LA Weekly

Illustration by Patrick Martinez

On July 21, the L.A. Weekly hosted a roundtable discussion among leaders in the theater community about new play development and the ramifications of two major institutions (A.S.K. Theater Projects and Center Theater Group) closing programs whose purpose was to develop new plays and new playwrights. Those present included Luis Alfaro (playwright, former co-director of the CTG/Mark Taper Forum’s Latino Theater Initiative), Sasha Anawalt (director, USC/Getty Arts Journalism Program, NEA Arts Journalism Institute), Jennifer Andreone (display advertising, L.A. Weekly), Anthony Byrnes (former associate producer/new play development for the Kirk Douglas Theater), Stacie Chaiken (writer-performer), Bart DeLorenzo (artistic director, Evidence Room), Sylvie Drake (publications director at Denver Center Theater, former L.A. Times chief drama critic), Erin Aubry Kaplan (staff writer, L.A. Weekly), Jessica Kubzansky (co-artistic director, Theater @ Boston Court), Sandra Tsing Loh (writer-performer, radio host), George Lugg (associate director, REDCAT), Terence McFarland (executive director, L.A. Stage Alliance), Steven Leigh Morris (theater editor, L.A. Weekly), Jon Lawrence Rivera (artistic director, Playwrights Arena), Mark Seldis (producing director, Ghost Road Theater Company), Ray Simmons (executive director, Edge of the World Theater Festival), Shay Wafer (managing director, Cornerstone Theater Company), Chay Yew (playwright, former director of the Taper’s Asian Theater Workshop). The roundtable was the first in a series of such discussions, to be continued and opened to the theater community and to the public during the Edge of the World Theater Festival in October.

More coverage of this story from the LA Weekly can be found in "Confrontations in a Con-Art World" and in "The Great White Way." For other stories, go to nytimes.com for Margo Jefferson's commentary on Sunday, August 7; and latimes.com for Don Shirley's reportage on May 24 and June 22. To read Richard Montoya's article on the need for a new generation of Latino arts leaders, click here.

STEVEN LEIGH MORRIS: I’m concerned that, with the combined closing of A.S.K. Theater Projects and Center Theater Group’s play development labs and New Work Festival, opportunities are closing for playwrights in general, and for playwrights of color in particular. The issue is not so much the activity of play development, which continues to occur at many small theaters across the city, but with the validation and definition of Los Angeles as a theater laboratory — a validation and definition provided by institutions that fund new play festivals. I suggest that the loss of A.S.K. Theater Projects, which uniquely funded companies rather than individuals, to develop works that were already in process, was a blow possibly more profound that the loss of the CTG labs. I propose two questions to be addressed by the roundtable: Are these institutional losses really serious to the welfare of the community? And, if so, is there a possible solution in the form of an umbrella organization, to make up for the deficit?

JON LAWRENCE RIVERA: I think that the loss of the Taper labs and workshops is not the end of the labs. The difference between us is that they had the money and we don’t. We [at Playwrights Arena] have been developing workshops and new work for 13 years, but we have no money and that’s the core of the problem. It’s not the end of the world.

MARK SELDIS: I think the question we want to ask of those people running the now closed labs: What was it about the programs you were doing that worked, and what didn’t? What was it you found valuable? If we’re talking about reinventing something, let’s really reinvent something. Find out what worked from their view, and then from the community. We need to figure that out before we start talking about money.

LUIS ALFARO: I think that not every new play development program serves everybody. The thing that really worked that was great was the sense of community, that there was a community to plug into. And when you can pay a director a real fee, there’s a difference between the activity and a hobby. I always felt that what was good about what we did was the mix of people we brought together. I always saw it as investment. The thing that the Taper gave up [in shuttering its new play development programs] was initiating rather than being the receiver. I think the best we did was invest in really young artists. Many of the plays weren’t that good, but that wasn’t our focus. Minneapolis theater is fertile right now, there are levels of maturity, and different festivals in which artists can participate based on their level of expertise. So the kind of festival you join is based on the level of expertise, so you work your way up the festival ladder, so to speak. You build a really strong community, but not everybody needs to belong to that community. If you feel comfortable in your consortium, you’re not in a big enough consortium. There should be a certain level of discomfort, even intimidation, for artists to keep growing. And then we had a lot of great plays submitted that we didn’t bring into the mix because the artists didn’t need [the development process].

JESSICA KUBZANSKY: I’ve participated [as a director] in ASK and the Taper labs: My favorite thing was being introduced to a play nobody had met before. One of the things I valued about ASK as a participant, I valued that they didn’t have an agenda, not a political or social agenda, not a production agenda. It was purely about nurturing, about a new play and a playwright. They had stage-one readings, and different tiers — graduated levels for the articulation of the play. After they closed, I saw their library and was amazed by how many plays that came through their program had gone on to national attention.