| A Publication of the Region 2 Arts Council | Vol. 4 No. 4 | Aug/Sep '00 |
Playwriting in Bemidji |
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When my husband, Roy, and I first met we were both theatre undergraduates at BSU and I was infatuated with him from the start. However, he had been the victim of a brutal criminal assault the year before and was left with a near-debilitating seizure disorder that was beginning to affect his performance. He could still act, but not at the level he was accustomed to, and he desperately wanted to stay in the theatre. And in Bemidji. He was also an English major and had already had a few poems and short stories published, so he combined his love of drama and literature into the unique form of communication he would later excel at: playwrighting. This love for the stage and writing he then later passed on to me. Like most, I was under the incorrect assumption that all of the greatest opportunities for such work and advancement in the arts were to be found in the Twin Cities and beyond, but the longer I've lived here in Bemidji and the more familiar I've become with the local art scene, the more I know this not to be true. Except in one area. You see the first step to getting a play published (after you have completed writing it, of course) is to get it produced somewhere. Anywhere. I don't know of a single publisher that will even consider a play script for publication that hasn't been produced at least once (some companies require scripts to be produced at least 3 times!). "Not a problem", you think to yourself. Not so if you are in Bemidji. I can name quite a few theatre outlets in our town, but none of them are really interested in producing new, fresh works, or have any programs set up to do so. |
They are dependent upon already established "stand bys" and "hits" that will allow them to meet a certain level of ticket sales and are not willing, or capable, to take the risk. And then there is what I call the "local theatre prophet factor", that no one can truly be good in the theatre unless they come from somewhere far, far away. Like, ahem, the Twin Cities. So Roy and I have resorted to self-production, whether it be at a local cafe, the state park, or at the university. Our budgets have been small to non-existent, our crews green, yet ambitious. The plays managed to get produced and, more amazingly, were published. And then they were produced again. And again. In such cities as Los Angeles, New York City, Boston, Montreal, London, Paris, Bern, Perth, Tianjin, and Brasilia, a far, far cry from their humble beginnings in Bemidji. Recently there were productions in Hamilton, Bermuda, and in Durban, South Africa, and more are on the way. The local prophet now has an international audience based solely on the value of his work. And he is still in Bemidji. Imagine what Roy and other playwrights in our area (and they are indeed out there) could accomplish if they had a place in town to produce their plays all year long, a place that wasn't afraid of a little risk. So if there are any other playwrights out there who want to see their work get produced, if there are any actors and technicians who need a little more experience, and if there is a theatre outlet out there that is willing to take a risk or two, please contact me. Put us at par with the Cities in this field. Maybe then we can get a few more of our other local prophets heard around the world. |
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| Serving Beltrami, Clearwater, Hubbard, Lake of the Woods & Mahnomen Counties of NorthCentral Minnesota | |||||
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