 Artistic director of new drama minutes and Emily Morse. I'm the director of artistic development And I'm John steeper. I am the director of the playwrights lab You want to tell you tell your name? Yeah, I've caused your role I'm the director of the screenwriter Alright I'm Robert Brown. I thought of myself as a musician committing Yeah John Brasov an actor David Dean Come sit in your seat How would playwrights retire back to the street? All right Yeah, I'm Edmund Miller. I've been a poet for a long time, but it started writing play a few years ago All right Great thanks, so these guys over here you want to introduce yourselves and say what you're doing so we know why you look so serious Yeah, it's much more impressive So I'm working on the director of finance in New Guinea So we're live streaming this meeting for folks that couldn't be here and we're also recording it So if all goes according to plan you'll be able to watch this later on our website Okay So For the last four or five years, we've been doing these town halls annually To take questions mostly and lay out what the admissions process is a new dramatist a little bit about new dramatists New dramatists I'll start by talking a little bit about the plays It's important to know that new dramatists is 64 years old and for almost that entire time the admissions process has been shrouded in mystery And it seems particularly mysterious to the people who apply year after year and so Some of you have never applied before some of you have applied before some of you like Brian's So thank you. So we So we started doing this as a way of unshrouded a little bit and to clarify what's going on and then also over Every year we were finding the process or the access to the process in different ways So we want to make sure that everybody's getting the information. So this is why we're taking advantage of the live streaming This is why we've been doing this in early July before our admissions window opens Because the last thing that we want in the world is for playwrights to feel that this place is mysterious or Impenetrable it's the exact opposite of what we're here to do Which is to have sustained rights make lives in this difficult, you know, field that you've chosen New dramatists as I said is 64 years old. It started as a way of playwrights getting together We work to each other gaining access to what was then the only Way for a playwright to work, which was really the Broadway theater times changed We have a whole different ecosystem of theater in America now And we try to stay connected to all of what we may mean by theater nonprofit for profit Professional experimental our Program is based around a seven-year residency for playwrights, which is a free residency We're in a old church in me town Manhattan We have a couple of workshop spaces. This being the smaller of the two We have writing studio space. We have a library of current manuscripts by our writers and Many plays by our alumni writers. We have residence rooms upstairs for writers from out of town All of the services of new dramatists are free to our Resonant playwrights For their seven years here at which point they rotate into alumni group like Eddie and No, did you call yourself old player in use? We've never found the exact language, but yes alumni So this is the the things that we offer we offer and at the heart of it is the Is is the company of other playwrights? So this place has found it on the premise that you as writers are each other's greatest resources that and that Signifies a level of engagement with the community of writers while we're here And It's it suggests that this is not a place to go just for I think on your resume Though it does really exist as a place to develop work and develop work over a long period of time seven years But what it really is it's community of writers and those writers have activities and they have a Wisdom for each other and they have engagement in each other's work and that's what we as a staff always hope to foster The step there's a step of nine people We the core of our programming has to do with the Laboratory in which the playwrights develop their work through readings and extended workshops through some professional development opportunities through some exchanges some retreats all kinds of programs for playwrights and then the central part of that is The sense of a creative home for seven years and the sense of us of a bullying Creative community during that time. So that's something that the staff tries to foster Just in terms of Numbers and access and Emily will talk more about the process in a minute. It is a very Very Small funnel to pass through to get into Neutrometis, which is not really about exclusivity. It's about Resources so we at any one time Sir 50 playwrights, I think currently we have 49 resident playwrights with a staff of nine and two active theater spaces and Limited money because we sell nothing charge no dues or anything That's really what we can maintain We can't you know if we could provide a world of services to a world of playwrights We would certainly do that and I suspect 600 to 700 playwrights have passed through here in 64 years but With last year we had over 500 playwrights apply. We were able to Come to consensus on our admissions panel, which and we will talk about also around Seven right this year. So you're looking at numbers that are about, you know a little more than 1% of the people who apply in any given year Get in and every year is very different in terms of what the panel is looking for because it's always an entirely different The other thing I'd like to say at the top before I turn over to Emily and the rest of the us guys And then open to your questions is that One of the great Misunderstandings about the drama is one of the great mysteries that it's been shrouded in all these years is that there is a kind of Neutrometist monitor that it's a it's a gatekeeper organization the way that a literary management office might be a gatekeeper for theater and therefore, you know, it's like oh Neutrometist rejected me again this year or Neutrometist doesn't like my work or Neutrometist loves me or any any of those station statements are Inevitably false because there is no consistent presence on the admissions panel Those of us who are on staff have no say Who gets in here and we don't participate on a level of opinion or feedback with the With the admissions committee each year we run the process we facilitate the meetings we keep our mouths shut So every year is a new year and it is a little bit like the lottery or something where every year your odds are exactly The same they're starting over again With a blank slate because the people who are on the panel didn't know whether you've applied before or not They you caught in the first round as you'll hear they don't even know your name and and all of that kind of thing So there is no model that the Neutrometist that is looking for a particular kind of playwright And we stress in everything we do including the makeup of that Collecticism and artistic diversity And we'll talk more about that So that's the preamble Sure, I'm going to go through procedure and The changes that were made both last year and then the changes we made this year as a result of what we learned last year and Then really hope to get to that question and answer so that we can really respond to your interests and your needs and you play TV Questions that will come from that audience and we have you know, it's John just had said John and Eddie here to also Be able to address questions of The work here and how it happens and their own experiences. So So I'm going to go through procedure. So last year we wet paper lists for the first time Which was quite a feat. We were able to build a custom Database through our website in order to receive these paper lists submissions We have a submission window, which this year is going to be July 15th to August 15th at 11 59 p.m Eastern Standard Time that was something you learned last year that that was not clear It's a very important those three little letters EST very important so so that is the submission window this year and Please do not wait till the last minute something else that that I think was learned is that there was a rush at the end and The system only accommodates so many Applications and people got shut out. So that's a sort of important detail that I just want to front-load right there So while that window is open Todd and I will put together a seven-person committee that he referred to which combines current resident playwrights alums and outside professionals again the individuals who comprise the committee are change entirely every year and Their mission is to read and evaluate the work meet three times as a group here at New Dramatists and And then decide by consensus who the incoming writers will be that is their basic chart It's about a nine-month process. It's very labor-intensive. It's taken very very seriously That's true. I think it's you know, this is a really big job that they're asked to do and it's taken very seriously So so that's the kind of that so that's and we do rolling Communication so we let people know where they are in the process after each meeting So it's rolling communications around If you are not being moved on you what you will know After the meeting so make sure that people know where they stand and also are encouraged to reapply again with the odds that Todd explained It's very stark and so many many people I would say the majority of the people that are in the community now have been Multiple appliers in in their time and it can range from two times to 15 times to more I mean we don't really keep track of that and it's not necessarily information that we offer to The committee because it's really irrelevant You know what's important is the is the work the focus on the work and the way it catches hold of those committee And then how they can with their own subjectivities and tastes for consensus around a group of writers And that's really our job is to help thought is to facilitate that consensus and communicate with the committee and Guide that shiver that through a process by which they can then make those decisions so going back to sort of the what we asked for our two full-length plays Bio resume your playwright bio resume or an artistic bio or resume and a statement of interest This is another significant change this year It's been very open to a statement of interest about me drama about why new drama this and this year we actually are Providing a prompt question to which we are asking people to respond New drama this was founded on the premise that playwrights are each other's greatest resource So we leave with that the question is then how would you engage a community of Playwrights of other artists of pure artists who are playwrights Is the prompt question that we're asking people to respond to in their statement of interest? Another this is a detail about submitting as Todd alluded to the first round of Reading is done blindly. So no names are attached to the place so this year we're asking for a separate title page upload on which you can have your contact information and Then submit separate documents that your plays are submitted as separate documents The title of your play should be on every page But not your name not any special things not any identifying marks or tattoos on your play And so those that's a new addition this year So that clear in terms of separate title page with your contact information plays or PDF or word Separate word documents. Yes Separate PDF sort of word documents without your names, but with your play title on every page as an identifying So we made two changes last year that are at that work intended to Again our you know what we battle being a place where you know Hundreds of people, you know apply each year and we want to include everyone and we can't is this sense of Insiderness, you know and and what we strive for is the most fair process we can't so last year We went blind with the first round so that everybody's plays get first read Without names attached and that you then get circulated into the process through that we did that also to You know Really open up the sense that there is not just the sense, but the actual access to the To the committee the other thing that we did was we stopped asking for recommendations We don't accept recommendations So that the names of the people who you know or teach you or who've been here or whatever Don't care they've never really carried any weight, but nobody knew that You know that nobody ever looked at the recommendations So then the thought that you guys were having to like spend your gratitude chips I For professors or colleagues or whomever to write you you know time-consuming letters of recommendation and you were having to you Know prostrate yourselves and they were having to spend their time just felt all wrong And it also I think added to the sense of who you know will help you get into neudromatists Which was not really the case at all what gets you into the drama this as Emily Mentioned is that your plays set this particular group of seven people on fire at the same time Which is really hard But it's also when it happens. It's a really kind of righteous and fair Access point, you know as opposed to like it's my taste or it's Emily's taste or John's taste So those are two things I just wanted to talk about the one so that it becomes really important not just as a matter of policy, but actually as a matter of Fairness to yourself to make sure that there is no identifying features on the place Because then you are truly in a blind process And so we've we're at a place where we're not gonna accept plays that have names on that because you know We're trying to be really clear about that. It's for evidence So that's it those with this sort of main changes Where are there any questions about that? That's a good question The first one gets read and then the second one is introduced as you advance in the process. So that's That's how it works. So there yeah Yes Everything comes in at once because once the window closes, there's no way to Re-access your Profile page or anything like that. So yes, everything comes in the forefront of the process. Yep No, you do you happen to Great question You decide which is your a play? So that would be the first play to go into circulation and which is your B play Which is the one that follows as you advance so you decide that you want to lead with your strength You want to lead with your what you're passionate about and hope that that's Passion ignites within that committee Cardo, it's I don't want to turn to Eddie on that point for a minute too because I think he might have What provides some guidance that it seems to me that the hardest decision that playwrights grapple with in the process of applying to Neutromatism is what plays to submit and what what's my A play and what's my B play, you know the ideal submission is to Extraordinarily brilliant plays that would be interchangeable as A and B We know that also reflect what you're doing right now What you care about your voice as a writer who you are and that say everything you want to say about yourself as a writer Good luck finding those two plays But I don't know if you have any sort of sense of guidance about either how you think Think about that or how you as a former panelist Thought about being B. Well, it's a little like selfish choice. It's like, which is your best play? No, I love them both There is one that you're more passionate about that comes from the truth And maybe it's not the perfect play But you feel very passionate about it. I would I would put that today Um, and I would also say that because the panel changes every year If you don't get in one year don't say well that play I shouldn't submit it the next time You will have a whole different panel next time So submit that if you're really passionate about it put that one up again And you make a different response I would I would all you know, that makes me think of something that I don't think I've ever said before It's almost never in my experience the A play that stops the panel It's the B play The B play is the one that's like well, I loved that A play What were they thinking with the B play or gosh? That's not done yet. I don't know what they're where that's going Or I don't understand the disparity between the two plays. I don't know John is in the odd situation of being on staff, but before he was on staff He was actually on like me And then we we had to kick you off the video because we hired you onto the staff Right, but I already write 40 plays I see years and so I came to the first meeting and then I was rotated off Off the committee but Well, I mean, I I actually look like Interesting because I found the plays that that excited me the most boring necessarily the plays that were perfect plays They were plays that were just really startling And creative and really theatrical and you could feel the sort of the passion and the love and the need in the play You know, they just kind of engaged my sense of theatricality and my imagination And so they work again. They weren't necessarily the best Play that I play in a bunch that I've been reading but those are the plays that I think and particularly because You know, you're looking at people you're looking at play rights. You're not looking at the play We're not producing organizations and we're not saying this is the play we're going to take We're looking at the writer and so There are times that you recently this is just Amazing and so that's something that's going to be really exciting and they get out of the panel You're going to feel the action of that I want to say one more thing and then I know carlas had a question But I think, you know, I guess because we're in baseball season I think of it is, you know, you want to leave with your strength and then your b is your closer I think rather than thinking that the b is maybe not as good You want to because if we get to the b reading It's because somebody that there are people who really are interested in the a And so you want to close with a strong b because then that kind of that could seal the deal rather than This is my strong play and this one's good, too It should be a closer not the sort of I qualify And this one that's added really quickly If your a play moves on Everybody on the panel is rooting for your b play to be excellent. Trust me. We're all It's good nothing more heartbreaking than to get to the b play you like I was so invested in this rider. I still love this play. I wanted it to be good Especially it's any happens to be a very general I can't tell you when he was on the panel, but when he has been on the panel, he's been very generous And what happens is generous panelists very often say, oh, I really liked this a play I want to read the b play So they're requesting in the midst of the 140 or 150 plays that they'll read over this nine month period or more More about that about that. They they're sometimes requesting They're finding people that they like and they're asking for the b play So if they want to know more and they are doing that thing that john mentioned, which is trying to intuit you through your plays So let's go here close because he had a question. I'll come up here to Alan Well, I've got a few questions on eligibility One is in terms of them on the maximum range Well, we asked for full length and I know that's a it's not an easy thing to To judge but you know, what we say is that it should it wants to constitute a full evening of theater and there are times, you know It has to do with the the substance not just the sort of page number I mean a 90 minute one act is a full length obviously and we've had writers in the past who wrote Minimally, but they were full plays that maybe came in at 60 pages But when you read them the experience was full and rich and deep rather than A 60 page sketch of something, you know, so you really want to lead with your substance and of content, I think Now also What about a play that's had Totally eligible. Yes. I mean we make no There's no criteria around that particular matter that you know things that have been produced are not eligible or things that aren't produced Aren't eligible. It's again. It's really about your your selection to you offer to the committee to read And the and the panelists won't know if you're not convinced to play Um, it's certainly in the early rounds later on if you move to the Sunday finals in the finals They have access to resumes and things like that, which they almost never asked for but occasionally they do because they want to look up Like I I feel like I've heard of this play wasn't this I think a manifesto in 1963 what is this person doing now? Or didn't I just see something about this last year and the times or you know so so there's really a sense of checking those things out, but They don't other than that and until that point they don't know And I would say that while we're on the subject that you are submitting cold work Because it's maybe more renowned or more productions or something You want to also make sure that part of your doc is to have something that you're currently working on You wouldn't want to submit to 15 year old Right because somebody will find out And then they'll be like Why is this why are they submitting to your class? Why are they out here now? They can hear that. So the third problem I have is One two thought plays over like in angels in america If something was submitting angels in america, they submit that at one play or two However, you want that question. Yeah, it's a good question. It's two plates I think it's two plates. They are standalone experiences. I mean as far as I'm concerned, I think Yeah, actually one of the people who made it in had a two-car play It was First part and then the people And it was two separate flights. Yeah So they need to stand alone And yeah, thank you But my question's been answered. I got to find all of our plays everybody's room where it's only a place Maybe sir Actually, I'm not sure about that because you could find an eight play a different way than I imagined it. It's not just good It's got to be something that grabs the people but I wanted to ask about something that john Suggested you said that the committee isn't looking The way looking at these players the way a production company does and my experience is that's a big problem people at production companies Will often believe I think this is a wonderful play, but it's not right for us So are you saying that there's a commitment on the part of these committees you bring together to look for what they think is Wonderful, not what they think is wonderful, but they would like to do will be associated with it. So that's a an important one Yeah, if you want to respond, you know, it's only about the player. Um, one of the great things uh New dramas and I have a former member. It's a it isn't a place where you Try to get backers or try to get a play done So it really is about the play. I mean you could submit something that I would sit there and scratch my head and say I have no idea how this would be done on stage But it's wonderful And I would say it's not my problem. I've been down on stage. It's a wonderful play That's how it would matter and the other and the other thing is that it's to be really clear is that we're not a producing organization We're a developmental organization And so one of the things that you can do if you get it with the play, they go How it is we produced on stage is we'd say let's bring some items. Who what collaborators would you like to have in the room? Let's see if we can just fool around here and see how see what would happen. Do you know what I mean? So so there's also Part of it is that it would excite us to sort of figure to give you the the time and the space to figure out how that would happen Yeah, and I think they're You know the truth This goes to your joke about the eight plays too Is you know, we do have a panel of people with varied backgrounds and interests and tastes and perceptions And uh, come on Okay, great You know and so one person's Amazing. Oh, this is an amazing find is going to be somebody else's whole home And that's part of what makes it an interesting process as they start to Learn each other's tastes as they start to convince each other that maybe this kind of writer really belongs in the final mix Um, you know, uh, but it's not about this play You don't like this play but look at the craft or look at the voice or look at the imagination or the ambition of this play So there really is that thing of like Trying to figure out who the writer is and your first piece of evidence is the eight play And your second piece is the D play and there's the space in between them. That's part of the evidence as well I would also want to add You should know play what you think I write naturalistic plays I know everybody wants that on guard now or I write comedy. No one's gonna write You want to write a comedy no I don't get any of them doing this or that return on magic play It really didn't matter because everybody on the panel is so different. I mean, um There are plays that I did not get and some of them on the panel said, oh, this is this and he would make me Look at it a different way. Okay. That's interesting So don't think that the type of play you write is not in favor Because it really doesn't that doesn't have any weight if he doesn't Mama, I have something actually related to that related to your questions. Um, I've been applying for about 10 years now Not every year. I'm just gonna out myself Um, but it is kind of cool because every year you were sort of check your it's a milestone of a sort You're sort of checking and getting nice But I I am I'm not quite sure how to proceed from here as a result of that Mainly the reason is specifically that I have started to write a lot of music and it's not writing books for musicals It's writing book music here. And so it's really I'm passionate about you know, it is some of the work I was passionate about and I've also started being involved in things like theater and communities and So I'm not sure how to express this on the page in the way that and I'm trying different things And we'll see, you know, this is a larger issue for these this kind of work and I'm not sure if you guys accept I don't think you accept musicals But I'm out of you do Because I'm out of the point where where um, I want to keep applying and I want to keep, you know I'm just wondering am I doing something wrong or is there, you know, I don't think so I get pretty far in the process. But I just I just bring it up because it's, you know You want to stop if you're But I do feel that this community is a great one I um, I'll start. I'll leave and I'm sure we all have things to say or respond to that a few things Um, and I want to go back for a minute. I mean, we say, uh, we've said in different ways that everybody on the committee is Is different one of the things that's really similar about the committee is that five of the people are writers So, you know, and the other two tend to be, you know, a designer and an actor or a director and a choreographer or whatever, you know different kinds of theater professionals And so there is a kind of Antenna and sensitivity to what the writer is trying what the letter is up to We are at a moment and we just we've discovered this and we're addressing it as a developmental organization as well as you as an individual playwright where You know, it's not that formal innovation in the theater or crossing disciplinary boundaries or anything is new but Things are very open at this moment and people are trying a lot of different ways We've been in the process of redesigning our space and Rethinking our spaces and rethinking our way of what we're raising money for to Allow for things like sound design in the workshop rooms and to get away from tables on music stands when people need it A flexible seating and spaces for work that may happen in many compositional ways or other ways We have so that is something that I think you share With not only other people who are applying but other people who are here and inevitably with people who will be on the panel That they're looking at those problems as a problem of moment And not simply as a problem of G is she our kind of playwright because she's not just writing The play that we consider all in the read So I think we're all engaged in trying to figure that one out a little bit Um The truth is that a large percentage of our writers work in some form of with some form of music So that is going to penetrate the committee as well Um, there is that Emily can talk really specifically about how music becomes submitted I think one of the issues if you're writing your own music Is you're also going to that music is going to be up against You know Music that the playwrights accept lyrics to like Highly disciplined composers and maybe you are wrong as well But you know that that's going to be part of what people hear when they hear the five song sample or whatever They're going to hear your music your lyrics. They're going to be Trying to distinguish and determine what is your contribution Um, and what is your voice and what is your gift? So I don't know. It's a kind of ramble, but to say Yes, that is Uh, your work is moving that way. Yes, a lot of people's work is moving that way. Yes, that really complicates things in the Application process It was really much easier when everybody wrote the same sort of shit Because then we knew what we expected about two And of a curtain line and of an 11 o'clock number of musical and now it's much more influx and it's really going to depend on the makeup of the committee and their aesthetic openness and ambition, but You're not a freak in this process. Do you know what I mean? And I was just going to say really simply no, you're not doing anything wrong That you know in turn really you're not I think it's sort of I think it's continuing to to keep your work out there Until it meets the committee that Unpass it in a ways. I think you know, it's I think Todd's act exactly right that you know as as the The kind of stylistic This as style continues to expand and we are we are continuing to learn how to support that then those Those that's those are that's your community too who then Intersects with the work in a way that says to somebody who maybe is reading in a more More more straight forward fashion. This is how this works So it goes back to eddie's point and then that committee goes Oh, you know, it's like it's like finding peace. So I would say keep keep it keep going and it's eventually going to Meet its committee. This is what I I mean, that's what I've seen now. I've done this 11 years and it's and it's it's every year. It's unique to that year But sort of moments where you know, I'm sitting there going. Oh, that's a comedy if they just read it like a thought But that's just that's the brakes. That's their job and or you know So I think that and then you see when the committee gets the work in a way that It opens up a whole universe for that writer. And so I think just be patient And I also think yes, and you have the mission. I mean just out of yourself I think, you know the truth is we do sit through the process year after year and You know, we we're not going to write those like, you know, keep trying Emily's not going to say what she said says she has no questions We have no way of knowing before telling what year any of you will uh, you will Get in but I think, you know We You know, we do hear conversations. We do know you move forward in the process You have more than once as you're pointed out and I think it's um, because there's so much wonderful stuff there And so then it becomes it becomes about patience and it becomes about stamina Yeah, you know, how many times can you put yourself through the process? Well, it's very helpful change to not do rec letters and to do things that make it easier to apply throughout three years That's really And just to follow up because In terms of how we're we're you can submit the music But what we're asking this year is for a five track sample That speaks that helps inform the tone and the style rather than something that has to be Assessed on its own terms because some of that's that's what the recommendation of the committee was this year was to It should help inform the flavor style of the piece Not not necessarily something that they have to consider on its own because sometimes that can work against The book if it's not the same if it's not the same Person doing it The composer's work can influence things In either direction I think it is important. I think we point this out on the guidelines that Generally speaking it is hard for a musical libretto to be competitive with a play that's written as a play It's just uh, there's too many variables. There's so many more variables in the read that said there are people who Have gotten in with experimental opera libretto And there are people who have gotten in with musicals and there are people who are always writing musicals And there are people who've submitted books without music And the writing is so spectacular that it's very clear, you know, we have uh, You know in recent years people who also compose and write their own work So uh, it's I think one of the things that's good to keep in mind is that Is it's a kind of reception theory of applying for something like this that you kind of Have to know that someone who's reading your play is going to be reading all these other plays at the same time So what are the challenges of reading your particular kind of work? And is there anything you can do to mitigate those challenges? Or to make the most of it Hi Yeah, I'll give you something to respond to rather than sort of Struggle over what what you think the committee wants to hear or anything So it gives you a very specific thing that is about the community. I mean the again the letters of the statements of interest are Available to the committee at any time they're always part of the material during the meetings But in terms of the formal introduction of those those statements, they arrive halfway through the third meeting So it because it becomes at that point the committee has winnowed the list to you know, maybe 13 15 about sort of really really strong writers And that becomes part of something that helps leverage inform Peak interests of or just stand alone Part of the process because that so so it's it's sort of introduced formally very very late once we're starting to talk individual candidates And they really want to hear The writer's voice at that point that's in addition to the play So I gotta be honest the Letter of interest, I'm assuming everybody who applies has interests seriously, I mean It takes a little bit of your heart to find these signs of way out So of course you have interest in the organization and you just want to keep it simple But if it really isn't your work, it's going to get to you That's it My experience Lucy is that Because of the way those are introduced later in the talk at the very end of the final You know process final meeting They tend to They tend to be kind of kickers in one way or another most of the time You know what happens is we read them all out loud So at the at the time after we've talked about all the work of all the finalists We pass out the statement of interest. We go one at a time somebody on the committee reads them out loud We then say any thoughts any questions any information you may have and you know and people respond And we tend to respond like Hmm pretty good You know and then we move on but sometimes they'll respond like oh now I Understand what that person is trying to do or god. Oh that person This is the right moment in the right place or occasionally will be like Man, what were they thinking? You know, why would why would you say that or why? Um, why apply now if you feel that way or do you know what I mean? So it tends to be like Your your everything's in balance and then you throw a feather on a stale You know and sometimes the feather is kind of critical and sometimes the feather is like what you know But it's that is a terrible matter But so they're not so but yes Think about it and know that the person who is reading it is going to be reading it at the moment That they're actually making a decision as a group. Yeah, it's like bring yourself into the room at that point I think it's and I think to what what eddie said. It's simple It's not confessional, but it is personal because this is a community and that's they want to hear you I mean they're intuiting you through your play. They want to hear your voice one thing really really quickly Don't use the same That you can spot that at a hundred paces like me And then it goes just along Yeah, and you again you've got five playwrights on the panel so they know what those generic Christopher Hendricks from Claire asked if uh, there's a certain format for script submission Format Yeah, I guess I maybe he can tweet the question back if he means manuscript format or computer format we accept text files word files and pdf files in terms of the extension But I'm not sure if he means the layout in terms of what you're looking at Accepting that he does Yeah, well, so I answered the computer side of it. Why don't you touch the Do you want to Yeah Yeah, I just wanted to say that um, it should be normal format I said on another panel we could only submit 20 creative scripts. So one guy reduced it to eight We could make it with like a magnifying glass and Pissed off the judges. So if you want to be like accepted Don't do something like that. You know try to pick it up easy I mean the truth is that people, um, write plays in different Ways and they position them on pages in different ways Uh, we know there isn't a house style in terms of the centering of the name or you know indenting from the left or anything like that I'll play writes right in different forms, but be aware that if it's a difficult, you know If it's a difficult, unpunctuated freeform kind of style Um, that that creates issues for a panel that's reading a lot of work really quickly And often on readers Yeah This is an answer to every question to that one. I think to what degree in your experience has the panel really not like a lot of state directions or needed a lot of state State directions, I think in the beginning we'll play to set the mood and the tone and where we are are great Um I think what they do if you if you're reading play they might cut the rhythm And what you want to do is have a rhythm when you're reading it if every other line has a half paragraph of the stage I don't think it I've never heard anybody on the panel complain about it But me at the reader has someone trying to read the play I want to get the rhythm of what the characters Uh, a little while ago something was said about notes or feedback Do you actually provide that and how far along do you have to get in the process to get that? We do not provide any feedback. Um, and it's uh, and and the notion of feedback in a way for us is wrapped up in confidentiality that everything that happens in the panel is Confidential including it's anonymous who's on the panel on a given year um And so anything that we might say would be taken out of context Unless you know unless it was like well one person, you know on the third day of the meeting at 11 p.m Said this and another person said that we would never do that kind of thing It would be it would be wrong by the end of context What molly was referring to is that Emily and I when we sign the letters and it's especially true in the semifinal and final round We often will Write something that is true that will or that simply says, you know, I'm really sorry try again Or there was a lot of interest on the committee that we feel I think okay about saying But beyond that we won't give any specific feedback about the plays and no criticism or even know like Even like they really like your a-play. They don't like your replay because again next year it's gonna be all different proof So we would be misguiding It's a 70 a period are there goals outlined for something like that in terms of what what uh We'd like to be accomplished or is it just Is that a listen to that We uh two years ago, so no not organizationally, but what we started doing as a way to To kick in to you know this sort of pro activity of each Each resident as they come in we have started working with them To articulate and unleash their ambitions for what they want to accomplish over One year two years five years seven years that is More just a statement of what those goals are so that we as a staff can help facilitate foster Support encourage and and witness what those things are they're not held to that in some way But I think what we have found and it was based on feedback from writers We do check-ins in the second year and in the fifth year Second year because usually after their Initial orientation There's they're overwhelmed and forget what is being offered to them So we check-in in the second year to kind of go over those things programmatically And make sure that they're sort of sailing into their residency With full information and then in the five the fifth year check-ins To sort of say Use two more years. What haven't you done yet that you want to do and we found with a couple of people sometimes in the second year but more distressingly in the fifth year where they They they they were shocked and didn't necessarily feel entitled to or empowered to ask for things and so we thought hmm. That's that's curious. So how can we Uh get right in on that ground level to help support that empowerment and that and those goals and those ambitions Earlier on so we started doing that as part of the orientation is to to ask each incoming writer to articulate what that means for them And also I think that that process happens a little maybe you can talk about that with individual pieces that you may work on Right. I mean part of it too is that I mean in addition to Uh, sometimes the writer is just not being aware of what was what was available It was also a sense that that part of your articulation is so that we could actually say oh You might want to consider doing using this program for that To achieve that goal and here you have an opportunity to come here and do this, you know Three times if you want to be you could come back time and again You haven't played yet I'm sure where it's going. Why don't we just you can just come in We'll bring in some actors bring the director of your life or no directly you want to sort of Create that work process But part of it is is being able to sort of Say that these are all the the opportunities that are available for you to accomplish that goal to achieve that goal And then of course part of it too is whatever your life is, you know, if you're teaching and you have kids and you have You know, it's kind of like okay. How do we actually look at the calendar in a year? That actually may help you just kind of Figure out ways that you can find time to be in the building because that's the big thing About the electronics is being in the building and being available or availing yourself of all the opportunities that we have In the building with this, you know with this staff and then with the building itself That's a question for Eddie During your seven years, what would you find the most useful or regulatory experience? Um actually Think about moving the light written or played with dance and I would be able to have a uh I don't know for example that word but yeah, I would I would be able to get uh three dancers to come in and carry out for And just see how people look because I would get to a point and say okay now And I'm paper that's like really interesting, but okay, what happened the next day? You have to get so that was very very useful Oh It's not a violent It has a number of lines inside does that disqualify? No We have writers who have violent play See Right, and we and we actually and we know a lot of active, you know, I have to go speak Spanish, you know, I have to speak Arabic, you know, I have to, you know So etc etc, so we would actually work together to sort of make sure that the collaborators you need or the right collaborators you need to go on last year had An element where someone who was in the ground to support your application Yes, no that you're not crazy at all. That's a good point. Is that still happening? How does it work? It's so I wasn't here last year like do I write to the person and say I'm supposed to support me or is that It uh, so that was part of that was a new introduction last year when we went paperless We and their letters of recommendation. So it's now become solely an internal process where once the application Window the emissions window is closed We circulate the entire list of applicants to the current resident company only and they can opt to Advocate in favor one writer to have both their a play and b play automatically To go into circulation automatically to two different readers So that's not something necessarily that it should be solicited. It's really in the privacy of their own You know relationship with that list to pick one person and they're still circulated blind Yeah, it doesn't change the status or and the the readers don't know if it's an a play or a b play even You know what I mean when they get the play is that it's not designated as an a or b play I think it's important to say how that came about as practical service in the past year So it used to be historically Neutrometous playwrights alumni and board members could by recommending a playwright In sure that that there's a and b play got read By one at least once each before that person was rejected. That was really the only Logistical leg up in the process when we went paperless and wanted to go Recommendation was we went to our writer Community and our a resident playwright company Has through various systems of an executive committee that's all volunteer and they're they serve on our board and they're part of the Really the policy setting in this place. They said yes, that's a great idea. Go recommendation was But we don't want to absolutely give up our power To help someone get be sure that they get a full read before they get eliminated Problem that didn't process that has some randomness in it So we settled with them on this where they can select one person at the beginning off the list and enabled so that's 49 of the playwrights And that person has to have the b play circulated as well in the first round before you get it So that was a kind of I wouldn't even say it's a compromise. It was just what we came up with And that's that's the most influence that anyone has in the process Except those seven people anything from the world the virtual world well, um, there's uh all the information and reiterating a lot of the things that we said in terms of what's available to the The resident playwrights and the guidelines information are all on our website But I asked either despite us being committed to paperless. I do have paper if anyone wants to take it away They made it on the train very very scintillating Um, so what we have that but um, and you're also welcome to you know email us questions if they come up for you It's a you know Accessible you want to make sure that it's clear and that you understand The procedure and things like that, so Thank you. Thanks for coming. Thank you