Kudos to Sarah Ruhl mentioning the Guild

Check out what Sarah Ruhl says on American Theater's website:

What the next 25 years might bring in theatre:

1
Either: Our government will start more and more to imitate Scandinavia, and everyone, including artists, will have health care. There will be a new government agency for the arts, granting us months and years to finish projects, simultaneously revitalizing our theatre and our economy.

Or: The government won't imitate Scandinavia, and so, in response, the Dramatists Guild will become an incredible force for change, replacing the United Auto Workers in its pull, determination and tactical brilliance. We will do away with subsidiary rights participation, so that playwrights will only give back their own earnings to a theatre when they earn as much per year as their artistic directors; then, and only then, will writers give tax-deductible donations to the not-for-profit theatres that produce them, out of gratitude and choice (rather than giving away 40 percent of their New York income by fiat). We will convince theatres who produce our work to provide us with health care for two seasons. Playwrights and dramaturgs working at the same theatre will have health insurance; directors and managing directors will have the same health insurance.

I think a lot of people, in the theater and outside the theater world, forget that playwrights don't have a budget. They aren't on salary like artistic directors and are in general, paid less than actors and stage managers. And they don't get health insurance.

And yet, the playwright is the reason all of these people have jobs...

Is it me, or is something out of whack here...?

7 MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT world premiere at BCC

Tickets are going fast...Only five shows and only 60 seats (it's a small house).

Info below.


Bellevue College Theatre Arts/Drama
Presents

7 Minutes to Midnight
World Premiere

Conceived and directed by Dennis Schebetta developed with the actors
Stop Gap Theatre
Nov. 14, 15, 21, 22 - 8:00 pm
Nov. 20 - 7:00 pm
$10 Students, $12 General
Buy Tickets early at Brown Paper Tickets


Please join a panel of BCC scientists, and the artists for a discussion following the Thurs. Nov. 20 performance.

Are you ready for that great atomic power? On July 16, 1945, the Trinity test in New Mexico awakens the Greek God Kronos (otherwise known as Saturn). After killing his father and devouring his own children, he was banished to the underworld by his son Zeus and is just waiting for the end of the world which will set him free. The dawning of the atomic age means the time draws nigh. Using text, movement and music, this ensemble-based play weaves together several stories from 1945 to now, showing Oppenheimer and other members of The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists as they try to warn the military and others about the impending cold war and the arms race. It examines the "nuclear" family of the 1950s, the fear of the 1980s, and how millions grew up under the shadow of a mushroom cloud. The clock is ticking for us all. Kronos is waiting, certain of mankind's destruction. What are you waiting for?

For more information about The Bulletin and The Doomsday Clock, check out the website: www.thebulletin.org.

Bellevue College is located at:

3000 Landerholm Circle SE
Bellevue, WA 98007

Arlene Hutton Reading at the Rep and Workshop this Sunday!

Northwest Playwrights Alliance & Seattle Rep present a reading of
Gulf View Drive
by Arlene Hutton
directed by Braden Abraham

Monday Nov. 10 @ 7 p.m. - Seattle Repertory Theater's
Poncho Theater
115 Mercer - please use main entrance

FREE ADMISSION-------------------------------

AND...HURRY SIGN UP NOW!!!

for

Playwriting Workshop with Arlene Hutton
When: Nov 9 - Sunday 2-5 p.m Where: Live Girls! Theater 2220 NW Market Street Ballard . Workshop limit: 25
Cost: $40 Contact: Bryan Willis - willis@olynet.com

Arlene is best known for The Nibroc Trilogy, which includes Last Train to Nibroc (Drama League Best Play nomination, See Rock City (MacLean Foundation Award) and Gulf View Drive. Arlene's updated version of NPA's Nov. reading, Gulf View Drive, will be published by Dramatists Play Service in 2009. She is a four-time Heideman Award finalist and three-time Samuel French Short Play winner. Residencies include New Harmony Project, Australian National Playwrights conference, MacDowell Colony, VCCA and Yaddo. Recently the Tennessee Williams Fellow in Playwriting at Sewanee, a position she also held in 2005, Hutton was on the faculty of this summer's Sewanee Writers' Conference. Last Train to Nibroc just finished a highly successful run at the Orange Tree Theatre in London.

If you were turned away from Ki Gottberg's incredible workshop; if you thought about attending Braden Abraham's superb "Directing New Plays" workshop but waited too long; if you were disappointed because you procrastinated and couldn't get into the life-changing experience of studying with Steven Dietz, then e-mail willis@olynet.com to reserve your spot in Arlene's playwriting workshop tonight.

We still have a few spots available.

LOVE PERSON at Live Girls Theater in Ballard, opens Oct 24th to Nov 22

Northwest Premiere!

Love Person
by Aditi Brennan Kapil

Directed by Joy Brooke Fairfield and Dawn Stoyanoff

Oct 24 – Nov 22

Friday and Saturday Nights at 8pm * Sat afternoons at 4pm

Special Monday PWYC show Nov 17th at 8pm

All Shows at Live Girls! theater in Ballard 2220 NW Market Lower Level

Tickets prices for 8pm Shows- $15 General * $12 Student/Senior
Saturday 4pm shows- HAPPY HOUR All tickets $7 (and $1 PBR at the bar)
Under 18 $5 with ID to any performance
Advance tickets at-
http://www.brownpapertickets.com

Can you ever truly express love through language?
Can words in any language bridge the gap between two people?

THE WAR PARTY Opens at Seattle Public Theatre

Before you go out to Vote in November, go out and see this exciting world premiere of Seattle playwright Vince Delaney (Kuwait and The Robeson Tapes) and directed by Rita Giomi. It opens Friday night September 26th and runs until October 19th.

On the night of her failed reelection bid, an ambitious female senator is confronted by a shrewd young aide. Right in time to coincide with the countdown to the national election, Vince Delaney (Writer 1272, Kuwait) offers SPT the West Coast Premiere of his biting political drama. Do we ask women who run for office to be something more than human?

Also, there will be special panels/talk-backs immediately following the Sunday matinee performances on September 28th and October 5th with Vince Delaney with Seattle City Councilmember Sally Clark and University of Washington (UW) professor Dr. Lance Bennett.

For more info and to buy tickets,, check out Seattle Public Theater website .

"You should have a contract..."

I get a lot of great questions from members in the area and most of the times the questions are related around several different areas of playwrights rights. Sometimes I can give a quick answer and other times I need to pass it along or ask our Business Affairs Department about specific issues.

Just fyi, I email David Faux in Business Affairs quite a bit (hey, it's my membership fees put to good use)

Most of the time I have the same response to a lot of email questions:

"You should have a contract."

That's just one of our rights.

And if the producer doesn't supply one (which is a little disconcerting considering you'd think they would want to protect their own interests), then you should email the Dramatists Guild and ask them for the free contracts (free for members). They will help you with your specific questions about the contract. Depending on the production, you may need something that's only two pages, or you may need something longer.

But there is no reason that you can't get the conversation going about contracts, which is really about expectations of each party.

Are you expecting to be at rehearsals? Are you expecting the director isn't going to make cuts without your permission? Or get yourself and maybe your significant other a comp for opening night? Do you want to make sure that every time they list the title of the play they also list your name (y'know, so people don't think the play wrote itself)?

If it's in the contract, you know what you've agreed to.

If not, then what's the guarentee that you're getting it?

Recently, a small theater company (which just happens to be on Stone Way in Seattle...hint, hint...) was not offering comps for any of the artists involved in a play festival, thereby forcing the playwright to pay to see their own show. After a heads up from one of the Guild member playwrights and a quick email from the Guild, they changed their policy. But this should be clear in a contract.

As I said in the Town Hall meeting--"Just because there is no money involved in the production (ie you, does not mean you shouldn't have a contract".

Of course, you also have to ask, why can't there be some money invovled?

For this Double Shot festival this weekend, I had to provide the contract (and I'm pretty sure out of the 16 playwrights involved, I might've been singular in that). I've already talked with NPA about the fact that if they want to support playwrights then they should have a standard contract in place. Hopefully next year we'll see that happen.

But I know this is a common problem in the regional areas, especially this one.

Don't leave it up to the Producers. Make sure both you and your Producer know what is expected.

It's important that as playwrights who want our craft to live and thrive and not be abused, we should know our rights.

So here's a refresher (from the DG website):

IN PROCESS AND PRODUCTION:

1. ARTISTIC INTEGRITY. No one can make changes, alterations, and/or omissions in your script, including the text, title and stage directions without your consent. This is called “script approval”.

2. APPROVAL OF PRODUCTION ELEMENTS. You have the right to approve the cast, director and designers (and, for a musical, the choreographer, orchestrator, arranger, and musical director, as well), including all their replacements. This is called “artistic approval.”

3. RIGHT TO BE PRESENT. You always have the right to attend casting, rehearsals, previews and performances.

COMPENSATION

4. ROYALTIES. You are generally entitled to receive a royalty. While it is possible that the amount an author receives may be minimal for a school production, some compensation should always be paid if any other artistic collaborator in the production is being paid, or if any admission is being charged. You can always call our business office to discuss an appropriate royalty for your production.

5. BILLING CREDIT. Every dramatist should receive billing credit on all publicity, programs and advertising distributed or authorized by the school. We consider billing to be a form of compensation and the failure to provide the proper billing should be understood as a breach of the your rights unless the failure is cured as soon as possible.

OWNERSHIP

6. OWNERSHIP OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. Authors own the copyright of their dramatic work. Authors generally do not assign their copyrights, nor do they ever engage in “work-for-hire.” Another way of saying this: When you write a play or musical, that dramatic property belongs only to you. When a school, producer or theatre wants to a mount a production of your play, you – in effect – license (or lease) your dramatic property to them.

7. OWNERSHIP OF INCIDENTAL CONTRIBUTIONS. You own all approved revisions and contributions to the script made by other collaborators in the production, including actors, directors and dramaturgs. You do not owe anyone any money for these contributions unless you have entered into a written agreement providing for such payment.

If a school uses dramaturgs, are not obligated to make use of any ideas the dramaturg might have. Even when the input of a dramaturg or director is helpful to the playwright, dramaturgs and directors are still employees of the school, not the author, and they are paid for their work by the school. Neither dramaturgs nor directors (nor any other collaborators) may be considered a co-author of a play, unless (i) they’ve collaborated with you from the play’s inception, (ii) they’ve made a copyrightable contribution to the play, and (iii) you have agreed in writing that they are a co-author.

8. SUBSIDIARY RIGHTS. You own not only your script, but the right to market and sell it in all different media (television, radio, film, internet) in any commercial market in the world. Despite any artists’ contribution to your script, you are not obligated to share any portion of monies made in future productions of that work – in other words, no one can ask you for a percentage of future profits unless your original production is a professional (i.e., Actors’ Equity) premiere (including full sets, costumes and lighting that runs no less than 21 consecutive paid public performances for which you received all the entitlements mentioned above.

9. FUTURE OPTIONS. Rather than granting your school the right to share in future proceeds, you may choose to grant a non-exclusive option to present another university production within no more than 1 year of the close of the initial production. No option should be assignable without your prior written consent.

10. AUTHOR’S CONTRACT: The only way to ensure that you get the benefit of the rights list above is for there to be a written contract with the producer, even if the producer is an educational institution. The Guild’s Department of Business Affairs offers a model “school production contract” and is available to review any contracts offered to you, and to advise you as to how the contracts compare to industry standards.

C'mon out for the Double Shot Theater Festival

Hey everybody,

Before the barbeques on Monday, come on down to Tacoma this Friday and Saturday night for the Double Shot Theater Festival, a 24 hour play extravaganza!

No, the plays aren't 24 hours long, they're only 10 minutes, but we produce them in 24 hours, that's how it works...

Presented by NW Playwrights Alliance and the U. of Puget Sound.

Details below:


Double Shot Theater Festival!

WHEN: May 23 & 24, 7pm and 9pm

WHERE: Norton Clapp Theatre, Jones Hall. U. of Puget Sound Campus. Tacoma.

COST: $10 General, $8 Student (all proceeds benefit NPA new play
reading series!)

Tickets available at the door.