BY LUCIA MAURO
To get a concrete sense of the expansive impact of Chicago Dramatists’ playwright-development programs, one need only page through the company’s report which lists 315 "individual accomplishments" for the 2000-01 season. Those achievements range from professional productions (local, national and international) to awards, commissions, fellowships, readings, workshops, publications and new plays festivals.
In addition to Rebecca Gilman’s bulging file which includes worldwide productions, fresh commissions and fellowships, Lydia R. Diamond’s The Gift Horse will receive its professional world premiere at Goodman Theatre this winter, David Barr III’s Bronzeville opens Pegasus Players’ 2001-02 season, Carson Grace Becker (of A Mislaid Heaven fame) was the recipient of a 2001 Illinois Arts Council Playwriting Fellowship and John Green’s The Liquid Moon debuts at Chicago Dramatists through Nov. 4.
In the last year, Chicago Dramatists nurtured the work of over 550 playwrights through its readings, productions, workshops and classes. The organization’s more than 8,500 participants include playwrights, theatre artists, students and audiences. It hires over 600 actors and directors each year, making it one of the largest employers of artists in Illinois.
All of these milestones prompt the question: What is Chicago Dramatists’ unique formula for success?
Artistic director Russ Tutterow stresses that one key is that Chicago Dramatists’ mission has not changed since its founding in 1979: "To discover, nurture and promote the plays and playwrights that will contribute to the national theatre repertory; and a greater goal—to touch the lives of audience members."
Originally based in the old Organic Theatre, Chicago Dramatists has been located at 1105 W. Chicago Ave. since 1988. The group’s impressive growth can be largely attributed to its approach of working with writers over a long period of time rather than centering on a particular play. And as Tutterow points out, "There’s no step 1, 2 or 3 to our development method. We tailor development to the playwright. It’s very personal here."
Submissions for Chicago Dramatists’ Resident Playwright Program—open to emerging and established Chicago-area playwrights with demonstrated artistic and professional accomplishment—are taken once a year (April 1 deadline). If accepted, no fee is required and recipients receive a three-year renewable term. Chicago Dramatists currently has 24 resident playwrights and recently appointed McKinley Johnson, Robert Koon, Mia McCullough and Susan Nussbaum to the program.
"Residents are expected to write and be here for readings," explains Tutterow, "and assist fellow writers and network playwrights."
The latter group, network playwrights, was established in the early 1990s in an effort to be more inclusive. There are now over 100 members from around the country. The only program of its kind in the U.S., the Playwrights’ Network strives to discover new voices, extend the theatre’s impact beyond Chicago, provide developmental and networking resources to playwrights who are underserved due to their geographic location and offer all playwrights a professional association with Chicago Dramatists and, by extension, the Chicago theatre community. The Network is open year-round to all interested playwrights for an annual feel of $110 the first year, and $95 for subsequent years.
By expanding its reach, Chicago Dramatists is able to tackle one of the most pressing challenges facing most new playwrights. Managing director Anne Filmer, who came on board this year, is a great proponent of seeking out further production opportunities for playwrights.
"It’s very important to continue the life of the play," says Filmer. "We all talk about new plays, but we can’t get stuck in that world premiere production. We’re promoting plays through more productions here. Our reputation that we’re producing a play is of merit, and other theatres have heard about a play through our productions. We’re also planning to go out to more conferences and conventions. Our Web site and resource catalogs are very beneficial."
She adds that Chicago Dramatists, while not ignoring the marketing involved in the playwriting profession, focuses primarily on the work. Filmer makes it a point to actively stay in touch with playwrights to keep track of their progress.
Chicago Dramatists’ productions are the result of numerous meetings, readings and workshops. Its two-show 2001-02 "Lunar" season features Green’s The Liquid Moon and Joel Drake Johnson’s A Blue Moon.
"Producing work is where the real development comes from," says Tutterow. "It says we’re proud of the work, and we’re backing it."
He selects plays for production mainly from works by resident and network playwrights that have been developed to stage readiness through Chicago Dramatists’ other programs (including the popular 2 p.m. Saturday readings; 10-minute workshops; other special workshops; private "table" readings; and more). Tutterow’s decisions are informed by recommendations from the theatre’s staff, resident playwrights and other advisors. While variety and diversity are considerations, notes Tutterow, the most important selection criteria are quality and the estimated potential of a play to move on to the national repertory.
They also strive to bring writers and directors together. Kevin Heckman directed the first staged reading of McCullough’s Chagrin Falls, which is currently running in a full-fledged production under Heckman’s direction at Stage Left Theatre.
Green is an actor-playwright whose The Liquid Moon centers on a man’s platonic "experiment" with a wounded young poet. His play, directed by Filmer, is Dramatists’ season opener and was developed through private and public readings and dramaturgical sessions at Chicago Dramatists and a reading at Goodman Theatre.
Green says that, since drama is a dialogue, the best way to critique a new work is by asking the playwright questions. That’s what Chicago Dramatists has done for him—a more satisfactory approach, he believes, than merely editing his plays.
Chicago Dramatists hosts several playwriting, screenwriting and directing classes for beginning and working professionals. Teachers this fall include Ann Noble Massey, June Pyskacek, Lydia R. Diamond, Dan Conway and David Cromer. In addition, Chicago Dramatists sponsors collaborative readings, festivals, discussions and productions with several theatres and organizations, including Goodman, Steppenwolf, Victory Gardens, Circle, Bailiwick, Prop Thtr, Equity Library Theatre, Women’s Theatre Alliance and The Dramatists Guild.
For more information on Chicago Dramatists, call 312/633-0630 or log onto www.chicagodramatists.org.