In the beginning, I did not intend to start a
New Play Forum. I was an emerging writer/playwright (& am still emerging!) (with an LDS religious heritage), who was hoping someone else with gifts in organization, administration, and directing would take up the cause of new play development (NPD). Now, almost 20 years after my first letters pleading for NPD opportunities; after too many rejected proposals; and after reading too many stories of too many playwrights who had to leave their solitudes and do NPD for themselves and others, I have decided to seek support in the cause of NPD for myself and others in the small community where I grew up and where I have just returned this past February. This blog will hopefully detail the progress of this DREAM.
In my belief, there are thousands of scripts that deserve an audience. And thousands of playwrights who need forums where they can explore their solitary visions—places and stages where they can put "flesh and blood" onto the bones of their scripts.
My vision is for a
New Play Forum that is
not of this world. By that I mean, a Forum where the profit-seeking treadmill of our latter-day acquisitive culture can be countered with a theatre of H.O.P.E.
To give readers a flavor of what has brought me to this place of stepping up to the NPD pulpit, I reproduce here a few of the letters I have sent over the past—nigh—20 years.
Letter of 10 February 1992
To: Administrative Assistant
General Activities Committee [LDS Church]
The purpose of this correspondence is to express some feelings and concerns, and to perhaps give suggestion respecting opportunities for LDS playwrights.
Over the past many years, I have read and re-read the messages to LDS artists from Brigham Young, Orson F. Whitney, John Taylor, Spencer W. Kimball (ENSIGN, July 1977, pp. 2-5), Elder Boyd K. Packer (ENSIGN, August 1976, July 1977, pp. 60-65), and more recently, President Ezra Taft Benson (ENSIGN, Nov. 1998, p. 6); and I have watched as their visions have begun to unfold, particularly with respect to LDS composers and visual artists. Clearly, the establishment of the Museum of Church History and Art has given hope and encouragement to thousands in the expression of their gifts and talents. The goodwill generated in this one building is immeasurable. Yet, there remains one art form (perhaps the most powerful) which continues to struggle in relative isolation. I refer to theatre and specifically to the works of LDS playwrights.
I recognize that unique requirements and risks often make new drama costly to produce and that “draw” is a governing factor. Thus, most community theatres and university theatres like, BYU, as well as LDS Stakes, continually opt for the proven “Broadway” or “off-Broadway” hits or the classics (even when these theatres have sometimes had to omit parts or “re-write” for their conservative audiences). This means that unknown inexperienced LDS playwrights have very few opportunities to develop their talents and to obtain necessary production experience. But we must all begin somewhere and that is what I wish to ask—Is there not some way the Church could encourage the establishment of a privately-funded endowment for the dramatic arts?
I know there are limits to what the Church can and should do, but Church officials perhaps know of persons who could be encouraged to establish an endowment for the Dramatic Arts—with a mission to promote excellence in playwriting within the LDS community.
This private endowment could:
1. Establish awards for playwriting competitions;
2. Fund yearly New Play Festivals (including payment for production rights);
3. Pay compensation to readers, directors, principal actors, and others who (as in summer theatre) are hired for the preparation and term of the Festival (say 3 to 4 months). These principal artists could be students studying in related areas of theatre. This would give them paid employment, valuable experience, and perhaps even university credit in their chosen fields; and
4. Assist in funding the production of qualifying plays in other regions of the world.
There may be more opportunities for LDS playwrights in Utah, but even those, I understand, are not that frequent and are often without financial compensation. Ideally, that is as art (as every occupation) should be—each giving and receiving according to ability and need. But we have yet to reach such perfection, and for those of us who feel it a life-work to write plays, there is no living and little hope for future writing when we cannot meet our needs in the field of our driven-ness. As artists we sometimes feel guilty needing compensation for the years of research and writing that give shape to our creations.
As well, we desire for our work what parents desire for their children—the best possible life. Ofttimes, we do not know even where to obtain help in the first stagings of our work. We see how our local people are committed to jobs, Church, families, politics, community, and other worthy endeavors, so to plead for volunteers for one more time-consuming thing that may garner only a small audience for a short run, is almost beyond our daring—and sometimes beyond our belief that it can be done well in those circumstances. And being performed well is critical to the future life of our work to which we have given our every effort to writing well.
I realize that many new works may not be well-written, but I believe that many others are; and for good LDS playwrights there is great need for opportunity. If, as in our present system, theatres and LDS communities continually choose in favor of classic or Broadway theatre, then the visions of great LDS drama will never come to pass. Granted, classic and Broadway theatre have a vital place, but if more of a balance were attempted between these proven works and new ones, then perhaps great new theatre would result and LDS audience educated toward appreciating new works arising from out of their values and unique heritage. With vision and commitment, we could all play a key role.
There is tremendous power in theatre. I am convinced that LDS playwrights can produce some of the best theatre in the world, but the opportunity to learn and to establish ourselves is critical, and is seldom, if ever, available to us in world theatres. Thus, our persistent hope is three-fold: first, that LDS schools, producers, directors, and the wider LDS community will begin to seek out the works of LDS playwrights; second, that we, as LDS playwrights will improve with opportunity and experience; and third, that we never forget that the history of art is also a history of its patrons. Much of the great music, painting, and drama is with us today only because altruistic men and women gave of their surplus to benefit the world by encouraging and providing venue for the talents of other men and women who felt a drive to create.
Could not the Church foster a new era of great theatre by encouraging philanthropic men and women to establish a private endowment for the advancement and promotion of works written by LDS playwrights?
Sincerely
[SMSmith]
Memo of October 13, 1999
Sent to 10 groups involved in LDS theatre. Most did not reply, but the two or three who did felt they were doing what they could.
--------------------------
To: [List of addressee's follows this letter]
From: [SMSmith] (playwright)
Date: Wednesday, October 13, 1999
Subject: New Play Development
Over seven years ago, I wrote to the Church Activities Committee and to BYU outlining some of the challenges that LDS playwrights face in getting their new works staged and stage-worthy. Since that time it has become more and more apparent that LDS playwriting will never achieve a reputation for excellence until producers, directors, and playwrights are willing to invest in a process that has been integral to theatre, in some form or other, from the beginning—a process that has now evolved into the form called Play Development (referred to hereafter as NPD or New Play Development). Within the LDS community however, NPD opportunities have been, too often, absent or short-circuited. As a result, our theatres continually opt for revivals of Broadway or Off-Broadway productions. And so these world "classics" (that have already been developed over months or years) get recycled endlessly while many potential classics that reflect our values and heritage languish in undeveloped oblivion.
If the words of the Prophets are to be fulfilled concerning the dramatic arts, new LDS works will need latter-day visionaries. We need venues devoted to NPD. This need is underscored by the 350 plus submissions the Church and Promised Valley Productions received in response to a call for script proposals in September 1998. This theatre project by the Church is a thrilling development, but as the Church can accept only 10-15 scripts to develop over the next few years, hundreds of scripts are left without adequate opportunity for NPD. And without access to appropriate venues and expertise, too many LDS playwrights have chosen to skip NPD (perhaps, not even been aware of its necessity) and gone straight to production on a Ward, Stake, or community basis, thus by-passing the vital (and often painful) process designed to perfect plays in association with gifted actors, designers, and directors versed
in the NPD process. As a result, many such plays have fallen short of the excellence they might have achieved.
Perhaps some LDS-oriented venues has already taken steps to explore, sponsor, and promote opportunities for New Play Development, but it seems that even theatres with resources suitable for NPD are, themselves, opting for revivals. Thus, I have written this memo—hoping to increase awareness of NPD and of the great need for NPD advocates.
We need people who understand that even “inspired” works seldom spring perfectly whole from the mind of the playwright, but that wholeness is sometimes achieved in the developmental process. We need more people knowledgeable about NPD and committed to supporting it. We need more people who believe that new LDS works deserve, at least, equivalent opportunity for development that the “classics” have received. And we need to trust that audiences will support new works of quality ... because there is an energy surrounding great new plays that even great old plays cannot match.
We need more than the Church and Promised Valley Productions to focus on NPD. We need Tuacahn, BYU, Ricks College, and many other venues to make greater commitment to NPD. We need courses, workshops, and festivals that instruct in the unique and various processes of NPD. We need actors, designers, directors, producers, and playwrights willing to invest in the sometimes long and arduous process required. We need to nurture more works worthy of the name we bear.
Can we put New Play Development higher on our agenda and brainstorm the options we have? Drama is perhaps the most powerful art form available because it accesses all other arts forms and presents this multiplicity of arts, live. Surely new theatre deserves more than we have given it to date.
(An excellent reference is Edward M. Cohen's, Working on a New Play: A Play Development Handbook for Actors, Directors, Designers and Playwrights.)
[List of addressees of the above letter—personal names removed to respect their privacy:]
- The Mormon Arts Foundation: President
- Tuacahn Centre for the Arts: Tuacahn CEO
- Brigham Young University: Chair: Dept. of Theatre & Media Arts
- BYU–Hawaii: Professor of Theatre & Speech
- Ricks College: Dept. Chair: Dept. of Theatre
- Utah Festival Opera Company: General Director
- The Watchmen Institute: President
- SCERA
- Encore Publishing
- Zion East Foundation for the Arts
Letter of 27 July 1999
To: [_____ Foundation (Wealthy Philanthropist): name removed to respect their privacy]
Over seven years ago, I wrote to the Church General Activities Committee about the challenges facing many LDS playwrights. I enclose a copy of my letters for your reference, so you may better understand the purpose of this present correspondence.
As you probably know, the Church is constructing a theatre along with the new Assembly Building. In anticipation of its completion, the Church and Promised Valley Productions issued a call for scripts in the Church News (September 26, 1998) announcing that several contracts would be offered for script development in each of four theme categories. The response was overwhelming—over 350 submissions. The first cut was to 100 from which 10 or 12 will shortly be selected with first productions scheduled for December 2000. This initiative by the Church and Promised Valley Productions is a thrilling development and will bless countless lives because live theatre is possibly the most powerful art form there is.
As I have waited upon the final selection announcement (expected in mid-August), I have pondered upon the many who will be told that their scripts must again wait untold months, even years, for another rare opportunity for script development. The opportunities are rare because: 1) community & college theatres, including BYU, continually opt to do revivals; 2) non-profit theatres that focus on new play development do not seem interested in religious or values-oriented works; and 3) many theatres are not prepared to deal with the intense process that attends new play development (readings, workshops, preview performances, etc.). Thus, the power of excellent, LDS-heritage and value-based theatre remains largely undiscovered. In some cases, where anxious LDS playwrights have proceeded to full production and publication without adequate script development their work has suffered, never achieving the power or appeal it might have enjoyed, had the script been polished in development.
I know your philanthropy must be guided by your own sense of calling to a cause, but the cause of LDS playwright development is in dire need of visionary patrons. The number of submissions received by the Church demonstrates the great need for expanded development opportunities for LDS playwrights who seek to honor their heritage and faith by giving their plays the best birthing possible. For the words of the Prophets to be fulfilled concerning the dramatic arts, LDS playwrights need access to additional centres devoted to new play development. If such a project speaks to your heart (or to others whom you know), your sponsorship could bless the world.
Sincerely,
[SMSmith]
Letter of 15 September 1999
[SMS response to _____ Foundation reply]
Thank you for your reply of 16 August 1999. I recognize that there are limited funds for the many worthy causes that make appeal to the [Name] Foundation, and I appreciate your frankness in explaining the Foundation's present commitments and reservations.
I suppose we playwrights get impatient at times for a more speedy resolution to finding venues and expertise for new play development (NPD). Some of our frustration arises because people forget that their favourite "classic" works have endured weeks/months/years of NPD (or its equivalent) in order to become stage-worthy. People see the "polish" of these developed works and then expect new undeveloped plays to be as stage-worthy at first reading. That is our biggest challenge—to raise awareness about the necessity and process of NPD—to help people understand that great dramatic work is seldom, if ever, born perfectly whole from the head or pen of the playwright, but that great theatre is polished in the collaborative process of NPD.
Undoubtedly, with the Church's new theatre project, the need for NPD opportunities will receive increased attention by members of the Mormon Arts Foundation, by Church Universities/Colleges, and by theatre owners and patrons. It is my contention that we will never have great LDS theatre until we recognize and support the process that creates it.
Again, I thank you for your considerate reply, and hope that at some future date, the [Name] Foundation may have opportunity to support New Play Development.
Sincerely,
[SMSmith]
Letter of 7 January 2004
Church Theatrical Script Submission
50 East North Temple Street, Room 2082
Salt Lake City, UT 84150 USA
Dear Committee:
RE: Call for Scripts,
Ensign, January 2004:79
What happened to the scripts and proposals received from a previous script call in 1998?
Church News, Sept. 26, 1998:Z10 &
Ensign, December 1998:71) The response was overwhelming with over 350 proposals submitted, yet in the past 5 years, it seems that only one project,
Savior of the World, has been developed and produced. And now another script call!
As a playwright, I was greatly encouraged when the 1998 script call offered developmental opportunity as part of the process, because too much LDS theater has suffered from the absence of developmental opportunity and from the failure to recognize its importance. We will not achieve excellence without a refining process, yet your recent call seems to ignore both the time & process required to polish new works.
If wards and stakes are expected to polish the work, then playwrights are denied valuable opportunities to refine their craft, not to mention concerns of copyright & script integrity.
New Play Development (NPD) has been a concern of mine for some time. If you wish to know the feelings of a playwright on this matter, I attach copies of correspondence from 1999 and 1992 addressing this issue. I hope you will feel moved to read them.
Sincerely,
[SMSmith]
