I’ve been thinking a lot about goal setting, something achievers swear by and life coaches encourage and everybody from athletes to business tycoons practice: determining what you want and the steps it might take to get there. Without goals, you can feel like you’re working hard and never getting anywhere.  Every journey has a […]

   From DEE JAE COX, CO-FOUNDER/PRESIDENT/ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, LOS ANGELES WOMEN’S THEATRE PROJECT   ( If you don’t know what RIPP: Real Inspiration for Playwrights Project is about, please click here (the original idea) and here (the evolution of that idea) to get some context before reading.)   “I’m sure you know the statistics, only 20 percent of plays that do […]

    If fall is submission season, then spring inevitably becomes rejection season, as conferences and festivals fill their slots, and theaters choose their upcoming lineups.  It can be a discouraging time, as any playwright who plays the submission game knows, and the hardest thing about it can be remaining positive about the merits of […]

    If you don’t know what RIPP: Real Inspiration for Playwrights Project is about, please click here to get some context before reading.   From JAZ DORSEY, DRAMATURG, CO-FOUNDER/MANAGING DIRECTOR SPIRAL THEATRE STUDIO   “I actively look for things and if I see something I like, I go after it. I end up partnering with the […]

  If you don’t know what RIPP: Real Inspiration for Playwrights Project is about, please click here to get some context before reading.   From RON PELUSO, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, HISTORY THEATRE   “Read theater mission statements and see how you might be a fit.  As a theater that produces new work, I’m always happy to entertain ideas […]

    If you don’t know what RIPP: Real Inspiration for Playwrights Project is about, please click here to get some context before reading.   From SPENSER DAVIS, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, HOBO JUNCTION   “As a young playwright myself, I understand firsthand how daunting it can be to write for the stage. Let’s be honest: on the surface, […]

   If you don’t know what RIPP: Real Inspiration for Playwrights Project is about, please click here to get some context before reading.   In gathering information for this series, I got a lot of quick notes that maybe don’t make a full-blown individual post, but collectively reiterate a lot of the advice offered since I began […]

  If you don’t know what RIPP: Real Inspiration for Playwrights Project is about, please click here to get some context before reading.   From PAUL ADAMS, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, EMERGING ARTISTS THEATRE   Note:  Emerging Artists Theatre’s submission window is currently CLOSED.   “I read all submissions, because if someone’s taken the time, the least I can […]

  If you don’t know what RIPP: Real Inspiration for Playwrights Project is about, please click here to get some context before reading.   From HAMILTON CLANCY, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, DRILLING COMPANY   “I love playwrights, oh my god, do I love playwrights. We do read. I prefer getting a snail mail manuscript I’m practical about it; you […]

    Last night, I finished the first draft of my seventh full-length play. It’s had several working titles, including The Art of Sugar, Sweet Nothing, Boxes and Bows, and, now, Brilliant Works of Art; that last one best sums up the play. I don’t know if it will be the final title, but I’m […]