Relative Theatrics (RT) presents the 3rd Annual Play/Write Showcase on May 22nd in the Thrust Theatre of UW’s Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts (BCPA). This showcase consists of 10 student-written plays and is the culmination of the third year of RT’s education initiative: Play/Write Wyoming.
Since the fall of 2024, RT staff members & teaching artists Will Bowling, Kim Lockhart and Sean Coyle, have been working with 5th graders at Linford and Slade Elementaries, and 4th-6th graders at Rock River Elementary, to teach a 21-week curriculum that focuses on theatre arts skills, and creative writing and literacy academic standards. Over the course of the year, students learned improvisation exercises and acting techniques and were taught the basics of script writing. Each student has written an original short play of their own that will be bound and published by RT.
“Play/Write offers students in Albany County a much-needed arts education program, and hopes to foster a new generation of writers, performers and theatre goers,” says RT Education Director Will Bowling. RT’s Play/ Write Program is modeled after a program of the same name Bowling helped start in New Orleans in 2010, which continues to grow and serve public school students. The Relative Theatrics Education Team has adapted the program to fit the needs of students in Laramie, hopes to expand to service all Albany County schools by the 26/27 academic year, and to other parts of the state in the coming years.
As a celebration of all student work, 10 plays will be performed by Wyoming theatre artists from all backgrounds. Participating companies include artists from Relative Theatrics, Laramie's own The Unexpected Company, a group of University of Wyoming theatre students, a high school group from the WYO Performing Arts and Education center in Sheridan, and the STAGE III Theater Company from Casper. The evening will be a community celebration of student creativity and the talents of intergenerational theater artists from around the state.
Play/Write Wyoming will be performed as a morning field trip for participating students, and then RT will host an evening showcase for the general public at 7PM, with seating beginning at 6:30PM. The event is free, open to the public, and suitable for all ages. Relative Theatrics is committed to providing universal access to all our events. American Sign Language accommodations can be made as necessary. Please contact Sean Coyle at executive@relativetheatrics.com to request accommodations by May 15th.
Play/Write Wyoming is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Wyoming Arts Council (with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Wyoming Legislature), the Hughes Charitable Foundation, City of Laramie and Albany County Community Partner Funds, Albany County School District #1, the Rocky Mountain Power Foundation, The Laura Jane Musser Fund, and the Brooks and Joan Fortune Family Foundation.
About Relative Theatrics
Founded in 2013, Relative Theatrics is a local nonprofit performing arts organization in Laramie. It is our mission to engage the community in thoughtful, contemporary theatre, expand worldviews, and connect us to collective humanity. We believe that theatre is a forum with the power to illuminate the binding qualities of humanity and reinforce the ideals that as a society we have values that pose as common ground and emotions that relate us to one another. Taking artistic risk, we provide a community gathering place where thoughts can be exchanged about society, culture, and the power of creativity. www.relativetheatrics.com
For more information, contact:
Will Bowling, Education Director education@relativetheatrics.com
For press inquiries, contact:
Sean Coyle, Executive Director executive@relativetheatrics.com
May 22nd - 7:00PM - UW Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts Thrust Theatre Free - Open to the Public