PlayWrite November newsletter
Hello/Barev/Merhaba/Pryvit/Ola/Namaskara!
November’s Quote: “No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.”
―Charles Dickens
A New PlayWrite Coach Riffs on Their first Coaching Experiences
Playwright, and PlayWrite coach,
Carlos-Zenen Trujillo
Carlos-Zenen Trujillo (they/them) is a playwright (most recent production: Our Utopia, inspired by Thornton Wilder’s classic Our Town, at Bag&Baggage last September), actor, and director. Among other honors, they were a Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Directing Fellow in 2020. Carlos-Zenen was born in Bejucal, Cuba, and has lived in Oregon since 2006; they earned a BFA in Theatre Arts from Southern Oregon University.
Carlos-Zenen recently joined PlayWrite’s coaching staff. We wanted to know what the coaching experience was like for a first-timer, so we had this conversation:
PlayWrite: How did you come to be a PlayWrite coach?
Carlos-Zenen: Well, as a theatre person, you’re always looking for the next job, the best next thing to do. I saw the posting for coaches on PDX Backstage, and I thought that this aligned with my interests, my strengths in writing, and my experience in education… a really good fit. And the pay is nice, as well.
PW: What were your expectations, going into the actual workshop?
CZ: I try to go into new things without expectations, especially in educational settings. I like to go in fresh, and then respond to the changing energies of the kids, and how the other coaches and facilitators are doing. My very first workshop was Park Academy {September 2023]; the kids were mostly preteens, the workshop was abbreviated. For Helensview in October, we had the standard full two weeks for the workshop, and the kids were teens. In my experience, middle-school kids often are too cool for anything, while high schoolers are more willing to engage. They’re still self-conscious, they still don’t want to do things, but teens are looking for sources of connection and sources of understanding—people who will listen to them, and reach out. They’re caught between not wanting to be seen, and being desperate for people to see them. For the majority of the kids at Helensview, we were able to make a lot of connections and create space for them to express themselves. They had broad guidelines, but within those, they could write whatever they wanted.
Two new PlayWrite coaches, Mele Satsuma and Carlos-Zenen Trujillo, shuffle through costume possibilities for the performances of plays the kids write, and then direct, with professional actors playing the roles. Photo by PW coach Suzanne LaGrande.
PW: What did you, personally, learn along the way?
CZ: I learned to let go, and let it be what it will be. My student [coaches and students are paired and work one-to-one] was very into it for the first few days, and then abruptly just dropped off. They did four days in total, two the first week and two the second. You want them to stay, you want them to engage. But it’s their decision to make, they can set their own guidelines. I treat them like I would any writer, like a colleague. In the same way that you provide them the liberty to write what they want, you also accept the choices they make. You can’t take it personally; you have to trust that they got what they needed, and that ultimately it was a positive experience.
In this case, the student did all the work up to the actual writing of their play, but didn’t write it. I took their description of their unwritten, planned play, which was a truly beautiful description, and we performed that as a monologue. This is something Victor [Victor Mack, who trains coaches and directs workshops] insists on. Every student is represented in the final showcase in some way, whether they finish the work or not.
After writing their plays, the kids direct professional actors in the final performance. These kids are taking their bows as the playwrights/directors of their own plays. They are experiencing, often for the first time, the power of having agency and making choices, and receiving appreciation and applause in public.
CZ: You also bear in mind that you don’t know what’s going on in these kids’ personal lives. Many kids don’t like to talk about negative things happening in their family life. But others do. We had one student who got very angry because of the work, and she walked out. She came back the next day and apologized, talked about the hard time she’d been going through, and told us that her leaving was not the fault of any of the coaches. She came back and did the work, and she ended up creating a really great play, and doing a good job of directing the actors who brought it to life.
PW: What do you think the value of a workshop is for the kids?
CZ: I went through public schools and private schools, and there was a profound lack of spaces to write creatively. I say this now as a playwright, with a writing career.
In my experience, there was a bit of creative writing in elementary and middle school, but once you get to high school and university, you’re writing academically. You‘re writing essays, not short stories. Writing is treated more like a science than an art; there are rules, there is a preordained structure you’re supposed to follow. I struggled with that, personally.
I think that one great benefit of PlayWrite is giving kids a space where they’re able to write their own story, their own dialogue. The rules we have in place don’t limit their creativity; we’re asking them to write whatever play they want. The only real restrictions are, they can’t have humans in it, and it has to have two characters. My hope is that participating in this workshop removes some of the taint, the intimidation, that writing has for a lot of young people.
A New Avenues for Youth student listening to a coach talk about ways the student might deepen the writing.
PW: What’s the personal value to you, as a coach, in doing this work?
CZ: I want to continue working with students. In a few years, I hope to have my masters in playwriting, and then I’d like to work in a high school or college setting. Coaching with PlayWrite is a great way to develop skills that will transfer on.
I also want to see if we can expand the PlayWrite workshop program into Spanish-speaking communities. That really calls to me. And not just Spanish; what are the ways we can make this program accessible in ASL [American Sign Language], and other communities? So that the work is always happening, and we are making a difference in the most effective way possible. And this work feeds our idealism, it’s a counter to the capitalism that that most of us have to feed.
Working with PlayWrite, working with the kids… I feel like I’m helping the world.
PW: You’re a playwright; what play are you working on now?
CZ: Ah…. I wanted to go into a hyper-regional regional idea, like… theatre that speaks to the community where the theatre is located. Our Utopia was the first foray into that for me; it’s a play about Oregon, performed in Oregon, about issues Oregon has.
So the play I’m working on now is about cannery workers, an all-woman crew, in a city much like Astoria, Oregon in the 1950s. It’s about them unionizing, preparing for a strike in their cannery. I’m drawing on the history of canneries, the history of unions, and the history of Astoria itself, which includes radical labor movements.
I’m a playwright, but I like to come at it from a dramaturgical perspective, history is where I find my way into the beginnings of a story. [CZ’s got a lot more to say about the play’s exciting characterizations and some outrageous dramatic effects, but you’ll just have to wait until we can all see the play—possibly as soon as June 2024. Stay tuned!]
PW: Carlos-Zenen also happens to be a certified executive chef. There’s something about using ingredients as characters and creating an intriguing plot that delivers something spicy and delicious that’s analogous to playwriting, we think.
Workshops Coming Up
We’re working on the 2024 workshop schedule with new partners and old friends. We’ll keep you posted as we build this out.
News About PlayWrite Staff, Coaches and Actors
PlayWrite Development Director,
Katherine Lefever
Come hear Katherine sing with the Portland Symphonic Choir! Katherine Lefever is PlayWrite’s development director. Katherine has a BA in Music from Reed College and an Executive MPA from the University of Washington. She’s a board co-chair of the Portland Symphonic Choir (“Portland’s choir since 1945”), and she’ll be performing with PSC on December 2 and 3 in PSC’s annual Wintersong Holiday Choral Tradition.
This Wintersong concert features joyful seasonal pieces like “The Sleigh” alongside folk arrangements including “Bright Morning Stars” by Shawn E. Kirchner. The Choir will delve into Randall Thompson’s “Alleluia” and Zanaida Robles’ “Veni Sancte Spiritus.” You’ll also hear a sneak preview of the “Bogoroditse Devo” upcoming in PSC’s The Vespers event in January.
The concert also features works by local composers, including Judy Rose’s “I Feel Tired Sometimes” and the live premiere of our New Composition Competition winner Drew Swatosh’s piece “Finding the Light.”
Finally, our holiday tradition continues! Audience members can sing along with PSC on festive favorites like “Deck the Halls” and “Silent Night.”
Wintersong traditionally includes youth choirs, and this year the Saturday December 2 (7:30–8:30 pm) event, Wintersong East, in southeast Portland at Warner Pacific University will include Portland Boychoir, which is open to self-identifying, self-affirming boys from 6 to 18.
The Sunday December 3 (4:00–5:00 pm) event, Wintersong West at Christ United Methodist Church in Cedar Mill, will include the Tualatin High School Choir.
Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023, 7:30–8:30 pm | Warner Pacific University—2219 SE 68th Ave, Portland, OR, 97215 (map)
Join PSC for their annual holiday tradition with the Portland Boychoir! This year’s concert includes the winning selection from their New Composition Competition on Summer Sings! Get tickets.
Sunday, Dec. 3, 2023, 4:00–5:00 pm | Christ United Methodist Church—12755 NW Dogwood St., Portland, OR, 97229 (map)
Join PSC for their annual holiday tradition with the Tualatin High School Choir! This year’s concert includes the winning selection from their New Composition Competition on Summer Sings! Get tickets.
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. Open to all levels.
Classes upcoming. Get more info.
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