1st National Conference - Black Women Playwrights' Group

The Black Women Playwrights' Group

presents

Whisper, Laugh, Shout, Tell the Story: 1st National Meeting for Women of Color Writing Drama

Chicago

September 4-7

Hosted by

Guest Speaker:

Lynn Nottage, MacArthur Award-Winning Playwright

Who should come? You should. If you are thinking about writing your first play, or have just started, come. If you have written 20 plays, come. If you are writing hip hop, dramas, comedies, gospel plays, musicals, come! If you are writing for film and television, come. Your voice is unique, but we are gathering kindred spirits with stories to tell. For the first time women writers of color will gather in a nurturing environment that assumes they should have prolific, consistent careers writing dramatic literature that illuminates the human condition. We want to ask writing women what they need to navigate the labyrinth facing writers of color in theater, film, and television. Focus groups will ask, "What do you need? How can we support you?" With the answers to these questions, we will design a national level of membership that serves not only women playwrights of color but also the American theater.

The four-day meeting will include a staged reading, an awards dinner, workshops, and small group discussions that center on the playwrights' experiences. Lynn Nottage, MacArthur award-winning playwright, is a guest speaker. Scholars and professionals in the field will also be present to make this a memorable and worthwhile event. The conference will take place at Loyola University Chicago's newly renovated Mundelein Center for the Fine and Performing Arts on Loyola's Lake Shore Campus. Loyola Professor Jonathan Wilson, a highly respected director at regional theaters across the nation, will direct the staged reading. For Loyola, the conference is the beginning of a year-long focus on gender, diversity, and new initiatives in the American theater.

"This summer, I stood in the bank and two black women were at the teller windows in front of me. I saw only their backs. One was in her fifties, with perfectly coiffed silvery hair, a raw silk outfit, lime green pants, and tiny jewels on her mules. Next to her was a woman in her twenties, with dread locks down her back, well-worn cowboy boots, jeans with a chain belt, and a small purse with a shoulder strap. On the purse was the Harley Davidson emblem. I thought to myself, 'Here's a story. Here's a BWPG standing in line right in front of me."

Please come to Chicago and tell your story!

President & Founder BWPG.

For more information, please email conference@40blackwomenplaywrights.org, call (202) 635-2974, or visit www.blackwomenplaywrights.org/.