In four short films about the 2008 Pew Fellows in playwriting – J. Rufus Caleb, Russell Davis, Katharine Clark Gray, Edgar J. Shockley III – students will learn about the artists’ inspirations and ideas for writing their plays.  In addition, actors and stage directors along with the playwrights will be seen in readings, rehearsals and performances, providing further insight into the creative process.  An interactive discussion with the playwrights and filmmaker Glenn Holsten will follow the screenings.

While sitting on a Greyhound bus that was inching through traffic in Lake Placid, N.Y., J. Rufus Caleb was reading a book on slavery in the United States.  He says, “I put down the book, look out the window, and see what I know is a salve coffle walking along beside the bus. The image is strong enough, for a few seconds, to see down there on the road a tired shuffling line of enslaved Africans.” This image led him to create an eight minute play entitled, Slave Coffle w/ Observer. J. Rufus Caleb describes himself as a writer of “quirky theatre pieces” that are highly personal in vision and presentation. He strives to create “theatre experiences that are as visceral as they are intellectual.”

Russell Davis is a politically engaged playwright with a long and distinguished career. In his view, “what makes a play is language, is subtext, and how language can play off of silence, or unacknowledged emotions or intentions, and be the mere surface, the very tip, of what is going on. What makes a play are the choices of setting and lighting, the choices of actors and director, and how all these can come together sometimes in one huge and surprising whole.”

Katharine Clark Gray is a writer, producer, actor, and artist. In 2001 she created Governor’s Laundress Productions to produce challenging work for stage, including her own The B Side and You See Me Comin’ You Better Run. Gray also co-founded A Chip & A Chair Films, acting as the director of design. Gray states that what she best loves to do is create works that explore the archetypes of sex, politics, or religion through the prism of “making a living.”

Edgar J. Shockley III sees his unique contribution to the world as reconciling African and European theatrical aesthetics allowing him to make us all more aware of what it means to be human. Because the scope of his vision is so wide, 30 years ago he set a goal for himself to write 100 plays—currently he is at work on his 71st. His plays include Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, The Oracle, Slave Narratives Revisited, The Corner, Badman, Stone Mansion, and Bobos.

Pew Fellowships in the Arts, a program of The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, and established by The Pew Charitable Trusts in 1991, awards grants of $60,000 to artists working in a wide variety of performing, visual, and literary disciplines. The grants provide financial support directly to the artists so that they may have the opportunity to dedicate themselves to creative pursuits exclusively.

Photos of artists by Eileen Neff.

Program Outline:

• Welcome/Introductions (1:00 p.m. – 1:05 p.m.)
  The moderator will introduce the program and panelists.
• Screening of Films (1:05 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.)
  Students will watch three short, 5-minute documentaries about each of the panelists.

• Question and Answer Session (1:30 p.m. – 2:10 p.m.)
  The moderator will ask a series of questions to the panelists and then open the dialogue to students at the participating sites. During this time, we will call on sites in alphabetical order to ask a question. Each site will have an opportunity to ask one question, and then we will move onto the next site. If time permits, we will repeat the cycle. Students should prepare questions ahead of time and should be at the microphone, ready to ask their question, prior to the moderator calling on your site.
• Wrap-Up/Final Comments (2:10 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.)

Pre-Videoconference Activities:

• Introduce Students to the Artists: Familiarize students with the artists, their training and their work by visiting the Pew Fellowships in the Arts website and other links under Program Resources.
• Brainstorm Questions: Have students come up with questions for our panelists about their fellowships, their backgrounds, education or careers. As a class, choose the top 5 questions. Make sure students are prepared to ask these questions as part of the videoconference event. Each school will have a chance to ask at least 1 question - - but by preparing 5, we can make sure that questions aren't repeated.

Post-Videoconference Activities:

• Reflect: Have students write a written reflection about the program or conduct a classroom dialogue with students. Some questions to consider: what surprised them about one of the artists? How has participating in the program influenced their artistic path or career aspirations?

National Educational Standards:

Participation in this program satisfies the following content standards, as outlined by the Consortium of National Arts Education Associations:

• Understanding the visual arts in relation to history and cultures
• Making connections between visual arts and other disciplines