BEDFORD-STUYVESANT — Aspiring playwrights can perfect their craft at a new, free workshop hosted in central Brooklyn.
As part of a new partnership between The Center for Arts & Culture at Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation and the Frank Silvera Writers’ Workshop, three women will get a chance to create and write new pieces of work to be presented to the public.
The new program, titled “3in3: Playwriting from Page to Stage,” is the first initiative in the organizations' collaboration, which plans for special projects, a monthly reading series, and work with the Billie Holiday Theatre.
The partnership was a blend of the visions both groups have for the arts, as well as their goals to support writers of color and African descent, according to Dr. Indira Etwaroo, executive director of Restoration’s Center for Arts & Culture.
“We’re at this moment of asking the question: How do we honor the extraordinary legacies and pasts, aligning it with black art, and what do black stories mean in today’s landscape?” Etwaroo said.
“I think it’s an extraordinary time for black theater, and that it’s ready for the renaissance that we saw almost 50 years ago. We are focusing on the playwright, that empty page, and how we can support the creative imagination of people who haven’t always had the support.”
Starting in April, participants will work with a “master playwright” and a team of directors and actors for their project. Over the course of two consecutive weekends, the pieces will culminate in a public reading and a fully staged production.
The program is led by The Frank Silvera Writers’ Workshop, which will make the move from its base in Harlem to Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Garland Lee Thompson Sr. founded the group in 1973 after seeing a need for playwrights — particularly African Americans, women, and people of color — to have their work read aloud, workshopped and critiqued.
The workshop’s Monday night reading series created a gathering place for photographers, painters, filmmakers, poets, writers and artists of all kinds, according to Garland Lee Thompson Jr., executive director for the Frank Silvera Writers’ Workshop.
He hopes to bring that sense of camaraderie back by spearheading similar monthly readings, he said.
“There’s a chance for the community to build,” Thompson Jr. said.
“I think with this partnership with Restoration Plaza, we can create our own pathway to Broadway and that’s a huge dream and motivator for me.”
Thompson Jr. will maintain a residency in Harlem and said that he hopes to connect the neighborhood to Brooklyn “to see what kind of incredible things we can create together.”
The “3in3: Playwriting from Page to Stage” program requires an application, with an interview process beginning at the end of February. Sessions will be held at Restoration, 1368 Fulton St.
For more information, visit the workshop’s website here or email fsww@restorationplaza.org.
