My play, The Ten Minute Play (with a Nice Picture of Jimmy Carter), had a reading at the Midwest Dramatists Conference, near Kansas City, on Saturday, September 29. The conference gave me a chance to hob-nob with theater folk and just talk about plays for a few days. Playwright Sean Grennan and agent Beth Blickers were there all weekend giving feedback to playwrights as the plays were being presented.
It went great. Lots of laughs (which is good, since it is a comedy) and positive feedback from the judges. My actors were great. Brie Henderson as Gwen and Curtis Smith as Peter delivered the lines perfectly. Thanks to those two for wonderful performances.
I’m glad I went to the conference. The organizers were very good. I’ve done a few conferences in my career and I know how hard it could be. They took very good care of us. David Hanson, Vicki Vodrey, Lindsay Adams were all really really nice people. (David Hanson directed my play, too.
I met other playwrights from all over the country who attended and talked to them about their work and how they approached getting their stuff out there. I was happy to meet Tim Toepel (who had worked with Steve Allen), Morgan Trant Kinnally, Linda Paul, Sharon Goldner, and many others.
I was impressed with the actors the conference had for the readings. There was about 15-18 actors doing almost 50 plays and they were very good. It’s really an actor’s dream to have so many different parts to play. Shoutouts to Brie and Curtis (in my play, but good in others, too). Laura Jacobs and Nicole Hall were great, and I mean great, in everything they did over the weekend. I’ve got parts for both of them in a couple of plays of mine.
So now, we move on to other things. Thanks for reading. If you’re a member, all of my plays are on New Play Exchange under my name.
Greg Hatfield: Ruminations 