2016 Silversides Theatre Artists Series Talk: Playwright Neil Wechsler

[Toby Malone]

After a two-year hiatus, the University of Waterloo’s Theatre and Performance Silversides Theatre Artist Series returns!

On Friday, April 1, 2016, join internationally-renowned, award-winning playwright Neil Wechsler (Grenadine, The Brown Bull of Cúialnge) as he visits Waterloo to discuss future directions of playwriting, dramaturgy, and festival development. Executive Director of Buffalo’s Against the Grain Theatre Festival, Wechsler will offer insight into his company’s innovative approaches to new plays, and will lead an interactive playwriting workshop open to all.
Neil Wechsler is the Executive Director of Against the Grain Theater Festival in Buffalo, New York. Neil’s play Grenadine won the 2008 Yale Drama Award, an international prize for emerging playwrights. Edward Albee was the judge. Grenadine was published by Yale University Press and has been produced at Road Less Traveled Productions in Buffalo, SMU in Texas, and UNC-Chapel Hill. Neil’s adaptation of Ibsen’s Emperor and Galilean premiered at Torn Space Theater in Buffalo. It was the American premiere of Emperor and Galilean. Neil’s adaptation of Ibsen’s The Master Builder premiered at Silo City in Buffalo. Neil’s play The Brown Bull of Cuailnge received its world premiere in Toronto, presented by The Room. Neil graduated from Yale University with distinction in Philosophy and Psychology. Neil has spoken about playwriting and literature at high schools and colleges across the United States.

The 2016 Silversides programme features two distinct elements, both free and open to the entire university community.  Both events will be held in the Theatre of the Arts, in Modern Languages.

At 10am, Mr. Wechsler will speak about the Dramalogue Series, an innovative series of drama documentaries which feature behind-the-scenes perspectives on playwrights, actors, and directors working on plays which deserve more attention than they have received. A film crew captures the step-by-step rehearsal process of a table-read. The videos will be released for free online as part of Against the Grain’s Dramalogue series. 

At 1.30pm, Mr. Wechsler will lead an interactive workshop into how the opening lines of a play set the tone, themes, and rhythm for the entire work. Through the exploration of several play openings, Mr. Wechsler will demonstrate ways in which opening lines reveal the depth and nuance that unfold throughout the plays.

Both events are free and open to the entire university community.  Please forward this posting to anyone who you feel may be interested.  For any further information please contact Toby Malone at tmalone at uwaterloo.ca <mailto:tmalone at uwaterloo.ca>.



________________________________

Toby Malone, PhD
Post-Doctoral Fellow and Instructor
University of Waterloo
Department of Drama and Speech Communication
Modern Languages Building, Room 131a
200 University Avenue West
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1
tmalone at uwaterloo.ca 

Ph: 416-892-3543 (cell)

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