Yeah, the times are a-changin’. Used to be it was virtually impossible to get your plays read by a publisher. That is, unless you had an agent or significant production history…like a play on Broadway. But with an onslaught of new play publishers, scripts are being scarfed up like rent controlled apartments
on the upper east side… if there still are any. I wouldn’t know because I left New York City many years ago–and still miss it. When I first founded Heartland Plays, Inc. I was filled with optimism that I could change the course of publishing– rooting out some of that talent that I know is languishing behind keyboards in coffee houses and kitchens across American, in small towns and universities and big cities and remote islands. In truth, we have found some truly gifted writers. But good work is becoming increasingly scarce. Although our publishing model is in line with the new wave of online publishing, I am concerned that too many of our writers are ending up with their work posted in play banks and not with publishers who intend to market their work. Heartland Plays, Inc. is not a play bank. Our submissions go through a highly selective process that searches for work that demonstrates professionalism and talent and that we hope will contribute to great theatre and not just to numbers and titles in a play list on a website. But recognizing that the times are a-changin’, we know that we must work all that harder to attract that talent and work all that harder to draw attention to the plays we publish; plays we hope will be read often and considered seriously for production at theatres across America. As we reach more directors through our attendance at theatre conferences, through our e-mail and print advertising and yes, through our website, we feel confident we can make a change at theatres in small towns, and universities, in big cities and on remote islands, wherever audiences and actors share time together– touching lives, entertaining souls and altering thoughts and perceptions through the dramatic arts.