Seattle Rep Writers Group playwright Elizabeth Heffron.

Stop by Seattle Rep this Friday, May 18 at 3 p.m. to catch the FREE staged reading of Elizabeth Heffron and Kit Bakke’s The Weatherman Project in our PONCHO Forum. This reading marks the third new work presented during our Inaugural Seattle Rep Writers Group showcase, which will present again on June 1 and June 15. 

About the play: How far would you be willing to go to fix the problems you see in your country? In 1968, five young people are about to find out.

We asked Elizabeth to tell us a little about herself, as well as her new play. 

SRT: What inspired you and Kit Bakke to write The Weatherman Project?

Mainly, the events of the current day. It’s amazing to see young people rising up again, and facing, if not the same, then very similar entrenched interests and conflicts. Also, Kit was a part of the Movement, and was underground for several years, so she’s an amazing primary source!

SRT: How long have you been a playwright, and how did you get into playwriting?

Looooong time! Since the mid-90s at least. I got into theater by moving to Seattle. I was going to be a scientist and was armed with my BS in Psychobiology, but then Seattle theater people just suck you in…

SRT: What do you like to write about?

I like to write about the boundaries of science, ethics, and human behavior. I also find myself writing about the consequences of the systematic dismantling of our social safety net, especially those consequences for women. But this play isn’t about any of that, it’s about trying to effect change in the face of what seem like intractable forces.

SRT: What’s the best and/or worst advice you’ve received about writing?

Best advice I’ve gotten is to approach everything as a beginner. Be always beginning. I love that.

SRT: Tell us something quirky about yourself.

Quirky? I’m from St. Louis. St. Louis has quirk down.

SRT: What’s next for you?

My play for one woman, BO-NITA, will be part of the JAW Festival at Portland Center Stage this summer, and Braden Abraham’s directing it! Very excited for this…

Seattle Rep Writers Group playwright Emily Conbere hard at work.

Last Friday we kicked off the Inaugural Seattle Rep Writers Group showcase with a reading of playwright Vincent Delaney‘s Foreclosure. The new work continues this week with the second staged reading in the series: The Harold Scholarship by Emily Conbere, directed by Erin Kraft. 

About the play: 

After the loss of their son six months prior, Mr. and Mrs. Harold invite the son’s best friend to spend the weekend with them. During this time, they offer him a scholarship with stakes that are exceedingly high.

We asked Emily to tell us a little about herself, as well as her new play. 

SRT: What inspired you to write The Harold Scholarship?
A lot of this play came out of a personal experience that happened ten years ago. Since then, I’ve been reworking and developing it, and it is interesting to see how it changes as I change. I’m aware that after a suicide, family dynamics change dramatically. The characters in this play feel absurd as they act in ways that used to feel traditional to them and now no longer work.

SRT: How long have you been a playwright, and how did you get into playwriting?
I started playwriting when I was twelve and involved in the Playwrights’ Center’s youth summer conference in Minnesota. My first play (ten minutes long) was called “Troubles with Kitty” and it starred Kevin Kling [who performed at Seattle Rep last month with Simone Perrin in A Fool's Paradise]. The whole experience set the stage for the rest of my life.

SRT: What do you like to write about?
I mostly write about loss, and how loss is like a blank world that needs to be recreated. I like being with my characters as they struggle to create and grow new worlds around them out of the emptiness they’ve experienced. And the loss could be anything- a death or the ending of a relationship, loss of time, or something as commonplace as losing a pair of glasses.

Emily Conbere and Vincent Delaney read a working script at a Writers Group meeeting.

SRT: What’s the best and/or worst advice you’ve received about writing?
Best advice: Sometimes you need to be kind of mean and just say “I can’t hang out or talk to you or engage with you” and close yourself off to others’ expectations so that you can get your writing done. It might feel selfish, but just drink a shot of tequila and start writing.

Worst advice: …just drink a shot of tequila and start writing.

SRT: Tell us something quirky about yourself.

I have a career outside of playwriting that I love; it’s been super helpful because now I’m not dependent on getting theater grants (even though I still apply for them) or taking jobs I don’t like to support myself while I write; starting the new career allowed me to fall in love with writing and theater all over again.

SRT: What’s next for you?
I have a reading of my play “The MAP Annual Fellowship Written by Gerald That” as part of the New Century Theater’s Pipelines Series on June 18th.  I’m also spending the summer developing a series of interviews I’m doing of theater companies in the NW for the Seattle Rep Writers Group blog.  The focus is on how they work with new writers. 

Stop by Seattle Rep this Friday, May 11 at 3 p.m. to catch the FREE staged reading of Emily Conbere’s The Harold Scholarship in our PONCHO Forum. Bring your friends and support local theatre!

Check out http://www.belltown.org/bcc.php.

Our current production of Bruce Norris’ Pulitzer Prize-winning, Tony-nominated Clybourne Park explores issues of race, gentrification, and real estate. And while the play itself may be set in a fictional Chicago neighborhood, we recognize these issues’ relevance to Seattle’s own growth and development.

In an effort to start a conversation about these topics at home, we put together the Speak Up! series, which offers community members the chance to discuss the themes of the play as they relate to Seattle. Each discussion is held after Saturday matinee performances of Clybourne Park at Seattle Rep and features a panel of civic leaders, local academics, and community residents.

One of our Speak Up! panelists, Elizabeth Campbell, President of the Belltown Community Council, volunteered to participate in all three Speak Up! discussions, and was gracious enough to share more of her thoughts on the impact of urban development in Belltown on our blog.

Read on to learn more.

Belltown Community Council President, Elizabeth Campbell, on Urban Development in Belltown

When we talk about gentrification or urban development in its current incarnation, we speak of it as if it were a new phenomenon. Actually, social engineering by creating housing designed to attract one or more specific groups to a neighborhood has long been employed.

Belltown Cottage Park: http://www.seattle.gov/parks/park_detail.asp?ID=4415b

In Belltown, three cottages now landmarked as historic remain of 11 built originally in 1916 to be rented to blue collar workers. Located in the middle of what is now the Belltown P-Patch, the cottages were the first dwellings designed to appeal to workers with families. The story of the cottages falling in and out of repair over the years is heartening: overhaul and renovation geared toward preserving the integrity of the original design saved the cottages in the late 1990′s, and the Department of Neighborhood Large Project Funding helped to mitigate, renovate and preserve the exteriors once again last summer. The cottages and the surrounding P-Patch are one example of small-scale urban development that has succeeded in beautifying, preserving history, providing a working amenity to the community and affordable housing for local professional writers.

Balancing the history and culture of a neighborhood like Belltown with the creation of needed and profitable housing for Seattle’s downtown commuters has never been without controversy. During most of the late 20th Century, Belltown was home to warehouses and shipping, but also a thriving community of artists. The creative community has largely shifted to other neighborhoods as eclectic “cheap” housing has given way to 14 story “high security” buildings, and rent prices have climbed dramatically. Some stalwarts have remained as the “old guard” of Belltown. The dismantling of a once tightly knit community resulted in a negative and unintended consequence: housing driven gentrification in Belltown.

As the President of the Belltown Community Council, and the founder of Sustainable Belltown, one of my goals is to attempt to facilitate discussions that might bring the current community together with these artists. The loss of connection with the creative side of Belltown’s “edgy” reputation can still be addressed: possibilities like this provide some incentive for organizers and activists alike. I’m heartened by the Belltown Business Association’s interest in and effort to revive the Belltown Art walk, as a way to begin dialogue between the artists who helped to keep the community alive and the new urban professionals who reside there today.

As a community leader, my goal is always to represent the needs of Belltown’s near 7,000 residents. Proactively creating connections between existing organizations of neighbors and strengthening our community’s voice as we talk with City Departments and City Hall, welcoming and advocating for sustainable small businesses, and supporting the local arts and press are all a part of my work. While remedying some of the missed opportunities of the past and encouraging activism and mindfulness around present work, I try to envision Belltown’s future as providing ample living opportunity to a wide age and socio-economic demographic: with expanded public services and amenities as well as welcoming housing choices for all.

And right now, thanks to a challenge grant from the Seattle Repertory Theatre Foundation, any new or increased gift made before June 30 will be matched, dollar for dollar. Your $50 becomes $100, $100 becomes $200.

In the spirit of a good match, here are some matches that never fail to delight:

Ben & Jerry

Seattle Rep’s Managing Director Benjamin Moore and Artistic Director Jerry Manning are a well-made match. Moore joined the Rep in 1985 as Managing Director, and Jerry (who joined SRT in 2001 as Casting Director and later served as Producing Artistic Director) became the Rep’s Artistic Director in 2010. 

Ben & Jerry’s 

Go ahead. Eat the whole pint. 

Bert & Ernie

What would Sesame Street be without these two? (And Ernie’s rubber ducky of course). 

Peanut Butter & Jelly

A match made in heaven. Or at least in our elementary school lunch boxes.

Sonny & Cher

The unforgettable celebrity duo that sold 80 million records worldwide. 

Peas & Carrots

To quote Forrest Gump, “Me and Jenny goes together like peas and carrots.”

You & Seattle Rep

Ticket sales only cover about half of the cost of producing our work. Support the Rep with a gift of any amount: donate during our match and double your impact. For more information on how to donate, visit our website http://www.seattlerep.org/Support/Donate/.

Thank you for your support!

Come on down to Seattle Rep on the following Fridays at 3 p.m. to catch their new works:

May 4 – Foreclosure
by Vincent Delaney, directed by Anita Montgomery 
What happens when your best friends lose their home but refuse to leave it? Foreclosure examines what we really owe our neighbors and takes a sharply comical look at a modern collapse that shows no sign of ending.

May 11 – The Harold Scholarship 
by Emily Conbere, directed by Erin Kraft
After the loss of their son six months prior, Mr. and Mrs. Harold invite the son’s best friend to spend the weekend with them. During this time, they offer him a scholarship with stakes that are exceedingly high.

May 18 – The Weatherman Project 
by Elizabeth Heffron and Kit Bakke, directed by Sheila Daniels
How far would you be willing to go to fix the problems you see in your country? In 1968, five young people are about to find out.

June 1 – Ain’t No Place Like Home 
by Al Frank, directed by Kaytlin McIntyre
Long days, late June. Seattle is heating up. People camping in the I-5 greenbelt known as ‘the jungle’ worry about change. With no place else to go, they’re hoping a peaceful summer will keep them out of the spotlight – at least until after the Fireworks.

June 15 – Rats in the Garden of Eden 
by Stephanie Timm, directed by Kathleen Collins
When Pearl shows up at her younger sister Opal’s doorstep with a suitcase and a box of “sensual products” to sell after a long, mysterious absence, she finds Opal living in an insular world of romance novels and poetry. Rats in the Garden of Eden explores what happens when someone has to choose between fantasy or reality—one leads to madness, the other to inevitable disappointment.

The Writers Group at one of their very first meetings.

More information is available online at www.seattlerep.org/Plays/NewPlays. All play readings will take place at 3 p.m. in Seattle Rep’s PONCHO Forum. They are free and open to the public.

Following this year’s showcase, the writers will begin work on their new plays that they will be presenting next year. Applications for the 2012 – 2014 cycle will be accepted starting this June.  

#ClybournePark

Join us for Speak Up! Community discussions that give you the chance to speak your mind.

Seattle Rep invites audiences to participate in lively post-play discussions with civic leaders, local academics, and community residents, as part of the new Speak Up! series. The conversation will begin after each Saturday matinee of Clybourne Park: April 28, May 5, and May 12 at 2:00 p.m.

Why are we holding Speak Up!?

Key themes of gentrification and race relations in Bruce Norris’ Pulitzer Prize-winning Clybourne Park, currently running at Seattle Rep, resonate with Seattle’s history. While the play itself my be a satirical spin-off of Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun that takes a jab at race and real estate in a fictional Chicago neighborhood, the story relates to a wider audience. 

As playwright Bruce Norris explains, “This story is not necessarily an American story; it’s actually a story about cities. It is a story that we associate with the 1950s and today—the story of gentrification. It’s a universal story that isn’t about American black/white history. It’s about territory, and disputes over territory because of ethnicity or differences.”

To whet your appetite, we asked a few of our panelists to weigh in on Speak Up! and why our community should talk about race and gentrification issues we’re witnessing on a local and/or national scale. 

The Panelists Say….

“I agreed to participate in Speak Up! because I want to communicate effectively for Belltown as a community/neighborhood. Also because living in Belltown informs a deep understanding of the unintended consequences of “gentrification”/urban residential development: by encouraging public engagement, I hope to gently promote the concept of intentional community.”

-Elizabeth Campbell, Belltown Community Council

“Community is not only where we live and work but who we are and where we belong. Community is about the relationships we develop and sustain with each other and how we treat each other.”

-Mike Chin, Seattle Office for Civil Rights

“Conversations about race are ubiquitous in American society. Even when we’re not talking about race we’re talking about it. Talking about race can be easy or difficult dependent on the context. The two biggest impediments to having meaningful conversations about race are fear and ignorance. White Americans have been trained not to discuss race, because to discuss race is to be racist. As a result, negative emotional experiences emerge when engaging in this conversation. Ignorance comes into play when we think all conversations about race are equal. Talking about race is like talking about sex. You can have discussions in bars, locker rooms, a doctor’s office or a classroom. However, each conversation is different based on knowledge and expertise. Our egalitarian approach to these discussions often leads to frustration and conversation. We have to teach our children to talk about race.”

-Dr. Max Hunter, John Perkins Center for Reconciliation, Leadership Training and Community Development

Don’t miss out on the conversation!

#srt50