On July 20, Silver City Community Theatre (SCCT) will present a workshop—Play-writing for
Everyone!—facilitated by Silver City playwright Brenda McFarlane. Participants will learn the basics of
writing a 10-minute play. The workshop will focus on writing about something you care about, tips and
tricks to come up with subject matter, and proper format. Participants will read other 10minute plays.
The workshop will take place, July 20, 10 am to 1 pm, registration 9:30 am at the Historic Elks
Clubhouse, 315 N. Texas St, downtown Silver City. The workshop is free for SCCT members, $20 for
non-members,” according to Thomas Leeper, SCCT President.
According to a SCCT press release, Brenda McFarlane is originally from Toronto Ontario, Canada where she ran her own theater company Far Fetched Productions for over a decade. Her company specialized in collaboratively created original works. She wrote, directed and produced 7 of her own plays in Toronto including: Suzi Got Her Lips Tattooed; Good in Bed; Shut Up; The Education of Johnny - The Making of a Man (a play with music); I Love You So Much, I Wish You Were Dead; Penis Play; and Slut. She also produced Slut in Los Angeles, New York City, and San Diego and the play is published by Original Works Publishing and available on Amazon. She has also worked as a dramaturge and director on many plays, most notably with acclaimed Canadian poet Di Brandt on questions i asked my mother. The Globe and Mail, Canada's national newspaper described McFarlane as "one of the brightest young playwright/directors around these days."
McFarlane has her Master of Arts from Tulane University in theatre directing and spent 2 summers as a directing assistant at Williamstown Theatre Festival where she assisted such famous directors as Nikos Psacharopoulos while also directing up-and coming stars like Allison Janney, Damian Young and Peri Gilpin.
In Toronto she was honored to attend three screenwriting programs at the prestigious Canadian Film Center - an advanced training program for professionals in the Canadian film and television industry. Afterwards she moved to Hollywood. She won a scriptwriting award at the Austin Film Festival, produced plays, and served as a dramaturge (a theater’s literary editor who consults with authors and edits texts) and director for the original play "The Pig and I" which was described in a Backstage review as "crisp and inventive". She then moved to San Diego where she served as Artistic Director for the San Diego Performance Festival "Resilience of the Human Spirit"
Since moving to Grant County, McFarlane says she has wanted to be more involved in the very active Silver City theater community, but her business, Ziryab's making and selling personal body products keeps her pretty busy. She was lucky enough to have an opportunity to serve as a substitute director on an ill-fated production of Charlie Brown in Silver City a couple years ago and was blown away by the talent and enthusiasm of the citizens of Grant County. It was during this 3 months that she realized what a joy it is to work with young people doing theater. She is looking forward to this chance to help encourage the theatrical voices of Silver City residents who have something to say through the creative process of playwriting and the immediacy of stage performance.
More information about this workshop can be found at www.silvercitytheater.com and on Facebook and Instagram, according to MaryAnn Marlar, SCCT Board Member.
Be the community in Community Theater—join SCCT! Individual and family memberships receive tickets and admission to opening night parties and workshops. Additionally, sponsorships are recognized in programs and other publications, according to Leeper.
A home-grown theater company, SCCT grew out of a series of acting classes presented by The Western Institute for Lifelong Learning (WILL). Several class members joined forces to create the Silver City Community Theater. Now after 5 years and many productions, SCCT’s mission continues: to enrich, educate and entertain the Silver City and Grant County communities by providing a broad range of live theater experiences on a recurring, seasonal basis.
SCCT is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.