Perfecting Your Practice: How to Continue to Developing your Art

Questions to be Conversed:

What does the idea of “Practice” as an artist mean to you?

What skills/craft make a well balanced performer/writer?

Actors: What are the tools every actors should have in their toolbox?
Playwrights: What are the tools every playwright should have in their toolbox?

Actors: What does your current practice/preparation consist of?
Playwrights: Are there any practices, preparations you do prior to beginning a new play?

What is an ideal practice/work environment? How does one create a productive space?

What are the biggest distractions / obstacles you face? How do you circumvent them?

Are there red flags that you are being ineffective in your development process of your artistry? 

Creative Goals vs. Career Goals? Is there difference? 

How do you measure the success of your practicing?

FInding the time for your practice:
Actors/Playwrights: How do you keep consistent and scheduled?

Are there any special ways you treat yourself for accomplishing a consistent and positive skill/craft development?

Help a sister or brother out. 
Actors: Are there any training studios or teachers would you recommend?
Playwrights: Are there any training studios or teachers would you recommend?

Actors: Research? What are your go to places for information on craft development?
Playwrights: Research? Are there any go to places for information?

As a creative, how could a balanced personal practice of your art make you a better artists? Is there anything you learn

This is our chance to talk with each other about topics that we as artists, creatives and humans need to have. The key is we talk to and with each other. There is no panel or special guest that is smarter on a topic. We are the collective smarter panel.

Seating Extremely Limited Only 20 Spots

RSVP REQUIRED

Topic to be Conversed:

Life as An Artist: Strategies for Surviving, Striving, and Thriving

TALKING POINTS:

What does your life as  an Artist look like currently?

How does a “survival” job work best to keep your artistic life moving forward?
What are the best jobs, industries,  gigs that you have found?
Artistpraneur? What are you doing to create income from your skills outside the typical “survival jobs”

What is a successful artistic day for you with your full-time/part-time survival job?" (i.e., how/where do you make time for the art?) What would make the perfect balanced day?

How much of your artistic life do you share with day jobs, fellow employees, or even applications for employment?

Keeping Healthy: Physically and Mentally
What tips, tricks, and remedies do you swear by to keep healthy with the non-stop hustle of an Artist?
What is the difference between taking a mental break and procrastinating? What are your best  practices for rebooting? 
Writers: What are best practices, tips, tricks for writer’s block?
What are some resources that you have found helpful re: Healthcare, physical wellness, mental wellness?

Actors: What resources are you finding the best results with getting information/auditons? 

Writers: 
Where are you finding out who to submit to? Who the movers and shakers are in the producing world? And who to avoid?

Finding your own Tribe and building community is important: 
What are you looking for when searching other artists to be with? 
Beside The PGE, what other groups, companies, events have you found?

Finding a Balance:
Have you used “Mastermind Groups” in the past? If so what has worked and not worked for you? 
How would you define a successful artistic life? 
Is there something you learned tonight that you can implement to make success feel closer and accessible? 

This is our chance to talk with each other about topics that we as artists, creatives and humans need to have. The key is we talk to and with each other. There is no panel or special guest that is smarter on a topic. We are the collective smarter panel.

Seating Extremely Limited Only 20 Spots

RSVP REQUIRED

MARKETING YOUR ART: getting the word out without losing your friends. 

This is our chance to talk with each other about topics that we as artists, creatives and humans need to have. The key is we talk to and with each other. There is no panel or special guest that is smarter on a topic. We are the collective smarter panel.

Seating Extremely Limited Only 20 Spots

RSVP REQUIRED

"Nevertheless, she persisted":  Women in Theatre

Specific Talking Points:

The Bechdel Test:   What is it?  How is it changing how we look at plays?  What are some examples that pass the test? What are some that don’t pass, but still have a strong feminine storyline?

The use of Actress? Gender Identifier or Outdated Label?

Who are the current women writers that are positive guides? Who are the women actors who broke the mold of feminine expectations?

Playwrights: What are the female stereotypes that should be outlawed? How do we stay away from these archetypes of femininity?

Actors:   What are warning signs in a Character Breakdown that the character is a stereotype? What are you looking for in roles you want to play that tend to be missing?

When does changing gender of a role work to serve the play? Is genderblind casting a useful tool to create more work for women actors? Is there a point where it takes away from the playwright’s intentions?

Why do many institutions/programs/grants feel women should only write plays about women’s stories/struggles?  Shouldn’t women creating new work be enough? How do all artists continue to create work that celebrates multi dimensional female characters and story lines?

This is our chance to talk with each other about topics that we as artists, creatives and humans need to have. The key is we talk to and with each other. There is no panel or special guest that is smarter on a topic. We are the collective smarter panel.

Seating Extremely Limited Only 20 Spots

RSVP REQUIRED

LGBTQ Theatre:

From Message to Movement to Mainstream?

Define what LGBTQ theatre is to you.

What are some of the plays that were/are game changers?

How has LGBTQ theatre evolved? If it hasn’t why do you think it hasn’t?

Who is most/least represented in LGBTQIA+ theatre? 

What are the reasons do you feel of this lack of representation?

How has the LGBTQ been misrepresented in art? 

What are the most common stereotypical pitfalls?

What are the do’s and don’t of casting for LGBTQ characters?

How do we consider roles that may not be in line with our orientation or preferred gender?

Who is allowed to play this character?

How can playwrights and other artists that are not LGBTQ continue to have authenticity with in the work?

Is the LGBTQIA+ even in the mainstream? If not, is that okay? 

This is our chance to talk with each other about topics that we as artists, creatives and humans need to have. The key is we talk to and with each other. There is no panel or special guest that is smarter on a topic. We are the collective smarter panel.

Seating Extremely Limited Only 20 Spots

RSVP REQUIRED

Politics and Theatre: 

Topics to be Conversed!

What does the phrase “Political Theatre” mean to you?

What are some examples of good, impactful, effective political theatre?

(i.e. Shakespeare, Brecht, etc.)

Is there a specific genre/genres that are more conducive to this type of storytelling?

Are there examples of bad and ineffective political theatre?

What role does/should POLITICS with a capital P play in the making of Theatre?

 (Mirror, Truth Finder, Influence, or Other)

Is there a line between Political Messaging and Political Agenda?

What role does a playwright’s personal POLITICS play in Theatre?

What role does an actor’s personal POLITICS play in Theatre?

Is left leaning/right leaning Political Theatre merely preaching to the choir? What ways can we create work that resonates beyond Political Partisanship?

In a heated Political Climate, how do we as individual artists use our art, skills, voice to respond, educate, empathize, love, and inspire? 

This is our chance to talk with each other about topics that we as artists, creatives and humans need to have. The key is we talk to and with each other. There is no panel or special guest that is smarter on a topic. We are the collective smarter panel.

Seating Extremely Limited

RSVP REQUIRED

The PG Experience: Conversations Between Artists #4

The Journey From Page to Stage: How the playwright and the actors contribute to the developmental process

Now that we know how to talk to each other...how do we work together to make theatre magic?

Talking Points to be Conversed:

What does New Play Development Mean?
Playwrights: What are your goals when beginning a development process?
Actors: If you are lucky enough to be at the beginning stages of development, what would you like to get out of such an experience? 

Playwrights: What are the pitfalls you have found when working with companies developing your work  at the earilest stages of writing?

Actors: When working on new works what are the issues that come up that stifle your creative choices? 

Playwrights/Actors: During readings and workshops, actors aren't often expected to provide input. If they were more formally included in the process, what should their role be?

How much input do you feel directors, producers, artistic directors should have and what is and isn't productive in new play development?

What would your dream development scenario be? 

This is our chance to talk with each other about topics that we as artists, creatives and humans need to have. The key is we talk to and with each other. There is no panel or special guest that is smarter on a topic. We are the collective smarter panel.

RSVP REQUIRED

The PGE Presents: Conversations Between Artists 

This is our chance to talk with each other about topics that we as artists, creatives and humans need to have. The key is we talk to and with each other. There is no panel or special guest that is smarter on a topic. We are the collective smarter panel.

Topic to be conversed:

From Uncertainty to a Constructive Dialogue:                         Getting actors and playwrights on the same page

TIMELINE: 
6:00pm-6:30pm Gather
6:30pm-8:30pm Talk
8:30pm-9:00pm Re-gather

LIMITED SEATING. RVSP REQUIRED.

The PGE Presents: Conversations Between Artists

This is our chance to talk with each other about topics that we as artists, creatives and humans need to have. The key is we talk to and with each other. There is no panel or special guest that is smarter on a topic. We are the collective smarter panel.

Topic to be conversed:
DIVERSITY AND THE ARTISTIC PRODUCTION
From Page to Stage

·      How do we define diversity/equity/inclusion?  

·      Why is the default for a character without any ethnic specifics always non-ethnic (white)?

·      When a character race/gender/able-bodied specific, is it appropriate to be played by someone other than written? When is it not? Is it OK for Emma Stone to play an Asian in “Aloha” etc.?  

·      Who should have final say in casting when diversity is involved? Playwright? Director? Producer? Your Mother?

·      How do we get Actors of Color to show up to calls that are not specifically to their “type”?

·      In order to change the current climate of Diverse casting, which is more impactful: Producing plays about diverse communities or casting roles more diversely?

·      What can we do to encourage theatres, casting directors, and producers to go outside their casting comfort zone?

TIMELINE: 
6:00pm-6:30pm Gather
6:30pm-8:30pm Talk
8:30pm-9:00pm Re-gather 

Beer, Wine and Homemade Baked Goods will be available for donations. 

Limited Seating. RVSP REQUIRED.

The PGE Presents: Conversations Between Artists 

This is our chance to talk with each other about topics that we as artists, creatives and humans need to have. The key is we talk to and with each other. There is no panel or special guest that is smarter on a topic. We are the collective smarter panel.

Topic to be conversed:
DIVERSITY AND THE ARTISTIC PROCESS
From Thought to Page

What does diversity in theater mean to you?  What does diversity actually look like on stage?

 What are stereotypes? When is it justified to use them, if ever.

If you're not part of a marginalized group (woman, person of color, lgbtq, etc), then what do should the role/responsibility be, if any, in working towards a more diverse theater? 

When writing can your characters be cast ethnically/racially diverse, if those characteristics are not central to the characters?

What can we do, as an artistic community, to promote inclusion from the earliest stages of development that can influence professional levels?  

What can we do to foster an intersectional approach to diversity in theatre creation?

TIMELINE: 
6:00pm-6:30pm Gather
6:30pm-8:30pm Talk
8:30pm-9:00pm Re-gather 

Beer, Wine and Homemade Baked Goods will be available for donations. 

Limited Seating. RVSP REQUIRED.