As we edge ever closer to this year’s Retreat, we’re looking back at the wrap-up reports from last year. Check out these write ups from 2011 retreatants — click their names for links to full posts:
“I am always returning to the question – why this right now? – as I sit and write, alone. I do this because I want the plays I write to mean something, not only to me, but to be worthy of other people’s blood, sweat and tears. A play asks for the time, attention, spirit, and money of so many people. So, whether my play is intended to make an audience cry, think, sigh or laugh, I take my job pretty seriously. Probably, often, too seriously.”
“About ten days ago I returned to Boston from one of my best creative and collaborative experiences in a long time. I am a person who really enjoys what I do, so these are strong words. …The whole week was one constant shifting experience of creative synergy. Every collaborator I had the pleasure of working with was incredibly smart, giving, and creative and in every group the sum was always greater than the whole of the parts. This sounds a little cheesy, but everyone made everyone else a better artist.”
“I learned a lot about my own process, and I learned that I love collaborative projects even more than I’d realized before the retreat. I love working with other people and getting to create something even better than I could have made on my own. I went into grad school not knowing anyone else who wrote plays. After I finished school, I knew a nice group of amazing writers, but I didn’t know many other theatre artists working in different disciplines. I now have a group that consists of not only writers but dramaturgs, sound designers, puppet designers, and fight directors who I feel I could call on when a project needed it. It made me want to work collaboratively so much more often.”