write about big things

Q:  What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out?

A:  Write all the time. Write about big things. A hundred years from now no one will give a damn about conversations you overheard about the 7 train in New York City. 


—Adam Szymokowicz interviews Carnegie Mellon alum James McManus (includes shout-out to 13P member Lucy Thurber) 

His fists hit hard, and his rage runs red-hot.

Now playing in Washington, D.C.: Cherry Smoke by CMU Dramatic Writing alum James McManus, a Princess Grace Award winner and a brand-new resident playwright of New Dramatists. Cherry Smoke was first produced in the New Works Series at CMU as Jim's thesis production. He was one of six guests we brought in to advise the Class of 2010 on their careers when the class traveled to NYC for their graduate showcase last spring.

A Welcome for the New Dramatists class of 2017

(fanfare)

(hushed silence)

Annie Baker!
Daniel Beaty!
Madeleine George!
Sibyl Kempson!
James McManus!
Peter Sinn Nachtrieb!
Betty Shamieh!
Francine Volpe!

(processional march of the playwrights)

(unfettered dance of the gorgeous crazy loons)