“It’s fast and furious,” said Gretchen Teague, executive director of DOTS said about the Playwright Playground Festival. “It's been a long winter, so it's time to feel the rebirth of spring.”
Participants will put together teams, get a prompt and then spend the next day writing and rehearsing their original 10-to-15-minute piece. In the evening, the groups will perform their works in front of an audience.
Prompts are chosen by Bryant Turnage, DOTS playwright and dramaturg.
“Boy, does he come up with some wacky things,” said Teague. “He usually comes up with three things. One has to be a concept, one has to be a line of dialogue, and one has to be a prop.”
“There's no telling what's going to happen this April,” she added. “[The prompts] are kept secret until Friday night.”
“There doesn't have to be an agenda to your participation. It really is just fun. It's a playground. We get to play,” she said. “We tend to work all of us together, but there are other groups that definitely come in knowing who their playwright is going to be. There's lots of ways to approach it.”
The event will take place at The Judy, a Springfield Little Theater education building.
“They have a wonderful space for us to use and their auditorium. And it really has served us very well the last few times we've done our Playwrights Playground,” said Kristen Farr, director of outreach. “You don't necessarily have to sign up, but we, it's better that you do ahead of time and that way we know we can anticipate how many teams we may be having in order to make space.”
“What is most fun about it [the event] is how all the different groups approach the exact same prompt. They've all come up with something completely different. That's what makes it so fun and so much like a playground of ideas that are all coming together,” said Teague.
“[One of the best] part[s] about getting involved in this kind of thing is it helps build something for the future. But I [also] just love the performance aspect of it. I love the community of it. I love the family of it. And just it keeps you coming back every time you work,” added Farr.
For more information on the event, visit the DOTS website, Instagram and Facebook pages.
