Adam Szymkowicz is an internationally produced playwright and a prolific interviewer of fellow stage-scribes. At the time of this writing, he’s interviewed 361 dramatic writers on his blog. And number 361 was of particular interest: Rosanna Yamagiwa Alfaro, one of MCC’s 2011 Playwriting Fellows.
Rosanna will premiere her play Before I Leave You at Boston’s Huntington Theatre Company in October 2011. In her fascinating interview with Szymkowicz, she talks about that play and her ongoing work as a (now full-time) playwright.
I particularly enjoyed this exchange:
Q: What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out?
A: Keep a journal, write two hours a day, read hundreds of plays, go to a play a week, get to know your local playwrights and rush to see their plays, when you have writer’s block distract yourself with a 10-minute play and submit it to the innumerable festivals in your favorite cities all over the country, have close friends (other than yourself) that you study and know inside out. Never give up, never despair – after three decades of doing what you love most, the Huntington might give you a call.
Read the full interview.
Image: Rosanna Yamagiwa Alfaro, photo by Gustavo Alfaro.
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