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We’re All In This Together
“We’re all in this together!” Those words from High School Musical really seem to ring true right now. While times are certainly difficult, it’s truly inspiring to see how communities are coming together to help one another out. The Pioneer community is no different, and we want you to know that we are here for you!
And here’s some great news: our amazing and wonderful playwrights are jumping in to help you, as well!
So many of you have had to cancel or postpone shows and are now trying to set up remote learning situations. And we’re seeing lots of great ideas from drama teachers around the world for creating unique drama class activities — and even virtual performances — during these unusual times. Our playwrights would love to come on board and assist you in these efforts. After all, the show must go on... one way or another!
Our playwrights would love to be a virtual audience for your students doing scenes from their plays. (How cool to be able to perform for the playwright and get positive feedback straight from the writer?!) Or perhaps they can join your virtual classrooms as a guest artist one day for a Q&A session? Maybe your students have written additional scenes for the play they’d like to have the playwright read? A virtual playwriting lesson? It’ll be up to you and the playwright to decide how they can best support you and ease your students’ disappointment in not having a chance to perform their play.
We’re calling this unique opportunity Playwright Connect. And plenty of our playwrights have already agreed to participate: Craig Sodaro, Flip Kobler, Cindy Marcus, Mike Steele, Charlie Lovett, Gary Peterson, Brian Hampton, Marty Follose, Edith Weiss, Todd Wallinger, Kendra Thomas, Rachel Bublitz, Jonathan Yukich, and Brian D. Taylor . For your singers, the daughter of Bill Francoeur (who passed away in 2015) would love to hear your students perform her dad’s songs! And during this challenging time, all are volunteering their time to help you with your distance learning, so there’s no cost to you!
If you love this idea as much as we think you will and would like to explore how the playwright of your spring show can help you out, just email Pioneer Drama at connect@pioneerdrama.com. (You could also call us at 800-333-7262, but please be patient! Most of us are working remotely, and the office is only open for limited hours on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays with a skeletal staff.) Once you reach out to us via email or phone, we’ll help put you in touch with the playwright. From there, we’ll let you all take the wheel to work out plans about how they’ll connect with your students. We only ask that you be respectful of the playwright’s generous offer of time and understand that they are volunteering as individuals, not as representatives of Pioneer Drama Service.
If you love this idea but don’t see the writer of your show listed here, please still let us know if you’re interested. Assuming they are still living, we’ll do our best to get you connected with them. And if not, maybe connecting with a different playwright might still have some value for you!
We hope you’re as excited about this idea as we are! Do you have peers who also produce plays from Pioneer Drama? Help us spread the word about #PlaywrightConnect!
