NEIU Digital Commons

Nuevas Voces: Creating the World of the Play

FA 160

In Fall 2017 Jim Blair founded Northeastern’s inaugural 10-Minute Playwriting festival and contest entitled Nuevas Voces or “new voices” in collaboration with Sarah Fabian from the CMT Department and Christie Miller from CAPE: Community and Professional Education. Working to celebrate all new voices, the new play festival is structured to feature the work in three categories: current high school students, current college students (ages 17-28), and the greater community (anyone who is 29+). This year’s Nuevas Voces did not disappoint! Judges included: Assistant Professors Sarah Fabian, and Adam Goldstein, Professor Emeritus Rodney Higginbotham, and recent NEIU graduate and prior Nuevas Voces winner Becca Peterson. Adam Goldstein directed this year’s festival in October. Our plan for the Symposium is to feature Ariel Notterman’s brilliant and provocative third-place entry--Frosted through a live performance by student actors Susana Acevedo and Paloma Lozano. Ms. Notterman is a recent NEIU graduate (May 2019), majoring in Communication, Media, and Theatre. Her work demonstrates what a student is capable of accomplishing. In addition and most importantly, it exemplifies and highlights what good writing, research, and revision can produce. Playwriting, as well as poetry, offers everyone the opportunity to not only refine their writing skills, but also an opportunity for them to express their ideas. Excellence in writing skills and practices is paramount among communication skills everyone uses in life. The ten-minute format is a more accessible and less intimidating approach to playwriting compared to trying to write a full-length play. After featuring her work, we will bring all faculty, students, and audience members together to engage in a productive discussion focused on the playwriting process and creativity while highlighting Ariel’s accomplishments. We will lead the group through a short playwriting exercise.