also, I’ve invited local and national theatre artists to collaborate with me at Chicago Dramatists. Last summer, I coordinated the inaugural Fornés Playwriting Workshop in Chicago, taught by Migdalia Cruz, sponsored by the University of Notre Dame. We held the public reading of our workshop scenes at Chicago Dramatists. The intimate and supportive environment helped the workshop writers’ compelling pieces truly shine.”
Sue Pak, who became a Resident Playwright this year, is already reaping great benefits. “Among other things, the residency has connected me to the immensely talented pool of Asian American actors and directors in Chicago. Theater is such a highly collaborative endeavor, and the Chicago Dramatists residency truly supports and cultivates essential relationships between Chicago playwrights, theater professionals, and its audiences.” New Resident Playwright Georgette Kelly agrees, “My life as a playwright feels more and more itinerant—at the best of times it is a thrill to travel and split my time among different cities, but more frequently it leaves me disoriented. The gift of residency at Chicago Dramatists is that it offers me an artistic home and haven in the midst of so much movement.”
Jon Steinhagen, who joined the company in 2008, completes his residency this year. “My residency at Chicago Dramatists offered me an enviable vista of new, crucial voices to discover and experiences and gave me a deep well of support, craftsmanship, and dedication from which to draw. It made me a better storyteller and listener, and for that I am truly grateful.”
While Chicago Dramatists continues to evolve to meet the needs of today’s playwrights, it stands on the considerable legacy of its many notable Resident Playwright Emeriti, and especially the company’s longtime helmsman, Russ Tutterow. Resident Playwright Reginald Edmund wrote Southbridge, the last play Tutterow directed. “I think about Russ a great deal…in every script that I write, anytime I take on the role of a producer or director, I think about him. There was no room for ego in his work, just pure kindness and creativity. He recognized that artists grow and work best when they are given the opportunity to succeed and fail. He championed diverse voices and dared us to take risks. He incited an exciting new perspective on new play development.”
Manny Buckley as Christopher and Ashley Honore as Nadia in the world premiere of Southbridge, by Reginald Edmund, 2013
Ashley Honore, Manny Buckley, and Wendy Robie as Lucinda in the world premiere of Southbridge, by Reginald Edmund, 2013
Playwright Reginald Edmund, Director Russ Tutterow, and the cast and crew of Chicago Dramatists’ production of Southbridge, 2013
