Save the Date for the 2012 LMDA Conference in Atlanta

The 2012 LMDA Conference will be held June 28 - July 1 in Atlanta. Mark your calendars now! Look for more info soon.

Consider a Year-End Donation to LMDA

Looking for a good home for those charitable dollars? Support the work we do and donate to LMDA.

LMDA Residency Program: Still a Few Days to Apply!

Through December 15, LMDA is accepting applications for 2012 Residency Grants. LMDA member dramaturgs are encouraged to approach theaters and introduce a dramaturgical role and relationship that would become part of an event within the upcoming season. The dramaturg and the theater together would then determine the role and extent of dramaturgical activity for a show, a special project, literary management support, play development workshops, or other carefully defined events. Stipends may be requested in the amounts of $1000, $1500 and $2000. Read more »

Uncanny Valley, from Hand2Mouth Theatre. Supported by a 2011 LMDA Residency Grant to Kate Bredeson.

LMDA Twitter Project Grows!

The LMDA Twitter Project offers a look into the lives and work of LMDA members. A rotating series of guest members each take the LMDA Twitter account (@LMDAmericas) for one week to tweet about the productions, projects, or coursework they are pursuing. Under the direction of LMDA VP of Communications Janine Sobeck and Twitter Project Coordinator Russ Dembin, the project has had fourteen guest hosts so far and is currently scheduled through March 2012! If you have a Twitter account, we hope you'll follow us at @LMDAmericas. Even if you don't use Twitter, you can still follow along and see all our past tweets on our Twitter site. You can also read short interviews with our past hosts on the LMDA website. If you're interested in participating, we hope you'll contact Russ Dembin at russell.dembin@gmail.com. Read more »

Fall Dramaturg Driven Grant Recipient: Leora Morris

LMDA is pleased to announce the recipient of the Fall 2011 round of Dramaturg Driven Grants: Leora Morris. Morris will research and program the first six-play season of a new reading series she is spearheading as part of her ongoing artistic relationship with Small Wooden Shoe Theatre Company.  Spread over the course of a year, "Small Wooden Shoe Reads Difficult Plays and Sings Simple Songs" will bring people together to see a “difficult” play read aloud for a single evening once every two months. The company hopes to create a kind of “counter-canon:” a selection of plays from a wide range of sources (ancient to contemporary) that are worth looking at alongside the “successful” ones that have survived the ages. Read more »

LMDA at the NET Summit in Minneapolis

From Scott Horstein: "From August 11-14 in downtown Minneapolis, LMDA partnered in the Network of Ensemble Theatres (NET) national Summit. The Summit culminated NET's Micro-Fest USA, a "national regional" series of festivals in Atlanta (October 2010), Los Angeles (December 2010), and Philadelphia (January 2011), which delved deeply into issues in the field of ensemble-driven theater. I worked with NET leadership to integrate the work of LMDA dramaturgs into the different Micro-Fests, dramaturging ensemble-driven pieces in development, facilitating and processing feedback to artists, and crafting calls to action for the ensemble theatre field. At the Summit in Minneapolis, Alison de la Cruz from LA's About Productions and I led breakout sessions to help ensemble-driven companies integrate dramaturgy into their work.  NET has become an enthusiastic partner, and we look very much forward to continuing to connect the two organizations." Read more »

Colorado New Play Summit: February 10–12

From 2011 Conference Partner, the Denver Center Theatre Company: "JOIN US for our 7th Colorado New Play Summit in the magnificent Mile High City. Two World Premieres (The Whale by Samuel D. Hunter Things You Don't Talk About at Dinner by Lisa Loomer) and five readings (Sense & Sensibility The Musical, Based on the novel by Jane Austen, Lyrics by Jeffrey Haddow, Music by Neal Hampton; Ed, Downloaded by Michael Mitnick; Homefree by Lisa Loomer; Grace, or the Art of Climbing by Lauren Feldman; The Hand of God by Richard Dresser). AND: Playwrights Slam; receptions, two lunches and Friday night dinner; hotel discounts. Registration is $195 with code INDUSTRY. 303.893.6030 or www.denvercenter.org/summit." Read more »

Member News & Updates

Want to share your member news? Email newsletter@lmda.org.

Neil Baldwin. "I think our membership would be interested in this article from the November issue of Dance Teacher Magazine, "Dramaturgy for Dancers," which reports on the new "Danceaturgy" program here at Montclair State. It talks quite a lot about the similarities - and differences - in dramaturging the two art forms.

Jesse Baxter. "I'm excited to announce that Fresh Ink Theatre has officially launched! We are a Boston based company focused on developing new work by New England area artists. I'm heading up the literary dept. and doing dramaturgy for our first workshop this fall. We have two productions slated for this season, and we'll start taking submissions for next season in February. You can visit the website at http://www.freshinktheatre.com/ and check out the twitter feed I'll be co-monitoring @freshinktheatre. Thanks to all the LMDA folks who have been so supportive as I take this next big step!"

Professor Lisa Brenner marks the sixth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina with an anthology of plays inspired by the storm entitled Katrina on Stage: Five Plays. The anthology includes an introduction, interviews with the playwrights, production histories, resources, and Brenner's own play Katrina: The K Word. Part of the proceeds to go to The Porch 7th Ward Cultural Center in New Orleans. For more information see katrinathekword.com.

Russell M. Dembin has had an exciting fall season: he has begun his studies in the MA program in Theater History and Criticism at Brooklyn College, and he is now serving as Associate Editor of The Sondheim Review, a quarterly magazine devoted to the works of Stephen Sondheim. Also, as coordinator of the LMDA Twitter Project, Russell is delighted at the project's progress and looks forward to hearing more about the work of fellow LMDA members.

Martha Wade Steketee read for the Young Playwrights Evaluation Committee and the Harvardwood Playwriting Competition.  She worked with Young Playwrights (and thanks Beth Blickers for the initial introduction to the fabulous folks there) in their week-long July 2011 Urban Retreat program, and will participate as dramaturg in the 2012 Writers Conference in January (and tweet for LMDA about the experience).  Current research and writing projects include a memoir of Hollywood makeup artist Dorothy Ponedel; a documentary called Stay All Night on Judy Garland's April 23, 1961 Carnegie Hall concert and the fans who attended; and development work with Primary Stages on a Horton and Daisy Foote Festival slated for late 2012 or early 2013.  Look for her on-line contributions to the new dramaturgy blog "Poor Lessing's Theatre Almanack" edited by Heather Helinsky (http://poorlessingsalmanack.wordpress.com/), "The Soul of the American Actor" edited by Ronald Rand (http://soulamericanactor.com/) and her own theatre blog (urbanexcavations.com).

London-based dramaturg Katalin Trencsényi (who is running the Dramaturgs' Network) worked with British colleagues to organise a day-long event to mark the 10th anniversary of the Dramaturgs' Network: the DN10 Anniversary. A Celebration of Dramaturgy. The event was held on Sunday, 16 October, at Southwark Playhouse, London. It featured discussions (with an invited international panel) skills- and food sharing, networking, The Factory Theatre's acclaimed improvisation of The Seagull and the launch of the first award acknowledging excellence in the field of dramaturgy in the United Kingdom, named after the first British literary manager/dramaturg: the Kenneth Tynan Award.

Elizabeth Williamson has been promoted to Associate Artistic Director in addition to Literary Manager at Pioneer Theatre Company.

Joanne Zipay directed/dramaturged Taming of the Shrew at Collin College in Plano, TX this summer, while also teaching the college's four-week Shakespeare Intensive.  This fall back at Pace University teaching scene study and other classes, and continuing work on the Living History program (writing and directing) at Mt. Gulian Historic Site in Beacon, NY.  And of course, continuing work as Founder/Artistic Director of Judith Shakespeare Company NYC, with a new project TBA soon.