It’s safe to say Lily Johnson aced their assignment.
Johnson’s play “WIP (Woman in Progress)” started as a midterm assignment for their remote college writing class. Tasked with writing a 10-minute play, Johnson came up with the idea to write a play about a nonbinary writer trying to create a completely unproblematic female character.
The playwright and female character end up arguing in the playwright’s head.
“WIP (Woman in Progress)” nabbed the Youth Division spot in the Bryan Harnetiaux Playwrights’ Forum Festival, which runs Thursday through June 21 at Spokane Civic Theatre.
“When I submitted it for my midterm, the instructor basically said, ‘No notes. This could be ready for full production as is,’ ” Johnson said. “What I submitted initially (to the Playwrights’ Festival) was basically the first draft, and then I added an extra chunk a few weeks ago.”
Johnson said receiving such great feedback from their teacher was really validating and inspired them to submit to the Playwrights’ Festival.
“Somehow I won,” they said.
“WIP (Woman in Progress)” stars Mara Bech and Caroline Cunningham and is part of Rotation B.
Rotation A features productions of “37 Origami Bees” by Will Gillman of Airway Heights and directed by John Jacob Bernal; “Crowbar” by Sara Freedman of Bend, Oregon, and directed by Karen Brathovde; “Mr. Swain” by Bainbridge Island’s Paul Lewis and directed by Adam Sharp; “The Photograph” by Spokane’s Pam Kingsley and directed by Samuel Schneider; “Double Bill” by Spokane’s Jean Hardie and directed by Kathie Doyle-Lipe; and Freedman’s “The Push,” directed by Scott Worley.
Rotation B features productions of “Office Hours” by Spokane’s Harnetiaux and directed by Peter Rossing; “Fellow Traveler” by David Golden of Seattle and directed by Jess Loomer; “WIP (Woman in Progress)” by Johnson and directed by Heather McHenry-Kroetch; “We Know Where You Live” by Spokane’s Blake Anthony Edwards and directed by Tom Armitage; “One Swear Short” by Spokane Valley’s Carrie Bostick and directed by Dominique Betts; and “My Bahian Tree Rat” by Golden and directed by Jamie L. Suter.
Both rotations will be performed three times during the festival.
The festival, in its 36th year, features actors Bech and Cunningham as well as Rachel Eggers, Jean Hardie, Karen Heflick, Mark Hodgson, Kaden Holden, Hannah Kephart, Kris Kittelson, Anne LaBella, Noelle Laffoon, Jennifer Lange-Schneider, Jackson McMurray, Joshua Morley, Margaret Nieman, Fenris Robinson, Katelyn Rush, Tamara Schupman, Jennifer Simmons, Dallan Starks, Camrynne Sullivan, Skylar Tukey, Joshua West and Adell Whitehead.
After Johnson got the call from Harnetiaux telling them they had won the Youth Division spot, which is open to playwrights 22 and younger, Johnson, 20, said they were freaking out internally but trying to play it cool.
While making dinner with their mother that night, Johnson tried to be nonchalant, saying simply “Bryan called, and I got it.”
From Johnson’s recollection, their mother celebrated enough for the both of them.
Johnson has been at every rehearsal and appreciates director McHenry-Kroetch being so involved, saying she brought a new point of view to the play.
Johnson said it’s been surreal to see actors Bech and Cunningham bring their characters to life and that the pair’s line delivery has been really great.
The Playwrights’ Forum Festival marks Johnson’s Civic Theatre debut as a playwright, but they participated in several Civic Academy classes growing up. Outside of the theater and when not taking college classes, Johnson also dabbles in 3D modeling, photo editing and filmmaking.
They can imagine writing more plays in the future but don’t have any solid ideas just yet.
“I don’t know exactly what my future holds in general, really, theater or not,” they said. “I just want to write what I want to write.”
If You Go
Bryan Harnetiaux Playwrights’ Forum Festival
When: June 18 to June 21. Rotation A: 7:30 p.m. Thursday and June 20, 2 p.m. June 21. Rotation B: 7:30 p.m. June 19, 2 p.m. June 20 and 6 p.m. June 21.
Where: Spokane Civic Theatre, 1020 N. Howard St.
Cost: One rotation: $10/students and $15/adults. Tickets available through spokanecivictheatre.com.
Read the full article here
Article by Azaria Podplesky
Photos by Ryan Wasson