Every year, as part of the exciting Fellowship Program, the emerging Boris Sagal and Bill Foeller Directing Fellows collaborate with writers of their choosing and our company of Non-Equity actors to create a play and a musical piece over the course of 8 weeks. Through this whirlwind process, WTF fosters young voices so their new projects have the opportunity to be produced elsewhere. Last week, you saw a glimpse of the Fellowship Musical After Robert Hutchens, written by Nick Blaemire and directed by Sheryl Kaller. Be on the lookout for the upcoming Fellowship Play When You’re Here by Samuel D. Hunter, directed by Portia Krieger. Public showings will be the evenings of August 14 and 15.
Last year, the Fellowship Playwright was Bekah Brunstetter, a talented and bright new voice in the theatre world. At WTF, she wrote House of Home, a play inspired by true tragic events in a small Southern town. After her time as a 2009 Playwright in Residence at ArsNova, her play Be a Good Little Widow ran there this May. It was also a Weissberger Award finalist for 2010. A Long and Happy Life is slated to be produced next year by Naked Angels. The New York Times hit the nail on the head when they said, “She writes fresh, unfussy dialogue and characters who earn their laughs and emotional moments by honest means.” Along with her commissions, Bekah is (rightfully) a busy busy person with myriad projects on the horizon. We decided to check in with her and ask her a few questions about writing, life, and of course, sandwiches. Here’s a quick profile on one of our favorite up and coming writers:
Name: Bekah Brunstetter
Alias: Funstetter
Occupation: Playwright
What’s your motto? Everything in moderation. Technically it’s my Mom’s. It might also be Jackie Kennedy’s.
What was your favorite 90’s boy band? Hanson, duh.
What do you most value in your friends? Good listeners, people who don’t take things TOO seriously.
What is your most marked characteristic? I am constantly and nervously twirling my hair.
What is your favorite part of being a writer? I love that even when I can’t literally be writing I can always be writing. IN MY MIND.
What is your process of creating new work? It’s kind of a like vomiting. Gross! But really. It just sort of all comes out. And then later, with the help of others, I fix it.
What was your experience like working on House of Home last year? It was fantastic. It was SUPER collaborative, made me happy, drove me insane. I was allowed to follow all of my impulses without really worrying too much about the end product. It was very freeing!
What is your favorite memory from Williamstown? The first night I got there, Kerry [Whigham, director of House of Home] and I went to see the Non-Eq’s do their monologues. I sat in the back and watched 4 actors that I’d never even met do monologues from my shows. I FELT FANCY AND SPECIAL!
If you had a sandwich named after you, what would be on the “Bekah Brunstetter”? I HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT THIS! SO MUCH! Fresh mozzarella, basil, tomatoes, pesto, and ranch on a toasted wheat roll. BOOM.
What’s coming up next for you? I’m working on 2 new commissions, feeling lucky as heck to have a fellowship from The Lark [Play Development Center] where I’ll be developing new work for the next year, and for the first time, TEACHING! Working with kids at this amazing place Writopia, and teaching adults at Primary Stages.
If you’re curious about anything else Bekah Brunstetter-related, visit her website www.bekahbrunstetter.com. And read and see her plays! Also, her blog is some good reading. Just saying.
AND don’t forget to check out the Fellowship Play in August, When You’re Here written by Samuel D. Hunter, directed by Portia Krieger! Reserve seats ahead of time to be sure to see this new work!
-Anne Joy
Each year, Williamstown Theatre Festival solicits scripts from the top agents, theater companies, and playwriting programs in the country to bestow the L. Arnold Weissberger Award on the most promising play yet to be slated for production. The award includes a $10,000 grant, an optional publishing, and a reading at WTF the following summer as part of our Fridays@3 reading series. Past recipients have included Julie Cho’s BFE in 2004, which went onto play an off-Broadway summer engagement at Playwrights Horizons in 2005, and Tracey Scott Wilson’s The Good Negro, which went on to be part of the Public Theatre’s inaugural Public LAB series in 2008 before premiering in a full production at the Dallas Theater Center.
Now, a month into the 2011 season, we are nearly done with giving a first read to this year’s batch of 65 plays. The process to select a winner is quite comprehensive. Each script is read at least once, given a full written treatment (synopsis and evaluation) and a rating which will determine if it moves onto the next round. About half the scripts will receive a second read. We continue re-reading scripts and writing up evaluations until we have narrowed the nominated plays down to 4-6 finalists. A panel of theatre professionals then select a winner from the finalist shortlist.
It’s a seemingly daunting task to go from 60 scripts to 4 in the span of two months—thousands of pages are read by this four-person department every summer--but for new play junkies such as ourselves, it’s a dream job! Nominated plays often represent the newest work from the nation’s top writers. Moreover, most of the plays go on to be produced by the country’s most exciting organizations in the coming seasons. For instance, last year’s Weissberger finalists included Sharr White’s The Other Place, which had an extended run at MCC Theatre this past April, Bekah Brunstetter’s Be A Good Little Widow, which was produced by Ars Nova in May, and Jordan Harrison’s Maple and Vine, which premiered at the Actors Theatre of Louisville’s 2011 Humana Festival of New American plays and will be given its Off-Broadway premiere by Playwrights Horizons this fall.
Although this year’s contenders will undoubtedly go on to have stellar productions at similarly great theatres, for now we just have the raw scripts to go off of. As we head into our initial round of second reads, you’ll spot us all over campus trying to find a shady (or better yet, air-conditioned) spot to get our Weissberger read on. Say hello and ask us what we’re reading- it could be the next big thing!
-Eric Shethar
Literary Intern
©2009 Williamstown Theatre Festival Blog | by TNB and eKENT