Project Playwright, a local group of comprised of published author and playwright Dave Hanson and film director Erich McGrew are inviting local playwrights to pit their writing skills against each other over three rounds and a final next month (April 14, 15, 21 & 22). The playwrights will be given a writing task at 9:00 PM in the evening and must submit a finished 10-minute play to a director and cast. That team will have 12 hours to go from page to stage and fully realize the play before an audience and panel that evening. The audience will vote and a panel of judges will vote and will have equal influence in deciding the winner. The winning playwright from each round will advance to a final round (April 22, 2012) during which the winner will be selected. This exciting theater project will be filmed and released shortly after the performance as a web video series to highlight the proceedings.
Project Playwright already has local writers and directors involved. The competing playwrights range in age from old to young and come from the Fringe Festival, UMKC, and local playwrights groups. To date, the playwrights involved include: Peter Bakely, Bryan Colley, Allie Jordan, Michael Ruth, and Vicky Vodrey The panel of judges includes Ed Einhorn – a mainstay in the avant-garde New York Theater world who produced both the recent Havel and Ionesco Festivals there to rave reviews and Theodore Swetz – The Patricia McIlrath Endowed Chair in Theater Arts, Acting at UMKC. Project Playwright is confident that this much energy and talent will produce some truly amazing results.
Project Playwright
5 Emerging Playwrights
4 Rounds
3 Playwrights per round
2 Weekends of performances
1 Survivor
More information about Project Playwright and the talent involved may be found at: www.facebook.com/projectplaywright
