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Monday, November 10, 2008

International Playwrights Forum - Day 1


Photo Dian Marie Bridge

So our Forum was a couple of days of intense surprises, laughter, thought and artistic stimulation. We ended up having to change some things around as Migdalia had to return home early and so, she and Velina {as pictured above}, presented on the Saturday. They were so very different in their approach and yet so deeply inspiring. Velina has a clear, insightful approach to her work. She weaves her themes deftly together and her Masterclass followed that approach. 

All the Keynotes were done in the Enwave theatre and then the Masterclasses were held out in the lobby so that there could be a greater connection between the presenters and the attendees. This proved to be a great combination although they never seem to be able to heat the Enwave lobby to a nice comfort level.

Migdalia is so fierce. Her works are raw, passionate, visceral, full of images and fully grounded and realized. When she read it was like being emotionally hammered. Usually her Masterclasses are 3 - 4 hours long and since we didn't have that kind of time she spoke more about process. 

The Saturday evening finished off with our Across the Tdot Readings {or as i subtitled it, the Tapas Readings}. We were treated to to short excerpts of new works by, Laurence Anthony, Aisha John, Motion {Obsidian Playwrights Unit for this year}, Victor Gomez {Alameda Theatre}, David Yee, Marie Beath Badian {fu-Gen Theatre}, Alicia Payne / Don Molnar and Leah-Simone Bowen.

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