The Montana Repertory Theatre Will Host COLONY 22

The Montana Repertory Theatre to host "Missoula COLONY 22: a gathering of artists in support of the writers craft", July 31-August 5 on the University of Montana Campus.

The Montana Repertory Theatre, the professional theatre-in-residence in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, at the University of Montana will host its 22nd annual, summer Missoula COLONY for visiting and local writers. For over two decades The Montana Rep has been mixing noted, successful writers with emerging local talent to create a safe environment for sharing ideas, creativity and summer fun in an atmosphere of mutual respect and summer relaxation.

The Missoula Colony is both a place and an idea. The Colony convenes where five gorgeous Rocky Mountain valleys and three stunning rivers converge. Missoula is a place blessed with incredible natural beauty-a place where writers from all over the world gather to celebrate the art and craft of writing for the stage and screen.

This year our guests are Deborah Laufer, Larissa Fasthorse, and John Biguenet. All three professionals will teach a master playwriting class during the week. We will also conduct panel discussions and John Biguenet will deliver a keynote address. The evenings will feature staged readings of new plays. We will read a new piece by each of the guest writer/teachers, and at the end of the week we will stage readings of pieces written by the workshop students. The workshops are now full, in fact the COLONY 22 sold out in the first day. But during the week there will be opportunities to join us for the staged readings in the evenings, a panel discussion led by visiting writers about "What ought we to be writing about now", a Keynote speech from New Orleans playwright, essayist and novelist John Biguenet, and all culminating at the end of with our ten-minute play evening with short pieces written by our writers during the week.

The Keynote: "Questions, Not Answers"

by John Biguenet

The keynote address examines moral ambiguity and moral exhaustion as it seeks to understand the task of the playwright. Biguenet argues that the stage is no place to recite opinions: theater is a forum in which a community contemplates its most pressing questions. Whether considering Antigone or Lear or Mother Courage, we are examining powerfully phrased questions, not answers.

This year's Colony participants are Heather Cahoon, Cathy Capps, Jordan Chesnut, Martha Elizabeth, Leah Joki, Julie Kahl, Shannon Sivertsen, EVan Smith, and Maria Yost.

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