Summertime explorations at the Source

Hello all -

It's the ghost of Anne returning to tell you about the latest goings on at The Inkwell.  While we all needed a bit of a rest after the January Inkubator festivities, Inkwellians soon revived and we have been busy scheming and planning.  And now our latest plot is coming to fruition!

Over the next three weeks, we are teaming up with the folks of the Source Festival to offer a series of panels that explore various aspects of playmaking.  And we've brought some rather distinguished theatre artists from out of town to join us in the discussion.

Here's the lowdown (you can also take a look at our calendar for more details, including more detailed biographies of each of the panelists:

Award-winning teacher and theatre artist Gary Garrison and Heideman Award winning playwright Marco Ramirez head up the first of three panel discussions hosted by The Inkwell as part of the Source Festival (June 23rd-July 6th) at the newly renovated Source Theatre.  This first panel, Ten-Minute Plays in American Theatre (held on June 22nd at 8:00 p.m.), focuses on one of the most innovative and popular forms of theatre in America Today.  Jeremy Skidmore, the producer of the Source Festival, is the third panelist.

Garrison, Ramirez, and Skidmore bring a wealth of experience, knowledge, and insights into the discussion of this important theatrical form.  Gary Garrison is renowned teacher, playwright, and author who serves as the Executive Director for Creative Affairs of the Dramatists Guild of America and the Artistic Director and Division Head of Playwriting for the Goldberg Department of Dramatic Writing at the Tisch School of the Arts.  Miami-based playwright Marco Ramirez won the prestigious Heideman Award for this short play I am not Batman from the Actors Theatre of Louisville and is the literary manager for the City Theatre that produces the Summer Shorts American Short Play Festival.  Jeremy Skidmore is the producer of the Source Festival, a Helen Hayes nominated director, and the former artistic director of DC's Theatre Alliance.

In addition to participating in this first panel, Gary Garrison will teach a weekend playwriting master class, How to Write a Kick-Ass Ten-Minute Play (June 21st and 22nd at Flashpoint, culminating in a viewing of ten-minute plays at the Source Theatre on June 23rd).  Sorry, folks, the class is sold out!

The second panel, Collaboration in New Work (held on June 29th at 5 p.m.), features Synetic Theater's dynamic and award-winning collaborating team Paata and Irina Tsikurishvili.  The third and final panel, New Works in Washington (held on July 6th at 5:00 p.m.), features David Dower, Associate Artistic Director at Arena Stage and head of its new Cradle program, as well as noted Washington City Paper theatre critic, Trey Graham, exploring the role that the Nation's Capital plays in the emergence of a new generation of playwrights.

Our illustrious Artistic Director, Jessica Burgess, will moderate each of the panels.

Designed to complement the programming of the Source Festival, each of The Inkwell's panel discussion focuses on a different aspect of playmaking that relates to the festival's showcases of ten-minute plays, interdisciplinary projects, and one-act plays.

So please come out and join us for the conversation.  And if you can't, please check back here as various Inkwellians (and maybe a few special guests) share with you all the juicy details.