Fire scares us in the desert.
But we shouldn’t let that fear deter us from attending the Words Afire Festival.
The festival, in its 10th year, is an annual celebration and preparation for UNM’s graduate playwright students as they prepare to enter the world of theater, said Elaine Avila, head of the playwright program.
“The whole goal for the festival is for the playwrights and all the students to be ready to go out and shape American theater, New Mexican theater and international theater. They will have the tools and not be afraid to go out there,” she said.
This year, the festival pairs UNM playwrighting students with professional directors that are local, national and even international such as Kevin Elder and Kate Weiss. Then a few students’ screenplays are given a full production from costumes, set work and lighting.
This year’s screenplays, “That one forbidden thing” and “Economically viable” were written by Erin Phillips and Aaron Frale.
“That one forbidden thing” is an explosive sexual awakening drama, Phillips said. Frale said his comedy follows a man during the economic crisis as he takes up bounty hunting to pay his bills and his wife demands a divorce. Both students said seeing their plays come to life changed the way they think about theater.
“You get very small in the process,” Phillips said. “It’s like, ‘Where did you come up with that? Oh, you got it from my script? Oh, I didn’t know I did that. Thanks.’ It’s just really incredible and absolutely the best learning opportunity ever. The play can be as wonderful as any piece of literature, but that’s not what it’s meant for. Until you can go through that process, that’s where you actually come to understand what you made.”
Frale said the job of the playwright is to let his product go.
“As a writer, it’s my job to write a technical manual that will then be interpreted by a director and an actor and a set designer,” he said. “There are all these people that have their different ideas and different visions, and they are the ones that make the finish product that people are going to go see. All I am is the person who wrote the instruction manual for the product.”
In addition to the main stage productions, there will also be workshop readings and actors reading from a script in Theatre X, but still under the control of a director. Most notably, Riti Sachdeva’s “Parts of Parts & Stitches,” will be on display. She won the national Quest for Peace Playwriting Award from the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival.
Charlie O’ Dowd, director of the festival, said the workshops, while a bit informal, are still a pleasure to watch.
“You put it on stage, take a look at it and then rewrite it again,” Dowd said. “This gives the writer a chance to hear and see the play as it’s in development, but it’s the same for the community.”
The festival also features undergraduate writers’ work in “The Hot Six” a production by Blackout Theatre Company. Festival attendees can also expect a tribute to Digby Wolfe, the previous head of the dramatic writing program.
*10th Annual Words Afire Festival Kickoff Party
Friday
UNM: Design and Planning Assistance Center
2414 Central Ave. S.E.
For more info check out Dance.unm.edu
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