'Playwriting as Story: Creation, Performance, and Criticism' coming to Havre

From Montana Playwrights Network

A workshop on how to write a play is coming to Havre, put on by an accomplished playwright, Wednesday, Sept. 20.

Nationally renowned playwright and arts advocate Pamela Jamruszka Mencher, who attended both Havre High School and then-Northern Montana College, will offer "Playwriting as Story: Creation, Performance, and Criticism," a hands-on workshop that introduces basics of the story play from a critical perspective and how to craft a short story play quickly.

Supported in part by a grant from the Montana Arts Council, an agency of the state government, and the Montana Playwrights Network, the free workshop is open to the public and will be presented at 7 p.m. in Cowan Hall Room 107 on the Northern campus, hosted by Northern Assistant Professor Valerie Guyant and Jay Pyette, artistic director of Montana Actors' Theater.

Activities in the workshop include practical exercises and concepts to inspire students and beginning or experienced writers.

Mencher returns to Big Sky Country after working as a college professor and arts advocate in Colorado, and is now based in Helena. A graduate of Montana State University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she is an actor, director, producer, costume designer and playwright, with 26 of her plays performed throughout the United States. She has also received many awards recognizing her playwriting, teaching and professional theater careers. Currently, Mencher serves as the president of the Montana Playwrights Network.

The Montana Playwrights Network is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization incorporated in Montana. MPN was formed to provide a forum focusing on story as expressed through a variety of formats, including but not limited to playwriting, storytelling, poetry, history, nonfiction, essays, memoirs and interpersonal communication.

The network is looking to connect with writers, storytellers, teachers, theater companies, libraries, book clubs and businesses that are interested in story as integral to company cultures.