Re: RAT Some Playwriting Opportunities...

[vz <dexteriously@yahoo.com>]

--- Audie McCall <audiemccall@yahoo.com> wrote:
> open a can of worms: READING FEES .... Thoughts?

Well, yeah, I don't like them, either.  What playwright does?  
But what if the fee was modest ($5), and you knew that all of
the fee went directly to the 1st reader, and that by charging
that fee the theatre in question provided supplementary income
to a part-time staff of, say, ten artistic assistants-- 
possibly struggling playwrights?--and that by paying the 
readers the theatre earned an obligation from those readers
not only to read and render summary judgement but to file
written evaluations that provided the core artistic staff with
a synopsis, a summary of production considerations, and an
elucidation of what they saw as the primary strengths and 
weaknesses of what they'd read?

I outline the above conditions out of a concern for what I've
seen on the other side of the submission process.  I was a
volunteer reader for a company sponsoring a national competition.
I was asked to file the kind of report described above, as were
all of the other readers, about half of whom were volunteers
from the company's board of directors.  Every play submitted was 
supposed to get two readings before being passed along to the
final panel of three judges.  Unfortunately, too many plays only
barely received one reading.  Too many plays were checked out
by a first reader, sat on until the last minute, then returned
with woefully underwritten evaluations--the only evaluations
some of those plays ultimately received.  What to do?  The
company couldn't afford to pay readers, but if they could have
they'd easily have found ten committed and experienced theatre
artists willing to read and properly evaluate an average of, 
say, twenty-five plays each.

I know it's not the playwright's job to solve this dilemma by
paying a reading fee.  But the dilemma *can* be solved, and
a level of integrity better assured, by the scenario I've
outlined above.

Perhaps there are other ways?  It would be great to get an
underwriter to sponsor compensation for readers in exchange
for a typical package of sponsor benefits.  What else
would work?

Meanwhile, when I see a company run a competition badly
(whatever their intentions), I usually wish they'd just not
do it at all ...

Wally Z



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