2012 Playwrights Retreat - Writing Is...

This year at the Native Voices Playwrights Retreat and Festival of New Plays we will be working with 6 talented playwrights, each coming from very different backgrounds and with incredibly unique voices.  In an attempt to dip into the minds of these playwrights we asked them to complete the statement "Writing is..." and tell us how they develop their stories and what they hope for them.  This post we feature NV veteran, Diane Glancy, who often unearths powerful and haunting stories about family, history, and the human condition in the face of adversity.  We also have here Shaun Taylor-Corbett, a newcomer to NV, who is an accomplished Broadway actor and musician and co-wrote with his mother, Tony nominated choreographer and director Lynne Taylor-Corbett, a richly fun and beautiful musical which brings into question what "home" really means.

And stay tuned for more posts and words from our esteemed playwrights!

Diane Glancy (Cherokee)

writer, The Bird House

Writing is a journey.  A field of horses.  If lightning strikes, they run everywhere with possibility.  Writing is a rock outcropping with many stories in its layers.  Writing is a hunger.  A harvest table set with bowls of different foods combined in different orders.  Writing has many voices and dialogues within.   I just read Ronald Takaki’s A DIFFERENT MIRROR—  about the many nationalities that make up America.  But he didn’t mention the mixed-blood—the many voices within the one voice that writing is.  Writing is a cocklebur.  A bramble.  A briar.  You walk in the woods hoping one will catch.

Meet Diane and see her poetic and poignant story come to life on Saturday, June 2 @ 2:00 p.m. when we present a staged reading of her play The Bird House

Shaun Taylor-Corbett (Blackfeet)

co-writer, Distant Thunder

I have recently discovered that writing is a release for me.  It is an extension of my imagination, which comes to life in a tangible way on the page.  To then hear the words spoken aloud, and see the story come to life through real people on a stage is a dream come true.

I've written songs before, but writing a musical is new to me.  I feel responsible to the characters in the show to make sure they are being portrayed in a real and human way.  They feel like family, especially because they are also Blackfeet; they are also Native American.

I know the power of writing can change the cultural and economic progress of a nation.  If we find the right balance in music and book, as well as how the characters develop and interact with each other, we will inspire real change with DISTANT THUNDER.

Meet Shaun and experience the music and cultural exploration of Distant Thunder, Saturday, June 2 @7:30 p.m.

We want to hear from you too!  What does writing mean to you? Complete the statement "Writing Is..." in our comments below!  Or feel free to respond to what our playwrights say!