Have you ever thought about writing a play? If so, Playwrights’ Round Table offers a couple of judgment-free monthly workshops, both in person and virtual, for you to try your hand.
Playwrights’ Round Table, or PRT for short, is the only local theater group that specializes in producing new works, and they’re often developed at these workshops before they wind up on stage.
PRT Executive Director Chuck Dent says the group’s in-person workshops for local playwrights have been offered since 1997, while the virtual ones started due to necessity during COVID-19.
“Those became so popular that we decided to keep them as a regular feature,” said Dent. “We've had people from all over the country and all over the world. We've had a lot of Canadians. We've had people from New Zealand. We have a lady this year who's been joining us every month from Australia, very early in the day her time!”
Dent said the workshops offer a benefit that’s important to aspiring and experienced playwrights alike: actors are on hand to read the plays aloud.
“It's one thing when you hear it in your head…but hearing it out loud makes all the difference, especially because actors can give your words a different shading that you didn't think of, and bring out new meanings,” noted Dent. “It's as much a discovery process as it is, you know, just hearing it out loud and seeing what works and hearing what works.”
Dent is adamant about keeping the workshops open to everyone, as well as keeping them judgment-free.
“My philosophy when it comes to the workshops is, we're there to help develop not only the plays, but the playwrights,” he said. “So I don't turn anyone away. I do know of some playwrights’ groups, none here locally, they look at the plays beforehand and then decide which ones they want to read. To me, that's counterintuitive, because how do you help the playwright?”
Dent said the workshop’s feedback process does not judge plays as good or bad. Participants will share their takeaways from the piece, and describe which elements of a workshopped play “worked” for them versus which parts could use clarification. They’ll chew over matters like plot cohesion and whether the play gets across the playwright’s intentions.
Dent, an award-winning playwright himself, encourages would-be and aspiring writers to take a risk. “If you have the feeling that you need to get this down on paper and you’ve got to have somebody hear it, do it! Just write it down. Get it down. I think it's a Neil Gaiman quote: ‘A first draft is just getting paper dirty.’
