How to Form a Playwright's Circle

• 1). Find a place to meet. Someone’s home will work, but there is something about a stage that adds a special touch. Perhaps an area church or high school would allow you to use their stage.
  
  
• 2). Gather members. Because of the length of plays—rather than, say, poems—you will only want three to five people in your circle as it takes a great deal of time to read through an entire play.
  
  
• 3). Decide how often you’ll meet. This is actually a fairly important element because it gives members some deadlines toward which to work.
  
  
• 4). Decide on a format. Here are two possibilities: 1. Concentrate on one play at a time. A writer will talk about his characters, the setting for his play, any underlying themes and the general plot line—all at one meeting. The group will comment on his ideas. Over the next couple of meetings his play will be read aloud and critiqued.2. Each playwright has an opportunity to give some background and have one partial scene read aloud and discussed at each meeting.
  
  
• 5). Consider producing staged readings of your plays as they near completion. In an informal setting, with a small audience, read the plays aloud. You might give out questionnaire/comment sheets to the audience for input on your work.
  
  
• 6). Alternate reading and discussing your own plays with reading famous plays aloud. Discuss the structure of these works, the characters and the language. Try to help each member find one thing in the play you’ve read together which he thinks he might be able to use in his own writing.
  
  
• 7). Plan to attend plays as a group and meet over coffee to discuss the play. If possible, attend any author or theater critic talks that might be held in conjunction with the play.