News

2024 WRAP! -DECEMBER 18, 2024

This year has been a fruitful and, hopefully, will have set several stages for a productive 2025.

I have spent much of the year working and refining the script of "Outside". The script has been handed to a dramaturgy class for January, 2025 that a friend of mine teaches.

Throughout the year, I was working to bring forth the realization of the staged reading of Runtime Error directed by Jens Rasmussen, produced by Malini Singh-McDonald. We are hoping to do another reading in the spring, 2025.

Finally, a third opportunity has recently presented itself, though I cannot release this information yet so you will need to stay tuned.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful holiday season and a fantastic New Year!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

ELANA STARTS A SUBSTACK- NOVEMBER 7, 2024

Yesterday, a friend of mine quoted Toni Morrison saying "“In times of dread, artists must never remain silent. This is precisely the time when artists go to work." Today, I spoke to another friend who encouraged me to speak my mind, using Substack.

And so, taking both of their pieces of advice, I have spent today, toiling over my thoughts to start a new Substack. This will be aimed at the playwright's mind...but it will not just be playwriting and it will not just be in the mind. It will also explore health as I am experiencing it and where these things are intersecting. There will certainly be some additional things thrown in for good measure. My first post is Reframing the Pain: How My Sciatica is Helping Post-Election. If it's of interest to you, I hope you'll subscribe.

I will also be having some installments of darkly comedic monologues that I have been writing on my experience with my healthcare over the years.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

RUNTIME ERROR-INDUSTRY READING- OCTOBER 28, 2024

Thursday's reading was a great success! Our actors (JJ Wilks, Brielle Webb, Joyia Bradley, and Richard Brundage) were amazing and put all their energy in to bring the emotion of the script to life. Huge thanks to our stage manager, Mae Schuberth, our intimacy coordinator, Liadin Stewart, and our projection designer, Ian McDonald, all of whom helped create the world around the story and a safe environment in which to tell it. Finally, thank you to director Jens Rasmussen and producer, Malini Singh McDonald (Theatre Beyond Broadway) without whom this play would never have made it this far.

Look on the Runtime Error page to see what audiences said about the performance!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

RUNTIME ERROR-INDUSTRY READING - OCTOBER 9, 2024

I have been in the throes of casting for my play Runtime Error with my director, Jens Rasmussen, and my producer, Malini Singh McDonald (and her company Theatre Beyond Broadway). Runtime Error will be receiving an industry reading on Thursday, October 24 in the afternoon. We are excited to welcome our intimacy coordinator, Chelsea Pace, for her second experience with this script (also worked with it in 2021), our stage manager, Mae Schuberth and our projection designer, Ian McDonald.

Once our actors are completely set, I will announce them as well. This is that part in the process where the anticipation and excitement are so great and we look forward to having audiences share in our creative process.

If you are in the theater industry and would like to be invited to the reading, please be in contact with me.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

PERFORMING ARTS ON VOTING - SEPTEMBER 19, 2024

This week was National Register to Vote Day. As part of that, I would like to highlight three performing arts pieces that highlight the importance of and the fight for the right to vote.

Suffs by Shaina Taub, a musical currently playing on Broadway on the suffragettes who led the fight for women's right to vote.

Is This America? by Mary D. Watkins, an opera running September 20-22 in Boston. Centers the story on the beloved voting rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer.

What the Constitution Means to Me by Heidi Schreck, a play about a young woman's relationship with the Constitution as she debates about to earn money for college. Playing in many cities throughout the country but also available on Amazone Prime

I encourage everyone to register to vote, make a plan to vote, ask your newly minted 18 year olds if they have registered, your friends that have just moved if they have registered and assist anyone who needs help getting to the polls.

Most importantly, please educate yourself on the issues and the candidates down ballot as well as presidential. Theater is a place that makes us ask questions of ourselves. "What Does the Constitution Mean to Me" and "Is This America?". These are good questions.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

RUNTIME ERROR PREPPING FOR AN INDUSTRY READING! - AUGUST 1, 2024

I'm very proud to announce that Runtime Error will be receiving an industry reading on Thursday, October 24th. It will be directed by Jens Rasmussen, produced by Malini Singh McDonald, Theatre Beyond Broadway, with intimacy coordination by Chelsea Pace.

We are busy hiring the rest of our staff and preparing for auditions but we are very excited and hope you can join us!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

AGE OF CHIMES CANCELLED - JULY 17, 2024

I was informed last night that TUBU Fest has had to cancel Age of Chimes due to unforeseen circumstances that would not allow them to perform the play and do it justice. I appreciate those of you who have reached out to tell me that you would be watching it and I will be sure to tell you if there are other opportunities to see this or other work of mine.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

AGE OF CHIMES OPENING FRIDAY! - JULY 15, 2024

Age of Chimes is in rehearsal at TUBU Fest in Austin, TX with director, Beau Paul. If you are in Austin, TX, I encourage you to go to see it in person on Friday night, July 19 at 7pm CST. If not, and you would still like to see it, it will be the first on the program on Friday night and it will be livestreamed so you can watch it from ANYWHERE! The runtime is likely to only be ten minutes. You can get your tickets and the link for the livestream here: https://events.humanitix.com/tubu

I will also be watching from my home and unable to attend in person but please let me know if you'll be watching. This is the first time this little play is making its entrance on to a stage; it would be grand to have an audience of supporters for it.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

TIX FOR AGE OF CHIMES IN PERSON AND STREAMING! - JUNE 27, 2024

Tickets for Age of Chimes at TUBU Fest are now available for in-person and streaming attendance. TUBU Fest runs July 18-20, 2024. Age of Chimes will be the first play on Friday, July 19, 2024. This play will be directed by Beau Paul and will run approximately 10-15 minutes. If you are unable to be in Austin, TX, I hope that you will join me in the virtual audience from wherever you are. https://events.humanitix.com/tubu

In addition to this, I have been working with a producer and director to bring together a reading of Runtime Error for the fall and hope to create a full track for it through workshops to a full production.

I have just had a progress reading of my new play "Outside", highly revised since its last progress reading in January.

There is much theater to see this summer! Please make sure you see some!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

AGE OF CHIMES LANDS IN FESTIVAL - APRIL 15, 2024

My 10 minute play Age of Chimes has landed in a festival for this summer in Austin, Texas. The play was written several years ago from a prompt through the Kennedy Center Playwriting Initiative.

Here is the synopsis: Nate and Oscar are having an unusual morning after their third date: time keeps mysteriously shifting each of them in opposite directions. Will they still care about each other or will they discover things that will doom the relationship before it really gets started?

Theatre for Us By Us (TUBU) Disability Theatre Festival will produce all playwrights with disabilities. If you are in the Austin, TX area, the festival will be running July 18-20, 2024.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

GUEST ON PODCAST AND OTHER NEWS - APRIL 3, 2024

Happy April! I am excited to share that I was a guest on the podcast, Once Upon A Disney, run by my mentor and friend, Larry Brenner, and my friend, Andie Redwine. They analyze Disney movies from the 20th and 21st centuries and I got to participate as we discussed "Adventures in Babysitting" (1987). If you saw this movie back in the 80's or 90's, I assure you, it reads very differently today. But it's a fun podcast and we had a great time doing it so have a listen! I've created a new spot on my links page for podcasts.

In my playwriting world, I am in the throes of the Dramatists Guild #EndofPlay, a challenge to playwrights nationally and internationally to use the month of April to rewrite a draft or develop a first draft of a script. I did this last year and it was successful. I am pulling apart a script to rewrite it this year and I hope to have more information for you in May on how it has gone.

Break a leg to anyone else participating in #EndofPlay!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

FEBRUARY NEWS! - FEBRUARY 25, 2024

In January, I had a full reading of a new play and got valuable feedback from fellow playwrights. I am now doing some field research to assist me with the next rewrites and letting things simmer.

I have been very pleased that the League of Professional Theatre Women's Book Reading Club of Plays that I run with Marianne Ryan has really taken off. We read "Sunset Baby" by Dominique Morisseau which a group of us will shortly attend at Signature Theater in Manhattan. We honored the memory of Tina Howe and read her favorite play of hers "The Art of Dining". We read Phoebe Waller-Bridge's "Fleabag" and several of us saw a screening of the 2012 London West End performance of it, prior to it being turned into a TV series. We will be reading Kia Corthron's "Fish" next which is having a world premiere at Keen Company in New York. I am so glad that we are able to honor these women playwrights, particularly as we enter into International Women's Month in March.

I am proud to share that I will be presenting at Spalding University's Business Workshops virtually in March. My topic will be "WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU LEMONS: BEHIND SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE VIRTUAL THEATER" and it will explore my experience as the Artistic Director behind Four Walls Theater during the pandemic. This is open to current Spalding MFA candidates and and alums.

If you are in New York City, there is about to be a giant wave of shows opening in March and April. Take advantage!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

END OF YEAR WRAP UP! - DECEMBER 20, 2023

Wrapping up the presents of 2023:
Jagged Journey had a fantastic year! Two industry readings, one in person and one virtually led to its first public reading at Media Arts Center in Media, PA. We had a wonderfully warm and full crowd in June.

I have been working on two new plays, one of which has now been starting to be sent around. First developed at the Kennedy Center Playwriting Initiative in 2021 as a monologue, Tornado is now a full length play which you can read about here

The second play that I am working on will be having a progress reading in January, 2024 with other playwrights to continue to develop it.

I am collaborating with an artistic team to bring Runtime Error to New York City in 2024.

Outside of the writing, I have helped to found and co-facilitate the Book Reading Club of Plays through the League of Professional Theatre Women. Our goal is to read plays and then attend them together, if they are in production.

I encourage everyone to get out and see some theater in the next year. There is some fantastic work being made. Audiences are the key component of our art!

Have a wonderful holiday season and a peaceful New Year!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

JAGGED JOURNEY READING!- MAY 30, 2023

It's been a very busy spring. After two successful in-person industry readings of Jagged Journey in New York, the same wonderful cast and director did a virtual for industry nationwide in March.

Now Jagged Journey will be presented at Media Arts Council in Media, PA on Thursday, June 8 at 7:30pm. Anyone in the area is invited to join us. The play is directed by Kelci Schlierf and produced by Julie Zaffarano.

https://www.mediaartscouncil.org/calendar/play-reading-jagged-journey-by-elana-gartner

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

HAPPY NEW YEAR! - JANUARY 10, 2023

Happy New Year! With the end of 2022, I finished my personal challenge of reading a play by a BIPOC (Black, Indigenous or Person of Color) playwright per week for year. It was a fantastic project and very eye opening. I have many more plays that I wasn't able to complete in that time so I will continue to work on them in the coming year.

I have been very busy taking a creative mentoring program with THRIVE Creative which has inspired me to put together an industry reading for Jagged Journey this month. There will be a Zoom reading that more people will be able to see later in the early spring.

Having attended a remarkable number of shows towards the end of 2022, I strongly encourage everyone to make it out to see theater. So many wonderful shows are opening and closing quickly because audiences are not coming.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

MONOLOGUE FROM RUNTIME ERROR AVAILABLE IN ANTHOLOGY! - SEPTEMBER 12, 2022

Just in time for the school year, Smith & Kraus has published three anthologies, now available on Amazon and edited by my friend and colleague, Debbie Lamedman. I am pleased to share that one of my monologues from Runtime Error is in "Best Men's Stage Monologues 2022". I received an advance copy of it several weeks ago and it looks fantastic. I am pleased that I having been published alongside so many talented playwrights. If you know of students or professors who are looking for new monologues, please share this information with them.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

JAGGED JOURNEY IS IN THE TOP TEN FINALISTS FOR GULFSHORE PLAYHOUSE NEW WORKS FESTIVAL! - JUNE 14, 2022

I am pleased to share that Jagged Journey has been chosen as one of ten finalists for Gulfshore Playhouse's New Works Festival. The final three are still TBD. I am particularly pleased to be in the company of my friends and colleagues, Diana Burbano and Stephen Kaplan whose work I greatly admire. You can read the press release that BroadwayWorld reported on yesterday from my responses page.

As we enter the summer, I hope that everyone takes the time to see some theater, either indoors or outdoors. The industry has worked very hard to come back from the pandemic shutdown. If you are looking for ways to save on tickets in New York City, go to my links page.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

PRESENTING ON ARTS DISABILITY PANEL! - MARCH 4, 2022

Next week I will be presenting at the NeMLA (Northeast Modern Language Association) conference in Baltimore, MD on how disability care is portrayed in the arts. To do so I am using a scene from my play "Jagged Journey" that was recorded with actors last summer. I am very proud that I was able to edit it with captioning using http://www.Zubtitle.com, making it accessible to the hard of hearing and Deaf communities.

I was encouraged and startled to realize that I had suddenly attended five shows in a span of two weeks IN PERSON. It has been an incredible joy to return to the theater. I applaud (literally) the theatermakers who have worked so hard to bring shows back. I particularly want to note the hard work of the understudies who are constantly on call for multiple roles and have been doing outstanding performances on little notice.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

ZOOM LINK FOR "AGE OF CHIMES"! - JANUARY 29, 2022

I am pleased to send out the information for tomorrow's world premiere reading of Age of Chimes through Tiger's Heart Players. This play was written through my work at the Kennedy Center Playwriting Initiative in October. As a reminder, it will be performed on Zoom at 3pm EST /12pm PT. The actors performing in my play are Joel Roman and Andrea Jacobsen.

Here is the synopsis of the play:
Nate and Oscar are having an unusual morning after their third date: time keeps mysteriously shifting each of them in opposite directions. Will they still care about each other or will they discover things that will doom the relationship before it really gets started?

~The Plays~
*Vegan Vigilantes by Rex McGregor (featuring: Michael Lake, Quinn Warren, Bella Duve)
*Saint Rocco in Repose by Lisa Ellex (featuring: Tom Parker, Ellen Barber)
*Age of Chimes by Elana Gartner (featuring: Joel Roman, Andrea Jacobsen)
*Welcome to the House of Karma by Cindi Sansone-Braff (featuring: Linda White, Lori Federico, Brigid Pfeiffer, Enid Bries)
~Intermission~
*Ripples by Mark Mc Quown (featuring: Pilar Uribe, Wayne Paul Mattingly, Bonnie Rosenbaum, Fran Cisco)

See you at the (virtual) theater!
Elana Gartner

NEW TEN MINUTE PLAY RECEIVING A READING! - JANUARY 24, 2022

My new ten-minute play Age of Chimes, which I wrote at the Kennedy Center Playwriting Initiative in October, is receiving a Zoom reading on Sunday, January 30th at 3pm EST with Tiger's Heart Players. If you are interested in receiving the Zoom link, please let me know and I will send it to you. It is also available to be read for those people who are on The New Play Exchange.

In other news, I have made a commitment to myself to read a work of a playwright of color every week. This commitment started in mid-December. So far, I have read "The Chinese Lady" by Lloyd Suh, "Teenage Dick" by Mike Lew, "brownsville song (b-side for tray)" by Kimber Lee, "Paradise Blue" by Dominique Morisseau and "An Octoroon" by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. This week's play will be "Detroit '67" by Dominique Morisseau. If you are on Facebook and would like to follow along or see what else I will be reading, you can go to the Elana Gartner, Playwright page.

See you at the (virtual and live) theater!
Elana Gartner

NEWS FOR THE NEW YEAR! MONOLOGUE WILL BE PUBLISHED! - JANUARY 3, 2022

It is with great pride that I get to kick off the year with an announcement that a monologue from my play Runtime Error will be published in Smith & Kraus' Best Men's Stage Monologues later this year. This play was a semi-finalist for the 2021 Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference and received a virtual staged reading from Transformation Theatre, Inc. in May, 2021.

Much thanks to Debbie Lamedman for the great opportunity and to my wonderful mentors, Kira Obolensky and Gabriel Jason Dean who shepherded me through this play!

This play is available to be read on The New Play Exchange.

Congratulations to the many fellow playwrights whom I have seen will also be included in the anthology with me!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

KENNEDY CENTER AND MFA GRAD! - NOVEMBER 23, 2021

I had a fantastic time participating in the Kennedy Center's Playwriting Initiative in October. It was two very intense weekends, filled with workshops and playwrights from all over the world, but primarily the United States.

Following quickly on the heels of that, I flew to Louisville, KY for my final residency at Spalding University for my MFA program. It was such a joy to be back in person, able to hug my fellow writers, spend time with them outside of class and attend intellectually stimulating workshops and lectures. In my final week, I presented a grad lecture and a grad reading (two scenes from my thesis, Jagged Journey). With help from my fellow writers, I was able to present the grad reading with authentic casting. On November 19, 2021, I graduated with my MFA. I am very proud of this accomplishment, three years in the making, while still working through the pandemic.

As I look forward, I have already been accepted to present part of my thesis at the NeMLA conference in Maryland in March, 2022 as part of a panel on artistic display of disability care to educators.

I hope that everyone has a Happy and safe Thanksgiving!

See you at theater!
Elana Gartner

INTERVIEW WITH ELANA AND BIG MONTH! - OCTOBER 20, 2021

Lots of great news to share!

Back in July, my friend and theater collaborator, Malini Singh, interviewed me for her podcast Theatre Beyond Broadway. It is now up and available for listeners on iheart. We talk about the transformative time working together at Four Walls Theater, how virtual theater has impacted the industry, gender parity, how theater helps have those difficult moments with ourselves to heal and much more! You'll also hear a bit about what I'm working on!

Starting tomorrow night, I will be joining colleagues from around the country as we embark on the October session of the Kennedy Center Playwriting Initiative. In the past several weeks, we have had some assignments and have gotten to know each other a little bit through social media but I am very excited to be in the virtual room, learning and creating. I will be working with this Initiative for two long weekends through the end of October.

In November, I will finally return to the Spalding University campus for my long-awaited graduation residency. I am thrilled to be graduating with five other talented playwrights and to be reunited with my friends and professors, some of whom I have only met virtually. I will be presenting part of my thesis play, Jagged Journey, all of which can be read on The New Play Exchange.

Finally, I am pleased to say that I have started to attend in-person theater. I want to congratulate the theater community on doing an excellent job of asking for proof of vaccinations both in New York and in Massachusetts, the two places that I have seen theater. There is so much theater available now and the excitement in the theater is palpable! It is so rewarding to see audiences hungry for culture and the immediacy of live theater again. I hope that, if you are comfortable, you will find some theater near you to attend.

See you at the theater! (live!!)
Elana Gartner

UPDATED WEBSITE AND FALL NEWS! - JULY 28, 2021

I have been updating things on my website to reflect my available scripts, include my recently approved thesis, Jagged Journey, a play inspired by own experience with my epilepsy. For those who are the New Play Exchange, the full script is available there.

I have also updated the theater links and articles as there has been a lot going on in the theater industry, even though we have been closed for so long. I am hoping that the changes that theater is undergoing will provide a more diverse set of voices, characters and set of experiences that are on stage and that theater will become more accessible to a wider audience.

Finally, I have two wonderful pieces of news professionally coming up for this fall. It is a great honor to report that I will be participating in the Kennedy Center Playwriting Initiative in October. I feel incredibly fortunate that I will be able to work with fantastic playwrights for two weeks virtually. Following quickly on the heels of that will be my final residency at the Spalding University MFA program in November. I am due to graduate just before Thanksgiving along with five of my playwriting cohort.

I hope that everyone is continuing to keep masked and safe!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

LAST NIGHT'S SHOW WILL BE UP THROUGH MAY 15TH! - MAY 12, 2021

Thank you to everyone who was able to make it to last night's performance of Runtime Error and who stayed for the talkback afterwards! It is hard in these virtual theater experiences to feel the audience but i was able to last night because everyone was so willing to participate or contact me afterwards with thoughts. Because this has been such a challenging script, I deeply appreciated the extra effort that you made to do this.

If you were unable to attend last night, fear not! Transformation Theatre will have the performance available on their YouTube account through Saturday, May 15th.

Thank you once again to the incomparable actors: Nessa Amherst, *Sam Given, Mark Redfield and *Cathy Diane Tomlin for giving so much of themselves to this script and to the director, Carl Randolph, and the Intimacy Coordinator, Chelsea Pace, for creating a safe space in which to explore the challenges of the play.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

ELANA'S PODCAST INTERVIEW ON "RUNTIME ERROR"- MAY 8, 2021

I am pleased to share that I was interviewed on the Redfield Arts Audio Podcast about my play Runtime Error which is having its world premiere virtual performance on Tuesday, May 11th at 7pm EST (and will be available on Transformation Theatre's YouTube page through May 15th). In this podcast, I speak with Mark Redfield, the actor who is playing Professor Carson, about the play, sexual abuse, the process of playwriting and some of my other work. I hope you'll take the time to listen and then join us for the play this week! I am putting the interview on my Responses in the Press page.

As a reminder, you can reserve your tickets to the show here.

See you at the (virtual) theater!
Elana Gartner

"RUNTIME ERROR" SHOW AND NEWS! - MAY 3, 2021

I have several pieces of exciting news to share regarding my script, Runtime Error. I am proud to announce that it was a semi-finalist for the 2021 Eugene O'Neill National Playwright Conference. As you may recall, this is the same play that is going up next week with Transformation Theatre, Tuesday, May 11th at 7pm EST. The live performance that night will be followed by a talkback with me. The performance will be available through May 15th streaming. I am extremely grateful to the amazing cast: Nessa Amherst, *Sam Given, Mark Redfield and *Cathy Diane Tomlin who are participating from California, New York, and Maryland. Our wonderful director is Carl Randolph. The intimacy coach is Chelsea Pace. The dramaturg is Gerrad Taylor and the tech director is Jordan Young.

Here is a synopsis:
Tal is trying to get a competitive internship when he approaches his college advisor and mentor for an introduction to the company. The famous Professor Carson is all too willing to make the introduction but for a terrible price. While hiding his experiences from everyone in his life, Tal tries to figure out what he could have done differently. A play inspired by the #MeToo movement and the Brett Kavanaugh hearings, Runtime Error explores similar themes for men and how they cope or don’t.

Tickets can be reserved for this world premiere reading here.

Trigger warning: This play contains multiple scenes that involve sexual abuse and rape.

If you missed the roundtable that we had in April, you can still see it on Transformation Theatre's YouTube channel. Carl Randolph and I were joined by experts Samantha L. Clarke, Angeles Evans, Naida Henao and Dr. Ernesto Mujica.

I hope that you are able to join us for this important show!

See you at the (virtual) theater!
Elana Gartner

REMINDER! THIS WEDNESDAY'S ROUNDTABLE! - APRIL 12, 2021

Just a quick reminder that I will be participating in a roundtable discussion with Transformation Theatre and some experts on male sexual abuse this Wednesday, April 14th at 7pm EST. Sign up here. This roundtable will be addressing the topic of my upcoming play, Runtime Error, which will receive its world premiere reading on Tuesday, May 11 at 7pm EST. Here is a quick synopsis of the play:
Tal is trying to get a competitive internship when he approaches his college advisor and mentor for an introduction to the company. The famous Professor Carson is all too willing to make the introduction but for a terrible price. While hiding his experiences from everyone in his life, Tal tries to figure out what he could have done differently. A play inspired by the #MeToo movement and the Brett Kavanaugh hearings, this play explores similar themes for men and how they cope or don’t.

See you at the virtual theater!
Elana Gartner

UPCOMING ROUNDTABLE IN ADVANCE OF "RUNTIME ERROR" DEBUT - APRIL 5, 2021

I hope that everyone has been enjoying the beginning of spring and getting their vaccinations as they have become available.

Here, in the theater world, we have been encouraged to learn of the ways that theater will be starting to return very slowly. However, while we are not there yet, I am happy to be participating in an upcoming project that will be virtual and available to you.

My play Runtime Error will be having its first ever public debut on May 11 at 7pm. It will be available for four days afterwards. I'm pleased to say that we are now fully cast and I am very excited to be working with actors Nessa Amherst (MD), Sam Given (NY), Mark Redfield (DC), and Cathy Diane Tomlin (CA). The artistic director of Transformation Theatre, Carl Randolph, is directing the show and our dramaturg is Gerrad Taylor. Tickets available here

In advance of this performance, I will be participating in a roundtable discussion on the topic of male sexual abuse with Carl and several experts, including Samantha L. Clarke, Angeles Evans, Naida Hanoa and Dr. Ernesto Mujica. The roundtable will take place next Wednesday, April 14th at 7pm. Make reservations here

In other news, my thesis for grad school has been approved and it is now available to be read on the New Play Exchange for those of you who are members. I will be building a a new page for "Jagged Journey", an exploration of my relationship with my own epilepsy, soon on this site.

See you at the virtual (and hope soon to be in-person!) theater soon!
Elana Gartner

"RUNTIME ERROR" TO PREMIERE! - JANUARY 14, 2021

I know that we could all use some good news these days so I am here to share some with you.

I am pleased to report that my play, Runtime Error, developed through my MFA program, will be receiving a world premiere reading in May at Transformation Theatre! Here is the synopsis of the play:

Tal is trying to get a competitive internship when he approaches his college advisor and mentor for an introduction to the company. The famous Professor Carson is all too willing to make the introduction but for a terrible price. While hiding his experiences from everyone in his life, Tal tries to figure out what he could have done differently. A play inspired by the #MeToo movement and the Brett Kavanaugh hearings, this play explores similar themes for men and how they cope or don’t.

Because we will still be virtual at that point, the play will be a Zoom reading. I will send reminders as we get closer. It will be up for four days after the initial live performance. I am very grateful to my mentors Kira Obolensky and Gabriel Jason Dean who worked with me very hard on this play.

I hope that everyone has remained safe and healthy. See you at the (virtual) theater!
Elana Gartner

UPCOMING SHOW AT FOUR WALLS THEATER! - OCTOBER 14, 2020

This coming weekend, my theater company, Four Walls Theater will have two live performances of the world premiere of "Bars" by Pravin Wilkins, directed by Heather Harvey. Sound design and composition for the show is by M. Florian Staab and our charity for the production is TheKEEPERS, an organization that uplifts the voices of Black revolutionary women hiphop artists.

“BARS”, takes place in Oklahoma City, a light-blue island in the middle of a deep-red state, a group of activists have been arrested for protesting the construction of a new oil pipeline. The harshest sentence of all has been reserved for a young, recently resettled refugee named Robi. This incendiary case triggers the surprise--and covert--homecoming of Dae, a recently-deported icon in the spoken word & underground hip-hop community. As prosecutors--led by District Attorney Alex Long--attempt to enforce the newly minted law behind the arrests, Dae launches an undercover campaign to earn Robi’s freedom.

The performances will be Saturday, October 17th at 8pm EST/ 5pm PT and Sunday, October 18th at 2pm EST/ 11am PT. If you donate prior to the start of the Sunday show, you can join us for the exclusive talkback with all of our artists just after Sunday's show around 3:30pm EST/ 12:30pm EST. Once the live performances are done, we will continue streaming the show for a limited time through October 31st.

All the information for the show is available at EventBrite

We were also interviewed for an upcoming radio program (available on Thursday, October 15) called PsychUp Live featuring our playwright, director and lead actress, Janan Ashton. In addition, the Four Walls Theater's Associate Artistic Director, Gina Dropp, and I share our thoughts about why we chose the play.

See you at the (virtual) theater!
Elana Gartner

FULL INTERVIEW UP FOR "BEFORE LESBIANS" AND THE FINAL DAYS AT GOOD LUCK MACBETH! - AUGUST 21, 2020

Just in time for the last two days of Good Luck Macbeth's streaming reading of Before Lesbians, the full interview (complete with spoilers) has been released. This is a pretty deep dramaturgical look at the script and an in-depth discussion of many different aspects of it for audiences who saw either version (Dayton FutureFest 2020 or Good Luck Macbeth) to appreciate.

If you haven't seen the show yet, you have two more full days. It will be available through Saturday, August 22nd.

Thanks to everyone who has been supportive during these performances!

See you at the (virtual) theater!
Elana Gartner

THE NEXT READING OF "BEFORE LESBIANS"! -AUGUST 10, 2020

Thank you to all of you who watched the Dayton FutureFest 2020 staged reading of Before Lesbians and the accompanying interviews. It was lovely to hear from so many of you and it was wonderful that this script was able to be seen in such a large variety of regions of the world. Thank you to the fantastic cast and crew that worked so hard to make this happen! I will have photos up on my website soon.

If you missed it (or if you want to compare and contrast), another reading of Before Lesbians will be streaming starting this Saturday, August 15th starting at 5pm EST/2pm PT and it will be available through August 22nd. This reading is free. http://youtube.com/ghostlightv They will be releasing two interviews with me, one on Friday, August 14th and one the following week. They will also be available on ghostlightv.

See you at the (virtual) theater!
Elana Gartner

"BEFORE LESBIANS" IS COMING UP! - JULY 29, 2020

Dayton FutureFest 2020 has been going strong for several weeks. This Friday, July 31, 2020, my play, Before Lesbians, will be available for streaming through Thursday, August 6th. You will be able to watch it any time starting at midnight on Friday and it will become unavailable at 11:59pm on Thursday. The link will be emailed to you a couple days before the show. Tickets are $10.

Here's a quick synopsis of the play:
When Charlotte and Vivian meet, they are about to marry their fiancés who are leaving to fight for President Lincoln. Through letters and visits, Charlotte and Vivian nurture their friendship, sharing books and projects to support the troops and their husbands. In an era where women were not recognized as sexual beings and when words did not exist for women falling in love, Charlotte and Vivian struggle to understand the confusing feelings they are developing for each other while the Civil War rages on.

I am very pleased that Dayton FutureFest 2020 chose my play among the three of the six to present online. They will have the unique opportunity to have the play recorded on a stage because the actors have been in each other's pods.

I invite you to also watch a pre-show interview that I did with fellow finalist, Shanti Renihardt, discussing our inspirations for our plays.

There will be a live talkback on Sunday, August 2nd at 2pm with me, the director and one of the cast members. You will be able to type questions in to the chat on the right hand side which the moderators will ask me. It should run about half an hour.

Save the date! If you miss this performance or are looking to compare and contrast, you will have another opportunity to see Before Lesbians on August 15 at 5pm EST/ 2pm PT with a live interview directly following the reading. This will be working with Good Luck Macbeth in Reno, NV. I will send more information about that as we get closer.

Thanks to everyone who attended Four Walls Theater's "Rights of Passage". We had a great audience response and a lively post-show discussion. Our next show will be in October. If you are interested in being added to the Four Walls Theater mailing list, send an email to fourwallstheater@gmail.com with the word "Subscribe" in the subject.

See you at theater!
Elana Gartner

INTERVIEWS, PERFORMANCES AND REVIEWS! -JULY 13, 2020

The Dayton FutureFest will officially be opening this upcoming weekend. While my play, Before Lesbians is not going to be available until July 31-August 6, there is an interview with me and playwright, Shanti Reinhardt, that can be viewed ahead of time on Dayton Playhouse's YouTube channel.

To purchase tickets for the virtual performance of Before Lesbians, please go to the Dayton Playhouse website.

I will be doing a live interview on August 2nd at 2pm on the Dayton Playhouse Facebook livefeed. Audiences will be able to ask me questions about the show.

My theater company, Four Walls Theater, just had a fantastic livestream performance of "Rights of Passage" by Michelle Tyrene Johnson on Friday night. This timely play addressed issues of police brutality and racial injustice. The recording will be available only until July 24th. If you are interested in seeing it, you can go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rights-of-passage-by-michelle-tyrene-johnson-livestream-71020-tickets-110986644040 A portion of all donations for the show go to support Black Lives Matter as well as our artists, many of whom are 2020 grads.

Four Walls Theater was very pleased to receive a great review from Arts-Louisville.com.

Finally, please save the date for the next performance of Before Lesbians with Good Luck Macbeth on August 15th! Compare and contrast how different theaters present the same story in a virtual atmosphere and with different tools. I will also be doing a live interview on August 15th. This is a single day show and will not be available again.

See you at the virutal theater!
Elana Gartner

UPCOMING PERFORMANCES! -JUNE 22, 2020

Dayton FutureFest has scheduled Before Lesbians to be available from July 31-August 6th online. You must purchase tickets in order to see it. I will be doing a live interview on August 2nd through their Facebook Live feed where you can ask me questions about the play. FutureFest is also selling commemorative T-shirts through June 27th.

If you miss the Dayton FutureFest performance, you have another opportunity on Saturday, August 15th. Good Luck Macbeth will be streaming a different production of Before Lesbians with actors from Reno, NV and a director from Alaska. (such are the times that we are in where we can work with people so far spread apart!) I will be doing another live interview that day. Times TBA.

Finally, Four Walls Theater has announced that we are producing Michelle Tyrene Johnson's "Rights of Passage", directed by Sibyl Rolle. This show will feature actors and an assistant stage manager that are 2020 graduates from colleges and MFA programs and a part of its proceeds will go to Black Lives Matter. July 10th, 8pm EST. I will post information regarding the EventBrite when it is up.

See you at the virtual theater!
Elana Gartner

"BEFORE LESBIANS" RECEIVING ACCOLADES! - MAY 28, 2020

It is with great pride that I announce that my script Before Lesbians has been announced as a finalist for FutureFest in Dayton, OH. Unfortunately, due to the current circumstances, the six finalists will not be able to go to Ohio to see productions of our shows. The board of festival has instead decided to have three of the six shows performed livestream in July, 2020 and Before Lesbians has been chosen for this. I am also adding a lovely piece from the Dayton paper to my website on the Response page. Check it out!

Additionally, Good Luck Macbeth Theater, who had previously arranged for a reading for Before Lesbians in Reno, Nevada, has also decided to livestream a reading in August. I will be sure to let everyone know what the links are as we get closer to the productions. Let's see some 19th century lesbians over 21st century technology!

And, finally, Before Lesbians was chosen for the Playwrights' Room for the Women Playwrights International Conference Montreal in June, 2021. This conference is particularly special because it only happens every three years and brings together female playwrights from all over the world to learn from one another. The great hope is that we will able to be in person for this conference.

Separately, my theater company, Four Walls Theater has continued to blossom. We had our second show this past weekend "Ghosts of Bogota" by Diana Burbano and we are already preparing for our third show. While we are still deciding on the script, Four Walls Theater has decided to dedicate this show to 2020 acting grads from college or grad school. Therefore, if you know a 2020 acting grad, please have them send us their headshot and resume by June 1st! fourwallstheater@gmail.com

If you want to be on the Four Walls Theater listserv, please email us at that same email and let us know.

See you at the virtual theater!
Elana Gartner

FOUR WALLS THEATER LAUNCH! - APRIL 28, 2020

“With theatre, you have to be ready for anything.” – Willem Dafoe

It is with this feeling and this thought in mind that I am proud to announce that I have founded Four Walls Theater, a socially responsible theater company that brings together theater makers nationwide to provide online play readings.

Our first production, "Ageless" by Bridgette Dutta Portman and directed Andra Hunter, will be Friday, May 1 at 8pm EST/ 7pm CST/ 5pm PT. You can view it on our YouTube channel (see the bottom for all links).

AGELESS is a speculative-fiction play set in a society where physical aging has been eradicated. The play follows Marin, a woman who chooses to defy social expectations and allow herself to age naturally. This brings her into conflict with her mother Olivia, one of the developers of the anti-aging drug and its staunchest advocate. AGELESS is about mothers and daughters, about our relationship with the environment and with one another, and about the necessity of rethinking our society's attitudes toward aging and mortality.

"Ageless" is extremely appropriate for this moment in our lives as it examines time standing still and the struggles of aging in a futuristic society while showcasing the virtual relationships that the characters have with one another.

Bridgette has chosen to support Meals on Wheels America through this reading. Meals on Wheels America is providing necessary meals to the elderly during the Covid-19 Crisis. Therefore, a percentage of our GoFundMe will go to Meals on Wheels.

In addition to "Ageless", Four Walls Theater already has another show lined up called "Ghosts of Bogota" by Diana Burbano, directed Malini Singh McDonald.

To find all the information regarding the show, including your support of theater and Meals on Wheels America, go to our GoFundMe page: https://www.gofundme.com/f/four-walls-theater-presents-ageless

If you are on social media, you can find us in these places:

Facebook

Twitter: @fourtheater

Instagram: @fourwallstheater

Finally, this is our YouTube link where you can watch the show.

See you at the virtual theater!
Elana Gartner

GOOD LUCK MACBETH READING AND OTHER NEWS! - SEPTEMBER 9, 2019

I hope that everyone has had a fantastic summer! I spent a lot of my summer working on my second semester of grad school, reading and writing and seeing plays. I also had the great fortune of visiting theater's origins in Greece at the Acropolis' Dionysus Theatre.

I came home to some wonderful news. My play Before Lesbians will once again receive a staged reading, this time in Reno, NV at Good Luck Macbeth Theater in August, 2020! I am very excited to be working with Good Luck Macbeth and their New Works Initiative. I will keep you updated about details as we get closer!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

HENLEY ROSE READING AND OTHER NEWS! - JUNE 5, 2019

I have just returned from nearly two weeks away at both my second semester residency at Spalding University, followed by a quick trip to Knoxville for the Henley Rose staged reading of Before Lesbians . I have a wonderful new group of playwrights to work with at Spalding, after most of the ones I met in November graduated. The time that we were together was full of work, readings, revisions, readings, work and much laughter, though little sleep. The reading in Knoxville went very well. The Henley Rose staff were very supportive and helpful from the moment that I arrived. I hope to have photos of the reading up soon.

In addition, I got news that Before Lesbians had been a semi-finalist for the 2019 Wordsmyth Theater Company's Reading Series in Texas. While it was not chosen, it was nice to receive some additional acknowledgment for the script.

I am off to work on my independent study for my second semester!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

"BEFORE LESBIANS" GOES UP IN KNOXVILLE AND SECOND SEMESTER OF GRAD SCHOOL! - MAY 2, 2019

I have been very busy finishing my first semester independent study for my MFA and, now that that is done, I am gearing up for my second semester residency which will be at the end of May. My first semester produced an intimidatingly creepy play which I will continue to polish and work on. As soon as it is ready, I will let you know.

My script Before Lesbians which had received 2nd place in the 2018 Henley Rose Playwriting Competition for Women will now receive its staged reading by Yellow Rose Productions, the sponsors of the Henley Rose. Please join me on Sunday, June 2nd at 5pm in Knoxville, TN as we visit the women in the Civil War era who were having confusing realizations about their relationships with one another. Location: Downtown Y (605 Clinch Ave, Knoxville, TN 37902). There will be a discussion afterwards. If you can't be there but know people in the area, please send them the information. It is free and open to the public. No reservations needed.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

REMINDER: PEN PARENTIS EVENT ON TUESDAY! - MARCH 8, 2019

I wanted to send a quick reminder that Tuesday, March 12 at 7pm is the Pen Parentis event. I will be joined by two other playwrights, Victoria Z. Daly and Charlie Schulman, in presenting excerpts of our work and answering questions about how we balance playwriting and parenthood. I will be presenting an excerpt from Before Lesbians which recently received 2nd Place in the 2018 Henley Rose Playwright Competition for Women (a great way to celebrate Women's History Month!). The Pen Parentis salon will take place at Killarney Rose Hideaway, 80 Beaver Street, 2nd Floor (stairs only; I'm so sorry!) from 7pm-9:30pm. Please register for the event. It is free but Pen Parentis, an organization that supports parents that are writers, appreciates donations.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

"BEFORE LESBIANS" WINS A PRIZE! - FEBRUARY 28, 2019

I am proud to announce that Before Lesbians has received the second place for the 2018 Henley Rose Playwright Competition for Women! As a result, Before Lesbians will receive a staged reading in Knoxville, TN sometime this spring.

If you are unable to make it to Knoxville, TN, you can catch a preview of Before Lesbians on Tuesday, March 12 at 7pm at Pen Parentis in New York.

I am truly thrilled about this honor and I look forward to sharing more details as I learn them!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

UPCOMING READING! - FEBRUARY 19, 2019

Happy Belated New Year!

My first residency and first semester at Spalding University have been keeping me very busy. However, I have an upcoming reading that I wanted to let you know about. On Tuesday, March 12, at 7pm, I will participate in a Pen Parentis salon reading of excerpted works by playwrights who are parents. Alongside me will be my professor from Spalding, Charlie Schulman and my colleague from the International Centre for Women Playwrights, Victoria Z. Daly. The reading will take place in downtown Manhattan. You can RSVP for a spot at this website

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

MFA IN PLAYWRITING PROGRAM STARTING AND OTHER NEWS! -NOVEMBER 8, 2018

This summer, I had the great pleasure of attending my third Dramatists Guild Conference, here in New York City. As always, it was very intense, tons of workshops, lots of colleagues and I had the privilege of getting into Paula Vogel's writing workshop which was a huge bonus!

Since then, I have been on a rollercoaster which has led me to today. Starting tomorrow, I will be attending Spalding University as a graduate school student to get my MFA in playwriting. Spalding's program is called a low-residency which means that I will be going to Louisville, Kentucky twice a year for ten days at a time for intensive workshops and lectures and then returning to work with a mentor remotely with deadlines every three weeks.

I have already met some of the other MFA students and professors in person and online and I am very excited to embark on this new part of my career. Huge thanks to my family who has been super supportive of this move for me!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

THE RISE OF WOMEN IN CHILEAN THEATRE - JUNE 7, 2018

I have a new article that just came out on HowlRound, interviewing Sally Campusano, one of the organizers for the Women Playwrights International Conference coming up in October, 2018, on the state of theatre in Chile for women playwrights, the #NiUnaMenos movement (like #MeToo) and the political ramifications it has had on Chilean theatre.

Additionally, many of you have asked how my epilepsy play is going. I have finished the first draft and the first revision of the script and I will be starting on the second revision shortly. You can follow my progress with it on Twitter with #epilepsyplay.

See you at the theatre!
Elana Gartner

GENDER PARITY PODCAST INTERVIEW - MAY 15, 2018

Yesterday, I had the great pleasure of being interviewed, along with my colleague, Rebecca Burton of the Playwrights Guild of Canada, on the issue of gender parity in theatre internationally for a podcast for Onstage/Offstage with George Sapio. We covered a great deal in about half an hour but, of course, there is still so much more to discuss.

The interview is now available on both my responses and gender parity links pages.

Hope you have a chance to listen.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

New Gender Parity Page and News About #EpilepsyPlay - April 16, 2018

I have just come out with a new article in HowlRound on Gender Parity in Canadian Theatre, interviewing a fantastic colleague of mine, Rebecca Burton, of the Playwrights Guild of Canada. I decided to build a new page on my website, dedicated to gender parity in theatre. It includes studies, articles and resources, stretching back over a decade. I will continue to hone it and add to it. You can reach it from my regular links page which will continue to include other industry articles and links.

In other important news, I am nearing the end of the first draft of a very personal autobiographical play about my relationship with my epilepsy. On my recent third anniversary of being seizure free, I launched a new hashtag for the play so that people can follow the progress of my work. #epilepsyplay You can find it on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.

See you at the theatre!
Elana Gartner

END OF 2017 ROUND-UP - DECEMBER 13, 2017

This was a very productive year for my writing, all of my writing. I had three readings in the first half of the year: Daughter was read at UPTheater Company, Cortex Kin was read at Dixon Place, and Before Lesbians was read at Oberlin College on its Commencement/Reunion weekend. Simultaneously, I have been writing an epic and very personal play about my relationship with my epilepsy. My work as a resume writer has blossomed a lot this year and I have had several articles that have been published online regarding parenting and a special one with WomenArts on #WakingTheFeminists, the Irish women's theater movement.

This year has been a turning point for women in the theater industry. While I have been putting up articles through social media all year long, I had not updated my website until today. It is an impressive collection of articles tracking our progress from Lynn Nottage and Paula Vogel being on Broadway to the full culture of women in the theater industry blowing the whistle on sexual predatory behavior. I encourage you to take a look at some of these articles on my Links page if you want to know what's happening.

I have finally added Instagram to my social media. Feel feel free to follow me @elanamgartner

Happy Holidays!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

"BEFORE LESBIANS" AT OBERLIN COLLEGE! - MAY 30, 2017

I am pleased to report that the Before Lesbians reading at Oberlin College over the reunion weekend was a great success. The students worked hard to bring to life the characters that I had written. It was particularly special to share this play with Oberlin alumni who had been in the very classes which had inspired the play and who remembered some of the articles that had clung to me for 18 years, waiting to be written about. I have added several photos from the reading to the photos page on my website. I encourage anyone who is interested in reading the script to purchase it from my store on my website.

I look forward to sharing my next news with you soon!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

RADIO INTERVIEW ABOUT "BEFORE LESBIANS"! - APRIL 27, 2017

Last week, I was interviewed on Passionate World Radio Network about Before Lesbians. My interviewer was Lillian Cauldwell. We cover the history of lesbianism, the inspiration for the play, how the play relates to today's world and what will be happening with the play next.

You can find the link to the interview on my responses page.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

WORLD PREMIERE READING IN OBERLIN! - APRIL 18, 2017

My newest play, Before Lesbians, will be receiving a reading in Oberlin at my 20th reunion in May. This play was inspired by a queer history class that I took as a student so the fact that it is going to receive its world premiere reading at its place of origin is particularly special.

The play will be directed by Zoe Kushlefsky '18. It will take place on Saturday, May 20th at 2pm in Warner Dance Hall. It is open to the public.

If you happen to be in the Oberlin area, please come by! Read more about Before Lesbians, including excerpts from the script.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

ONE WEEK UNTIL THE WORLD PREMIERE READING OF "CORTEX KIN" - MARCH 3, 2017

In just one week, you will have the opportunity to enter Daniel's brain and his housekeeper, Hank, and see what is happening as they go through old boxes of memories, both painful and joyful. And you will find out why it's such a mess and why Daniel hasn't been there in so long. Come see the world premiere reading of Cortex Kin next week!

Cortex Kin reading
Written by Elana Gartner
Directed by Kim Gambino
Featuring JC Sullivan and Michael Wiener
Friday, March 10, 7:30pm
Dixon Place
161a Chrystie Street, New York
Suggested donation of $10

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

UPDATE FOR THE WORLD PREMIERE READING OF "CORTEX KIN" - FEBRUARY 21, 2017

The date for the reading of Cortex Kin has been changed to Friday, March 10th. There was a miscommunication with the venue. The time and additional details remain the same. I hope you are still able to attend!

Friday, March 10
7:30pm (Runtime: 1 hour)
Dixon Place
161A Chrystie Street
www.dixonplace.org
Suggested donation: $10

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

INFORMATION FOR THE WORLD PREMIERE READING OF "CORTEX KIN" - FEBRUARY 8, 2017

We are starting to gather the artists for the upcoming world premiere reading of Cortex Kin at Dixon Place on Friday, March 3rd at 7:30pm. The play will be directed by Kim Gambino and it will feature CJ Sullivan and Michael Wiener. We hope that you will mark your calendar and join us!

When Daniel takes a sick day and visits his brain, he discovers ornery housekeeper, Hank, already starting to clean the dust from months of neglect. Through their combative work and conversation, Daniel eventually starts to face the horrifying reasons behind his absence.

Dixon Place, 161A Chrystie Street, New York
Suggested donation: $10.

See you at the theater,
Elana Gartner

PHOTOS FROM "DAUGHTER" AND "WHERE WE ARE" READINGS - JANUARY 17, 2017

The reading of Daughter on Sunday at Up Theater Company went very well. Thanks to all who attended! I have put up some photos from Sunday's reading of Daughter as well as some photos from the December reading of Where We Are Now. If you haven't been to my website in a while, you might take some time to head over to the freelance writing section and read some of my new articles.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

"DAUGHTER" AND "CORTEX KIN" READINGS! - JANUARY 3, 2017

Happy New Year, everyone! Great news to start off 2017! My full-length script Daughter will be receiving a staged reading on Sunday, January 15th at 7pm at Holy Trinity Church at 20 Cumming St, New York, NY 10034 with UpTheater Company. This play went to the Great Plains Theatre Conference in 2013 but has never been seen in its full form on the East Coast. Be there for the premiere public reading!

The reading of Where We Are Now at the Write Now Workshop in December went very well and there are some great photos that are now up on my website.

Looking further down the road, save the date for a reading of Cortex Kin at Dixon Place on March 3.

See you at the theater,
Elana Gartner

HOLIDAY NEWS - NOVEMBER 27, 2016

Now that you're back from your Thanksgiving meal, I have more stuffing for you! Great news from the writing front!

Tomorrow evening, I will have my first full progress reading of my new full-length "Before Lesbians (working title)". I have some wonderful actors working with me and I'll get feedback from my playwriting group, EMG Playwriting Workshop. I am very excited to hear these characters come fully to life!

Last week, I attended a reunion for the Great Plains Theatre Conference, which I had attended in 2013. I met some people there who were looking for 5 minute plays on our current political state. So I whipped one up the next day. Five minute plays are very unusual for me so take the opportunity if you can.

"Where We Are Now" will receive a public reading at the Write Now Workshop. They will present excerpts from this fall's development; select guest artists, such as myself and Robin Rice, who will add our rapid responses to this moment; there will be a reception. Please join the Write Now Workshop in an Evening of Community at The Bernie Wohl Center, 647 Columbus Ave between 91st and 92nd Streets, 7pm, Wednesday, December 7th, 2016.

I hope you have a peaceful end to your year.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

END OF SUMMER NEWS - SEPTEMBER 15, 2016

It has been a particularly busy summer for my writing. I was struck with playwriting lightning and wrote a full-length play that has been in gestation for 19 years since a class I took in college. It leaped out of my brain, nearly fully formed on to the keyboard. I finished the first draft in six weeks, the fastest that I have ever written a full-length play. I have a lot of research to do, as it is set during the Civil War, though not about the war itself, and I was focusing on writing the story rather than paying attention to accuracy of facts but it was an extremely exciting experience. I am grateful to my playwriting group, EMG Playwriting Workshop, who encouraged me through it.

I was also very busy because I working feverishly on the International Centre for Women Playwrights 50/50 Applause Awards. This was our 5th year of the awards and we announced the recipients today. I am beside myself with joy to finally reveal that we have a record-breaking 107 recipients from 10 countries on 5 continents who produced women playwrights in at least 50% of their 2015-16 season! To give you a sense of comparison, this is more than 25 times the number of recipients we had in our first year of the award. Please take a look at our press release and our celebratory video. I encourage you to congratulate any of the recipients on social media and please use our hashtag of #icwp5050.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

NOMINATIONS CLOSING TODAY FOR ICWP 50/50 APPLAUSE AWARDS AND PLAY OF THE WEEK - MAY 20, 2016

Two big things for today: My script Because of Beth is the play of the week on TreePress.com and they have done an interview with me!

Also this is the final day to nominate a theater for the International Centre for Women Playwrights 50/50 Applause Award. We have had a gangbuster 5th year and are well above 200 nominations but we want to make sure that we find every theater that qualifies. Please take a moment to look at the criteria to see if your favorite theater qualifies! Then share it with five of your friends or colleagues who might also know theaters that would qualify.

Let's make this last day super successful in finding theaters that achieved gender parity in the 2015-16 season!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

NOMINATIONS NOW OPEN FOR THE 2016 ICWP 50/50 APPLAUSE AWARDS AND... - MAY 2, 2016

It's been a long time since my last update so here's what's been going on...

During the winter, I worked hard to write to the end of a script that I've been working on for several years. I was successful in this and I am now sending it out around for development with theater companies as it still needs plenty of polishing but would do well to have it in a professional theater setting.

I also landed a more regular freelance writing gig with A Child Grows In Brooklyn. You can see all of my articles listed on my freelance writing page and can look for new articles on my social media on Twitter and Facebook when they come out.

Finally, I have been working hard on preparing for the 5th annual International Centre for Women Playwrights 50/50 Applause Awards which honors those theater companies that have demonstrated gender parity among their playwrights in a given season. Nominations for this award are open today! They will be open until May 20th. Please consider the theaters that you have worked with or attend or walk by to see if they qualify and then nominate them, if they do! Guidelines, videos on gender parity and FAQ's are available on the ICWP website.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

ANNOUNCING THE 2015 ICWP 50/50 APPLAUSE AWARDS RECIPIENTS! -SEPTEMBER 21, 2015

Today, in my role as co-chair of the International Centre for Women Playwrights 50/50 Applause Awards, we announced the 60 recipients of the awards from 9 countries! These theaters produced women playwrights in, at least 50% of the 2014-2015 season. You can read about it at our website. You can also see a link to our celebration video from many of our recipients throughout the world. It is truly amazing and moving!

If you are in theater and looking for plays by women playwrights, you can look at the 50/50 production lists of the 2015 recipients.

Feel free to Tweet about this using our hashtag #icwp5050

Congratulations to all of the recipients!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

DRAMATISTS GUILD CONFERENCE REPORT AND WRITING NEWS! -JULY 23, 2015

I have just returned from three days at the Dramatists Guild Conference in LaJolla, California. You may recall that I was one of ten recipients of a scholarship from the Dramatists Guild Fund, for which I am extremely grateful. Without it, I would not have been able to attend the conference. Read the essay that I wrote that got me the scholarship.

This opportunity allowed me to meet up with other playwrights who I have relationships with but primarily through online conversations. I got to see members of the International Centre for Women Playwrights (ICWP) of which I am a board member (I even got to welcome a new board member who got voted in last week!). I ran an "after-hours" meet-up for the ICWP members and other interested attendees and we had a fantastic turn-out!

There were others who I know from the Playwright Binge, the Playwrights of Facebook, Twitter and other places in the online-sphere. Laying your eyes on someone and being able to share an experience with them in a workshop, panel or even at a reception is irreplaceable. And I had a reunion with two friends from the Great Plains Theatre Conference which was absolutely wonderful!

Among the many panels and workshops, I attended some on marketing, women writing women, different stages of a playwright's career, political blogging in theater, the New Play Exchange and parenting in theater. I took away extremely useful information from these sessions, some of which I have already employed.

One of the highlights of the conference was the announcement of The Count, a collaborative study by the Dramatists Guild and the Lilly Awards (awards that specifically honor women's contributions to theater and the arts) to measure how many productions women playwrights were given in the United States between 2011 and 2014. The big number was 22%. While this is a discouraging number, it is up from the 2009 report done by Emily Sands which was 18%. There are many other stats that The Count was able to report. Much of this will be available soon. A New York Times article about it came out last week.

There were many great name playwrights in attendance: Lisa Kron (who broke the glass ceiling recently with her Tony award for best score on an all female team with Jeanine Tesori for "Fun Home"), Marsha Norman, Stephen Schwartz, Lydia Diamond, Mike Lew, Julia Jordan, Winnie Holzman, and the musical team of Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Bobby Lopez and many more.

In more personal writing news, I hit a great milestone at the end of June when I wrote to the end of a script that I have been working on for four years (with a year and a half break in the middle). This does not mean it is done; it means there is a written ending which may or may not be the actual ending but, at least, I know what I'm driving towards and can edit everything now to polish it into making sense. I have also written some articles recently that you can see on my freelance writing page.

I hope that you are getting to see some great theater this summer!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

ICWP 50/50 APPLAUSE AWARDS AND SCHOLARSHIP! - MAY 1, 2015

Today brings two great pieces of news.

The first one is that I am one of ten recipients of the Dramatists Guild Fund scholarships which will allow me to attend the Dramatists Guild conference in LaJolla, California this summer. This is a conference that happens every other year. Two years ago, it was in Chicago and it was a truly wonderful and eye-opening experience, full of networking opportunities, workshops and excellent advice. This year, I hope to use the opportunity to meet up with many of the people that I have been working with virtually for all of these years.

The second piece of news is that today marks the opening of the nominations window for the International Centre for Women Playwrights 50/50 Applause Awards, recognizing theaters that produced women playwrights in at least 50% of the given season (July 1, 2014-June 30, 2015). Nominations are open to anyone and I encourage you to look at the theaters that you have attended or are in your community to see if they qualify and, if they do, please nominate them! Nominations will be accepted through May 22, 2015. I am the founding co-chair of this award and I have been very proud to work with many volunteers and a fantastic co-chair, Kris Bauske, to increase the number of recipients (from five to sixty-seven) over the past four years since its inception. In addition, we have increased the number of countries that we have had recipients from enormously (from one to nine). With your help, we hope to find even more. Please use social media to pass the word on about this initiative!

See you at theater!
Elana Gartner

GREAT RUN! - APRIL 1, 2015

The production of Because of Beth at Howick Little Theatre last week went very well. The artistic director and the director shared some great feedback with me from audiences and the actors told me that they really enjoyed getting to work so deeply with the characters. One night they had a talkback with some students who asked some very in-depth questions and the director was impressed with how much they got the different levels of the play.

I received some more photos from the production itself as well as a photo of the sign outside the theater advertising the show (which, come on, seeing that sign in New Zealand...is pretty cool!). I have put them up on my website so you can browse through them.

I also just completed the March Playwright Binge which is a challenge to do a script submission a day for the entire month of March. I was successful and even managed to get 32 scripts submitted!

Looking forward, I am starting to prepare for the ICWP 50/50 Applause Awards, recognizing those theaters that have produced women playwrights in at least 50% of a given season so look around at the theaters near you or who you have worked with. Nominations will open May 1!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

SHOW OPENS WEDNESDAY! - MARCH 23, 2015

Howick Little Theatre's production of Because of Beth is opening on Wednesday night (that's the middle of Tuesday night EST). I have put up the rehearsal photos on my photos section and I just received a press release that went out.

Tickets are on sale here. Please pass it on to any friends in the area! I'd love to help them pack the seats! They have been wonderful to work with and the artistic director is playing one of the roles!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

TICKETS ON SALE IN NZ! - MARCH 12, 2015

Tickets are now on sale for my script, Because of Beth , that is being produced at the Howick Little Theatre in Auckland, New Zealand. If you know people in NZ or traveling to NZ, let them know!

Buy tickets here.

They have also sent me some wonderful rehearsal photos. They are starting to feed them out through their Facebook page.

Here is the cast who is working so hard to bring my work to life:
Cara: Emma-Mae Eglinton
Penny: Emily Briggs
Stanley: Terry Hooper
Robert: Julian Harrison

And the director leading it all is Pam Browne. I'm so excited!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

READY FOR REHEARSAL! - JANUARY 15, 2015

Happy New Year! I am excited to share that the New Zealand production of Because of Beth will be going into rehearsals on February 3! And the show is now listed on Howick Little Theatre's website! Everyone pause to do a little dance of joy with me!

I have completed doing the adaptations with the director and she is very excited to get the actors working in the rehearsal room.

Again, if you know anyone who will be in Auckland, New Zealand between March 25th and March 28th who wants to see a great show, please let them know about this one!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

NEW ZEALAND PRODUCTION UPDATE! - DECEMBER 15, 2014

It has been an exciting couple of weeks, preparing for rehearsals for Because of Beth at Howick Little Theatre in Auckland, NZ. There were auditions at the beginning of the month and they are now fully cast. I have been working with the director to adapt the script for the New Zealand culture. It is very exciting to hear how enthusiastic they are about the play.

If you have friends in or near Auckland, please let them know that the show will run for five performances between March 25-March 28, 2015. I'd love to hear what a live audience's impressions are.

In the meantime, I hope you are able to get to some theater over your holiday break!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

INTERNATIONAL PRODUCTION! - OCTOBER 14, 2014

I am proud to finally be able to announce that my play, Because of Beth, will be produced at Howick Little Theatre in Auckland, New Zealand in March,, 2015! I will adapting the play slightly for the New Zealand culture rather than the Americanisms it currently has and I look forward to seeing what that is like. If you have friends nearby to Auckland, I encourage you to send them (I'll send out reminders). This is the second production for Because of Beth and my first international production!

See you at the theater! (not at the New Zealand theater. Sadly, I won't be able to go)
Elana Gartner

ICWP 50/50 APPLAUSE AWARDS ANNOUNCEMENT-SEPTEMBER 17, 2014

As many of you know, I chair the 50/50 Applause Awards for the International Centre for Women Playwrights. This award honors those theater companies that produce women playwrights in at least 50% of a given season. I am pleased to announce that this year, we have 67 recipients from 9 countries including Afghanistan, Australia, Canada, England, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand and the United States. The full press release and all the information about our recipients can be found on our website It has been my great honor to work alongside my co-chair, Kris Bauske, who spearheaded the congratulatory video of our recipients. It is incredibly powerful and moving and I encourage you to watch it and share it.

As the school year has started, it is with great pride that I share with you news that my work is being used in schools in Dubai and Kuwait. Theater educators from both locations contacted me about using the monologues from Because of Beth. I am thrilled to know that my work transcends cultural lines.

I have continued to update my freelance writing page. Be sure to check out the one called "My Son Smashed His Head Open and Transformed into King Gauze"

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

INDIE THEATER NOW-JUNE 23, 2014

My script, Because of Beth, is now available on Indie Theater Now. Indie Theater Now provides scripts to the general public for purchase. I am in the good company of my friends and colleagues from my playwriting groups, Duncan Pflaster, Mark Loewenstern and Robin Rice Lichtig as well as many others.

Be sure to check out the announcement of the script where I am paired with one of Duncan Pflaster's scripts.

Make sure to get to some summer theater! The festivals are all opening!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

PHOTOS FROM THE READING AND 50/50 APPLAUSE AWARDS- MAY 15, 2014

Last week's reading at Manhattan Oracles' Off the Page was fantastic! Under the direction of Kim Gambino, my actors did a phenomenal job of conveying the awkwardness and uncomfortability of the scene that they were reading (Act I, Scene 4, Daughter).

My fellow playwrights, Vanda, Robin Rice Lichtig, Olga Humphrey and Nicole Greevy also had excellent readings and my congratulations extends to them as well. They were a great group of ladies to work with and I was proud to be an Oracles member with them.

I have put up a few photos from the evening on my website for you to look at, if you missed the evening.

Also, nominations are currently open for this year's International Centre for Women Playwrights 50/50 Applause Awards, recognizing those theater companies that have produced women playwrights in at least 50% of their season. If you know of a theater company that might fit, please nominate them. This year's nominations are open to the public and there is one week left (May 21)! We want to recognize as many theaters as qualify throughout the entire world. Nominate now!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

ORACLES READING! - APRIL 24, 2014

I am pleased to share that my playwriting group, Manhattan Oracles, will be having an evening of short directed readings and I will be doing an excerpt from Daughter. I am very grateful that my director for the scene will be Kim Gambino, a wonderful actress who is familiar with the script, having served on the panel for it at the Great Plains Theatre Conference last May.

This piece will be accompanied by pieces from my colleagues Nicole Greevy, Olga Humphrey, Robin Rice Lichtig and Vanda.

If you're in New York on Tuesday, May 6th at 7pm, swing by TADA at 15 West 28th Street, 2nd Floor (btwn Broadway and 5th Avenues). The reading is being hosted and co-produced by Emerging Artists Theater (Paul Adams, Artistic Director).

It's free, there are refreshments and great fun and characters. And I'll be there! What more could you ask for?

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

SPEAKING AT A UNIVERSITY - MARCH 27, 2014

Next Wednesday, I will be speaking to a class of writing students at Yeshiva University who will be learning about playwriting by reading scenes from my play Daughter. My colleague, Barbara Blatner, teaches the class and invited me to come speak. I am very excited that my work is going to be a part of the education of students and that I can be there to participate and answer questions.

I have also written a couple more freelance articles that you can see by going to my freelance writing page.

As a board member of the International Centre for Women Playwrights and the chair of the 50/50 Applause Awards Committee, I am starting to help prepare for the 2014 nominating window. The very exciting thing about this year's nomination guidelines is that it will be open to ANYONE and not just members. So please take a look at your local theater companies' seasons to see if they are producing men and women equally in their 2013-2014 season. I'll be coming back with more information when the nominations open May 1.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

TWO MONOLOGUES PUBLISHED! - NOVEMBER 11, 2013

Two of my monologues, one from Because of Beth and one from Daughter are now published in "Audition Monologues for Young Women #2: More Contemporary Auditions for Aspiring Actresses" by Gerald Ratliff(Meriwether Publishing)and available for purchase on Amazon!

I have also received a full photo of all of the playwrights from the Great Plains Theater Conference and have posted it on my website. Many of us continue to be in touch and have been working together or attending each other's shows.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

HONORABLE MENTION AND CONFERENCE PHOTOS - SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

I'm pleased to report that my script Daughter has received an Honorable Mention from the 3rd Annual Ohio State Newark New Play Contest. A colleague of mine, Evan Guilford-Blake, placed third, so I am glad to be in good company.

I have also put up some photos from the Dramatists Guild conference on my website. Feel free to check them out. There are also some scanned drawings that were sent to me from the Great Plains Theatre Conference. A local Omaha artist was coming to the readings and did some sketches of some of the plays. The Great Plains office sent them to me a little while ago and they are now up on my site.

I hope that you are enjoying the last moments of summer.

I'll see you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

REPORT ON THE DRAMATISTS GUILD CONFERENCE - AUGUST 27, 2013

I have just returned from a very busy, extremely productive and whirlwind time at the Dramatists Guild Conference in Chicago. I spent 2 1/2 days attending workshops, listening to speakers, doing networking (both at events and informally) and hosting two brown bag breakfasts for the International Centre for Women Playwrights.

It was wonderful to meet so many playwrights that I have only known online and hear great advice about how to manage the business and craft of playwriting.

I came away with some possible solutions to some script problems I am having, some opportunities for script submissions in the Chicago area and some potential future collaborations.

I will be putting up a couple photos soon.

All in all, a worthwhile trip! Thank you Dramatists Guild!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

REPORT ON THE GREAT PLAINS THEATRE CONFERENCE - JUNE 10, 2013

I returned from the Great Plains Theatre Conference last week. I have been waiting to have the photos available to send with my report to you but, alas, technology is plaguing me. Currently, photos are available on my Facebook page and I will get them up on my personal site soon.

The conference was a truly phenomenal experience and far beyond whatever expectations I might have had. Being immersed in a world of supportive playwrights, directors, actors, and theater professionals for nine days was uplifting, encouraging, hilarious, exciting and exhausting. Over the course of the week, I actively participated and helped provide feedback at ten other readings, saw four additional evening performances, including a Fringe Festival, put together by one of the directors, took two workshops (including a two part workshop) and saw several lunch panels. One of the workshops I took was with honored playwright Constance Congdon and another was with well-known and featured playwright Mac Wellman. I had to write new work for both workshops.

The feedback I received about Daughter was very positive and I was given some suggestions about the questions that I had that were bothering me. The actors were amazing and brought the characters to life with enthusiasm and grace. My director, Stephanie Anderson, did a wonderful job guiding them to their performance in the reading. You can see a cast list on the Daughter play page now. I have already started working on some revisions of the script and know that I have a new community of writers upon whom I can draw for support.

In other news, I have added a new page to my website. In the Links section, I have included a separate link to a new page for my freelance writing. I have also recently added several more freelance articles that came out in the past two weeks.

I will let you know when I have the photos available.

See you at theater!
Elana Gartner

EXCITING NEWS! - MAY 21, 2013

Last night, I learned that Daughter will receive its world premiere by TheatrixUSA in Denver in October! It will run for three weekends (dates TBA).

Because I am about to leave for the Great Plains Theatre Conference, this is a great thing to have at the end of the road to shoot for. Whatever critiques I receive at the conference can be immediately implemented and sent out before they start rehearsals in Denver.

I am absolutely thrilled and excited to see this script land on its feet!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

FUNDRAISING REPORT AND ICWP AWARDS - MAY 8, 2013

The Kickstarter campaign closed last week and it was an immense success. Thank you to everyone who gave so generously to help me get to both the Great Plains Theatre Conference and the Dramatists Guild conference. Together, we raised $1415. Some people have contacted me afterwards to say that they had meant to contribute but hadn't gotten around to it. No problem! You can still donate on my website, using PayPal or you can email me directly. The Great Plains Theatre Conference is in just over two weeks! Very exciting!

Also exciting is the 2013 International Centre for Women Playwrights 50/50 Applause Awards. As chair of the awards committee, I have been working hard to kick off the nominations period with a fantastic co-chair, Deb Magid, and many enthusiastic volunteers. We are eagerly searching for theater companies that had a season (July 1, 2012-June 30, 2013) in which they produced women playwrights at least 50% of the time. If you know of any theaters that meet the criteria please feel free to email me. We are looking for theaters anywhere in the world. If you went to theater this year, are members of a theater company, please let us know and we can check them out. We want to honor theater companies that are creating gender parity for female playwrights.

Thank you again for all your help!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

ONE MORE DAY OF KICKSTARTER! - APRIL 29, 2013

Was pledging to my Kickstarter campaign on your list of things to do? Better bump it up to time-sensitive! There's only one day left! It closes on Tuesday at 2:30pm. There are some pretty entertaining rewards: emails from characters in the play, scenes featuring you as a character. Check it out!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

GOAL REACHED AND STRETCH GOAL -APRIL 23, 2013

Due to the wonderful generosity of so many people, I was able to hit my initial Kickstarter goal quickly. I have now updated my Kickstarter campaign with my stretch goal which is the next step towards getting Daughter produced.

The Dramatists Guild Conference will allow me the opportunity to meet with playwrights of many different calibers, including well-known playwrights such as David Ives, Marsha Norman, Edward Albee and Sarah Ruhl. I will be able to use these networks, which will likely include literary managers, to find opportunities for production for Daughter. No costs are covered for this conference. I have detailed my anticipated costs on the page.

This is a huge opportunity to capitalize on the work that I will be doing at the Great Plains Theatre Conference.

I hope you will help me get there!

There are 7 days left of the Kickstarter campaign. I hope you will visit the project page.

Thanks! See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN FOR THE GREAT PLAINS THEATRE CONFERENCE - APRIL 16, 2013

As you all know, my script Daughter has been selected for the PlayLab at the Great Plains Theatre Conference at the end of May.

I have started a Kickstarter campaign to help raise money so I can get there. The conference is in Omaha, Nebraska. I will be there for 10 days.

The Kickstarter campaign is only 14 days long so I hope you will visit the project page and help me get to Omaha! Thanks!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

SEVERAL FREELANCE ARTICLES AND THINGS ON THE HORIZON - APRIL 10, 2013

Over the past couple months, I have had three freelance articles go up on two different websites:

24 Months Without Television on A Child Grows In Brooklyn
My Fears About Being A Mom With Epilepsy on Kveller.com
How I Prepared My Son for His Little Sister on Kveller.com

In addition, I have several things on the horizon: the 2013 ICWP 50/50 Applause Awards, honoring theaters who produced women playwrights in, at least, 50% of their season, will shortly be opening the nomination period. These nominations are members-only but theaters or individuals can join the International Centre for Women Playwrights to participate in the nominations. The nomination period will start May 1.

I am preparing for my trip to Omaha, Nebraska for the Great Plains Theater Conference at the end of May. The director has already been casting and they have slotted my reading for May 27th. You will hear more about that soon.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

50/50 APPLAUSE AWARD GETS THREE ARTICLES - FEBRUARY 12, 2013

It's been a very busy month, as you can see. The 50/50 Applause Awards was covered by Samuel French, Playscripts, and Huffington Post's Monica Bauer. I was interviewed for two of the articles.

I also did an interview for the Canadian Playwrights Guild. If that ends up having a link I would include it on my links page. I have updated that page a lot and it includes a lot of recent articles relating to women in theater. Also worth noting is that one of my articles was re-printed on the website "A Child Grows in Brooklyn", a site I will be increasingly writing for.

I hope you enjoy the articles!

See you at theater!
Elana Gartner

GREAT PLAINS THEATER CONFERENCE - JANUARY 30, 2013

Wonderful news! My script, Daughter, was just accepted to the Great Plains Theater Conference Playlab! At the conference, my script will be given a staged directed reading and it will be seen by other playwrights and theater professionals. This will give the script great exposure. I will be receiving some feedback on the script, as well.

This conference is a very well-respected and well-known conference in the playwriting community so I am very honored to have had a play chosen to participate.

It will be at the end of May and I will be sure to let you know how it goes. This is the first recognition that the full script of "Daughter" has gotten so I am very pleased.

See you at theater!
Elana Gartner

ICWP 50/50 APPLAUSE AWARDS ANNOUNCED - JANUARY 24, 2013

As many of you know, I sit on the board of the International Centre for Women Playwrights. This year, I have been proud to co-chair the committee for the inaugural ICWP 50/50 Applause Awards, honoring those theaters who produced women playwrights in at least 50% of their 2011-2012 seasons.

Nominations for the award were solicited from our members in September, 2012. The awards committee contacted the nominees for further information and the winners were determined. ICWP’s qualifications for the 50/50 Applause Award were that theater companies not only produced women playwrights in 50% of their productions but also 50% of their total performances in their 2011-2012 season. Theaters that included producing women playwrights in their mission were not eligible.

I want to congratulate the winners: Cleveland Public Theatre, Cleveland, OH; Little Colonel Theatre, Pee Wee Vally, KY; Nora Theater, Cambridge, MA; Playwrights Horizons, New York, NY; and, Symmetry Theatre, Berkeley, CA.

If you would like a full press release, please contact me directly at elana@elanagartner.com.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

NEW ARTICLE: FAIRYTALES FOR THE NEXT GENERATION -JANUARY 17, 2013

I have another new article out called Fairy Tales for the Next Generation: Beauty Isn't Everything about the re-telling of fairy tales to accommodate the values of our family.

Stay tuned for news next week on the International Centre for Women Playwrights 50/50 Applause Awards!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

NEW ARTICLE: COMING TO TERMS WITH MY SON'S ALLERGIES -DECEMBER 18, 2012

As the year draws to a close and I toil away at a new script, I have also written a new article that has just come out on Kveller.com called Coming to Terms with My Son's Allergies. I hope this will provide some perspective on the issue.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

NEW ARTICLE: TAKE YOUR CHILD TO VOTE DAY - NOVEMBER 5, 2012

My new article Take Your Child to Vote Day is now available on Kveller.com. It is, of course, meant to be timely for tomorrow's Election Day.

Enjoy! See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

POST-HURRICANE THEATER GOING - NOVEMBER 1, 2012

I hope that everyone receiving this is doing well, has electricity and water and is getting back to the current norm that has become the Northeast this week.

Personally, I was okay: lost some fencing, had some drippings but the family is all fine and we did not lose utilities.

As this is a time to support our industries as they get back on their feet from the hurricane, the theater industry is no exception. Many theaters were closed or continue to be closed until the subways are able to run again. However, some of have started to re-open and there are deals to be found:

Second Stage is having the final performances of Jon Kern's "Modern Terrorism" (this one I am particularly sad to miss as Jon is a friend of mine and I had anticipated going to see the show this past Tuesday, October 30. Please get there in my place!). There are some deals available with a code.

The Brick Theater has a deal for their current performances if you use the code "OYSANDY". The deal offers between Free and $15 tickets.

The York Theatre has generously been offering free tickets, while they last, to people holding tickets to other shows that they were unable to get to at other theaters.

Congratulations to the Manhattan Theatre Company for getting their company together to re-open their show last night and to hold their first previews for a new show!

For those holding tickets to any theater company in the Northeast for the upcoming weekend, check your theater's website to see if the theater will be operating.

For my part, I look forward to attending a show at the Roundabout Theatre on Saturday night.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

SCRIPT RESEARCH -OCTOBER 12, 2012

I am currently writing a new script that focuses on work/life balance in America. I have put together a survey for people to fill out so I can get a good snapshot of what challenges we are facing on this front. If you have five or ten minutes, I would appreciate it if you could fill it out. Click here to take survey.

Please feel free to forward the link to other groups of friends/colleauges/family members who might be interested in participating. Thank you!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

BIG NEWS AND THEATER EDUCATION TOOLS - AUGUST 23, 2012

In preparation for the upcoming school year, I have an announcement and a reminder about some tools that I have available on my website for theater educators.

First, the announcement. I have been asked to have two of my monologues appear in an anthology of young women's monologues to be published in the fall of 2013. The monologues are from my scripts Because of Beth and my new play, Daughter. Both monologues have been available on the Monologue Database, which is where they were found for this publication. I am very excited about this opportunity and look forward to seeing it published next year!

The monologues that I have available on the Monologue Database are often used for auditions or for acting classes. In addition to these monologues, I have a page dedicated to theater education. I invite theater educators and actors to this page to see the two to three person scenes that I have picked out from my scripts that would be appropriate to use in a classroom environment. Please contact me if you have any questions. Enjoy your school year!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

NEW ARTICLE - JULY 24, 2012

Unrelated to theater, I wanted to give you a quick heads-up about a new article of mine that came out yesterday on Kveller.com called Parent Dating: How to Pick Up New Friends.

The Midtown Theater Festival and The New York Fringe Festival are on so get thee to a box office!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

YOUR THEATRICAL SUMMER - JULY 2, 2012

We are already knee deep in summer. The Planet Connections Festival, here in New York, has come and gone. Congratulations go out to Duncan Pflaster for his shows "The Empress of Sex" and "Taint of Equality" (both written in the EMG Playwriting Workshop) and to Robin Rice Lichtig for her shows "O Rumbles of Joy!" and "Searching for a New Sun"!

For my part, I realized my goal of sending "Daughter" out to 15 places within the month of June.

Coming up rather quickly are several more festivals: The Midtown International Festival, the East of Edinburgh (to celebrate the 16 American playwrights who are going to the Edinburgh Festival, including fellow International Centre for Women Playwrights colleagues, Robin Rice Lichtig and Monica Bauer), the New York Fringe Festival and the New York Musical Theater Festival.

As you go about your summers and vacations, I encourage you to find theater where you go. It is only with audiences that theater can survive. If you are going to a beach or on a flight, I encourage you to take a script with you to read. (I happen to have some outstanding ones available for purchase on my website).

Have a wonderful summer!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

NEW SCRIPT "DAUGHTER" IS RELEASED! - MAY 17, 2012

I am very pleased to announce that my new script, Daughter, is now complete. You can read some of the first few pages of the script and it is also available for purchase in PDF format.

Here is the synopsis of Daughter:

When Robyn’s biological mother contacts her on Facebook, asking for something that no one else can give, the teenager and her adoptive parents must decide what risks she will take to help the woman who gave birth to her and how to protect the family that they have built.

The script will be heavily marketed to theaters/festivals/conferences/awards in the coming months.

Thank you to all of the playwrights and actors who aided me in the scriptwriting process and to the brave interviewees who shared their stories.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

CHALLENGE MONTHS - MAY 2, 2012

For those of you who have not been paying attention to my playwright Facebook page, you may not know that I have just completed two big challenge months:

March was the semi-annual Playwright Binge, a month when playwrights try to submit a script a day for the entire month of March. I was pleased to exceed that and reach 40 script submissions.

April is known as Script Frenzy month (100 written pages in a month) but, as I was not writing a new play but desperately trying to complete the revisions on the one that I have, I gave myself a revision challenge: to complete all revisions by the end of April. This is a harder one to truly complete but I am proud to say that the script is in the best shape it has been in, has a title that I like and should be ready for marketing this month.

If you want to hear about more of my daily work, you can like my Facebook page. I often do these types of self-challenges and have had others, even in other industries, create self-challenges to do alongside me.

In other news, I am now an official member of a second playwriting group called Manhattan Oracles. They were originally founded by members of the International Centre for Women Playwrights about ten years ago but have evolved since then (and now include both men and women). Already their feedback for my current script has been incredibly valuable.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

NEW BLOG ARTICLE OUT, PART OF DUDE WEEK - MARCH 16, 2012

Off the topic of playwriting, check out my new blog article "Women Congratulate My Husband for Spending Time with Our Kids", part of Kveller.com's "Dude Week".

And, yes, it's all true.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

SUPPORT WOMEN ARTS NOW MONTH - MARCH 12, 2012

March is Support Women Artists Now Month (technically SWAN Day is a single day: March 31st but you can't possibly have all of the events that you'd want to have on one day). Women Arts Foundation has listings of upcoming events all over and in New York State.

As you may know, I am on the board of the International Centre for Women Playwrights. One way that you could support women playwrights this month is to give a donation to this organization. We have an active listserv that offers ideas, guidance and support to each other around the globe. We search out opportunities for our playwrights, publish anthologies of the women playwrights' work and coordinate an annual writing retreat for our members.

If you are unable to make it to see a show of a female playwright, donating to ICWP or to a female artist's campaign is a great way to Support Women Artists Now this month.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

PLAYWRIGHT BINGE AND NEW BLOG ARTICLE OUT - MARCH 2, 2012

This month, I am participating in what is called the Playwright Binge. It is a challenge that many playwrights (on a listserv) do to put in a script submission every day in the month of March (we also have them in September). It's an excellent way to build up momentum for getting done the rather un-sexy side of playwriting.

Outside of playwriting, I also wanted to let you know that I have a new blog article out on Kveller.com about how my pre-schooler prompted us to start doing Shabbat dinner. I hope you enjoy it!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

FINALIST WITH HONORARY MENTION - JANUARY 31, 2012

My one-act script, Cortex Kin , was a finalist with honorary mention from Stone Soup Theatre's Double (XX) Fest 2.0. There is a possibility that the script will still receive a reading in the festival. Congratulations also to fellow playwright, Kellie Powell, who runs the Monologue Database, who was one of the winners, and to Sandra Hosking, Robin Rice Lichtig, and Donna Spector, who were finalists with me and also members of the International Centre for Women Playwrights.

I have also created a Facebook page for my playwriting which I encourage you to go to and "like".

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

SCRIPT RESEARCH HELP - DECEMBER 21, 2011

As many of you know, I have been toiling away on a script since July and, while I have written to the end of the script, I am now in the massive revision stage. My hope and goal is to have it completed by the spring and available for marketing.

It is now a full-length script and I am doing research to help make the script more authentic. If you or anyone you know has been adopted, is an adoptive parent or was a biological mother who gave up a child, I would be interested in doing an interview. I can be contacted at elana@elanagartner.com. All interviews are confidential and for the purpose of the script only.

I hope that you have a wonderful, safe and healthy New Year!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

TEN-MINUTE PLAY IS FINALIST - AUGUST 17, 2011

I just got notified that my ten-minute play Tag on Toe is a finalist for the Hella Fresh Fish 3.0 Short Play Festival with Little Fish Walking Theatre in Pennsylvania. This is the first recognition for this script. I will keep you updated as they make their decision.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

NEW BOARD POSITION AND THEATER EDUCATION - AUGUST 16, 2011

I was recently appointed to the Board of Trustees for The International Centre for Women Playwrights. As part of my position, I will be helping to coordinate virtual volunteers. Since it is a completely volunteer-run organization except for the executive director, this is likely to be a good challenge for an excellent organization.

As we are approaching the beginning of many academic semesters, I wanted to remind folks that I have a page dedicated to theater educators who might be looking for two to three person scenes to use in classrooms. I also have scripts with monologues that students can use for auditions. As a reminder, no scripts can be produced without my consent.

The NYC International Fringe Festival is in full swing and I wanted to highlight two productions. Pearl's Gone Blue, produced by my friend, Sallie Dorsett, is playing until August 28th and Whale Song, directed by my friend, Brad Raimondo, with designs by Sam Kusnetz, will be playing until August 27th.

Finally, the wonderful actor, Mauricio Alexander, is premiering his new short film, Departure at the International Latino Film Festival this coming weekend, two screenings only, August 19th and 20th.

I hope that you have all been able to see some fantastic theater this summer, either here in New York or where you may find yourself.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

SEMI-FINALIST ONE-ACT - JUNE 16, 2011

I was notified that my script, Cortex Kin was a semi-finalist in the 2010 Drury University One-Act Playwriting Competition. While it did not, ultimately, win a prize, this was the first recognition that Cortex Kin has received, as it has only been marketed for a year. I look forward to it being staged as I think it is a very fun and interesting piece.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

NEW ARTICLE OUT AND SUMMER THEATER - JUNE 9, 2011

During my recent maternity leave, a new article of mine came out in LILIPOH Magazine. It is a profile of cellist, Rebecca Hartka, and her debut album "Folkfire". You can read it on my Links page.

Tis the season for theater festivals and there are an abundance of them this year (more than I knew!)in New York City. Planet Connections Festivity, an eco-friendly theater festival that also pairs productions with non-profits to raise money for their causes, started earlier this month and runs through the end of June. One of the members from my playwriting group, EMG Playwriting Workshop, Duncan Pflaster, has a show in it called "Sweeter Dreams" and fellow member of the International Centre for Women Playwrights, Robin Rice Lichtig, has a reading in it, as well.

The Brick Theater has a Comic Book Theater Festival starting soon and, in July, there is the Midtown International Theater Festival followed by the NYC International Fringe Festival in August. Good places to look for information on all of these festivals, in addition to their websites, is Time Out New York.

Summer stock theater will also be starting soon in regional theaters, throughout the United States. So I hope that you are able to get out and see some theater this summer!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

RESULTS ARE IN - JANUARY 26, 2011

I have just been notified that Pilar's Brother was not a winner in the 2010 MetLife Nuestras Voces Playwriting Competition. In their email, they listed ties for second and third places, negating the runners-up spots.

Despite the outcome of the competition, I was very pleased with the experience that I had with Repertorio Español with the reading as well as all of my interactions with the staff. I found them to be very professional and communicative and I would be happy to work with them again (and, therefore, encourage others to do so, as well).

I am glad that the script was able to be seen by an audience, even as a reading and I am encouraged by the responses I received. I am continuing to market Pilar's Brother and hope to find a home for it in full production soon. If you hear of any opportunities, please email them to me and I'll look into it.

Thanks for everyone's enthusiastic support leading up to the reading and during the waiting period.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

FREELANCE ARTICLES UP - DECEMBER 15, 2010

On the heels of the wonderful reading of Pilar's Brother is the release of my new article, "A Place for Children During Shiva" through Kveller.com. I have also added links for my blog article "To Jew or Not to Jew: Nursery School" which went up several weeks ago, also on Kveller.com. And I have finally been able to include my freelance article for the New York State Theater Education Association which was in their August, 2010 newsletter "Building Bridges: A Playwright's Perspective" on finding contemporary playwriting to be used in the classroom.

I hope you have a wonderful holiday season and I will be in touch in January with more news!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

SPECTACULAR READING! - DECEMBER 8, 2010

Last night's reading of Pilar's Brother was a wonderful success! The actors were able to use the script to foster enormous emotions, even in a seated reading. The talkback afterwards went very well and the director helped to faciliate some great questions, in addition to the audience questions.

The readings of the finalists will continue until the middle of next week and the final decision of the winners will be in the middle of January.

Thank you so much to everyone who came out to the reading and, to those who were unable to make it, who sent such supportive emails.

Also, a huge thank you to everyone who helped me with the research for this script, one of the most challenging and rewarding parts of the development. And to everyone (and the list is long) who aided me in the re-writes and feedback process, particularly those in my playwriting group, EMG Playwriting Workshop.

I hope that I will soon be able to provide a longer running and full production for this script.

Happy Holidays!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

READING OF PILAR'S BROTHER COMING UP! - DECEMBER 2, 2010

With the reading of Pilar's Brother coming up, things have been very busy. We have a director and a final cast:

Directed by Gamaliel Valle Rosa
With Ignacio Meneses, Diana Carolina González, Shawn McLaughlin, and Beatriz Córdoba

I will be doing a talkback after the reading with the cast and director.

Here are the details again:

Tuesday, December 7 at 6:30pm
Repertorio Español
138 East 27th Street (btwn. Lexington and 3rd Avenues)
New York, NY
Free admission
To RSVP, email rsvp@repertorio.org or call 212-225-9925.

Synopsis:
Julian’s mother has returned to Chile to care for his dying grandmother, leaving Julian to juggle his temporary responsibility for his mentally-ill sister, his studies, his job and his American lifestyle: the one that his family knows about and the closeted gay and aspiring actor lifestyle that they don’t. Set in 1968 and in a strong Chilean immigrant and Catholic family, this story explores the choices that Julian has to make when a big opportunity arises and the sister that complicates them. Inspired by a true story.

If you would like to invite additional people to the reading via Facebook, go to: Pilar's Brother Event Page

Thank you again for everyone's enthusiastic support!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

DETAILS FOR PILAR'S BROTHER READING -NOVEMBER 17, 2010

As you may remember, Pilar's Brother will be receiving a directed seated reading in December as one of ten finalists for the 2010 Met Life Nuestras Voces Playwriting Competition at Repertorio Español. Below please find the details:

December 7, 2010 at 6:30pm
Repertorio Español
138 East 27th Street (btwn. Lexington and 3rd Avenues)
Free of admission
RSVP at rsvp@repertorio.org or 212-225-9925

I have met with the director and some of the actors and it looks like it will be a great reading so I hope that you can make it.

Thank you for all of the enthusiasm and support that you have shown in response to this wonderful opportunity!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

SCRIPT IS A FINALIST! -OCTOBER 15, 2010

Great news! My full-length script Pilar's Brother has been announced as one of the ten finalists for Repertorio Español's Met Life Nuestras Voces Playwriting Competition in New York City. The script will receive a director and actors and there will be a reading of it on December 7, 2010. After that, the winner will be chosen.

In addition, I have also added a new page to my website for my new ten-minute play Tag on Toe Here is the brief synopsis for it:

While discussing the birth of their colleague's son, Kay is rattled when her co-worker, Annabel, shares her unorthodox reasons to have a child.

I will keep you updated on news regarding Pilar's Brother .

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

NEW ARTICLE OUT! -SEPTEMBER 22, 2010

While this is unrelated to my playwriting work, I wanted to let everyone know that I have a new article out on Jewish godparents that I wrote based on my personal experience. It is called Jewish Godparents: What?! Jews Have Them Too?!. I hope you enjoy the article!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

RELEASE OF NEW ONE-ACT! - JUNE 28, 2010

As the summer theater festivals are launching, I am releasing my new one-act, Cortex Kin . Here is the synopsis:

When Daniel takes a sick day and visits his brain, he discovers ornery housekeeper, Hank, already starting to clean the dust from months of neglect. Through their combative work and conversation, Daniel eventually starts to face the horrifying reasons behind his absence.

This script is unlike many of my others in that it is not based in reality precisely and it is a one-act, which I don't usually write. As such, I am only now beginning my research on one-act festivals or theaters that are interested in one-acts. If you know of any, please email the information to me.

I hope that you have an opportunity to get to see some summer stock or the Midtown International Theater Festival in New York that many of my fellow playwrights are involved with.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

STORE AND THEATER EDUCATION PAGES RELEASED! - JANUARY 14, 2010

Happy New Year! I hope that you have had a lovely holiday season and a great beginning to 2010.

I have been working very hard over the past several months to put together some opportunities that would allow for the sale of my scripts. I was very fortunate to have two of my monologues from my script Because of Beth made available on the Monologue Database, a resource primarily for actors looking for monologues to use for auditions or acting classes. The monologues are available for free download. However, the full script has been available for purchase through their site, using PayPal.

Over the holidays, I have been working to set up a store on my own site that will make my scripts available for purchase in PDF format. Monologues are also available at the store. I am pleased to say that the store page was launched last night.

In addition, I have also launched a new page for theater educators and actors. I have selected two person and three person scenes from my scripts and made them available in read-only format. Once perused, the full scripts are available for purchase.

The other work that I was doing in the last two months was completing a challenge to myself: in mid-October, I challenged myself to apply to, at least, 5 theaters, prizes, competitions, etc. each week until December 31st. I am proud to say that I both matched and exceeded that, applying to a final tally of 63 places.

I hope that you enjoy any scripts of mine that you buy.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

NEW SCRIPT RELEASED! -NOVEMBER 4, 2009

My new script, Pilar's Brother, is now being marketed to theaters, awards and prizes. Here is the synopsis:

Julian’s mother has returned to Chile to care for his dying grandmother, leaving Julian to juggle his temporary responsibility for his mentally-ill sister, his studies, his job and his American lifestyle: the one that his family knows about and the closeted gay and aspiring actor lifestyle that they don’t. Set in 1968 and in a strong Chilean immigrant and Catholic family, this story explores the choices that Julian has to make when a big opportunity arises and the sister that complicates them.

In addition, I have made the first five pages of three scripts available on my website: Because of Beth, Pilar's Brother and Spinning. A bonus "surprise me!" page from the middle of the script is also available.

A big thank you to all of the people who shared their stories with me and helped me with my research for Pilar's Brother! I hope that we will find a stage for it soon.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

RESEARCH ON GENDER DISPARITY AMONG PLAYWRIGHTS - JUNE 25, 2009

As I told you I would, I attended the townhall on the gender disparity among playwrights receiving productions. Many of you were quick to respond after my email last week and to ask questions so I thought I would give you an update. I have also posted links to the article in yesterday's New York Times on the townhall and the PowerPoint presentation from it.

Emily Sands, a student at Princeton, spent the past year researching gender discrimination in the theater from an economic standpoint. I was extremely impressed with her research and presentation. Some points I would like to highlight: (all according to her study)

-Based on research using the playwright database, Doollee (of which I am a member), there are more male playwrights than female playwrights but they are produced in equal percentage to one another.

-Women are more likely to write plays with female protagonists than men. Scripts written by women with female protagonists are the least likely scripts to be produced.

-Men write more characters than women. Women's casts tend to be smaller and, therefore, more marketable.

-Based on an audit she did with 250 theaters, she found that female artistic directors and literary managers are less likely to accept scripts written by women than male artistic directors and literary managers.

I encourage you to read the NY Times article (apparently there is also one on www.nymag.com and www.bloombergnews.com) and to provide a reader response to encourage the media to continue covering this topic. Emily Sands will also be appearing on the Colbert Report on Wednesday, July 1 at 11:30pm ET to discuss her findings.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

SCRIPT PROGRESS AND FEMALE PLAYWRIGHTS- JUNE 16, 2009

Many of you may wonder, what happens in between productions or readings? Well, mostly a lot of writing, editing and marketing. That is what I am currently doing. My new script, "Pilar's Brother", is being edited and trimmed and finessed. I have had the great fortune of working with my playwriting group, EMG Playwriting Workshop, on the script and they have been providing some excellent feedback.

In the meantime, I am keeping up with the news in the theater and playwriting world, including a recent study on the gender disparity of produced plays. I quote from a recent email from playwright and advocate for women playwrights Julia Jordan regarding this study:

"In the Fall of 2008, artists and artistic directors met at New Dramatists to discuss gender disparity in theater. Since then, Princeton University's Emily Sands has researched the economics behind the issue with adviser Cecilia Rouse of The White House Economic Counsel and author of the famed Orchestra Study of Blind Auditions. Some of the findings include:

- Plays written by women are more profitable than plays written by men.
- Plays written by women and with female protagonists are the least likely to be produced.
-The discrimination against female playwrights is the key driver behind the paucity of roles for actresses.
- Female playwrights would have a better chance of production if they wrote under a male pseudonym."

I will be attending a town hall on this study next week and will, hopefully, be able to provide a link to it. In the meantime, I have been adding links to other articles on the same subject that you can peruse. As we enter the busy summer season of theater festivals, it might be an interesting to exercise to start noting how many female playwrights are being produced at the theaters that you attend or in your local area. I would be intrigued to hear your results. Feel free to email me about it elana@elanagartner.com.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

IN THE PRESS - MARCH 4, 2009

In the past two months, I have made small and big appearances in a few publications. The Pen and Brush third prize award was mentioned in the January 2009 American Theatre Magazine. A photo of me appeared in the February 25-March 11, 2009 Battery Park City Broadsheet, attending the reading of a writers' group that I belong to, Pen Parentis. And finally, I received a full profile in the March 2009 Insight for Playwrights, an industry publication. While I don't have a link for the American Theatre Magazine article, the other two articles are available to read on the new part of my Responses page.

I have also spent some time updating the Links page and have added several colleagues as well as a new section for articles about things happening in the theater industry.

Five members of the playwriting group, EMG Playwriting Workshop, that I founded, were recently in the Where Eagles Dare One Page Play Festival. You can see the press release about our members on the EMG Playwriting Workshop website. Congratulations to everyone who participated in the Festival!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

END OF SUMMER UPDATES - AUGUST 26, 2008

As the end of summer quickly approaches, I wanted to share some new photos with you. On both the Photos page and the Spinning and Ernie Evan individual play pages, you can see new photos from the productions in February and June, courtesy of 4thMeal Productions and Fabrefaction Theatre Company™ .

Many of you have asked what my current project is. I am in the process of trying to complete a new script about an immigrant Chilean family which I hope to unveil in 2009. It is currently in the intense rewrite stages.

I wanted to take a moment to congratulate my fellow artists on the wonderful jobs they did in the Midtown International Theater Festival and the NYC Fringe Festival this summer. I had the great fortune to see a number of very impressive pieces of work and I hope that, if you were unable to attend this summer, that I will see you at the festivals next year.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

MULTI-UPDATES - JUNE 24, 2008

There are lots of exciting things happening so here are the updates:

This Friday and Saturday, June 27 & 28th, Spinning will be produced at Fabrefaction Theatre Company™ in Atlanta, Georgia.

Here is a synopsis of Spinning :
How well do we really know the people who are closest to us?
When life-time best friends and current roommates, Casey and Jack, spontaneously sleep together, their conflicting reactions to it cause their relationship and worlds to start unraveling. Shocked by the revelation of a long-kept secret and without a best friend to confide in for the first time, Casey and Jack's raw emotions become unmanageable and begin to threaten every aspect of their lives.

Showtimes:
Friday, June 27th, 8pm
Saturday, June 28th, 2pm
Saturday, June 28th, 8pm

Location:
925 Bowen St, Atlanta, GA 30318 (by Georgia Tech)

Tickets are $10. Further information and reservations are available on Fabrefaction Theatre Company's™ website.

Next, when Because of Beth won third prize in the 2007 Pen and Brush Playwriting Contest, it was eligible to be published in the 2009 Pen and Brush Anthology. I have just received confirmation that it will, in fact, be published. In addition, the script will be receive a reading in a NYC-based backers' audition, date TBD.

And, finally, I am pleased to announce a new page on my website called Responses . This includes audience and industry responses to performances of my work. Feel free to send me your thoughts about performances of my scripts and you, too, might be included on that page!

Happy Summer! See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

BREAKING NEWS! - MAY 29, 2008

About a minute after I posted about the upcoming production of Spinning , I received an email notifying me that Because of Beth has received third prize in the Pen and Brush Playwriting Contest! There will be a NYC reading forthcoming.

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

WORLD PREMIERE OF "SPINNING" - MAY 29, 2008

In one month, my script, Spinning , will be playing its world premiere at Fabrefaction Theatre Company™ in Atlanta, Georgia, as the winner of their New Works 2008 Festival.

Here is a synopsis of Spinning :
How well do we really know the people who are closest to us?
When life-time best friends and current roommates, Casey and Jack, spontaneously sleep together, their conflicting reactions to it cause their relationship and worlds to start unraveling. Shocked by the revelation of a long-kept secret and without a best friend to confide in for the first time, Casey and Jack's raw emotions become unmanageable and begin to threaten every aspect of their lives.

Here are the dates and times for the shows:
Friday, June 27th, 8pm
Saturday, June 28th, 2pm
Saturday, June 28th, 8pm

Location:
925 Bowen St, Atlanta, GA 30318 (by Georgia Tech)

Tickets are $10. Further information and reservations are available on Fabrefaction Theatre Company's™ website.

See you at the theater in Atlanta!
Elana Gartner

"SPINNING" GOES TO ATLANTA! - APRIL 14, 2008

My script, Spinning , was the winner of Fabrefaction Theatre Company's™ 2008 New Works Festival! As a result, it will be receiving a full production June 27-28 in Atlanta.

I will have more information about this shortly but if anyone is expecting to be in the area at that time or wants to take a trip down to Atlanta, I would love to have you in the audience!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

"ERNIE EVAN" THIS SUNDAY! - FEBRUARY 7, 2008

Coming up this Sunday, my script Ernie Evan will be a part of 4th Meal Productions' 6x10: A Reading of New Short Plays.

The Trouble With Charles-Sam Allingham
The Box-Sarah-Violet Bliss
Ernie Evan-Elana Gartner
Soldiers in the Winter Night-Ian Grody
Trash Talkers-Andrew Mooney
Dry-Emily Weiss

Synopsis of Ernie Evan:
Sixty seven year old sailor Ernie Evan is frightened when his long-dead mother visits him in a dream and tells him that he must marry. Set in the late 1800's.

Sunday, February 10th, 8pm.
The Manhattan Theater Club Creative Center
311 West 43rd Street, 8th Floor
$10 suggested donation (donations go to the upcoming production of Maggie Keenan-Bolger's new play)

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

"BETH" CLOSES, "ERNIE EVAN" NEXT - January 24, 2008

Thank you to everyone who came to see Because of Beth. We had a great run and received some positive feedback from our audiences. There are pictures of the show now available on this website, both on the Because of Beth page as well on the Photos page.

In two weeks, my script Ernie Evan, a ten-minute show, will be a part of 4th Meal Productions' 6x10: A Reading of Six New Short Plays. Directors, actors and playwrights will meet that morning and will perform pieces that evening for an audience. The show will take place at:

The Manhattan Theater Club's Creative Center
311 West 43rd Street, 8th Floor
Sunday, February 10, 8pm.
$10 suggested donation (will benefit Maggie Keenan-Bolger's upcoming production of "From Inside, Out")

Hope to see you there!
Elana Gartner

FINAL WEEK OF BECAUSE OF BETH! - January 16, 2008

We have had a wonderful first week with enthusiastic audiences and a great response! Have you bought your tickets yet? You only have 6 performances left to see the dynamic cast of Because of Beth take the stage at the Workshop Theater's Mainstage.

Wednesday, January 16 8pm (Saint Ann's Night. All welcome. Talkback session post-show)
Thursday, January 17 8pm (Oliver Wyman group attending. All welcome)
Friday, January 18 8pm
Saturday, January 19 2pm
Saturday, January 19 8pm
Sunday, January 20 2pm FINAL SHOW!

312 West 36th Street, 4th Floor (btwn. 8th and 9th Aves)
Directed by Clara Barton Green
Fabulous cast:
Hyosun Choi, David Douglas*, Susan Graham, George Raboni, Elizbaeth Ruelas
Stage manager: Amanda Cynkin
Set Designer: Sean Tribble
Lighting Designer: Solomon Weisbard

Tickets available at:Smarttix
$18 General Admission$15 with Student ID

Thank you to everyone who has already attended! Your enthusiasm has been so inspiring. Without all of you, we're just artists sitting in a room by ourselves. Thank you for helping us bring our art to life! Please feel free to send feedback about the show!!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

*Courtesy of Actor's Equity. This is an Equity Approved Showcase.

Because of Beth Previews Tonight, Opens FRIDAY! - January 9, 2008

We're all ready to welcome you to the Workshop Theater's Mainstage for our production of Because of Beth!

TONIGHT! Wednesday, January 9th, 7:30pm
FIRST PREVIEW! Be the first to see the WORLD PREMIERE!

Tomorrow night! Thursday, January 10th, 7:30pm
Join us for a talkback after the show!

OPENING NIGHT! Friday, January 11th, 8pm
Join us for an opening night party after the show at a nearby bar!

A rundown of the dates again:
Wed., Jan. 9-7:30pm (preview)
Thurs., Jan. 10-7:30pm (preview and Oberlin Night. All welcome. Talk back session after the show)
Friday, Jan. 11-8pm (Opening Night with post-show party)
Saturday, Jan. 12-2pm
Saturday, Jan. 12-8pm
Sunday, Jan. 13-2pm
Wednesday, Jan. 16-8pm (Saint Ann's Night. All welcome. Talk back session after the show)
Thursday, Jan. 17-8pm
Friday, Jan. 18-8pm
Saturday, Jan. 19-2pm
Saturday, Jan. 19-8pm
Sunday, Jan. 20-2pm (Closing)

Tickets available at Smarttix ($18 or $15 with Student ID)

The Workshop Theater is located at 312 West 36th Street, 4th Floor.

Get your tickets soon! They're going very quickly!

See you at the theater!
Elana Gartner

One Week Until We Open! (and MORE great news!) -
January 1, 2008

Happy New Year!

As the confetti gets swept up and our party hats lie askew from our New Year's celebrations, we turn our attention to January.

My play, Because of Beth, opens in one week! (just one week!) Come see the fabulous performances of Hyosun Choi, David Douglas*, Susan Graham, George Raboni, and Elizabeth Ruelas with dynamic direction by Clara Barton Green! You'll see sets from Sean Tribble, lights from Solomon Weisbard and stage management from Amanda Cynkin. Along with producer Michael Roderick of Small Pond Entertainment, we have an incredibly talented and hard-working cast and crew ready to bring you a phenomenal show!

Here are the performance dates so you can coordinate with friends and family:

Wed., Jan. 9-7:30pm (preview)
Thurs., Jan. 10-7:30pm (preview and Oberlin Night. All welcome. Talk back session after the show)

Friday, Jan. 11-8pm (Opening Night with post-show party)
Saturday, Jan. 12-2pm
Saturday, Jan. 12-8pm
Sunday, Jan. 13-2pm
Wednesday, Jan. 16-8pm (Saint Ann's Night. All welcome. Talk back session after the show)
Thursday, Jan. 17-8pm
Friday, Jan. 18-8pm
Saturday, Jan. 19-2pm
Saturday, Jan. 19-8pm
Sunday, Jan. 20-2pm (Closing)

Tickets are selling fast! Get yours at Smarttix.

In other exciting news, I will have ANOTHER show going up on February 10th, as soon as this one closes! Ernie Evan, a ten-minute one man show, has been accepted as part of 4th Meal Productions' 12 Hour Festival. Directors, playwrights and actors will meet that morning and the 6 plays will be performed in readings that evening at the Manhattan Theater Club's Creative Center. More information to come.

Hope you all have a magnificent and healthy 2008!

See you at the show!
Elana Gartner

*This an Equity Approved Showcase.

Buy Your Tickets Before the Holidays - December 17, 2007

Happy Holidays, everyone! Here's a little holiday song about our upcoming show Because of Beth:

A Playwright's Christmas

On the twelfth day of rehearsals, my director gave to me:
Twelve nights of shows
Eleven ticket sales
Ten notes for lighting
Nine props for actors
Eight cues for sound
Seven critics coming
Six days till load-in
FIVE CAST MEMBERS!
Four tech and crew
Three set pieces
Two co-producers
And an awesome production for all!

Needless to say, the cast and crew of Because of Beth is in rehearsals working (on all of these things) to present an exciting and moving production to you in January!

Still stuck for what to give someone for the holidays? How about some tickets to a show? Think you might forget to get tickets after your fabulous New Year's Eve? Buy them now while your head is still clear! Rudolph, the Maccabees and the elves are already selling tickets at Smarttix.

Here's a reminder of the performance dates with a note to special performances:
January 9, 7:30pm -Preview
January 10, 7:30pm-Preview (this performance is also an Oberlin Night and will include a talk back session with the playwright, director and cast after the show)
January 11, 8pm-OPENING NIGHT
January 12, 2pm and 8pm
January 13, 2pm
January 16, 8pm (this performance is also a Saint Ann's Night and will include a talk back session with the playwright, director and cast after the show)
January 17, 8pm
January 18, 8pm
January 19, 2pm and 8pm
January 20, 2pm CLOSING SHOW

Again, tickets are available at Smarttix ($18 or $15 with student ID). You can read about the play itself at my website at www.elanagartner.com

The show will be at:
The Workshop Theater's Mainstage 312 West 36th Street, 4th Floor

If you are interested in contributing to the show, you can do so at my website through PayPal or you can contact me about where to send a check. (elana@elanagartner.com)

We are looking forward to ringing in 2008 with you at our show!

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!
Elana Gartner

*This is an Equity approved showcase.

Tickets on Sale and Updates - November 19, 2007

The tickets for Because of Beth are officially on sale at Smarttix! Tickets are $18 and $15 with student ID.

Here's the press blurb:
In the aftermath of Beth’s death, all those she loved, including her feuding daughters, her estranged ex-husband and her overwhelmed fiancé, seek to mourn her in their own way. Instead, however, they are forced to deal with one another and the complicated ties that bind them together because of Beth.
An emotional and moving drama and a finalist in the Open Book 2007 Playwriting Competition, Because of Beth explores the post-death experiences for the living when secrets are fresh, plentiful and powerful.

There will be a special Oberlin College night (probably Thursday, January 10th, watch for announcements on the NYC listserv) which will include a session with me, the cast (Hyosun Choi, David Douglas*, Susan Graham, George Raboni, Elizabeth Ruelas) and possibly the director (Clara Barton Green) after the show.

Our entire team (including stage manager Amanda Cynkin) is working hard to present an exciting and engaging performance for you.

Coming up on December 1st is our next fundraiser at Ceres Gallery (547 West 27th Street, Suite 201) from 7-11pm. There will be raffles, silent auction, appetizers and drink. For questions about the fundraiser or to RSVP, please contact me at elana@elanagartner.com.

If you are unable to make it but are still interested in donating, you can donate through my website using PayPal or contact me for a snail mail address.

Thank you to those of you who have already donated! You are helping to make theater possible.

Happy Thanksgiving!
Elana Gartner

*Actor appears courtesy of Actors' Equity Association. Equity Showcase code pending.

Upcoming Events! - October 27, 2007

Because of Beth has been cast! Yay! Here is the wonderful cast:
Hyosun Choi
David Douglas*
Elizabeth Ruelas
George Raboni
Susan Graham

Congratulations to these actors and to all of the actors who went through the auditions and callbacks! The decision was extremely difficult in such a talented pool.

Many people have asked me when the performances are so I am including this information here. The show will be at the Workshop Theater's Mainstage at 312 West 36th Street.
Previews: Jan. 9 and Jan. 10, 7:30pm
Performances: Jan. 11, 8pm
Jan. 12, 2pm & 8pm
Jan. 13, 2pm
Jan. 16, 8pm
Jan. 17, 8pm
Jan. 18, 8pm
Jan. 19, 2pm & 8pm
Jan. 20, 2pm

BUT!! Before that, we will be having a few fundraisers to make sure we can pay for the show!

On November 7, 2007, we will be at the Irish Rogue, 356 West 44th Street from 6-11:30pm. We have the whole second floor. There will be a raffle and good eats, a pool table and a dart board as well as good company.

On December 1, 2007, we will be at Ceres Gallery, 547 West 27th Street, from 7-11pm. There will be a raffle, silent auction, good eats.

All funds raised through these events will go directly to the production of "Because of Beth".

You can also donate to the production through my website using PayPal or you can contact me and say "Hey, I don't like PayPal, how do I contribute to your production anyway?"

Thanks for being so excited and asking lots of questions about the progress of the show. We look forward to giving you a great night of theater!

Happy Halloween!
Elana Gartner

*Actor appears courtesy of Actors' Equity Association. Equity Showcase code pending.

Because of Beth Auditions and Performance Info - October 1, 2007

Because of Beth will be going up in performance at the Workshop Theater between January 9-20. Specific performance dates to be determined.

There will be two fundraisers coming up (and I'm currently looking for space so if anyone has some, give me a shout!).

Please forward this information to appropriate actors:

SMALL POND ENTERTAINMENT in conjunction with playwright Elana Gartner is casting the New York premiere of her OPEN BOOK playwriting competition finalist drama, Because of Beth. Clara Barton Green, dir.; Michael Roderick and Elana Gartner prods. Rehearses: Nov. 28 - Jan 8 (No rehearsal's Dec. 24, 25, 31 and Jan 1). Runs: Jan. 9-20 at The Workshop Theater.

Seeking:
Cara: Female, 23 years old. Self-involved, viewed as irresponsible by her family members, from whom she is somewhat estranged, she has a soft spot for her sister that she rarely shows. She harbors unresolved anger issues which cause her to be emotionally volatile.

Penny: Adult Female to play believable, 15 years old. Cara's younger sister. Ambitious, a budding violinist, she is lost and confused by recent events, she wants to be independent and seeks and craves a better relationship with those not in her familial ties. She can be quite blunt and direct in trying to get what she wants.

Stanley: Male. (Mid to late 40's). A caring man, he is Beth's Long-term fiancé' and occupies the role of would be stepfather of Cara and Penny. Distraught, tired, deeply sorrowful his usual clear and grounded judgment is cloudy.

Robert: Male. (Mid to late 40's). Long-lost father of Penny and Cara. Repressed. Selfish, a "me" person to the max but can turn on the charm when he wants to get something; he is unable to heal old wounds. When pushed he has the same emotionally volatile temper of his daughter.

Also seeking: Stage Manager/role of WAITRESS/WAITER: Any Age. A male or female can play this role.

Auditions will be held by appointment. To schedule an appt., mail headshots/resumes by October 10, 2007, to:
Small Pond Entertainment
Re: Beth Casting
217 Thompson St, Apt 20
New York, NY 10012

You will be contacted at a future time for an audition. Prepare a brief contemporary monologue, no longer than 3 minutes. Sides will be provided for those who are called back. Auditions will be held on: Wednesday, October 17. Call backs on: Thursday, October 18.

Some stipend possible. All ethnicities STRONGLY encouraged to submit. Producer plans to apply for Equity NYC Showcase Code. Equity/Non-Equity Performers.

Elana Gartner

End of Summer 2007 Update - September 14, 2007

Hey everyone! Thanks for signing up to receive announcements from my new website! This is the first announcement going out and there is already a bit of news to share.

As you may or may not have noticed, my play Because of Beth was a finalist in the Open Book 2007 Playwriting Competition this summer.

There has been a lot of interest in this script and I have decided to showcase it at the end of the fall. I'm currently working with a director to pull together the logistics and hope to be holding auditions soon (let your fellow actors know!).

Stay tuned for more!
Elana Gartner

Launch of ElanaGartner.com - August 16, 2007

Playwright Elana Gartner is proud to announce the launch of her new website, http://www.elanagartner.com. Please explore it and learn about Elana's work.

As part of the website, there is an announcement list that you are being invited to subscribe to. Announcements will inform you about upcoming Elana's upcoming shows or readings or about awards that she has won.

If you would like to add a different email address for yourself, you can go to the website and sign up. As well, if there are others who you think would be interested in receiving announcements, please direct them to my website.

Thank you! Enjoy the site!
Elana Gartner

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