This weekend and next, Laramie-based theater company Relative Theatrics is debuting seven new plays by Western playwrights. Earlier this year, director Anne Mason requested submissions, expecting to receive only a handful of applicants. Instead, she was sent over 20 scripts. Seven made the cut.
“The selection process was really fun for me,” she says. “Each script that I read, I took notes about the actors, cast needs. I took notes about themes; I took notes about the effectiveness of the dialog or the dramatic elements within it.”
Six of the plays are by Wyoming playwrights and one is from Colorado. “It’s a gift to be able to discuss these things with the playwrights,” explains Mason. “[So] that if there are questions, or as one is analyzing the script, that you can go directly to the source and talk to them about it.”
Mason says the plays will be presented as staged readings where the actors perform with scripts in hand. Opening night features three short plays. All the other performances feature one play each. “Playwrights Voiced” runs April 16-18 and 23-24 at the Gryphon Theatre in Laramie.