Val Lieske – Artistic Director of Fire Exit Theatre 

I’m heading to Calgary at the end of this month for a Public Reading of my play WAVES which won the recent Scripts on Fire Playwriting Competition.  You can read all about winning the competition HERE.

I recently had a video call with Val Lieske – the founder and Artistic Director of Fire Exit Theatre. Val started the company 25 years ago and she runs the Scripts on Fire Competition.  Joining us on this call was Samantha MacDonald – a dramaturge who will be working with me on WAVES.

Samantha MacDonald (photo by Mike Tan)

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term dramaturge – a dramaturge is an individual who works directly with a playwright to help understand and refine what’s on the page which can range from questions and intentions behind character motivations, structural content of the play and the overall story themes/ideas. We began this discussion on our video call. I found it extremely informative and it challenged me to think about WAVES.  It was great to have a fresh set of eyes on the play with someone who does not know my work. Throughout our initial discussion, I made a couple discoveries that I believe will strengthen the play’s impact.

Our discussions will continue when I get to Calgary.  Samantha will also be directing the actors for the workshop reading.  I’ll be working with all of them as we bring WAVES to life on stage for a Public Reading that will take place Saturday May 30th @ 7pm.

I was asked what I hope to get out of this process/the reading. One of things that is valuable to me as a playwright is to hear your dialogue being read aloud and to sit back, listen and take in an audience’s reaction.  Having a public reading is an important gauge to see how the play lands. The other hope is that this exposure will springboard to further talks about the play’s merits and ultimately a production of WAVES down the road.  Whatever happens, I’m looking forward to the experience. If you live in Calgary or are nearby, come check out the reading…