April 2023 Newsletter
PLAYWRITE’S 20TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
Come celebrate with us! PlayWrite will produce Write On! A 24-Hour Play Festival June 16 & 17, with a high-energy performance Saturday, June 17, 7:30 pm, in the Ellyn Bye Studio at Portland Center Stage. Tickets go on sale May 1. More info coming soon; please save the date.
Hello/Hola/Bonjour/Zdravo/Pryvit/ Shlam'alokhon!
What’s happening? Our post-Covid activity is picking up nicely. Here are the highlights:
The McDaniel High School (formerly James Madison High) playwriting residency we partnered with Portland Center Stage (PCS) to deliver ended very well. Principal Styles was impressed by our process, and we’re booked to deliver two PlayWrite workshops next school year. Dr. Zena (Performing Arts instructor) even suggested that we provide a workshop for teachers/staff members.
Helensview School provides individualized instruction and specialized support services for youth ages 12-21 who have dropped out of school or who are experiencing chronic attendance/behavioral issues. PlayWrite will deliver at least one workshop for Helensview this summer at Portland State, and possibly three.
Victor and Aimee met with Geof Garner, the Program Director of Alternative Pathways and Multnomah Education Service District’s TRiO Talent Search. TRiO provides educational opportunities for low-income and first-generation students as they transition from high school to post-secondary education. Geof, who is based at Helensview, will be instrumental in reintroducing us to a number of our former partners in the MESD alternative school system (partners who were inactive during Covid).
p:ear builds positive relationships with homeless youth through education, art, recreation and job training. We began a once-a-week workshop drop-in playwriting workshop at p:ear, in partnership with PCS. So far we have five outstanding youth participating.
Sure feels good to be doing our work again!
Tyler is wearing a peach colored shirt with his arms outstretched like a flying bird. This is during one of our exercises titled “Walk like a Cat.” Obviously this is a continuation of that exercise wherein everyone moves like a type of bird.
Q&A with Tyler Hunt, PlayWrite Coach & Actor
Tyler Hunt is a Portland-based actor, improviser, and coach. He earned double Bachelors in Theatre and Communication Studies from the University of Portland, and is currently a member of The Actor’s Conservatory at Artists Repertory Theatre. This is Tyler’s first year with PlayWrite.
Q: When people find out you’re a PlayWrite coach, what are the questions they have for you?
Tyler: Usually, people assume that PlayWrite is directly related to playwriting or teaching playwriting, so I get to explain the nuances of how it works. Folks ask who we work with (youth at the edge) and what age range of Writers we work with (adolescents). People also want to know whether the Writers write a play as a group or separately (it’s separately) and whether the Writers perform it too (they get to direct professional actors in their plays, so they’re in control of their own works). Which is a great segue for me to tell them how we facilitate the production and filming of their plays for audience of family and friends, or people who help run the programs they may be a part of.
Q: What are the most important things for people to know about PlayWrite?
Tyler: I want people to know the way the Writers grow. I wish everyone could see how engaged and excited the Writers are to watch their own writing come to life with real actors. that gives them a sense of accomplishment for the rigorous work that they’ve put in. The fact that this program helps Writers as students do better in school and in life is one of the reasons I'm so proud to be a coach.
Q: What do you want people to know about you, as a coach/actor?
Tyler: I try, as we all do, to bring my sense of creativity, fun, and compassion into the room. There’s a lot of work expected of the Writers, and the coaches too. To be able to push them and support them—both at once—is a joy. Also, as an actor, the more I can bring in confidence and remove inhibition in the games and skits we introduce to them, the more it helps Writers feel comfortable knowing they can be uninhibited too.
Q: How has theatre/writing/art of any kind changed your own life?
Tyler: I could give many answers to that, but mainly—it’s a community I felt happiest in for a long time, and continue to want to be a part of and build for future people too. It’s the thing I nerd out about most, and I love to learn and read so, inherently it’s good for filling that part of my curiosity about the world. I’m able to experience and feel other people’s stories and imaginations; to become a small part of them for a time is beautiful thing.
Q: What’s the question you really hope people ask?
Tyler: It’s “How do I get involved?” If PlayWrite could simply grow and be an experience that more kids in our community, and beyond, could do, that would be incredible.
PlayWrite Coaches and Actors in the Community
Photo: Orion Bradshaw as a 1000-year-old tree, John San Nicolas as an aged watch, in "To Be Young Again”
Coach/actor John San Nicolas performed in Albuquerque, New Mexico playing Hubert in Fusion Theatre's production of Life X 3 by Yasmina Reza, March 24–April 2. In April he starts rehearsals to play Bernardo in The Play You Want by Bernardo Cubria, at Milagro, May 5 - 20. Learn more here.
Coach/Actor Chris Harder has been teaching "Authentic Connection," his fun, supportive acting class for 15 years. Using the Meisner technique, you'll learn to build connection through attentive observation, listening, repetition, and moment-to-moment authentic responses.. Classes upcoming, open to all levels. Get more info.
And you, Dear Reader, what would you like to know about PlayWrite? What would you like to see in the newsletter? Just drop a line to info@playwriteinc.org, and let us know.
Stay shiny!