CMU School of Drama


Saturday, November 22, 2014

6 Young Playwrights Every Actor Should Know

Backstage: One of the most important and fulfilling aspects of the performer’s work is that of collaboration; though actors team up with a variety of artists and elements throughout the creative processes, the script itself is often the greatest collaborator of all. Here are six exciting young playwrights whose bold works have set the scene for 21st century actors, giving voice to our modern experience and shaping the next phase of the American theater.

3 comments:

anna rosati said...

I was pleased to see the diversity displayed amongst both the playwrights and the themes they display in their work. The topics addressed were both bold and relevant, touching on anything from body awareness and sexuality to copy write laws. It's nice to see that some of the most esteemed playwrights are addressing topics of cultural importance rather than solely aiming for entertainment value.

Evan Smith said...

Of the six playwrights that were mentioned the only one I’d heard of was Annie Baker, but unfortunately I haven’t gotten around to reading as many new plays as I would like. Of course I’m a little picky just like the next guy, because I prefer to read comedies rather than dramas. Dramatic plays tend to take me a little longer to read, but then again mood has a little to do with it. To have to choose about what play you want to read is like choosing what you want to eat at a restaurant with a giant menu, and if you’re in that one moment where it takes you forever to choose what you want. It makes it all the more frustrating, because you don’t want to end up choosing the wrong item and wishing you had chosen something else; but that’s the reason we all have our own opinions, so that we know what we want to choose, and what we shouldn’t choose when the time comes.

Drew H said...

I wish I had more time to read. A lot of the plays described in this article seem very interesting and I would like to read some. I also like writing plays and just reading about other plays and play writes is inspirational and maybe I’ll try to put some time aside to do some writing, either plays or some other form of creative writing.