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Part 5: Productions – Getting Productions
The Importance of Relationships
By Dale Griffiths Stamos
February 2012
"...it is not about the importance or fame of the people you know, it is about the relationships you have with people..." —STAMOS
I am sure you've all heard it: It's all about who (ahem, whom) you know. And I'm here to say it is, and it's not. What I mean is, it is not about the importance or fame of the people you know, it is about the relationships you have with people - the various levels on which you connect both personally and professionally.
I think in a former column I made the statement: Writing Begets Writing. Well, in like manner, Relationships Beget Relationships. As you develop relationships full of creative energy and excitement, those relationships will naturally and organically lead to other such relationships. And in turn, those relationships often can lead to important contacts or to productions. This is usually not something you force, but more something you cultivate and learn to take full, but unpressured advantage of.
Writers have a tendency to hole up in a room. We are a shy bunch. But resist the temptation to be a hermit, and remember it's not just about what you write but who you share it with. So change from your sweats and your comfy slippers and get yourself out into the world!
Start first by becoming part of your playwriting community. Join a writers group. (As I've emphasized before, try to find one that gives positive criticism - i.e. productive suggestions for making your work better rather than negative criticism that only tears it apart.) Then join a local playwrights organization, if there is one. And if not, or additionally, join the Dramatists Guild and attend some of their functions if you can. (They visit various key cities in the nation on a regular basis.) If you are in a smaller town, then you can still get transcripts, videos, audio interviews, etc from the Guild. Subscribe to various magazines such as American Theatre, or the Dramatist. In other words, become familiar with what's happening in the theater world at large, so that when you do communicate with your peers, you know your field. Also, join online playwrights groups - a great way to develop relationships with colleagues at a distance.
"'The moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too.'" —MURRAY
By virtue of all this, you will naturally start forming some important and lasting relationships. There is a wonderful quote from W. H. Murray which says: "The moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too." If you trust and allow the process to unfold, and, most importantly, are true to your passion as an artist, and to reaching out to fellow artists, then all sorts of positive things begin to happen. Your set designer friend hears that a theatre he has worked with is looking for a play that's just like the one you just finished! The online playwriting group you joined gives you all sorts of submission opportunities you hadn't thought of, and one of them leads to a short play production, which in turn leads to a long term relationship with the director - one that pays off big later. A fellow playwright sends his agent to your play and suggests that agent represent you. (This is how I got my agent!) You gamely ask your mother's best friend who happens to be on the board of directors of a major theatre if she is willing to give your play to their literary manager, and she does! (This happened to me, and although they passed on my play, it was with one of the most personal and complimentary rejections I've received, and so, opened the door to other submissions.) You ask the actress who starred in your last production to recommend you to the artistic director at the theatre where she is now working. And so forth and so forth!
"...either way, it really is about the people you know!" —STAMOS
Notice, some of these things opportunities flow to you from the people you know and others you initiate with the people you know. But either way, it really is about the people you know! So don't be shy, put yourself out there, blow that horn, you won't regret it!
About the Author
Dale Griffiths Stamos is an award-winning playwright whose work has been produced and published in the United States and abroad. She is on the faculty of the Santa Barbara Writers Conference, and has been a guest workshop instructor at Cal Arts. Her newest full length play, One White Crow, had its world premiere this year at Arena Players Repertory Theatre, Long Island, New York. An evening of her one acts entitled Thicker Than Water, starring Barbara Bain, was produced in May at Promenade Playhouse in Santa Monica, CA. For more information on Dale’s work, go to her website at: www.dalegriffithsstamos.com. For information on Dale’s private consulting (all genres), go to: www.manuscriptconsultant.com.
