The LA Writers Center (LAWC) is an educational organization designed to germinate and foster new works by LA based writers.
We involve not only the writer, but a team of artists: directors, dramaturges, and actors. Provided with a safe and nurturing environment in which to read and workshop their work, writers are able to hone and sharpen their skills to a degree that would make them inherently more production-ready, and thus more likely to be produced. Bursting new talent cries out for a sort of incubator for emerging new works; a place where scripts can grow and develop into the stories that they want to be, without the pressure or expense of production. With this in mind, we have had many different reading series over the years.
Our first was The New Alignment Reading Series which was in partnership with The Syzygy Theatre Group from 2006-2012. Its purpose is to provide playwrights with the opportunity to receive feedback on works-in-progress, to provide the community with an opportunity to participate in and observe the creative process, and to provide actors and directors with an opportunity to hone their craft.
The LA Writers Center is proud to be a diverse organization. We have developed new work that has amplified BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ stories for almost two decades. But we can do better. We think instead of speaking, it would be better to listen.
Instead of making promises, it would be best to take action. With that in mind, LAWC partnered with HowlRound TV in 2020 to present the Breathe Reading Series designed to advance these stories.
Since the start of the pandemic, Asian Americans have faced constant and deadly racist violence. “Stop AAPI Hate,” a reporting database, received 3,795 reports of anti-Asian-American discrimination between March 19, 2020, and Feb. 28, 2021; women reported hate incidents at 2.3 times the rate of men. The LA Writers Center asked "what can we do?" We think by telling more Asian American stories, we can affirm that this community is a vital part of the American narrative. With this in mind, we are launched the "Home: Asian Voices Reading Series" the summer of 2021.
In the fall of 2021, "The Voices of Afghanistan" designed to amplify Afghan stories, was created. We believe that the stories of artists in hiding in Afghanistan since the Taliban invasion in August of 2021 need to be heard and we are now, more than ever, prepared to listen. We feel strongly that this project is necessary and inevitable due to the unrest in Afghanistan. Our writers are put together a project referred to as "verbatim theatre", which is a type of documented theatre in which plays are constructed from the precise words spoken by people interviewed about a particular event or topic. Our writers are interviewing Afghan and Afghan-American citizens about the situation in their homeland and how it has effected their lives and the lives of their loved ones. We consider this a call to action, and we are eager to share these voices with you.
We involve not only the writer, but a team of artists: directors, dramaturges, and actors. Provided with a safe and nurturing environment in which to read and workshop their work, writers are able to hone and sharpen their skills to a degree that would make them inherently more production-ready, and thus more likely to be produced. Bursting new talent cries out for a sort of incubator for emerging new works; a place where scripts can grow and develop into the stories that they want to be, without the pressure or expense of production. With this in mind, we have had many different reading series over the years.
Our first was The New Alignment Reading Series which was in partnership with The Syzygy Theatre Group from 2006-2012. Its purpose is to provide playwrights with the opportunity to receive feedback on works-in-progress, to provide the community with an opportunity to participate in and observe the creative process, and to provide actors and directors with an opportunity to hone their craft.
The LA Writers Center is proud to be a diverse organization. We have developed new work that has amplified BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ stories for almost two decades. But we can do better. We think instead of speaking, it would be better to listen.
Instead of making promises, it would be best to take action. With that in mind, LAWC partnered with HowlRound TV in 2020 to present the Breathe Reading Series designed to advance these stories.
Since the start of the pandemic, Asian Americans have faced constant and deadly racist violence. “Stop AAPI Hate,” a reporting database, received 3,795 reports of anti-Asian-American discrimination between March 19, 2020, and Feb. 28, 2021; women reported hate incidents at 2.3 times the rate of men. The LA Writers Center asked "what can we do?" We think by telling more Asian American stories, we can affirm that this community is a vital part of the American narrative. With this in mind, we are launched the "Home: Asian Voices Reading Series" the summer of 2021.
In the fall of 2021, "The Voices of Afghanistan" designed to amplify Afghan stories, was created. We believe that the stories of artists in hiding in Afghanistan since the Taliban invasion in August of 2021 need to be heard and we are now, more than ever, prepared to listen. We feel strongly that this project is necessary and inevitable due to the unrest in Afghanistan. Our writers are put together a project referred to as "verbatim theatre", which is a type of documented theatre in which plays are constructed from the precise words spoken by people interviewed about a particular event or topic. Our writers are interviewing Afghan and Afghan-American citizens about the situation in their homeland and how it has effected their lives and the lives of their loved ones. We consider this a call to action, and we are eager to share these voices with you.