[NEohioPAL] First 10-Minute Play Festival

Tue Jun 21 16:54:32 PDT 2011

Dear Mr Cuirle,

To follow your paradigm, actors and musicians should be required to pay to audition, directors should be required to pay to be considered, designers and technical people and stage crews should pay to submit their resumes, even for volunteer work.  

Not only are you choosing to go unpaid, but you're also demanding that the artists _without whom there would be no plays_ pay for everyone else's ride.  

Regarding #3 below, how does one put ethics and professionalism aside?    

Per #7, this is indeed a "pay to play" scam, and even more heinous, you require that the playwrights you'll NOT be producing, pay up front.  

Thank you for pointing out that this "festival" is in the DG Resource Guide.  I'm forwarding this correspondance to the Guild.  

Sincerely,
Deborah Magid

On Jun 21, 2011, at 3:50 PM, Ron Cuirle wrote:
> There's a lot of hostility in some of your words.  I believe it's completely unwarranted.  I have a few points to make:
> 
> 
> I'm just one of the lucky schlubs chosen as an unpaid director for one of the plays selected for performance.  I don't organize the festival or speak for them.  I am certainly sorry to read that you managed to infer that from a one sentence email.  The views I express are my own.  The facts I convey are facts.
> 
> I, in my one sentence, did not at all suggest, imply or even hint that an entrance fee was warranted, justified or even ethical.  I simply stated that it's standard practice.  Once again, poor inference on your part.
> 
> Ethical and professional issues aside, $15 is quite inexpensive - even for 10 pages.  Journalistic competitions usually charge a minimum of $10 for a max of 300 words.  Poetry contests can be worse.  When they charge, they charge in the neighborhood of $10 for 30 lines.
> 
> When writing contests of any kind are free, it's usually due to a generous gift from a supporter of the organization.  With non-profits (like Weathervane), it's rare to receive a grant or endowment that is targeted at all, let alone targeted for a festival like this.
> 
> Writers certainly don't have to front the fee themselves.  There are a ton of resources out there for writers with empty wallets.
> 
> You can always say no.  A playwright may always choose to not participate.
> 
> All points in the Dramatists' Guild BIll of Rights are being upheld by the festival organizers.  The Guild warns its' members of "pay to play scams", but this is certainly not that.  You should probably re-read the Guild's recommendations.  They actually state that there are times when fees are warranted.
> 
> Lastly (and perhaps most importantly), this festival is actually listed in the Guild's resource guide (page 51) and supported by the Guild.  I suspect that Kentucky was not.
> 
> Sincerely,
> Ron Cuirle
> 
> 
> 
> On Tue, Jun 21, 2011 at 5:23 PM, David Seth <magicdsm at gmail.com> wrote:
> Actually, no it isn't.  
> 
> The Dramatists' Guild and International Centre for Women Playwrights, along with the playwrights who are funding your "festival," have come out roundly against the practice, and this year, at least one festival (Kentucky) has rescinded their fee.  
> 
> Not to mention, $15 for a 10-page play, more than a dollar a page?  Albuquerque Fusion asks $5 if submissions aren't electronic, but they give you a choice.  Even the O'Neill conference, who ask $35, are receiving 120-page scripts - and they are looking for funding to replace that fee because of the immoral stance it takes.  
> 
> Please do your research, and stop justifying putting on your "festival" by trading on playwrights' hope of being produced.
> 
> On Jun 21, 2011, at 6:24 AM, Ron Cuirle wrote:
> 
>> Charging a nominal fee to enter a writing contest is standard practice.
>> 
>> 
>> On Mon, Jun 20, 2011 at 11:22 PM, David Seth <magicdsm at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 125 plays x $15 per entry = $1875 in revenues - a festival paid for by the 118 playwrights who didn't win anything and didn't even get their plays critiqued, much less produced.
>> 
>> On Jun 20, 2011, at 8:34 AM, Jan Harcar wrote:
>> 
>>> Weathervane Playhouse to Present Festival
>>> of 10-Minute Plays
>>> Silver Lake Resident Among Eight Finalists
>>>  
>>> Volunteer judges at Weathervane Playhouse read over 125 plays from all over the country before choosing eight finalists to present at the theatre’s first annual 8x10 TheatreFest – July 15 to 17, 2011.
>>>  
>>> While the prospect of reading and then choosing finalists from among 125 entries might seem to be an enormous task, each play was only 10 minutes long!
>>>  
>>> “A Weathervane Playhouse staff member calls it ‘short attention span theatre’!” laughed Eileen Moushey, coordinator of the project. “The short format may appeal to fans of half-hour sitcoms, but there’s also a real art to telling a story  – with completely developed characters and plot – in a very limited amount of time.”
>>>  
>>> Among the finalists are two Ohioans. Huron resident Erin Bunting, a graduate of Case Western Reserve University's theater arts program, wrote a 10-minute play entitled Worth Waiting For. Patricia Robertell-Hudson of Silver Lake penned Trips with Grandma. Robertell-Hudson, who has been involved with Stow Players for 17 years, is a Client Relationship Specialist for the Huntington Investment Company.
>>>  
>>> Three performances of all eight plays will be staged at the Playhouse on July 15, 16, and 17, in what will become an annual event at Weathervane – the 8x10 TheatreFest – Eight Plays, Ten Minutes Each.   Guest judges will attend a performance and rate the eight plays. Following Sunday’s matinee, the Playhouse will host a reception to announce the winner ($150 prize) and the first-runner up ($100 prize.)
>>>  
>>> In addition to the festival’s guest judges, audience members will get to vote for their favorite short plays. The winner of the “fan favorite” vote, also to be announced following the final performance, will receive a $75 prize.
>>>  
>>> Weathervane’s 8 x 10 TheatreFest guest judges will include:
>>>  
>>> · Kerry Clawson, Akron Beacon Journal arts writer and theatre/dance critic.
>>>  
>>> · Dr. David Ritchey, Ph.D., theater critic for The West Side Leader and a professor in the School of Communication at The University of Akron.
>>>  
>>> · Mark Dawidziak, TV critic at the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the author of several non-fiction books, a novel and six plays.
>>>  
>>> · Bill O’Connor, retired reporter, columnist and theatre/movie critic for
>>> the Akron Beacon Journal.
>>>  
>>> The Eight Finalists for Weathervane’s 2011 8 x 10 TheatreFest
>>>  
>>> Bear-Ly Legal: A Love Story by Marek Muller of Littleton, Colo.
>>> 
>>> Crossing The Line by Seth Freeman of Pacific Palisades, Calif. 
>>> 
>>> The Kid’s Menu by Richard Vetere of Flushing, New York. 
>>> 
>>> Ridiculously Overpriced Coffee by Kelly Butler of Hixson, Tenn. 
>>> 
>>> That Sucking Sound by Al Kline of Creswell, Oregon. 
>>> 
>>> Trips With Grandma by Pat Robertell-Hudson of Stow, Ohio. 
>>> 
>>> Vatican 3G by Joe Starzyk of Troy, New York 
>>> 
>>> Worth Waiting For by Erin Bunting of Huron, Ohio
>>>  
>>> The directors for the plays include some faces most commonly seen on stage (versus in the director’s chair) at Weathervane Playhouse – Jo McGarvey, Ian Haberman, Ron Cuirle and Emily Cuirle – as well as Weathervane Playhouse Technical Director Alan Scott Ferrall. Rounding out the director roster are Bill Morgan, the artistic director of Cleveland Signstage Theatre, and Jeremy Lewis, the associate artistic director at The Players Guild Theatre in Canton.
>>>  
>>> In addition to the 10-minute length requirement, each play submitted to the 2011 festival was required to include a reference to (or an interaction with) a specific prop. The inspiration for the inaugural 8 x 10 TheatreFest is a chair that was donated to the Playhouse by the late Kitty G. Brown. Audience members who attend this year’s play festival will also be able to cast a vote for the prop to “inspire” the playwrights who plan to submit entries in next year’s 10-minute play competition.
>>>  
>>> 8 x 10 TheatreFest Performance and Ticket Information
>>>  
>>> The Performances
>>> Friday, July 15 at 8 p.m.
>>> Saturday, July 16 at 8 p.m
>>> Sunday, July 17 at 2:30 p.m.
>>>  
>>> Tickets
>>> $10 each
>>> By phone: 330-836-2626
>>> In person: 1301 Weathervane Lane in Akron
>>> Online: www.weathervaneplayhouse.com.
>>> Janis Harcar
>>> Director of Advancement
>>> Weathervane Playhouse
>>> 330-836-2323 X16
>>> www.weathervaneplayhouse.com
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>> 
>> 
>> 
>> http://deborahmagid.com
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> ______________________________________
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> http://deborahmagid.com
> 
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> 

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