A Play Grows in Queens:

Two playwriting groups pass the pen to emerging writers

By Maria Galeano

“Want to get on my back? I’ll give you a ride” was the response from a park employee when I asked him for directions to Queens Theatre in The Park. From the Willets-Point/ Shea Stadium stop on the 7 line to the front doors of the theatre is a good 20 minute walk. Warning: wear comfortable walking shoes. I learned the hard way.

It may seem remote, and even out of place, this theatre in the middle of Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Even to me, a Jackson Heights girl born and raised, Queens seemed far from the glamour and grunge of the New York City theatre scene. My own back yard cultivated very little of my obsession with the theatre. As I used to say, “I play in Manhattan. I sleep in Queens.”

But I was convinced that something had to be happening in NYC’s most ethnically diverse borough. How could a place bursting with stories, characters and life in all its forms and fictions lack a way to voice this diversity? There are actually two ways, to be exact, growing and evolving every season at Queens Theatre in the Park.

The first is Queens Playwrights, brainchild of Jeff Sovern, creator of the writing group whose only stipulation is that its participants be Queens residents. The group started in 2004 with the help of Jeff Rosenstock, Executive Director and Rob Urbinati, Assistant Director of New Play Development. “Other areas—including Manhattan and Nassau County have such groups for playwrights, but Queens didn’t. Given the size of the population here, it seemed likely that we could support such a group, and in fact we are doing so,” claims Sovern.

Last December, the group held two sold-out evenings showcasing staged readings of ten-minute plays, written and directed by its members. Entitled “Queens Scenes,” the borough served as the setting for each play. “The readings were well-received,” explains Sovern, “and the Queens Museum plans to stage two readings of the same plays the weekend of October 28 and 29. We’re planning to hold Queens Scenes II, a reading of new ten-minute plays about Queens in the spring.”

The second playwriting group, Immigrant Voices Project, now in its sixth season is led by Rob Urbinati. This one is open to all writers, from any borough, state or country. “The goal is not just finding productions for Manhattan but giving playwrights, especially those from underrepresented ethnic backgrounds, an opportunity to expose their work,” asserts Urbinati, himself an established playwright (Tales of Hazelwood Jr. High) and director (Angel Street at The Pearl Theatre).

These backgrounds range from Vietnamese to Romanian, ethnicities and world-views very rarely, if ever, heard from in the theatre, making the work of these writers all the more distinctive. “The way these writers see the world, the different concepts of character and structure they have, the parameters of what makes a good play are different. I’ve learned from them,” Urbinati explains.

The greatest difference between the theatre scenes of Queens and Manhattan is not so much the writers themselves but the audience. “Only one percent of our audience at these readings is in the business. Their responses are much more visceral and direct,” says Urbinati, “in Manhattan, 90 percent of the audience is in the business. They see what they want the play to be. There’s more of a ‘show me what you got’ attitude when they come into the theatre.”

The free readings are followed by discussions equipped with coffee and dessert. The talkbacks not only give the writers a chance to listen to their audience’s opinions and suggestions, but it gives the audience a chance to do the job that has all too often been solely the critics’: to tell the writer whether or not his or her play speaks to them. The readings become a community event and not just an artists’ conference or critics’ circle. The audience is allowed to be vocal, opinionated and speak directly to the source. If more theatre were as immediate, it would be more appealing and people who have the least access to it (i.e. - immigrant communities) would feel the benefits theatre brings to their lives and that their lives bring to the theatre.

For years the strategy of former artistic and executive directors (an impressive list that includes the late Joseph Papp, founder of the Public Theatre) was to bring Manhattan audiences out to Queens, an approach that continued to fail. “It’s too remote, too far; some people have to drive to the theatre,” admits Urbinati. “The strategy now is to focus on Queens audiences. This is our niche. We want to make available work that speaks to the community and not just family oriented theatre like Into the Woods,” he affirms. And for a community comprised of so many nationalities, finding a story that is relevant to them is what will keep these programs alive and gathering a wider audience. Sovern, himself a Queens resident, still hopes to “see Queens residents support their local theater instead of traveling to Manhattan. And I would like to see more support from the city for Queens theater.”

The Queens population is a diverse group, not just ethnically, but professionally. They are less the “artistes” of edgier neighborhoods in Manhattan and Brooklyn and more the nine-to-fivers whose days are long. So, it is no surprise that these writing groups are led by people who act like, well, people. In addition to his work at Queens Theatre in the Park, Sovern is a full-time law professor at St. John’s University. Urbinati, despite his vast experience in the theatre, spoke to me over the phone from his home while waiting for a plumber to repair a leak. The two can teach you a lot about the dramatic arts, literature and structure, but they can also relate to the less intellectual aspects of everyday life and its daily challenges, which are, after all, the stuff most plays are made of.

For more information about these playwriting programs at Queens Theatre in the Park and their free readings, go to www.queenstheatre.org and click on the link to New Play Development.