Playwright program to show student-written plays

The work of two student playwrights will come alive at the Wells-Metz Theatre this weekend as part of the Department of Theatre and Drama’s regular season.

Second-year graduate students Kelly Lusk and Nathan Davis have spent the past year developing their plays as part of the new master of fine arts in playwriting program.

The program, which returned to IU last academic year after a three-year absence, has a practical focus, Head of Playwriting Program Ken Weitzman said.

“It’s a production-focused program with the idea being that the way playwrights learn about their plays is by having them fully produced, which is not the case everywhere,” he said.

The previous program director Dennis Reardon retired in 2008, according to a December 2010 press release. The department decided to put the program on hold and wait until it could hire a permanent professor, Weitzman said.

“It was never ‘We don’t want this.’ It was ‘We’re waiting to get this position funded again so we can hire somebody and restart the program,’” Weitzman said.

Weitzman said he and Department Chair Jonathan Michaelsen redesigned the new program together. Since then, Weitzman said three students have begun their training with one in her first year and two in their second year.

A maximum of three students can be admitted to the program each year, according to the program’s website.

“The playwriting program is kept intentionally small,” the website says. “With only three writers at a time, this is an environment free from competition for resources or for productions.”

Weitzman said he has received more interest than there are spots available.
Candidates for admission must submit two original, full-length plays along with a résumé, personal statement and department application, the website says.

Weitzman said students write during the first year, but their plays aren’t produced.
However, students write and produce full-length plays for the department during the second and third years.

“You’re not writing for it to be read by somebody,” Weitzman said. “They’re writing for an audience to see their play live.”

Lusk’s play, “(a love story),” runs March 22, 26, 28 and 30 at 7:30 p.m. at the Wells-Metz Theatre.

Davis’s play, “Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea,” runs March 23, 27 and 29 at 7:30 p.m. and March 30 at 2 p.m. at the Wells-Metz Theatre.

Davis said he is excited to see his play, the first of his plays to be produced, in
action.

The Rockford, Ill., native said he learned about the IU program while working with the Chicago Dramtists, a company devoted to nurturing new plays and playwrights.

“It’s a really good place to write,” Davis said of IU. “It’s a slower pace.”

Davis said the MFA program at IU is “absolutely” helping him reach his career goals.
“Few MFA programs give you as many production

opportunities,” he said. “Having those opportunities are absolutely priceless.”

The program allows students to meet with and learn from professionals in the industry. Some of those professionals attend productions, the website says.

Lusk said “(a love story)” is not his first produced play. He said many of his plays deal with love and homosexuality and have gay characters.

“I’m really interested in presenting individuals to our community that don’t necessarily get seen,” he said. “People are excited about that, doing things they wouldn’t ordinarily do.”

He said writing for this play began more than a year ago, and it is still being edited — a process he said is the most difficult part of playwriting.

“I’ll keep working on it until I’m sick of it,” Lusk said. “It’s constantly being rewritten, even if it feels like it’s done.”

Regardless of how Lusk and Davis feel about their productions this weekend, Weitzman said he enjoys seeing these playwrights develop.

“I like them both enormously,” Weitzman said. “It’s amazing to see their art grow. It’s an incredible process.”

Weitzman said M.F.A. programs that cultivate new plays and playwrights are important for the continuity of theatre.

“If theatre is going to survive, you need new work,” he said. “The classics are very important, and they have their place, but if you’re going to continue the lifeblood of the American theater, you need new playwrights.”