Here’s what some of our company members have said about WordBRIDGE over the years…
–Jami Brandli, Playwright, WB ’10
“As a playwright participant in this one-of-a- kind program, I was able to develop my play, Regard the Sun, with the collaborative input of professional, nationally-renowned actors, directors and dramaturgs…. Overall, the developmental process at WORDBRIDGE, as the name suggests, nurtured my play safely through the essential intermediary step from page to stage. The two weeks I spent working on my play at WORDBRIDGE left me confident that it is now ready for full production. Eckerd College provided the perfect environment for such intensive, collaborative work. The focus of the program was upon the development of the play without the pressures of critics, the press, and the public at large. Richard Rice and his team at EC created a nurturing, supportive environment for playwrights, a haven of artistic freedom, a place to renew one’s artistic ideals, and a laboratory to freely experiment with dramatic forms.”
–Keith Huff, Playwright, WB ’94
“It is a great privilege to get to work on the ‘hot stuff’: new plays that are in the process of being wrought. It is the playwright’s process, but it is made more rich and exciting by supportive collaboration. I can’t think of a theatrical endeavor that is simply, more fun. That collaboration, as I have experienced it at WordBRIDGE, is fruitful, joyful and endlessly illuminating for all involved.”
–Kimberly Scott, Actor — Guest Artist, WB ‘96-98,’03
–Kat Sherman, Playwright, WB ’11
“WORDBRIDGE provides a rare opportunity for young writers to explore their process. Each year the program gets better and better, and each year a new group of playwrights discover a freedom and challenge that they will not get anywhere else. We often speak of the theatre in crisis. But WB reminds us that as a living art form we have nothing to worry about – the great plays will be written.”
–KC Davis, Dramaturg WB ’94-95,’99-03,’07,’08,’10,’11
–Joseph Ritsch, Playwright, WB ’10
“WordBRIDGE is unique in my experience. Nowhere else in my professional life have I seen so much talent and energy focused, with so little ego, on a single worthwhile task. The playwrights whose works were developed may be rightly grateful, but probably not as grateful as I feel to have been a part of this wonderful unfolding. Long may WordBRIDGE live!”
–Ron Satlof, Director WB ’01, ’03
–Krista Knight, Playwright, WB ’11
“I’m writing this at the end of one of the most successful and engaging programs I’ve had the privilege to participate in. Not only were the plays strong but the playwrights themselves proved an incredible group of gifted people. I was amazed at how confidently they embraced this program. Not only did their own work grow but their comments to their peers were articulate and insightful and, most importantly, delivered with compassion. The Guest Artists and Resource people were also very generous with their talents and provided an array of disciplines from which the writers could draw….This experience has left me with great enthusiasm about the future of the American Theatre. We’re going to be all right. I know it now.”
–Kevin Kling, Actor/Playwright, WB ’96, ’00
--Samuel Brett Williams, Playwright, WB ’10
“As a student writer, the opportunities I have to work with professional actors and directors are few and far between. The actors helped me through improvisation and movement to create several new scenes which now steer my play into a more compelling direction. And the dramaturg (Susan Mendelsohn) is someone I shall correspond with for many years to come, I hope. She gave me the objective insight I needed to empower myself by asking the right questions when I was ready to hear them. The result was that I did an enormous amount of rewriting and further exploration on my script which I now believe to be reasonably marketable.”
P. Seth Bauer, Playwright, WB 96
–Sarah Saltwick, Playwright, WB ’11
In ancient Greece folks made pilgrimages to sanctuaries and mountains where they could fall asleep and awaken in search of a vision…. The WordBRIDGEprocess generates a space in which people can continue crossing over into zones sacred, forbidden, or off the map. Playwrights and their various attendants slip into the interstices, dreaming things they couldn’t otherwise imagine.
–Ronald L. Grimes, Resource Artist WB ’01
“I want to thank you again for the incredible WordBRIDGE experience. You have created an atmosphere where creativity, friendship, and respect thrive and that is remarkably unique. As for me, I’m not sure where I am with my play at this point. I suspect that I’m probably somewhere in the center after WordBRIDGE. I know the brief two weeks I spent with you allowed me to discover “paths” or “bridges” that all the graduate school in the world would never have taught me.
–John Walch, WB 96
–Maksym Kurochkin and John Freedman (with translator Yury Urnov), Playwright Team, WB ’10
“This was hands down one of the best experiences I’ve had as a writer and as a person in theatre. I’ve been in this business since I was ten, and I’ve been writing plays since I was fifteen. Never before have I felt such a sense of freedom and at the same time such a sense of support from the people around me. Dear God, I learned more about myself and what I can do with my pen in two weeks than in two years at grad school. And if I may be cheesy..it’s like you really do build a BRIDGE..and a highway, tunnel, canal..Amazingly, there was no toll for me – the person with the WORD. I don’t know how you do it, but keep on keepin’ on. I’ll be watching.”
–Eric Waldemar, Playwright, WB ‘99
“Simply stated, I suspect WordBRIDGE has changed me forever as a writer. The experience of being nurtured, prodded, stimulated, and befriended by theatre professionals all here to help me as a playwright–has been electric. It has sparked me to a greater investment of my creative process, and a fuller confidence in my artistic powers.”
–Kristen Rogers, playwright, WB ’95
–Caroline V. McGraw, Playwright, WB ’11
“Taken alone, your ability to assemble under one roof so much enthusiasm for theatre makes WordBRIDGE a huge gift to everyone involved. Add to that the sheer smarts and talent of your guest artists and what I think you have going is one of the vital organs of American theatre. Thank god we have such things as WordBRIDGE. I received a transfusion of enthusiasm for what we playwrights do — a celebration — enough to ride on for a long time. It was an enormous privilege to be there.”
–Robert Ford, Playwright, WB 97
–Kevin Human, Playwright, WB ’10
“WordBRIDGE gives playwrights the opportunity to work with diverse groups of people and have several perspectives and perhaps ‘get to know it’ in a more personal, intimate way. I think that is one of the best outcomes–a playwright knowing his or her play intimately– and discovering new things. Discovery enables growth… It’s given me the opportunity to actually see what my words look like off the page. I think that’s just absolutely incredible!”
–Kelly Byrne, playwright, WB 95
“WORDBRIDGE is invaluable. Without the pressure of a commercial environment, the process here enables playwrights to play; to discover and invent; to shape and clarify their texts in an atmosphere of challenge and nurture. Everyone seems to grow here. Directors, actors, and all of the support people give of themselves to the writers, and come away focused and rewarded. The participating students are exposed to a professional hot house of creativity, and move on from here excited and determined. WORDBRIDGE gives the future of theatre a running start.”
–Ethan Phillips, Professional Actor/Director, WB 94
–K. Frithjof Peterson, Playwright, WB ’10
“WORDBRIDGE provides a crucial service to playwrights. Nowhere else in my short but busy playwriting career have I found such a supportive, productive environment. As well as providing an opportunity for emerging dramatic writers to envision and re-envision, write and re-write, WORDBRIDGE has also provided students with an opportunity to work with more experienced theatre artists. Furthermore, in managing the project, they learn important administration skills. Though much of the daily organizational work was done by students, this project ran more smoothly than others I have attended. I have spent the last week with theatre artists at many levels of training; from the youngest college student to the veteran stage actor. In our group discussions, I have been impressed by the degree to which all opinions are heard and respected. In my own particular project, which was cast primarily with students, (and directed by a professional actor) I have appreciated comments from all and have taken all under serious consideration. I feel strongly that we have all learned a great deal from each other. I cannot say enough about the service this project provides to playwrights. This has been by far the most productive playwrights’ workshop I have attended. I hope to see it flourish over the years.”
–Leah Ryan, Playwright, WB 94
–Erin Phillips, Playwright, WB ’10
“I came to WordBRIDGE with a script that I felt was close to finished. While I was there, I discovered new ways to make the script better that would have never occurred to me otherwise. The director and dramaturg I worked with were first-rate, and everyone was extremely determined to help make my script the best it could possibly be. It’s rare for any playwright, especially a student, to have the opportunity for this kind of intensive and well-supported developmental work without the constraints of production pressures or academic deadlines.”
–Justin Warner, Playwright WB ‘01
“I found that working with a director, dramaturg and cast who are committed to helping me express my vision without the burdens of production looming was enormously freeing. I was able to concentrate purely on my script, to see what was working and what needed work based on a collaborative process that was focused on process instead of product. And after only two weeks, my product (the script) improved tremendously! ”
–Barbara Goldman, Playwright, WB 97
“Let me say that I found this opportunity that you give playwrights unique. While Sundance in Utah used to do something comparable to this, their change in format to a more commercial, results-oriented program may well leave WordBRIDGE as a unique option for young artists in the United States. the strength of the program is that an entire company is assembled to benefit the writer. There is no commercial gain to be had at this stage, only the prospect of developing unique voices for the American theatre.”
–Dr. David J Magidson, Guest Artist, Director, WB 98, 03
At WordBRIDGE I felt like I had permission to try ANYTHING. And, in fact, I tried almost everything. We rehearsed the play in a circus ring made of tombstones, and I wrote a prologue consisting almost entirely of mathematical formulas (cut the next day). I cut characters, changed names, put the ends of scenes at the ends of scenes rather than at the beginnings of scenes(!), and wrote dialogue in the middle of a story-telling episode that I myself thought was pretty snoozy. And I never even got to Act II!
–Liz Fentress, Playwright WB ’01
“For the starving writer – starving for a welcoming environment for his or her ideas, for a place to explore what brings joy and turns you on to your very core – WordBRIDGE is like a creative orgy. This past June, actors, directors, dramaturgs, designers and storytellers of the highest caliber gathered to extend an enthusiastic and thirsty hand to my ideas, my hopes, and dreams for why I do what I do. From the moment I arrived, I was treated like a playwright who had been published time and time again, as though the heart of my work was of the utmost value: as much to the gathered artists’ lives who worked on my team as to the theatre community at large.
How can this be, you say? This sounds like a fantasy! Surely this KT person – whomever she is – has some vested interest in this “lab” and these “people.” Well yes, I do. I will invest my energy financially and emotionally to ensure that this experience exists for writers in the future. All of this positive energy and trust of the written material gushes from a love of theatre–a real and simple love, like the kind of love you experience on your first crush and your soul mate at the same time. No one is trying to mask any hidden agenda: the conference exists for the writer and everyone there is along for the amazing ride, facilitator or participant. By the end, you find you have fallen in love with nearly every person you’ve met, and they with you. If I am ever fortunate enough to attend WordBRIDGE again, I might attempt to get into a fist fight with some unsuspecting contributor just to test my theory; I’d love to see if, by the end of the two weeks, we have professed our love from behind the bruises and promised to run away to Oahu together and start a shadow puppet theatre. Anything is possible.”
–KT Peterson, Playwright, WB ’07
“WordBRIDGE is simply a young playwright’s heaven. It’s also a refuge and a playground where anything can happen. When I first got to WordBRIDGE I had no idea what I was getting into. I thought that I was just going to look at a couple things in my play and concentrate on those things only. Instead, a huge door was opened for me to explore all avenues of my play. I found myself in a place where people were willing with open arms to show me these doors and to help me walk through them. Sometimes opening them was a little scary but with the support and people I had around me, I knew I was in good hands. I’m so grateful for everyone’s willingness to give up two weeks of their life to help me and the other playwrights in finding our vision, our voice and for shaping us into more confident playwrights. I was so grateful that I was allowed to come in and make as many mistakes that I wanted to because it didn’t matter. It’s wonderful to be able to try things without the weight of a production on your shoulder. Also, it was wonderful to get to know everyone that was there and to interact with professionals and to learn more about life in the biz and how to get your work out there as a young playwright. WordBRIDGE is an experience I wish everyone who thinks than can be a playwright could go through. I feel fortunate that I had the opportunity to be there and I will always cherish what I learned and will continue to learn from my experience.”
–Jeff White, Playwright, WB ’02
Loading tweets...
