Stuff Theatre People Like: Cultivating Playwrights

Calling All Playwrights!!

BerkshireFringe, which takes place every summer in Great Barrington, MA sent out this statement earlier this month - they are looking to cultivate aspiring, young playwrights? Think you'd like to apply? Check out the info below:

EarlyStages, Bazaar Productions' playwriting program is now accepting applications from all over New England. Any one between the ages of 18 and 26 that resides or attends school in New England is eligible for the program.

About the Program

EarlyStages takes place each summer during The Berkshire Fringe. The program gives three college-aged writers the opportunity to develop an original play under the mentorship of a professional playwright. Once again, Emmy Award-winning writer Laura Maria Censabella will participate as the professional playwright mentor. The program culminates with a professional reading of the young writers' work at The Berkshire Fringe.

Participants must:

• Be between the ages of 18 and 26.

• Reside in or attend school in New England (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island or Vermont).

APPLICATIONS ARE DUE MARCH 15, 2011.

Interested applicants are required to submit at least 20 pages of the play they wish to continue to develop during the program. You will find the complete guidelines for submitting work, the application, and more information about Bazaar Productions and The Berkshire Fringe on our website:

http://berkshirefringe.org/earlystages

Have questions that this post doesn't answer? Send your queries to Co-Artistic Director of BerkshireFringe, Timothy Ryan Olsen at ryan@berkshirefringe.org.

Happy writings!

- EG

The (Theatre) People Vs. Kindle Culture

I took myself out to breakfast yesterday. As a single diner, I chose to sit at the counter of the restaurant, ordered some eggs and coffee, and took out a novel. As the waitress cleared my plate, she commented, "I'm impressed you're reading an actual book. Everyone in here has a Kindle. I'm not sure I've seen someone reading a real book in months." We briefly conversed on her's son's Christmas wish list of assorted electronics (she ended up get her 10 year old a phone that included the mp3 player, the phone, AND the video camera he wanted - problem solved) and the craziness of the world's dependence on electronic devices.

Now, I understand the convenience of the Kindle. If I'm George Clooney's character in Up in the Air, I'm absolutely going to own one of those babies. But, I'm not. And even if I was, I love to hold a book. I love flipping the pages, I love the smell, the weight, the feel, the nervousness I get when the cover gets dog eared. I love writing notes in the margins. I love placing it on my shelf when I've finished, ready to pick it up again when the mood strikes. Collecting books is a way of gauging my intellect, my journey through the world of literature, I display them as proudly as I display my writing awards from 3rd grade and my college diploma. (Plus, you can let someone borrow a a real book - how cool is that? Right!?) Which gets me to thinking, why are we moving away from actual, physical novels to the electronic kind? Is it that we find them inaccessible? Bulky? And what does that say about us? Most of us are NOT traveling so often that we can't pick up a paperback. Come on, people.

And if the Kindle is stomping all over print culture, is that the fate of the theatre? Will Blu Rays and blockbuster films eventually run us over? What is happening to us? Why can't we relate to things in person any more? What's wrong with books and live theatre? Like Kenny, I've been watching quite a lot of Slings and Arrows lately and a lot of the characters are battling the same thing - why do we find live theatre not accessible? Why can't we just watch people relate on stage? Theatre is not boring. It's beautiful. I'm not sure if this post has turned into a rant or drawn any conclusions, but these questions have been eating at me for the past 24 hours. And I've yet to find answers. I'm not really one for New Year's Resolutions but I'll say this, I pledge to keep asking these questions in hopes that the continued conversation will help me get some peace.

Oh, and of course, I won't be buying a Kindle in the next 361 days.

- E

Stuff Theatre People Like: Free Music

So I love free music. You love free music. And this music is an art in itself. For those of you who don't already know Girl Talk, I'm happy to introduce you.. for free. Girl Talk is the stage name of Gregg Gillis a super fabulous mash-up artist from Pittsburgh. He takes music from a variety of genres and generations and literally mashes them together. The tracks are meant to be listened to in succession and I love listening to them. (He's also an incredible performer - I saw him live once and in college and he blew my mind.)

Here's a link to his newest album. I highly recommend this for all of your theatre folk out there.

Click me for beats.

Stuff Theatre People Like: Artsy Independent Coffee Shops

This installment of Stuff Theatre People Like is for all of your writers out there. Sometimes the hardest thing about writing is getting started. Even though I know I have a task in front of me, I just can't sit down and do it in my apartment. (Especially if there's no deadline.) There's tv, the room I'm supposed to be cleaning, Facebook. But in a coffee shop, somehow it's easier to ignore those little chat windows. Or not. Which is fine, because I have the attention span of a small child, but anyways. At least there's no tv. Moving on.

I decided to start working on a couple of projects that I've had on the back burner and as I was driving around doing errands, I decided to stop in Taste in Newtonville. It's a cute little place with table service, gorgeous cappucinos (they're sooo pretty. and tasty too. but really pretty), and the best lemon poppyseed muffin I've ever had. There was no need for headphones (which saves my computer battery!) because the staff makes a great playlist to set the mood - everything from the Beatles to Phoenix to Foo Fighters. It was chill, quaint and made me feel better about spending money on coffee than I do at Starbucks. (Plus there was free wi-fi. Holler.)

And the best part is, I ACTUALLY GOT WORK DONE. I'm reworking some scripts that I've started (GASP) and I'm helping a friend hash out the start to a screen play. It was nice to settle into my nook and do some work and I would highly recommend it to those who might be passing through the area looking for a place to do work. Regardless of whether you hit up taste or not, that's my weekend recommendation to all of you. Even if you're feeling stuck, a change of scenery might be what you need. Or a muffin. A delicious, delicious muffin. :)

Stuff Theatre People Like: Well Executed Accents

When I'm not working on a show, I sometimes find it hard to muse up topics for my blog posst. However, in thinking about Kenny's blog post about "theatre people" I realized that there are things that "theatre people" appreciate differently that than non-theatre people. I'm reclaiming the phrase theatre people to categorize those in the industry: actors, directors, producers, etc. And while pondering this I came up with an idea for a recurring blog installment: Stuff Theatre People Like. (It's not quite as classy as stuffwhitepeoplelike.com but that's okay, those guys have been blogging for years. Haha.) Basically, when I find something I thing a particular branch of the theatre people tree would enjoy, I'll post it up here.

The first installment is for actors - it's about ACCENTS.

I'm going to level with you -- I'm terrible at accents. I took a course on dialects when I studied in London and I never really got the hang of any of them. (I'm also probably a bad actor when I tell you that I still don't fully understand the difference between an accent and a dialect.) We tried Scottish, Irish, High Status British, and Cockney. I really don't have an ear for them. I wish I did. (For the sake of The Town, I wish Blake Lively did too, but that's another story.) Having the ability to transition through different accents would help when it comes to my marketability. Even though I don't have that ability, I'm still interested in watching other actors handle the issue with ease.

I submit for your viewing pleasure, an episode of The Good Guys, a show that starts Bradley Whitford and Colin Hanks. The show takes place is Dallas and in most episodes Bradley Whitford convincingly pulls off his Texan accent (at least I think so, but I've never been to Texas). HOWEVER, in this episode, he tries an Italian mobster accent on top of his Texan one. It's phenomenal to watch. Especially if you've seen him in other things (aka The West Wing) where he sports a New Englander's dialect. Anyways, watch it, enjoy it, respond to it.

As a THEATRE PERSON, Erika recommends Silvio's Way, Episode 1.8 of The Good Guys which airs on Friday nights at 9 pm on FOX and can also be found on hulu.com.