First National Meeting: Women of Color Writing Drama

The first week of September, I boarded a plane for Chicago to attend the first National Meeting of Women of Color Writing Drama sponsored by the Black Women Playwrights' Group (BWPG), a service and advocacy group for African American playwrights writing for the professional theatre. The mission of BWPG is to support and promote the work of its members, as well as advocate on critical issues within the theatre world. There is an established need among regional theatres for new artists to explore the African American experience, and BWPG is ready to be a conduit between African American women playwrights and theatres to ensure that the voices heard on the American stage are rich and diverse. This first National Meeting drew almost 100 established, mid-career and emerging women playwrights of color when it convened at Loyola University for four days and nights of workshops, focus groups, and performances. The women — Black, Latina, Asian, and Native American — came to Loyola from DC, New York, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Texas (with one from as far away as Amsterdam) to commune with one another, to practice our craft, and to confer with one another on how to navigate the long and rigorous road of turning our beloved scripts into fully realized productions. What an exciting undertaking!

There were also illustrious guest speakers, panelists, fellows, and honorees in attendance. Inspiring keynote speeches were given by Sydné Mahone, Lynn Nottage and Shay Youngblood. There were many exciting workshops and panels to choose from such as: "The Craft of the Ten-Minute Play" with playwright PJ Gibson; "Writing Music and Creating Musical Theatre" with Jackie Taylor; "Writing Workshop" with Nikkole Salter; "Your Play and the American Canon" with Sandra Richards; and "How to Get Tyler's Numbers" with Karen Evans, to name just a few. I was invited to present on the panel, "Self-Production: The Pros and Cons." Also, the First National Meeting of Women of Color Writing Drama 2008 Fellows included playwrights such as Kia Corthron, Lydia Diamond, Magdelena Gomez, Cassandra Medley, Lenelle Moise, and Bridgette Wimberly, among other prolific playwrights…