Congratulations, John. Sapience has been accepted for presentation in the Play Lab at the thirty-fourth annual Valdez Theatre Conference, June 6-13. The full list of invitees is posted here.
To participate, you must be in Valdez for the reading of your play. Minimum attendance is four days, but the longer you’re with us, the more you’ll get from the experience and for the expense. You are responsible for your travel costs; we have limited free communal housing available. There will also be a 2:00 p.m. seven-hour bus shuttle from Anchorage to Valdez on June 6; the return shuttle arrives in Anchorage at approximately 3:00 p.m. on June 14.
Registration for the event is $250; registration will open by March 31. It includes daily lunch the closing gala meal, all Conference activities and classes, and a two-hour Stan Stephens Cruise to Shoupe Glacier.
I will host a Zoom meeting for Play Lab playwrights on Sunday, February 22, at 2:00 p.m. Alaska-time (3:00 PST; 6:00 EST). I’ll discuss our history, programming, processes, and philosophies; there will be lots of chances to ask questions. A recording will be available afterward for those unable to attend live.
Please let me know by March 15 if you plan to attend. If you know you won’t be with us, please tell me, as we have alternate playwrights waiting to find out if there’s room for their work. If you’re certain you’re coming, you can get a jump on the stuff we’ll need from you by filling out the Play Confirmation Form. This is where we gather info on your play like the synopsis, trigger warnings, and cast descriptions.
Readings in the Play Lab are mostly stationary. Scripts will be assigned a director by April 15 unless you tell me you’d prefer to direct your reading. Playwrights will be connected with both your director and lead responding panelist prior to the event to discuss the play. Readings will be cast by approximately May 7 by the Play Lab Coordinator, Ryan Buen, and emailed to the performers. In Valdez, there is one rehearsal the day prior to the reading. After the reading, there will be a response section with three panelists and audience comments. After that, writers will have a private half-hour one-on-one session with their lead panelist.
All of the readings stream live on YouTube; the recordings will remain available for a month after the Conference ends. There will be other opportunities to have your work presented through the Monologue Workshop, Ten-Minute Play Slam, and Valdez Theatre Fringe. Writers are also encouraged to be a part of the Play Lab cast and directing team if that’s in their wheelhouse.
All of these elements will be the subject of future emails with more details, but any questions you have, please don’t hesitate to ask: communicating with playwrights and helping them have a great experience in Valdez is one of my favorite parts of the job. There’s a wealth of mostly current information on our website about how travel and housing work, the current draft of the schedule, artistic staffing, our history… you know, a website. Avoiding these update emails is another great reason to let me know if you’re not coming. =)
Again, whether you join us or not, congratulations on Sapience‘s selection. I’m excited about the line-up; you can see the full invitation list here. I look forward to hearing from you.
Dawson Moore, Coordinator
Valdez Theatre Conference
