Happy New Year...and let me offer a hearty welcome to Inkblog!
A bunch of theater folks here in DC are starting 2008 out with a bang (more like a series of bangs) as we launch The Inkwell theater company and its first Inkubator Festival. If you're reading this, the very first Inkblog posting, you've learned a little bit about us and are excited about what we are doing. But let me fill in a few more details to get you even more revved up.
The Inkwell is the brainchild of Jessi Burgess — director, dramaturg, and all around theater conspirator with a vision for Washington, DC. Why shouldn't our Nation's Capitol be more than the seat of power here in the United States, but also be a wellspring for new plays? There's an amazing array of interesting theater in this town… but there's no one resource devoted solely to cultivating playwrights — to inspire, incite and challenge them to create bold plays that put the impossible on stage.
So she brought together a motley crew of playmakers — directors, actors, designers, and aspiring playwrights — to scheme and plan. And we all realized that we not only wanted to create new plays, but we wanted to share our excitement and sense of adventure with anyone who was interested. We wanted to create an entirely open and inclusive process that recognized the essential contribution that theater artists and audience members alike make in developing a new play.
And so, the first Inkubator Festival was born. Throughout the month of January (January 5th through January 28th, to be exact), we are holing up at the H Street Playhouse in Northeast DC to develop three new works — The F Word by Melissa Blackall, Underground by Jim McManus, and OK by yours truly, culminating in staged readings and two bare bones productions. We're also hosting workshops and panel discussions to explore the process of playmaking (Check out the calendar of events, if you haven't already).
And we're launching Inkblog to chronicle the festival. Here you'll find the thoughts, opinions, and musings of many of us involved in The Inkubator Festival. We hope that this pushes the stage curtain further aside to give you additional insight into all that goes into playmaking.
And please, by all means, post your own thoughts and comments about the festival and The Inkwell approach to new play development. Join us in playmaking in whatever way you can.
Anne M. McCaw
writer and founding member of The Inkwell
A bunch of theater folks here in DC are starting 2008 out with a bang (more like a series of bangs) as we launch The Inkwell theater company and its first Inkubator Festival. If you're reading this, the very first Inkblog posting, you've learned a little bit about us and are excited about what we are doing. But let me fill in a few more details to get you even more revved up.
The Inkwell is the brainchild of Jessi Burgess — director, dramaturg, and all around theater conspirator with a vision for Washington, DC. Why shouldn't our Nation's Capitol be more than the seat of power here in the United States, but also be a wellspring for new plays? There's an amazing array of interesting theater in this town… but there's no one resource devoted solely to cultivating playwrights — to inspire, incite and challenge them to create bold plays that put the impossible on stage.
So she brought together a motley crew of playmakers — directors, actors, designers, and aspiring playwrights — to scheme and plan. And we all realized that we not only wanted to create new plays, but we wanted to share our excitement and sense of adventure with anyone who was interested. We wanted to create an entirely open and inclusive process that recognized the essential contribution that theater artists and audience members alike make in developing a new play.
And so, the first Inkubator Festival was born. Throughout the month of January (January 5th through January 28th, to be exact), we are holing up at the H Street Playhouse in Northeast DC to develop three new works — The F Word by Melissa Blackall, Underground by Jim McManus, and OK by yours truly, culminating in staged readings and two bare bones productions. We're also hosting workshops and panel discussions to explore the process of playmaking (Check out the calendar of events, if you haven't already).
And we're launching Inkblog to chronicle the festival. Here you'll find the thoughts, opinions, and musings of many of us involved in The Inkubator Festival. We hope that this pushes the stage curtain further aside to give you additional insight into all that goes into playmaking.
And please, by all means, post your own thoughts and comments about the festival and The Inkwell approach to new play development. Join us in playmaking in whatever way you can.
Anne M. McCaw
writer and founding member of The Inkwell
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