International Centre for Women Playwrights

February 2019

16 Feb 2019 6:53 PM | Sharon Wallace

Editor's Introduction

Greetings,

I would like to introduce myself as the new editor of the ICWP Newsletter. I have been a member of the Board and secretary since 2014. I am a playwright, poet and teacher. As of last year I have accepted the position of editor of the newsletter from Mona Curtis, who served as editor for many successful years to focus on her creative work.

The newsletter team and I look forward to continuing to produce a lively and informative Newsletter for the membership.

The Theme for this year's Newsletter: International Women Playwrights

Newsletter Team:

Sharon Wallace (Editor)

Amy Drake(Coming Soon- member productions)

Karin Williams (Articles of Interest)

Eliza Wyatt (Spotlight)

Amy Oestreicher (International News)

Other Contributors:

Pat L. Morin (ICWP President)

Debbie Miller

Thoko Zulu

Our goals

To produce the newsletter every 3 months

February, May, August, November.

Articles (written by team or invited guest from membership)
Podcast Interviews
Videos of member productions from
3 minute productions
Rehearsals
Readings
Recent Festivals

From Karin Williams VP

Introduction of New Logo

Here is the new logo, created by Indonesian artist Samul Abdi

The new logo illustrates our global mission as an organization, while highlighting the diversity of our membership with rainbow colors. Several versions are now available for different uses.

From Amy Drake

MY LIFE WITH MAHLER

A one-act reading of a monologue

by Amy Drake

Sunday, March 10 at 7:00 p.m.

Madlab Theatre, 227 N. Third St. Columbus, OH

Tickets: hhtp://www.madlab.net/index.html

PASSAGEWAYS: Songs of Connection, Abnormal and Sublime

16 March 2019 7:00 PM - Amy Oestreicher

BLUEPRINT MEDIA

Written and directed by Julia Pascal

At the Finborough Theatre

May 21- June 8, 2019

IDA .B. 'N The Lynching Tree

Written by Carolyn Nur Wistrand

Directed by Cherelle Palmer

February 15, 16, 22 and 23 2019

Cook Theatre, Dillard University

Tickets: 504-816-4857

THE OWL GIRL

Written by Monica Raymond

Directed by Bryna Raanan

February 28-March 20

The Center At West Park

Balcony Theatre

Tickets are available at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-owl-girl-tickets-53977563345

For more information, visit https://www.thml.org/

From Wendy-Marie Martin

3 Minute Play Contest Winners

ICWP is very excited to report that our 3-Minute Play Contest is off and running! With three rounds under our belt and submission levels rising, it looks like the ICWP 3-minute Play Contest is here to stay! We’d like to take a moment to thank our first three judges, Joy Hendry, Jill Patrick and Lindsay Price, and congratulate all of our Top 3 Winners so far:

JANUARY 2019 WINNERS (Theme: Secrets):

Secret Sharers by Dori Appel

Little Match Girl by Susan Cinoman

Miranda's Secret by Nina-Catherine Haigney

OCTOBER 2018 WINNERS (Theme: Epiphany)

Sea Changes by Christine Emmert

Moon Pixels by Judith Pratt

The Harvest by Michele Rittenhouse

JULY 2018 WINNERS (Theme: Survivors)

The Last Little Girl by Kay Adshead

Marney and the Cuttlefish by Elizabeth Douglas

Survivors by Carol Libman

Interviews with July 2018 Winners:

Meet the women who kicked it all off as our 3-Minute Play Contest coordinator, Wendy-Marie, has the pleasure of interviewing our first 3 winners and learning more about their writing process.

Wendy-Marie: Can you share with our members how and when you became a playwright?

Kay Adshead: From being a very small child I always wanted to make theatre. I made up plays, acted in them, roped in friends, and told everyone what to do. I also made the scenery and costumes, ran box office etc. So no change in my ambitions actually. I always wanted to write, I just left school, went to RADA, and acted first.

Elizabeth Douglas: I started playwriting this past April. As a nonfiction writer, I had gone down to the University of North Carolina to do research for a project, a biography, but this particular story kept jumping out at me as a play. So I decided not to fight it and spent the summer studying playwriting on my own, and wrote a ten-minute play as an exercise, which I then submitted to a few festivals. Incredibly it was produced in September and again in January.

Carol Libman: I'd known I wanted to be a writer from a very early age, but initially had my eye on being a foreign correspondent, getting my idea from an old movie with that title. I did manage to become a columnist for the Montreal Gazette at age 18, but foreign assignments were not to be. Married young and moved to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, for seven years, joined the Sault Theatre Workshop, started writing plays. And was forever bitten by the bug.

Wendy-Marie: How would you describe your experience creating 3 min plays?

Kay Ashead: I love short plays. I have a low attention threshold as an audience member. I get restless easily. I think there are artists who operate as marathon runners and other like sprinters. (That said of course, I normally write 90 - minute plays, and I have written very long plays.)

Elizabeth Douglas: I used to work as an editor. It always amazes me how much you can cut out of a piece of writing and still have the essentials--and how much stronger a story becomes with fewer words.

Carol Libman: I've had some experience and some success writing ten-minute plays, and liked the challenge of compressing the action still more. The shorter the play, the closer to the end is the beginning.

Wendy-Marie: What are your top 3 tips for emerging playwrights?

Kay Ashead:

1)JUST

2)DO

3)IT

Don’t be too self- critical. Don’t compare yourself to anyone else. Rewrite.

Elizabeth Douglas: I am so new, I'm the one who needs tips! But I often think about the exquisite writer Annie Dillard who said about writing, "Spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time."

Carol Libman: See plays, read plays, mull over ideas, find actors or other writers to read scenes, get feed-back, but don't be too swayed by it, unless you're convinced it's valid...keep going, take the punches, try not to be overwhelmed by so-called 'experts', meet with other playwrights for mutual support; and realize that the cliche is true: plays are not written, they're re-written.

Visit our membership page for more information on upcoming submissions for our ICWP 3-Minute Play Contest!

Not a Member? Join Here

New Members Since July 2018

Sharon Baker, South Carolina, USA
Gael Chandler, California, USA
Susan Cinoman, Connecticut, USA
Judith Cockman, Ontario, Canada
Hera Cook, Wellington, New Zealand
Suzanne d'Corsey, Vermont, USA
Chana Feinstein, California, USA
Susan Ferrara, New York, USA
Teresa Fogel, Connecticut, USA
Ed Friedman, New York, USA
Amy Garner Buchanan, Middlesex, UK
Sara Gmitter, New Mexico, USA
Stephanie Griffin, Pennsylvania, USA
Catherine Haigney, Virginia, USA
Jeanette Hill, Texas, USA
Gayle Hudson, Massachusetts, USA
Donna Latham, Texas, USA
Lylanne Musselman, Indiana, USA
Jill Patrick, Georgia, USA
Susan Jennifer Polese, New York, USA
Diane Rao Harman, Ohio, USA
Andrea Rockower, New York, USA
Moriah Shiddat, Michigan, USA
Jenifer Toksvig, UK
Eunice Uwadinma-Idemudia, Nigeria
Kristin Ward, Pennsylvania, USA
Desiree, Webber, Oklahoma, USA
Maggie Wilson, New York, USA
Ellen Wittlinger, Massachusetts, USA

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From Karin Williams

Articles of Interest

The Stage reports that women playwrights are finally getting some exposure in the West End.

India’s first International Women’s Performing Arts Festival was recently staged in Kolkata.

The Women of the World Festival in London celebrates International Women’s Day in March.

Theatermania highlights eight women whose work should be on Broadway in 2019 (even though no new plays by women are scheduled to premiere).

Another irksome parity issue in theater that’s getting some attention:the long line for the women’s restroom.

International News

The Emergence of Neuro-Theatre

Essay By Edward Einhorn