Join award-winning playwright, Neil Wechsler (Yale Drama Award winner for Grenadine) for an intriguing exploration of how the opening lines of a play set the tone, themes, and rhythm for the entire work.Through the exploration of several play openings, Wechsler will demonstrate ways in which opening lines reveal the depth and nuance that unfold throughout the plays.
Neil Wechsler is the Executive Director of Against the Grain Theater Festival in Buffalo, New York. Neil’s play Grenadine won the 2008 Yale Drama Award, an international prize for emerging playwrights. Edward Albee was the judge. Grenadine was published by Yale University Press and has been produced at Road Less Traveled Productions in Buffalo, SMU in Texas, and UNC-Chapel Hill. Neil’s adaptation of Ibsen’s Emperor and Galilean premiered at Torn Space Theater in Buffalo. It was the American premiere of Emperor and Galilean. Neil’s adaptation of Ibsen’s The Master Builder premiered at Silo City in Buffalo. Neil’s play The Brown Bull of Cuailnge received its world premiere in Toronto, presented by The Room. Neil graduated from Yale University with distinction in Philosophy and Psychology. Neil has spoken about playwriting and literature at high schools and colleges across the United States.