The Dramatists Guild of America
'A lot of very good plays are being written now. They're being produced; they're even being published. The only thing they're not is easier to write. Very few of them are being produced on Broadway, however. . . . The American theater has never been healthier. It's Broadway that's sick. The American Theater is no longer Broadway. It is Los Angeles, it is Seattle, it is Louisville, it is everywhere but the west side of midtown Manhattan.'
-- Terrence McNally
The Dramatists Guild is the professional association of American playwrights. It represents your interests particularly by developing standard contracts for commercial [Broadway] and non-commercial [Regional Theatre] productions of new plays. The Guild protects the rights of dramatists in relation to producers -- and more recently Directors.
Associate Membership is $75 a year. This is one of those rare cases where writers get what they pay for. Join the Guild when your plays begin getting positive responses from Literary Managers or making it as far as the semifinals of national Competitions. It's hard to find a produced American playwright who doesn't belong to the Guild.
And student memberships are only $35 [U.S.] a year, though there's a small amount of fine print with that great rate. And when you add up the publications you get for that, they're practically paying you to join.
As a Dramatists Guild member, you get these great publications . . .
- The Dramatist
The bimonthly journal of the DG has articles on the business of playwriting, interviews with and about the pros in this business, updates on competitions, features on script "problem" areas, and transcriptions of Guild seminars on topics of importance to professional playwrights. Even as a non-member, you can access pieces of the magazine: an interview and at least one other article from current and past issues of the magazine from the Guild's Web site. Once you're a member, you can get all of The Dramatist from the DG Web site in addition to a real paper copy.
- Annual Resource Directory
Similar to TCG's Dramatists Source Book, but this one tries to screen out theatres or competitions the Guild knows of that are not good for your health. Once you're a member, you can access the Resource Directory online with all the updates included. You can also buy the Resource Directory from Focus Publishing without being a member of the DG.
Here's everything there is to know about the DG from its Web site . . .
Or Contact the Guild the old-fashioned way for membership information:
The Dramatists Guild of America, Inc.
1501 Broadway, Suite 701
New York, NY 10036
(212) 398-9366
FAX: (213) 944-0420
While you're thinking about joining the Guild, you can get what you need to begin with through the . . .
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