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| Description |
| The Bloomington Playwrights Project (BPP) strives to be a leading artistic force in the production and encouragement of new American plays and playwrights. The BPP provides opportunities for development, education, and production for promising and established writers and theatre artists in a professional atmosphere.
Through our education and outreach programs, the BPP strives to share the joy of creating theatre with children and adults of all ages and interests while contributing to the culture and life of south-central Indiana. The BPP brings together professionals and volunteers, the University and Bloomington communities to create original theatre. |
| Background |
| Twenty-seven years ago, Tom Moseman and Jim Leonard, both of whom shared a vision of creating a venue to workshop and produce local playwrights’ works, and provide a place for actors, directors, and theatre technicians to hone their crafts, founded the BPP. Jim Leonard's play The Diviners has since seen many productions across the country, and he has gone on to write and produce for television, notably Skin and most recently the CBS crime drama Close To Home. Tom Moseman is currently Senior Vice President of Envirosell.
The BPP has grown from a handful of people in the beginning to a paid staff and strong constituency of volunteers. The BPP currently employs a staff of three full-time employees: Producing Artistic Director, Education Director & Managing Director (all paid positions), and two part-time volunteer positions - Literary Manager and Box Office Manager; an Ensemble Of Artists (EOA) of twenty-two people, and over forty volunteers who serve the BPP on a regular basis. The BPP has a Board of Directors consisting of 15 people. The board meets quarterly and there are currently four active committees consisting of 3 – 5 people (including board members but not limited to BPP staff, artists and community members). The committees are Fundraising (meets once a week to discuss ways to increase revenue), Facilities (meets periodically to discuss improvements to the BPP facility at 107 W. 9th), Personnel (meets periodically to discuss ways to improve the quality of staff and volunteer base) and Strategic Planning (which meets periodically to develop the long-term strategic goals of the organization).
The Bloomington Playwrights Project offers many performance opportunities in its Mainstage Series, Dark Alley Series, and Ensemble Of Artists productions. The BPP also hosts a weekly writer’s group meeting in which playwrights review each other’s work, and work on re-writing plays. The BPP also hosts readings of plays by local and nationally recognized playwrights. The BPP has grown into the largest space in its history, currently housing two stages, the Timothy J. Wiles Mainstage and the Lora Shiner Studio, as well as a lobby, art gallery, and offices.
The Bloomington Playwrights Project offers quality theatre education programs to the community via its School Of Dramatic Arts (SODA), Mini Play Festival, summer camps, spring break camp, and outreach into schools including After School Drama Clubs, Touring Mini Plays, Family Playwriting and Playwriting Workshops. In its 23rd year, the Mini Play Contest is a chance for area students (grades 3-12) to write short plays and see them produced by young actors in BPP's Mini Play Camp. In 2004, BPP's Education Director was selected "Theatre Person of the Year" by the local newspaper the Herald Times.
The BPP has recently relocated to a new space that has nearly doubled our attendance capacity and provided patrons and artists with a more convenient downtown location in the new BEAD (Bloomington Entertainment & Arts District). The theater’s new performance space now can provide professional technical artists with the canvas they need to produce the quality work of which they are capable.
The BPP is known for producing cutting-edge theatre and taking chances; but ultimately, the staff is dedicated to selecting the best plays - well structured, believable, and in the end, "theatre that matters." The BPP reaches a diverse audience, and produces provocative and thoughtful theatre. Over the years, the number and type of BPP productions have varied, but one thing has remained constant: the immense amount of community involvement, and a shared dedication to theatre. |
| Contact Information |
812-334-1188
812-334-1188 (fax)
sejohnso@indiana.edu
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