Kickstarter

Playwrights West is a theatre company made up entirely of writers.

We are UNIQUE in that each of us participates fully in the production of each other’s work.  We are COMMITTED to the furthering of new plays for the American theatre, to the employment of local talent, and to each other.  And now we are BOLDLY MOVING FORWARD to mount our first full production this year!

Playwrights West launched in January of 2010 with our first event, a script-in-hand evening of short plays, one by each writer. Introducing . . . Playwrights West was greeted by a standing-room crowd, and we were off and running.
Since then, events like Wet Ink, the Laying Foundations house party, and Wilson High School’s benefit concert of Ablaze (by member playwright Matthew B. Zrebski) have allowed us to raise money, make friends, and connect with Portland audiences! And we cheered each other on as members’ plays that were first read around our table went on to workshops and productions around the country.

Maybe you’ve been with us for some of these “firsts.” Maybe you saw the great reviews this January for The Tripping Point, a dizzying installation of fairy tales produced by Shaking the Tree Studio and featuring our eight member playwrights. (Or better still, maybe you were there, winding your way from the beanstalk to Goldilocks’ outpost to grandmother’s house . . . )

When we weren’t onstage, we were working behind the scenes to incorporate, draft budgets, and acquire the non-profit status that will make your donations tax-deductible.

This leaves us within $5000 of seeing our first full production in Portland in 2012!

We could not be more excited as we look forward to Continuum by Patrick Wohlmut, scheduled for a run at CoHo Productions in Portland, August 10 – September 1, 2012.  Continuum plunges us into the constantly-shifting relationship between a once-promising astronomer and his unlikely protégé, investigating the explosive potential of ambition. The play has already been recognized with a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation grant and selection for the Portland Center Stage JAW Festival in 2011, and in August, audiences will see it fully realized at last.  (You can read more about Patrick and Continuum at http://www.pcs.org/jaw/.)

The money we raise in this Kickstarter campaign will go toward artist salaries, venue rental, and production design.

Please tell your friends, and please give all you can!