http://www.playwriteinc.org/index.php/blog/ en emily@playwriteinc.org Copyright 2012 2012-05-01T17:53:03+00:00 http://www.playwriteinc.org/blog/entry/writing_myself_will_hit_screens_in_june/ http://www.playwriteinc.org/blog/entry/writing_myself_will_hit_screens_in_june/#When:17:53:03Z “Writing Myself”, a documentary of PlayWrite’s work by Brian Lindstrom, has not just one, but two scheduled screening dates in June! Info on the first showing is here (why not join our Facebook page while you’re at it?), and info for both is here. But hey, just to make it simple, it’s all below: Thursday, June 14th @ 7pm Cinema 21 (616 NW 21st Ave., bt Hoyt and Irving) Cost: $6, including a talk-back after the show Friday, June 15th @ 7pm Clinton Street Theater (2522 SE Clinton Street, at 26th) Cost: TBA And if you haven’t already, be sure to watch the trailer here! I can’t wait to see you all in the audience.  It’s a really beautiful piece of film and we’re so excited that Brian will start sharing it with the public next month! 2012-05-01T17:53:03+00:00 http://www.playwriteinc.org/blog/entry/white_shield_up/ http://www.playwriteinc.org/blog/entry/white_shield_up/#When:17:34:12Z Hey all!  Did you know you can now watch videos of beautiful plays and sketches from young writers at the White Shield Center?  They’re online here, and you can enjoy them whenever you’d like (though I’d highly recommend *right now* as an ideal time to watch these moving works). 2012-04-12T17:34:12+00:00 http://www.playwriteinc.org/blog/entry/way_to_go_mt._scott/ http://www.playwriteinc.org/blog/entry/way_to_go_mt._scott/#When:19:49:25Z Hey Folks! Wanted to share this write-up from Mt. Scott Learning Centers with you all.  As you may know, we’ve had two workshops with Mt. Scott High School this school year, working with 14 fantastic young playwrights.  Check out what the school has to say about their process and the work they created! Click here to read. And remember, our current workshop at Rosemont School starts today.  So excited to see the works created by these young women in a couple of weeks on February 14th.  Stay tuned for details! 2012-01-30T19:49:25+00:00 http://www.playwriteinc.org/blog/entry/new_year_two_new_performances/ http://www.playwriteinc.org/blog/entry/new_year_two_new_performances/#When:22:52:24Z We’re kicking off the New Year with TWO performances just TWO days apart! It all starts with our Annual Winter Showcase: WORD.VOICE. on January 22nd at The Gerding Theater at the Armory. Come see works from the last few PlayWrite workshops, and hear new original works from past workshop participants. The event is part of the Fertile Ground Festival, and we’re excited to pack the house! Then on Tuesday the 24th, head to Theater! Theatre! to see the world premieres of works by writers at the Mt. Scott workshop…brand new plays, with brand new characters brought to life onstage by professional actors. These are both free events that you do not want to miss! WORD.VOICE. Sunday, January 22nd, 7:30PM The Gerding Theater at the Armory - 128 NW 11th (at Davis) Mt. Scott Workshop Performance Tuesday, January 24th, 12:30PM Theater! Theatre! - 3430 SE Belmont (between 34th and 35th) Celebrating creative, honest, original works is what we’re all about, and we hope you’ll join us in honoring the voices of our courageous young writers. See you there! Want to help us out?  Well aren’t you sweet!!  Head on over to our Facebook event and invite more of your friends to join you at these incredible performance. 2012-01-06T22:52:24+00:00 http://www.playwriteinc.org/blog/entry/giveguide_giveaways/ http://www.playwriteinc.org/blog/entry/giveguide_giveaways/#When:20:52:38Z It truly is a Season of Giving!  The Give!Guide just announced a new flurry of giveaways; make your gift to PlayWrite, Inc. through the Guide on any of these days, and you’ll be automatically entered into a drawing to win a correspond prize: Friday, Dec. 9: Twenty donors will win copies of the 2012 Chinook Book, with offers from green and local merchants in Portland. Sun, Dec. 11: One donor gets a special pack of goodies from Stam Dog Treats, with their pup’s pic on the label! Tues, Dec. 13: Four 21+ donors will win magnum bottles of A to Z’s 2009 Floozy Pinot Noir. Fri, Dec. 16: Twenty donors get coupons for free cuts at Bishops Barbershops. Mon, Dec. 19: Two 21+ donors will win full mixed cases of distilled spirits from Rogue Distillery, and six more will get one bottle each of Rogue’s spirits. Sat, Dec. 24:  One gal and one fella will each win skincare packages from Kiehl’s. Plus, we’re announcing our own giveaways throughout December!  Keep an eye on our Facebook and Twitter, and check back here for announcements and reminders as these exciting days approach.  Want to be a rockstar PlayWrite ambassador? The next person to make a Give!Guide gift and bring a buddy into our support circle as a new donor through the Guide gets two gift certificates to Case Study Coffee: one for you and one for your friend. Just shoot me an email at emily@playwriteinc.org explaining the connection between the two of you, and I’ll make sure you both get the goods! ‘Tis the Season, indeed! 2011-12-09T20:52:38+00:00 http://www.playwriteinc.org/blog/entry/drew/ http://www.playwriteinc.org/blog/entry/drew/#When:19:55:44Z I wanted to let you all in on a new name in music. Drew, who attended a PlayWrite Workshop in 2006, has recently released a couple of titles to iTunes.  You can click here to check them out and purchase them. Drew says that his PlayWrite experience inspired him in his songs today.  “When you’re younger you don’t think about why you feel the way you feel. You’re just angry, you don’t think about why. Having to stop and think about why is so powerful.” If you’re a Tweeter, you can follow Drew here for up-to-the-minute updates on his music! 2011-12-07T19:55:44+00:00 http://www.playwriteinc.org/blog/entry/giveguide_excitement/ http://www.playwriteinc.org/blog/entry/giveguide_excitement/#When:20:38:08Z There are so many cool features to the Willamette Week Give!Guide that I didn’t know where on our Facebook or Twitter to keep them all!  Here are some fun facts about the Willamette Week’s annual gift campaign: *The Give!Guide was started in an effort to enthuse donors aged 18-35, encouraging the next generation of philanthropists to find organizations they’re passionate about now.  In fact, a prize will be awarded at the end of the Give!Guide campaign to the organization receiving the most donations from donors under 35…be sure to check the box at the end of the donation page if that includes you! *Willamette Week offers its own incentives to donors who give through their portal…check ‘em out! *In addition to WW’s incentive’s, TigerLogic has generously placed a 1:1 match on the first $2500 in donations to PlayWrite received through the Guide…that means that at the end of the Give!Guide campaign, your $10 donation will count towards $20, your $50 to $100, etc. *Any donation made to the Give!Guide on November 17th will be entered in a raffle to win one bottle each of every product made by Clear Creek Distillery, which Willamette Week will deliver to the winner on the next day.  This is a great day to suggest to your friends that they make a donation (if they win, maybe they’ll split the spoils!). *The Give!Guide awards a prize at the end of the campaign to the organization that receives the highest number of donations.  Remember, every donation counts, and with our TigerLogic match in place (as well as a current match from the Miller Foundation), we’re better poised than ever to make the most of your gift. *We made a video!  Go check out our promo video, featuring some great actors performing fantastic original works written by young writers in our workshops. Thanks a lot for checking this info out!  We hope you’re as excited about the Give!Guide as we are (hint: that would be really excited!), and hope to see you in the audience of our Alliance show next week! Best, and then even better, Emily 2011-11-09T20:38:08+00:00 http://www.playwriteinc.org/blog/entry/transform_the_lives_of_youth_at_the_edge...with_cupcakes/ http://www.playwriteinc.org/blog/entry/transform_the_lives_of_youth_at_the_edge...with_cupcakes/#When:16:12:56Z Well hey, there. I’ve got a couple of questions for you: Do you like supporting local businesses, resilience, change, and growth? Do you want to help celebrate the creative voices of youth in Oregon? How about cupcakes?  Do you like cupcakes? If you said “yes!” to any or all of the above (and certainly you at least like cupcakes…), PlayWrite has some cool news for you.  Cupcake Jones, a bakery in the Pearl churning out uber-delicious treats, donates 5% of their sales every Tuesday to a local non-profit.  We think it’s a really nifty and wonderful way that they’ve chosen to give back to the community, and we applaud their generosity (and cupcakes!). On Tuesday, September 13th, PlayWrite will be the lucky participant in their 5% program.  That means that any cupcakes bought – or ordered and paid for – from their NW 10th and Everett store on the 13th won’t just feed you, they’ll feed back into PlayWrite’s efforts to use the power of performance in art to transform the lives of youth at the edge. …and did we mention the cupcakes? Viva la dessert! 2011-09-07T16:12:56+00:00 http://www.playwriteinc.org/blog/entry/a_birthday_wish_fulfilled/ http://www.playwriteinc.org/blog/entry/a_birthday_wish_fulfilled/#When:18:08:25Z A big, huge, whoopin’ and hollerin’ THANK YOU to everyone who helped raise money for PlayWrite on my Birthday!  For my Birthday on August 30th, the same date as the Bienestar Performance, I asked my friends and family to make donations to PlayWrite, in lieu of gifts.  I sent website links to my contacts, enthusiastically discussed the mission with anyone who asked, and set up a Birthday Wish through the Causes application on Facebook with a goal to raise $500.  Web donations, Facebook contributions, and checks in the mail added up to just under $600 for PlayWrite Inc.!  I know my friends and family members are generous, big-hearted people, but man oh man did they blow me out of the water on this!  The financial gifts were extraordinarily kind, yes, and people also showed support in so many other important ways: links on their own Facebook pages, sharing the message with friends/partners/colleagues they thought would find the mission compelling, cards and messages cheering the effort along.  My own mother put a link on her business page for the duration of the wish.  The girls with whom I administer a weekly a blog gave continuous shout-outs on our Twitter account.  An Aunt I haven’t spoken to in ages reached out to me, inspired by what PlayWrite does.  I wanted to give everyone proper gratitude for helping me celebrate my Birthday the best way I could think to: supporting a mission I adore, and applauding the creativity of youth in the community.  On my behalf, and on behalf of PlayWrite Inc., thank you thank you thank you! Big thanks, and even bigger bear hugs, Emily Development Associate, PlayWrite Inc. 2011-09-06T18:08:25+00:00 http://www.playwriteinc.org/blog/entry/write_writers_write_on/ http://www.playwriteinc.org/blog/entry/write_writers_write_on/#When:20:22:21Z It was a rollicking good time in the Mt. Hood conference room for the Banquet Dinner at the Willamette Writers 2011 Conference last Saturday night.  A room full of writers, the performance of a fantastic PlayWrite monologue, and a call to write led to the tune of Lord of the Rings...I’d say Willamette Writers hit all the hallmarks of a successful conference. PlayWrite’s Executive Director, Bruce Livingston, was called on stage during the dinner to receive the organization’s Humanitarian Award, “acknowledging the contribution [he’s] made and continue to make to more than 500 young writers in Oregon.”  Big thanks to Salli Slaughter for a heartfelt intro!  Bruce gave an articulate description of what we do at PlayWrite, noting that “putting emotion into words is a human process. It can also be art.”  Diners had the opportunity to see exactly what it is PlayWrite does, when, after Bruce’s speech, Victor Mack performed “Possible Emptiness,” a punching bag’s monologue written by PlayWrite Cristina.  Thanks, Victor, you brought the house down! The evening continued on in celebration of great writing.  Gus Van Sant was honored with the Distinguished Northwest Author Award, and Barry Lopez received the Lifetime Achievement award, each to great applause.  Bob Dugoni, the keynote speaker for the evening, closed out the dinner with a call to all in attendance to stand firm in their will to write, borrowing a speech from Lord of the Rings to remind us all that “a day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day.  An hour of wolves and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down, but it is not this day! This day we…write!! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you write!” All in all, it was a fun dinner and a great opportunity to acknowledge the power of writing.  Putting feelings into words, and voice to one’s story, creating art out of our unique human experience…that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? 2011-08-11T20:22:21+00:00