ROUND 2 of our New Play-Reading Festival KICKS OFF this weekend (May 21-23) and we wanted to introduce you to our 4 finalists. Let’s meet playwright of Anne of Green Gables, Donna Hoke of New York.
When did you know you wanted to be a playwright?
When I wrote my first play. I’d tried other kinds of creative writing, but it wasn’t until I started writing a play that all the bells and whistles went off and I knew that’s the kind of writing I should be doing.
What was the 1st play you wrote?
COCKEYED TODAY about a group of people working for a soap opera magazine; write what you know! It was so overwritten that now it’s an hour-long one-act, though still unproduced.
Why should audiences attend the New Play-Reading Festival?
Because new plays are the lifeblood of theater; without it, the art form is stagnant. Every show they love used to be a new play that somebody supported, so to be afforded that opportunity is to be part of keeping theater vital.
What do you hope audiences get from attending your play reading?
A fresh look at an old story, one that underscores themes in a more contemporary way.
What’s it been like working with The Growing Stage team?
Wonderful; it’s a great assemblage of talent! I was impressed with the actors committed enough to email me helpful thoughts after the first reading.
About Anne of Green Gables:
When Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert decide to take in foster child Anne instead of the boy they requested, it’s with the hope that they can do her some good. As Anne comes of age, her curiosity, imagination, and capacity for love teaches all three of them what it means to create family and the importance of commitment to it. Adapted freely and timelessly from the classic by L.M. Montgomery.
