Day 14 - Thank you, Directors!!!

When playwrights come to the conference, they're paired with directors and dramaturgs (for the dramaturg post, you'll have to come back tomorrow!). The team works together to reveal the play to the playwright -- and the director is a crucial part of this partnership. We've been very fortunate to have really phenomenal directors join us at the conference, directors who understand (and take joy in!) the development process, who are able to help the playwrights see the play on its feet, to see it breathe, and live. To all the directors who've been with us for the past 20 years, we are so very grateful for your contributions to these plays!

Donya K. Washington, in rehearsal for The Way North

From Donya K. Washington 
(Director of The Way North, 2018 and You Will Get Sick, 2020)

I'm thankful for Seven Devils.  I'm thankful for all of the friends I've met there. I'm thankful for my visit to McCall, Idaho (such a beautiful town and the drive there is amazing!).  I'm thankful to my host family and the way I was made to feel like family.

And I'm deeply grateful for the way Seven Devils makes work.  It's a process that is focused on the play and the playwright and is about nothing else.  Everything from the structure of our workshop weeks, to how the play is cast to how we perform it is centered around the playwright. That's a remarkable luxury in this industry and I believe makes for better art.  As a director, it's a great way to work and allows me to get back to the basics of the work. 

​It's a practice I try to bring with me to other new play processes and has made for some great working relationships (and did I mention better plays?).

A special note of Gratitude from our good friend and frequent collaborator, Christy Montour-Larson:

I still recall the first time I emerged through the canyon into the valley -- where the Payette Lake opened up to me and reveals beautiful McCall, Idaho for Seven Devils Playwright Conference. It was 2008. For twelve years, being a part of Seven Devils has been a life changing organization for me.

Seven Devils has given me a chance to explore, the freedom to fail, the safety to jump. It has given me exceptionally dear friends, lots of belly laughs, incredible stars, Burgdorf Hot Springs and Bistro 45. The world’s largest cinnamon roll. The teary smile on a playwright’s face because they saw their play cherished, honored and well cared for. Most importantly, Seven Devils has given me stories. Stories that stir my imagination. Stories that make me think, laugh and cry.

And today, we need stories more than ever. Thank heavens Seven Devils exists during this challenging time. For when theatres are able to reopen, our communities are going to need theatre makers and new stories more than ever. I can’t wait to see what American playwrights will share with us.

Since Seven Devils has given me so much, I easily became a Devils Advocate and made a $20 a month donation. Won’t you join me in supporting new plays?

Christy Montour-Larson has directed 22 readings at Seven Devils, including SUICIDE, INCORPORATED, GENERAL STORE, SWIMMING WITH WHALES, FATA MORGANA, NO MORE SAD THINGS, THE OPEN HAND, MINNEAPOLIS/St. Paul, THE SECRETARY, and THE ROBERTASSY. She has served on the Board of Directors for 9 years, President for 6 years.

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