Theater Conference Shaping Up as Worthwhile Event

Theater Conference Shaping Up as Worthwhile Event

By Lee Revis
Editor, Valdez Star

PWSCC - Dawson Moore, coordinator for the Last Frontier Theatre Conference and head of the Theater Department for Prince William Sound Community College says that plans for the upcoming conference are taking shape in a strong and timely fashion. "This year is going to be different," said Moore. "It's about what we're doing now. It's all about moving forward."

Travel scholarships, a film festival, renewed emphasis on classes and more focus on the needs of individual attendees are just some of the sweeping changes coming to the conference after the abrupt resignation of former PWSCC President Jody McDowell caused Playwright Edward Albee, a big name draw to the conference, to withdraw his support of the annual gathering. "It'll be an interesting year," said Moore, who says he did not attend the conference for the first three years after its inception because he felt the big names attached to the event were out of his league.

To keep moving forward, Moore says he has lined up about 20 high caliber smart and funny hitters in the world of theater to front the event. According to Moore, much of the fanfare associated with the high caliber celebrities who were regular attendees of the conference will be missed by some, but he says the tension associated with hosting such big names in theater will dissipate and make this year's event a much calmer affair, with a little more individual attention to the invited playwrights.

One of the bigger names who has committed to this year's event is Michael Warren Powell, one of the original motivators behind the creation and development of the Play Lab, considered by many to be the heart and soul of the Conference. Powell, who has not attended the Conference for the last three years, is currently the artistic director of the Circle East Theater Company in New York and has been active in new play development for 30 years.

Out of 200 plays submitted for consideration, around 100 plays were selected and the playwrights invited to attend, including writers from Israel, China, France and the U.K. To help defray travel costs, Moore says UA President Mark Hamilton has bestowed a gift to the conference in the form of a travel scholarship. Given out on a first come, first serve basis, the first thirty playwrights to request a scholarship will be given a check for $400 to help defray travel costs to Valdez.

While most playwrights invited are from the lower 48, eighteen Alaskans, including four Valdez playwrights, Andrew Day, Ed Larson, Mollie Ramos and Adam Warwas, will have their plays reviewed during the Play Lab.

"I'm a little biased," joked Moore, "because most of them are my students."

Both Ms. Ramos and Day have presented their work to the conference in years past.

Another twist to this conference will be the addition of a film festival. While the conference is and always will be about plays, Moore made several points about why a different medium is being featured this year. First of all, they are hoping to make the conference as useful to writers as possible, while he noted what he called the "best and brightest" playwrights are often lost to the world of film. "It's still about art form," he noted.

While the final schedule has not yet been finalized, the conference will begin on Saturday, June 18 and will run for a full week. "We'll still have the closing night Gala," said Moore, who is committed to keeping the conference not only alive, but a meaningful, worthwhile event for locals, playwrights and aficionados of theater everywhere.