Showing posts with label Summer Hortillosa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Summer Hortillosa. Show all posts
Monday, June 1, 2015
Photos from Day 1 - Rehearsals
Yesterday we spent the day reading through all ten plays for the Festival with many of the playwrights present. It was an active day that didn't leave time for many pictures, but here are a few to give a small glimpse into the work that is being done this week:
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Reflection on the Madison Young Playwrights Program from Dania Ramos
About a month ago, Playwrights Theatre concluded the 28th annual Madison Young Playwrights Program with in-school assemblies of student-written work at the participating schools. The plays at one school contained the right character combinations where we could put a cast of all female actors into place with director Dania Ramos. We asked Ms. Ramos to reflect upon this unique presentation and are happy to include her thoughts below. Enjoy!
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Dania Ramos is a writer and a theatre professional. She has directed student
work for the NJPAC’s Young Writers Workshop and PTNJ’s Young Playwrights
Festivals and Language-in-Motion Assemblies. She's also a program coordinator
for Montclair State University’s College of the Arts, Office of Education and
Community Outreach. Dania's play Hielo (developed through PTNJ's New
Jersey Emerging Women's Project) was recently named runner-up in Repertorio
Espa ñol's 2013 MetLife Nuestras Voces Competition. She
holds an MA in Creative Writing from Wilkes University and a BFA in Theatre
Performance from Montclair State University.
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 |
| Cast and playwrights onstage at Torey J. Sabatini School. |
Today (March 20) I had the pleasure of directing four delightful
scripts written by student playwrights who attend Torey J. Sabatini Elementary
School in Madison. The staged readings were presented as part of the 2014 Madison Young Playwrights Program.
For those of you unfamiliar with how a Playwrights Theatre assembly works, here’s a quick run down. A director and a company of
four to six actors are given the students’ scripts a few days before the
performance. We meet the morning of the readings for about four hours of
rehearsal. Then we show up at the school in the afternoon and the actors
perform script-in-hand readings for the student playwrights, their classmates,
teachers, and parents. No props. No costumes. No set.
The scripts featured in today’s assembly had a nice
balance of humor and poignancy. In Rising
From the Pitts by Charlotte Sullivan, a girl unexpectedly bonds with her
grandmother after learning she was once a contestant on Star Search. In Benji van der Hulst’s untitled script, three
brothers anxiously await the arrival of a special package in the mail. Sassyfrass Sisters by Keira Munter shows
high drama between three girls at summer camp. Finally, in The Stapler’s Revenge by Artha Abeysignhe, a pair of staple
removers, an exotic pen, and a ruler work together to defeat an evil stapler.
Today was the first Madison Young Playwrights Program
cast to be comprised of only women. Natalie Bailey, Rosemary Glennon, Brittany
Goodwin, and Summer Hortillosa are all versatile, generous actresses with a
sincere enthusiasm for performing material by and for children.
People familiar with the New Jersey Young PlaywrightsContest might recognize Summer Hortillosa as a winner of the 2007 New Jersey
Young Playwrights Contest in the High School Division. I remember watching (and
loving) the reading of her script seven years ago. It was moving to watch
Summer take the stage today and offer a new generation of young writers the
opportunity to see their work come to life.
 |
| Recognizing the playwrights after the performance. |
Perhaps my favorite moment of directing a Playwrights
Theatre assembly is meeting the playwrights after the readings. It’s always fun
to match a student’s face to script and to see each of their reactions when an
entire auditorium applauds their hard work and creativity.
My
Favorite Lines
Rising From the Pitts by
Charlotte Sullivan
EMILY: Star Search, what the heck is that?
SOPHIE: It was sort of like American Idol back in the olden days.
Untitled by Benji van der Hulst
DOODLE: No…maybe…possibly…ok!
Fine! It was me!
Sassyfrass Sisters by Keira
Munter
LUCY: Let’s get you cleaned up. Not everyone gets a
dress from Paris.
CAROLINE: You mean, a
specially-designed dress from Paris.
The Stapler’s Revenge by Artha
Abeysignhe
JERSLISS: Rulers, because of
their name, are rulers. It’s kind of unfair, but that’s just how it is.
Dania Ramos is a writer and a theatre professional. She has directed student
work for the NJPAC’s Young Writers Workshop and PTNJ’s Young Playwrights
Festivals and Language-in-Motion Assemblies. She's also a program coordinator
for Montclair State University’s College of the Arts, Office of Education and
Community Outreach. Dania's play Hielo (developed through PTNJ's New
Jersey Emerging Women's Project) was recently named runner-up in Repertorio
Espa ñol's 2013 MetLife Nuestras Voces Competition. She
holds an MA in Creative Writing from Wilkes University and a BFA in Theatre
Performance from Montclair State University. Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Advice to Young Playwrights, part 3 - Summer Hortillosa
Our next installment of Advice toYoung Playwrights comes from Summer Hortillosa, a 2007 NJ Young Playwrights Festival winner for her play, The Not-So Lovely Tale of Strawberry Fructose. Summer is a journalist, playwright, and director whose recent work can be found on her website http://www.summerization.com.
Enjoy!
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What makes a strong play?
I think strong plays have a clear direction in multiple areas -- character development, plot and audience experience. Strong plays feature relatable, consistent characters with believable dialogue that make their needs clear and drive the story. A strong play is one that has many movable parts that are pieced together in a way that the beginning can't help but eventually result in the ending and the ending seems to have only been possible because of the beginning.
What types of characters do you like to portray/write?
I like to both portray and write fantastic characters with fantastic needs. I like unique characters who are almost entirely figments of imagination but who have strong emotional cores that make them completely relatable. I like strong characters, strange characters and characters capable of witty, fun dialogue. Argumentative and honest are some of the best things a character can be.
What do you look for when choosing a play to work on?
Generally logistics play a large role when selecting a play for production, but otherwise I try to select plays I feel I have written well or, when doing someone else's play, that they have written well. I like to choose plays that explore a fair range of emotions, that would be fun to produce and watch and that I feel are strong and have interesting characters.
Please describe the best experience that you had working on a play.
My most recent production, a one-woman show in the SO LOW Theater Festival in Jersey City called Kookspeak, was one of my favorite experiences so far because production was easy. I wrote, directed and performed the piece and used very few props or effects, so I did not have to worry too much about budgeting, aligning schedules or a lot of other stuff that happens when I have to produce/stage manage/do everything for my shows. In this case, I mainly focused on promoting my show and on rehearsals.
Directing one's self can be a challenge and requires a lot of self-awareness (or, if possible, a video or mirror as an outside eye), but was a lot of fun for me. I was able to make myself work whenever I wanted to, and while I had a general rehearsal schedule that I set up for myself and tried to stick to, I had a lot of freedom to rehearse more or less than planned depending on my needs. I was free to push myself as hard as possible and make all the executive decisions, which is always great.
Also, it made the final product very pure -- I will perhaps never have a work as fully representative of who I am as an artist. The words, thoughts and emotions were all mine, as were the staging, direction, acting choices -- it was liberating and fully satisfying, especially when I received a great response from my audience and peers.
Please describe the worst experience that you had working on a play.
The worst -- or rather, most difficult -- experience I had working on a play was a full production of Shakespeare's As You Like It involving about 32 high school students. Having to direct over 30 teenagers with various levels of commitment and talent as well as oversee the entire production -- with very little control over the groups in charge of lighting, sound, costumes and props -- was mindbogglingly tough.
I had to double-cast our leads, Rosalind and Orlando, which lightened the load for four generally equally talented actors who weren't very accustomed to memorizing lots of Shakespearean speech, but made it difficult to make the characters consistent throughout the play. Also, as a requirement for the class, we had to have every student -- even those who were terrible at acting -- play a role. Lastly, as any director can imagine, coordinating the schedules of over 30 people and having to deal with egos, lateness, forgetfulness, mistakes, irresponsibility, and all the other possible vices any group of 30 could have was a monumental task in itself.
Overall, however, we were able to pull it all together and put on several great performances. As any director will quickly discover, learning to roll with the punches and press on to put on a good show is possibly the most important skill they can have.
What advice would you give to a young playwright currently working on a new play?
Make sure every effect has a cause and every cause has an effect when you revise. Tying up loose ends, making sure that important facts are established (in a natural way and at the right time) and keeping characters consistent will strengthen your play. Read dialogue out loud and make sure everything sounds natural; cut what you can. Don't fall in love too much with your favorite characters or with your ability to write, because you might end up dragging out scenes and tiring your audience or worse, finding yourself disappointed when your work is produced and the performance doesn't live up to your expectations.
Enjoy!
---------
What makes a strong play?
I think strong plays have a clear direction in multiple areas -- character development, plot and audience experience. Strong plays feature relatable, consistent characters with believable dialogue that make their needs clear and drive the story. A strong play is one that has many movable parts that are pieced together in a way that the beginning can't help but eventually result in the ending and the ending seems to have only been possible because of the beginning.
What types of characters do you like to portray/write?
I like to both portray and write fantastic characters with fantastic needs. I like unique characters who are almost entirely figments of imagination but who have strong emotional cores that make them completely relatable. I like strong characters, strange characters and characters capable of witty, fun dialogue. Argumentative and honest are some of the best things a character can be.
What do you look for when choosing a play to work on?
Generally logistics play a large role when selecting a play for production, but otherwise I try to select plays I feel I have written well or, when doing someone else's play, that they have written well. I like to choose plays that explore a fair range of emotions, that would be fun to produce and watch and that I feel are strong and have interesting characters.
Please describe the best experience that you had working on a play.
My most recent production, a one-woman show in the SO LOW Theater Festival in Jersey City called Kookspeak, was one of my favorite experiences so far because production was easy. I wrote, directed and performed the piece and used very few props or effects, so I did not have to worry too much about budgeting, aligning schedules or a lot of other stuff that happens when I have to produce/stage manage/do everything for my shows. In this case, I mainly focused on promoting my show and on rehearsals.
Directing one's self can be a challenge and requires a lot of self-awareness (or, if possible, a video or mirror as an outside eye), but was a lot of fun for me. I was able to make myself work whenever I wanted to, and while I had a general rehearsal schedule that I set up for myself and tried to stick to, I had a lot of freedom to rehearse more or less than planned depending on my needs. I was free to push myself as hard as possible and make all the executive decisions, which is always great.
Also, it made the final product very pure -- I will perhaps never have a work as fully representative of who I am as an artist. The words, thoughts and emotions were all mine, as were the staging, direction, acting choices -- it was liberating and fully satisfying, especially when I received a great response from my audience and peers.
Please describe the worst experience that you had working on a play.
The worst -- or rather, most difficult -- experience I had working on a play was a full production of Shakespeare's As You Like It involving about 32 high school students. Having to direct over 30 teenagers with various levels of commitment and talent as well as oversee the entire production -- with very little control over the groups in charge of lighting, sound, costumes and props -- was mindbogglingly tough.
I had to double-cast our leads, Rosalind and Orlando, which lightened the load for four generally equally talented actors who weren't very accustomed to memorizing lots of Shakespearean speech, but made it difficult to make the characters consistent throughout the play. Also, as a requirement for the class, we had to have every student -- even those who were terrible at acting -- play a role. Lastly, as any director can imagine, coordinating the schedules of over 30 people and having to deal with egos, lateness, forgetfulness, mistakes, irresponsibility, and all the other possible vices any group of 30 could have was a monumental task in itself.
Overall, however, we were able to pull it all together and put on several great performances. As any director will quickly discover, learning to roll with the punches and press on to put on a good show is possibly the most important skill they can have.
What advice would you give to a young playwright currently working on a new play?
Make sure every effect has a cause and every cause has an effect when you revise. Tying up loose ends, making sure that important facts are established (in a natural way and at the right time) and keeping characters consistent will strengthen your play. Read dialogue out loud and make sure everything sounds natural; cut what you can. Don't fall in love too much with your favorite characters or with your ability to write, because you might end up dragging out scenes and tiring your audience or worse, finding yourself disappointed when your work is produced and the performance doesn't live up to your expectations.
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