Beckett’s Babies

In this episode, we discuss some of the ideas behind writing prompt and playwriting exercises, our own personal experience with prompts, and share a few of our favorites. What do we look for in a prompt that makes for an effective, productive, creative writing exercises? Give this episode a listen and be sure to let us know what you think!

GLISTENS:

LINKS:

Additional writing prompts:

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Please support Beckett's Babies by reviewing, sharing an episode to your friends, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter: @beckettsbabies

And as always, we would love to hear from you!

Send us your questions or thoughts on playwriting and we might discuss it in our next episode.

As part of our monthly play series, we pick a play to discuss and this month’s play is a collection of 3 one-act comedy plays called “Power Plays” by Elaine May and Alan Arkin. Instead of looking at the plays individually, we attempt to look at all 3 one-act plays together as it was intended to be performed in a single evening of theater. We are going to discuss what we noticed, what we liked, and questions that came up while reading the play. Note: There are some spoiler alerts! We highly recommend you read the play before listening to this episode!

About POWER PLAYS:

Power Plays consists of 3 one-act plays called “The Way of All Fish”, “Virtual Reality” and “In and Out of the Light”. These are three short plays about the collision of wills and power that premiered Off-Broadway.

Elaine May is an American comedian, film director, screenwriter, and actress. She made her initial impact in the 1950s from her improvisational comedy routines with Mike Nichols, performing as Nichols and May. 

Alan Arkin is an Academy Award-winning American actor who is also an acclaimed director, producer, author, singer, and composer.

RELATED LINKS:

“THEATER; 'Power Plays,' Something More Than a Family Affair”  By Vincent Canby (May 31, 1998)

Arkin Tries Out His `Power Plays' by Janet I-Chin Tu (Mar 1, 1998) Seattle Times Theater Critic

In Brief: ‘Power Plays’vBy John Simon (JUNE 8, 1998)

GLISTENS:

Sarah -  Black Girls Run, a nonprofit organization dedicated to health & fitness for young black women to get together and run in groups. https://blackgirlsrun.com/

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Please support Beckett's Babies by reviewing, sharing an episode to your friends, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter: @beckettsbabies

Hello listeners! We are so excited for you to listen to this new episode of Beckett's Babies! We had an amazing conversation discussing all-things playwriting with playwright, actor, producer MARJORIE MULLER! In this episode, Marjorie shares how she got into playwriting, her tips and tricks, and we also do a little deep dive in the social media (uh oh!). We hope you enjoy this episode!

Marjorie Muller is a Chicago-based playwright, actor, and producer, whose work has been featured at Urbanite Theater, the Women's Theatre Festival, Impostors Theatre Company, and more. She is currently developing an adaptation of Dracula for young adults called "Lucy Westenra Is Definitely Not (And Will Never Be) a Vampire" that will be performed this Fall at the Latin School of Chicago. She is also producing a live audio drama with Theatre in the Dark based on War of the Worlds which will be happening this upcoming Fall.

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To learn more about Marjorie and her work, be sure to check out the following websites:

Also! Marjorie shared with us her favorite playwriting exercise. Go to our website www.beckettsbabies.com to learn more!

Please support Beckett's Babies by reviewing, sharing an episode to your friends, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter: @beckettsbabies

And as always, we would love to hear from you!

Send us your questions or thoughts on playwriting and we might discuss it in our next episode.

As part of our new monthly play series, we pick a play to discuss and this month’s play is “Sweat" by Lynn Nottage. In this episode, we discuss what we noticed, what we liked, and questions that came up while reading the play. Note: There are some spoilers! We highly recommend you read the play before listening to this episode!

SWEAT tells the story of a group of friends who have spent their lives sharing drinks, secrets, and laughs while working together on the factory floor. But when layoffs and picket lines begin to chip away at their trust, the friends find themselves pitted against each other in a heart-wrenching fight to stay afloat. (summary from Dramatist Play Service)

SWEAT won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play premiered at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2015; it was produced Off-Broadway in 2016 and on Broadway in 2017.

Lynn Nottage is an American playwright whose work often deals with the lives of marginalized people. She is a professor of Playwriting at Columbia University. She was the first woman to have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice; the first in 2009 for Ruined, and the second in 2017 for Sweat.

See Lynn Nottage in this interview explaining the origins of SWEAT from Public Theater:

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Please support Beckett's Babies by reviewing, sharing an episode to your friends, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter: @beckettsbabies

How do you think about research when beginning a new play? When do you begin the research process? How do you know when to start writing? In this episode we discuss our own experiences on which plays of ours have required research; how did we do this research; and how do we feel about research. We ask ourselves how do we incorporate research without making the play overly expositional or boring and what are some best practices in organizing all this research? Let us know what you think! We'd love to hear from you.

GLISTENS:

"On the Fine Art of Researching For Fiction" by Jake Wolff

“Inspiration from artifacts: writing plays for the future inspired by the past” by Katie Bender

On dramaturgy

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Hi listeners! In this episode, we chat with the one and only Playwright, Co-Founder and Managing Curating Producer of Black Lives Black Words International Project Reginald Edmund.

Black Lives Black Words International Project launched an online play season celebrating the diversity of the African-American and African experience in today’s world called ‘Plays for the People’. The season features new works from seven cutting-edge black playwrights: Reginald Edmund, Chisa Hutchinson, Anya Pearson, Dominic Taylor, Idris Goodwin, Katrina D. RiChard, and Wole Oguntokun. The season opened on July 8th and will continue to run through November 8th, 2020.

Learn more about Black Lives Black Words and be sure to catch a show this season at www.blacklivesblackwords.org/get-tickets

To learn more about Reginald's plays, check out his New Play Exchange here:

GLISTENS

Please support Beckett's Babies by reviewing, sharing an episode to your friends, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter: @beckettsbabies

And as always, we would love to hear from you!

Send us your questions or thoughts on playwriting and we might discuss it in our next episode.

We are excited for an all-new series where we look at the work of a single playwright and from their large body of work, we look at the first play they’ve ever written, a play from their mid-career, and the latest or the most recent play of their career. 

In this first of what we hope to be many series, we discuss the life and work of August Wilson. We read the three plays Jitney, The Piano Lesson, and Radio Golf to discuss our thoughts and August Wilson's craft of playwriting. We hope you will check these plays out and join us!

AUGUST WILSON PLAYS:

1. Jitney

GLISTENS:

Sarah's:  I hate fireworks.

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Please support Beckett's Babies by reviewing, sharing an episode to your friends, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter: @beckettsbabies

Have you ever written an artistic statement? Every playwright, at some point in their career, has to write an artistic statement, or what others might call a “Manifesto”. Whether it be for a playwriting opportunity, or for your website, it might be good to have one in your arsenal ready to go. In this episode, we want to discuss what it is, what’s the purpose, why it may or may not be important, how you could approach to writing one, and questions to help you get started in thinking about what your artistic statement.

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HELPFUL LINKS:

Tips for Writing Your Artistic Statement from the Playwrights Corner.

“The Artist Statement - From Playwrights to Artistic Directors, This is What They Said…” from Theaterspeak

"What's Your Brand? Not Having One Is Hurting You"

Please support Beckett's Babies by reviewing, sharing an episode to your friends, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter: @beckettsbabies

And as always, we would love to hear from you!

Send us your questions or thoughts on playwriting and we might discuss it in our next episode.

Based in Chicago, Tanuja Jagernauth is an Indo-Caribbean playwright, dramaturg, and ceramic artist who believes in the necessity of creation during times of destruction. We talked with Tanuja a few months ago about her theatrical work, and we have her back on to discuss her work organizing the response of Chicago theaters to the Black Lives Matter movement, the coronavirus pandemic, and this moment in time. She will be working on a musical adaptation of FAUST with Prop Thtr with Olivia Lilley as the director. They start a workshop in July and the production will be in the spring of 2021. Be sure to be on the lookout!

GLISTENS:

Tanuja's Recommendations, References & Uplifts:

WASTED by Free Street Theater

"Victory Gardens Boards Windows Against Black Lives, Arts Community Protests Leadership" by Regina Victor

TransformHarm

"It takes more than #OpenYourLobby to address racism in American theater" by Miranda Gonzalez

Brave Space Alliance

Chicago Freedom School

Let Us Breathe Collective

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Please support Beckett's Babies by reviewing, sharing an episode to your friends, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter: @beckettsbabies

And as always, we would love to hear from you!

Send us your questions or thoughts on playwriting and we might discuss it in our next episode.