Hello Listeners! We are so excited for you to listen to this new episode of Beckett’s Babies! We had an amazing conversation discussing all-things playwriting with a fellow cohort of the Iowa Playwrights Workshop program… Sean David DeMers! In this episode, Sean shares with us memories of his childhood, how he first got into playwriting, and the importance of memory in his work. We even share some fond memories of the Workshop. We hope you will enjoy this very ‘memory’ themed show. Thank you!
LISTEN TO EPISODE 62. INTERVIEW: Sean David DeMers HERE
Sean David DeMers is a playwright with New England and New York City roots. Plays include FACULTY PORTRAIT, produced at IRT Theatre in New York City, the musical JULES VERNE’S FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON with FringeNYC, LITTLE BLUE PILL read at the Last Frontier Conference in 2019, and ENCAPSULATED produced by The Navigators as part of their one-act sci-fi play festival. Sean has two short plays published by Samuel French/Concord Theatricals, OFF TACKLE GLIDE and FOUR MOVEMENTS. Sean is a graduate of the Iowa MFA Playwright’s Workshop and recently picked up a project started there with the play FAYE by translating and adapting the existing Ancient Greek plays, starting with the most obscure.
GLISTENS
Sean – Live Concerts on Youtube, Huey Lewis and The News
Sam – Protest and MN freedom fund $20 million in the past few days.
Sarah – A childhood memory.
To learn more about Sean and his work, be sure to check out his website: seandemers3.wixsite.com/seandaviddemers
Also! Sean shared with us his favorite playwriting exercise! Check it out below!
Pick up a newspaper (must be a print edition) pick a section and read it from beginning to end, every word.
Using a highlighter, select anything that jumps out at you, an idea, an interesting phrase, a word you like. Once finished with the section, go back and assemble everything highlighted and write out longhand on a separate piece of paper.
Develop at least two play thesis sentences–developed from Lajos Egri’s THE ART OF DRAMATIC WRITING, basically thesis+antithesis=synthesis, or desire, action, result (the example Egri uses is ROMEO AND JULIET ‘forbidden love leads to dire consequences.’).
Final step, write a brilliant play.
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And as always, we would love to hear from you!
Send us your questions or thoughts on playwriting and we might discuss it in our next episode.
Email: contact@beckettsbabies.com
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