I was fortunate recently to attend an emerging theater in New York City and gain a first-person understanding of how plays are born.
I went to a reading at a salon performance hosted by “Playsmiths,” literally Off-Broadway at the Manhattan Theatre Club on 43rd Street.
Playsmiths is a collaboration of theatre professionals that uniquely combines developmental readings, feedback sessions, and informational discussions into one endeavor to further the future of American drama.
There, my friend, surgeon and amateur playwright Steve Becker was having his play read by the group. I have spoken with Steve over the many months he has written the piece, and it was exciting to see it performed.
Playsmiths is one of the many theater groups in New York. Logo credit: nycnerd.com.
Performances at Playsmiths are emotionally intense – almost uncomfortable when sitting in the front row, eye-to-eye, with the performers sitting, reading less than eight feet away.
The one-act play, Baby Blue, was performed by the able team of Doug Rossi (James) and Alice Connorton (Doris). Stage directions were read by Bruce Barton. Alice has a look frequently compared to Frances Conroy, and Doug looks a tad like Christian Slater.
Steve’s play concerns a man in his new Corvette who gets rear-ended by a woman in a Mini Cooper. Initially hostile towards one another, the pair finally agrees to go down the road to a restaurant to swap insurance details.
The play, often humorous, spoke of one man’s midlife crisis in possible harmony with a strange woman’s own mid-life circumstance – with her biological clock ticking and no man in sight.
He explained to me his motivation:
For many years, I have been told that I should write the stories I have told. Several friends and my wife Giovanna have though that my tales were funny.
This piece – Baby Blue – was written about an accident that a woman might get into checking out a man, and ‘blue eyes’ was its theme.
Into today's world what might bring them together might rest in the science of our day and a need to have children.
Since starting to write I need a audience to hear the rough drafts and acts to perform my work.
Playsmiths is that medium. We meet once a week and writers and actors have a chance to practice our art.
The salon performance I witnessed also included an excerpt from Stein/Bohr by Jonathan Alexandratos, Fire (Motorcycle Love Song) by Aliza Einhorn, an excerpt from Friend by Fredric Sinclair, and Movie Love by C. R. de Abeydeera.
The process of creating characters and dialogue from scratch amazes me. I write a story a day, but each is based on real people and real conversations. I cannot fathom making it all up.
Reading of LETHE by Fredric Sinclair. Photo courtesy of Playsmiths.
New York playwrights often remind me of James Kirkwood’s P.S. Your Cat is Dead, dealing with an endless array of city emotions that run from abandonment to depression. Perhaps merely human emotions, expressed all the way back to the Greeks.
Steven’s profile in the program was unabashedly modest. “Becker was born in Brooklyn, graduated Brooklyn College with a Bachelor of Science degree and received his doctorate in the healing arts from the University of Brussels. Steven has written articles about procedures related to interior re-design, poetry and plays.”
Playsmiths was founded in May 2009 by Jonathan Alexandratos, Ann Farthing, Chrysta Naron, and Michael Selkirk.
“I have been a part of several playwrighting groups in Los Angeles and New York, including facilitating The Last Word, a Playwrights Collective, after founder Catherine Coke moved cross country,” explained Ann Farthing, facilitator of Playsmiths.
“Playwrights need structure – it’s lonely work, writing – but knowing other people are looking forward to your new pages really helps the writer to commit to the project.”
Other Playsmiths playwright members include C. J. Ehrlich, Michael Fishman, John M. Gifford, Tariq Hamami, Peter Kapsales, Linda Kuriloff, Debbra D. Liverman, and Brett Maugham.
In addition to the actors appearing at the salon I attended, other Playsmiths actor members include Maria Barberi, Leigh Carlson, Jonathan Craig, Lori Kee, Anja Lee, Charles Major, Veronique Ory, Jim Siatkowski, and Karen Sweeney.
Playsmiths director members include Lori Kee, Chrysta Naron, and Ann Farthing.
I was fascinated to learn that “Playwright” is spelled W-R-I-G-H-T because plays are wrought, hammered into shape, as metal. “Plays must be crafted, and the crafters of drama must be provided a safe place to learn, to fail, and ultimately to succeed. That is the goal of Playsmiths,” Ann explained.
Ann has been working in theatre and film as a writer, director, producer, and actor for almost 30 years. She has a B.A. in theatre from California State University Los Angeles and has done post-graduate work in film, playwrighting, and criticism at UCLA, USC, and the American Film Institute.
A native of Los Angeles, Ann currently lives in Manhattan with her husband actor Michael Selkirk, who belongs to both SAG and AFTRA. Ann is an instructor at Touro College’s School of Career and Applied Studies, and is a member of the Dramatists Guild.
In the 1990’s, Ann served on the Board of Directors of the National Repertory Theatre Foundation and as Literary Manager for NRTF's National Play Awards.
Interestingly, in 2003 and 2004 Ann served as a voting member of the Los Angeles Theatre Awards portion of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation’s Annual GLAAD Media Awards.
The next Playsmiths meeting is Sunday, January 10 at 5 pm. Meetings consist of actors reading aloud playwrights’ works-in-progress, followed by constructive feedback.
Playwrights have the responsibility of submitting their desire to be scheduled for a particular meeting, and for providing sufficient copies (one for every actor, one for reading of the stage directions, and one for the facilitator).
“We welcome playwrights and actors at all levels of development. We want to share our experience with you – and vice versa! Feel free to contact us to see if our group is right for you and if we share the same goals,” Ann said. E-mail the group at playsmiths@gmail.com if you’re interested in attending a meeting.
See other stories on the Arts written or edited by Jim Luce:
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El Museo del Barrio: Fifth Avenue on Fire (Huffington Post)
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