Playwrights Local Announces 2017 Play Lab & Spring Workshops

Cleveland, OH, March 18, 2017 --(PR.com)-- Playwrights Local announces the 2017 Play Lab and Spring Workshops, the second staging of the company’s annual series of new plays and free classes. Presented April 12 and 15 at Waterloo Arts, the event features staged readings of works developed in the Play Lab “incubator” program, which teams playwrights, dramaturgs, and directors for months of in-depth revision. Also offered are free playwriting workshops for adults and teens of all skill levels, as well as post-show discussions and light receptions. All sessions are free, with a suggested donation of $10.

The 2017 Play Lab & Spring Workshops will be held on Wednesday, April 12 and Saturday, April 15 at the Creative Space at Waterloo Arts (397 E. 156th Street, Cleveland, Ohio 44110). Tickets or reservations are not required. Programs are intended for adults and teens. Additional information is available at Playwrights Local’s website at http://playwrightslocal.org/.

Featured staged readings in the 2017 Play Lab include TWICE TOLD TALES by Simone Barros (directed by Terrence Spivey with dramaturgy by Lenora Inez Brown); THE UNEXPECTED ADVOCATE by Mary Wilkinson and Deb Dyer (directed by Nick Hrutkay with dramaturgy by Eileen O’Leary); and THE PANTHER DANCER by Logan Cutler Smith (directed by Tyson Douglas Rand with dramaturgy by David Todd). Readings will be on Wednesday, April 12 and Saturday, April 15, with each being followed by an audience talkback and light reception.

“The Play Lab provides the type of intensive development that playwrights truly benefit from,” says David Todd, Artistic Director of Playwrights Local. “There’s nothing like this kind of laboratory environment in which they can get real-time feedback from dramaturgs, directors, actors, and audiences. We’re happy to be producing one of last year’s Play Lab pieces in our current season, but we’re also glad to help playwrights from the Cleveland area prepare their plays for other venues.”

Classes featured in this year’s Spring Workshops include THE PAST IS NEVER PAST: WRITING HISTORY PLAYS with Arwen Mitchell and FIFTY WAYS TO START A PLAY with Mike Geither. Sessions will begin at 11:00am on Saturday, April 15, and will be free and open to the public, with no reservations required.

“These Spring Workshops are intended to cover the fundamentals of playwriting for all kinds of students,” adds Todd. “They can introduce topics to newcomers or provide fresh perspectives for those with more experience. In this way, these workshops complement the special topics classes we offer at other times of the year.”

The 2017 Play Lab & Spring Workshops was made possible by support from The Cyrus Eaton Foundation. Additional funding for Playwrights Local is provided by the AHS Foundation, the Arch and Bruce Brown Foundation, the Cleveland Foundation, Cuyahoga Arts & Culture, the George Gund Foundation, and the Ohio Arts Council.

Playwrights Local is a theater company based in Cleveland. Billed as a playwrights’ center, the organization’s goal is to provide a home base for novice and experienced dramatic writers in Northeast Ohio. They offer classes and workshops, produce original plays, provide professional development opportunities, and engage the community through site-specific projects. Tax-deductible contributions to this 501(c)(3) group can be made at Playwrights Local’s website: http://playwrightslocal.org/donate/.