Friday, November 26, 2010

Playwrights Central

Mere seconds after our Colony writers returned to their regular lives, PTC welcomed Tant per Tant’s Tom Bentley Fisher and Elisabet Rafòls from Saskatoon, and Catalan writers Marta Buchaca, Pau Miró, and Pere Riera from Barcelona. The Catalan Connection is now in full swing, with seventeen actors joining the writing, translating and dramaturgical teams to explore the translation of three Catalan plays. You can see the pieces in progress at our readings with Pi Theatre Saturday and Sunday this week. The gang moves on to Playwrights Workshop Montreal for a final stop on the Canadian tour next week.

Meanwhile, we have 15 PTC members attending the GVPTA Making a Scene Conference, taking their questions and inspirations to the wider community. I look forward to posting reports from the conference in the coming weeks.

The scripts are still flying over the transom for Flying Start. With 3 hours to go until the deadline, we already have over 25 local writers in the selection pool for this Touchstone Theatre/PTC partnership that brings emerging playwrights to professional production.

On Monday November 29th, PTC-affiliated dramaturgs will join the dance community for a pair of workshops with Guy Cools, a dramaturg of international reputation who will be discussing ideas of Open Dramaturgy and the Intercultural Body. As part of our commitment to research and innovation, we look forward to more partnerships with development centres across the disciplines, and extend our thanks to the Dance Centre for inviting us to this session.

To round out 2010, I look forward to seeing as many of you in person as possible on Monday December 13th, at 7 pm, when PTC joins forces with The Only Animal for our joint Annual General Meetings. It will be a particularly exciting night for me, as I get to share the work of eight writers with you, writers who inspire me on a daily basis and contribute so much to the dynamic energy here at our headquarters on Granville Island. Eric Rhys Miller, whose play SOS will be produced by The Only Animal, in summer 2011, will give us a sneak preview. PTC has supported the development of the project for over two years, and will be invested in the development right up to opening night. Colony writer Andrew Templeton will read from one of his recent works – if you lobby him, it might even be from The Last Occupant of Troy, which he transformed during the 10 days of the Colony (without losing its Python-esque sense of humour). And it will be my great pleasure to finally introduce in person our PTC Associates, who are in residence with us for three years. Tim Carlson, Jan Derbyshire, Jenn Griffin, Jordan Hall, Lisa C. Ravensbergen, and Jeremy Waller will bring a diverse, compelling range of (short) pieces to life (you’ll notice there are some superb actors in the bunch!).




Back I go to making script notes...
Heidi Taylor
Dramaturg & Acting Executive Director




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