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Patricia Becker and Arlene Chico-Lugo in You Are Now The Owner Of This Suitcase. Photo by Joel Webber. |
Alum Les Hunter shares what it was like to collaborate with a team of writers to create a trilogy of plays about his Queens, New York neighborhood. This is an amazing example not just of teamwork among artists, but of the myriad ways a specific setting can reveal itself through character and story. A more than two-year venture, the final play in the trilogy hit New York stages earlier this year.
Collaborative writing was something to which, before working on the Jackson Heights Trilogy, I never gave much thought. As a playwright, I thought of a play as something that I wrote, and, in development, maybe things would change a little based on actor feedback, or maybe a dramaturg or director would suggest a few changes. But I never realized the challenges and rewards presented in the process of truly open collaborative writing until I experienced them while working on this project.
