GPS – Meet the Playwright – Margaret Edwartowski

take a moment to get to know Margaret Edwartowski, playwright of the one act play, My Dull Friend, showing this weekend as a part of the first annual Gay Play Series at The Ringwald Theatre. you can catch My Dull Friend on saturday, june 26th at 8PM or sunday, june 27th at 3PM.

Margaret Edwartowski, playwright of MY DULL FRIEND

You have 100 words to tell us everything about yourself. Go!

Margaret has a BFA in Acting from Wayne State University and is an alum of The Second City Detroit having written and performed in 10 original productions as well as teaching improv and writing for over ten years with them. She is a founding member of the Planet Ant Improv Colony (celebrating it’s 10^th anniversary this summer). Margaret spends her days working for Y Arts (at the Boll Family YMCA) teaching media arts, acting, and writing in schools. Her play, Snowbound, was nominated for best new script in this year’s Wilde Awards. Margaret is married to musician/composer John Edwartowski.

In one sentence, tell us what your play is all about:

A dull, lonely cat lady meets a fun and fabulous gay man and (hopefully) hilarity ensues.

How long have you been writing plays?

I’ve been writing sketch/original comedies since 1996. I started writing plays on my own about five years ago, just for fun. I only started showing them to people in the last year or so.

Why is this play important to you?

Going to theatre school in the 90′s meant that the lion’s share of plays I saw in my formative years with gay themes were all (for good reason of course) AIDS themed, heart wrenching and depressing. I wanted to write something that reflected my experience with my very wonderful and dear gay friends…fun. I wanted to put something light and joyful out there on this topic.

What was the inspiration for writing your script?

It’s maybe not so kind, but I recently re-connected with a girl I kind of knew many years ago. In talking to her, she WAS the main character of this piece. The girl needed some fun. As I knew the play needed to have a gay theme, I had planned to write from my own experience (i.e. Gay best friendships). So I took the voice of my dull, lonely acquaintance from the past and added the voice of my current gay bestie and voila, there was a play.

Is this the first script of yours to get produced?

Nope. A couple of scenes from a full length play I wrote called His and Hers were performed at BoxFest a few years ago and my one act, Snowbound was produced last January at Planet Ant Theatre.

What are you most looking forward to in regards to the GPS experience?

Playwrighting is great because unlike acting and directing, you don’t see the entire production process and labor over every choice. It’s like choosing the menu for the night and just having it served to you instead of having to cook it all yourself. I hope it tastes good. I also can’t wait to see all of the other works involved. I learn so much from seeing other people’s works. It’s going to be an exciting weekend.

To see all available playwright interviews, click HERE

make your reservations for GPS by clicking HERE

Tags: Ferndale MI · Gay Play Series · GPS · Margaret Edwartowski · Meet the Playwright · My Dull Friend · The Ringwald Theatre · Who Wants Cake?No Comments

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