Playwrights Workshop Trinbago will launch the Scarborough Playwrights' Circle tomorrow. Its first meeting is scheduled to take place at the Michael K Hall Community School, Carnbee, Tobago, from 5.30�8.30 pm.
The Playwrights Workshop was founded in 2003 by veteran theatre director, scriptwriter and actor Tony Hall. At present, the Port-of-Spain circle hosts a Readers Theatre Series on the first Wednesday of every month at the Trinidad Theatre Workshop in Belmont.
The foundation's mission is to support the development and production of new plays for street, stage and screen. In an e-mail interview, Hall described the Scarborough Circle as a vital and necessary addition. Hall explained, "The circles start with five months of intense writing sessions and then gravitate to monthly readings and studio theatre productions."
When asked about the potential benefit of the Scarborough Circle to Tobagonian arts and culture, Hall said, "We will have to see how the culture of writing new plays and producing them develops in the Tobago environment. Today we have a new generation on the island."
This new generation, he qualified, includes "UWI graduates in theatre and drama in education... the circle will initially give them, and a potential audience, an opportunity to embrace a process of making their own plays with some kind of support on the ground."
The criteria for acceptable scripts are wide open, according to Hall. He encourages submissions of "whatever sort of scripts people want to write" and "whatever sort of plays people want to make."
"Tobago is a place where there is a vibrant heritage festival," Hall mused. "What does that mean? What is the relationship between all this heritage and crime? Between heritage and education? What does heritage mean? Maybe Tobago play-makers can explore some of these themes."
more info
Submissions and requests should be made to members of the Scarborough Playwrights' Circle Coordinating Committee:
Jared Rewind Prima: 386-9038
Onika Henry: 381-3049
Tony Hall: 681-7475
E-mail: playwrightsworkshoptt@yahoo.com or visit facebook.com/groups/playwrightsworkshoptt