Local theatre company Relative Theatrics has returned to the Gryphon Theatre with its newest project, Playwrights Voiced.
Advertised as “5 days, 7 new plays,” Playwrights Voiced is a series of plays written by local and regional playwrights including William Missouri Downs, Nina McConigley and John Christopher Wolter. However, these aren’t the performances many theatre goers are used to.
Playwrights Voiced is a series of “staged readings,” meaning the actors will have scripts in hand and there will be minimal “blocking,” or stage movement. The medium was chosen based on its aid to the development process and accessibility.
“Staged readings are a common step taken in the development of new work. They are great opportunities for playwrights to hear their plays and discover what is working well and what may need revisions,” said Anne Mason, founder of Relative Theatrics and director of two of the plays. “And by doing staged readings, we are able to present seven new plays; if we were doing a full production there would only be one play due to timing and budget restrictions.”
The performances feature 30 actors, five directors and seven playwrights from the University of Wyoming as well as the Laramie community.
Quinn Scicluna, a senior theatre major at UW, is both an actor and one of the featured playwrights.
“I did a short monologue for auditions and was called back to read for ‘Welcome to Good Intentions,’ which was fun,” said Scicluna. “For my script, Relative Theatrics put out a call for playwrights to submit work, so I submitted it and they read it over and selected it.”
Scicluna’s play, “Ponts Des Arts,” was selected to compete at the national level for best 10-minute play at the American College Theatre Festival last winter.
Scicluna and the other six playwrights were chosen for their themes and content from a group of 20 submitted scripts.
“I read each of the scripts and took notes about each play’s thematic elements, casting needs and stages of development,” said Mason. “The selections show a range of characters, stories and messages. The directors are all actors who have worked with Relative Theatrics on previous productions and understand the company’s mission, challenges and rewards of staging plays in our fashion.”
Each play will be presented in the “thrust stage” fashion, where the audience surrounds three sides of the stage, a staple of Relative Theatrics productions. This presentation allows for a closer, more intimate setting for their plays, which typically handle more serious subjects.
The performances will be held April 16 through 18, and will close out next week on the 23 and 24.
See relativetheatrics.weebly.com or gryphontheatre.org for ticket information.
