Put a Little Boal in Your Talkback:

A Playwright Offers a New Interactive Forum that Goes Beyond the Banality
of the Post-Performance Discussion

by Laurie Brooks
reprinted from an article that appeared in American Theatre, Dec. 2005

The last lines are spoken, the theater is dark. Applause. When the lights rise, instead of a curtain call, the actors appear—still in character—to engage in a post-performance dialogue with the audience. What seems to be completely improvised is, in fact, a carefully structured, after-play event.

We in the audience of the Coterie Theatre in Kansas City, MO, following a performance of my tough young adult play, The Wrestling Season (American Theatre, Nov 2000), in which eight young people and a referee struggle with the destructive power of rumors and their own identities, a play in which much of the action is wrestling. Matt and Luke, two champion wrestlers, have been accused of being gay, but their identities, like the ending of the play, are left unresolved. more...

Kennedy Center Youth and Family Program's 30th Anniversary Season

Brave No World by Laurie Brooks

Four new Kennedy Center Commissions...more

Playwright Laurie Brooks and Coterie Theatre
awarded National Theatre Artist Residency Program

Made possible though funding by the Pew Charitable Trusts

New York playwright Laurie Brooks will be an artist in residence at the Coterie Theatre during its 2004-2005 season thanks to the National Theatre Artist Residency Program (NTARP). The Coterie Theatre, located on level one, Crown Center Shops, is the first theatre in Missouri to receive this prestigious grant...more

TIME MAGAZINE:
Setting a New Stage for Kids
From fresh productions of old favorites to plays with a social message,
children's theater is rapidly growing up. Plus, the FIVE BEST IN THE U.S.
By RICHARD ZOGLIN

Nov. 15, 2004
Between their pushups and Power Bars, Matt and Luke, two high school wrestling buddies training for a big match, don't need any distractions. But they've got one: a rumor going around school that they are gay. The kids spreading it have plenty of their own issues to deal with, like the girl trying to live down her reputation as the school slut, and the clique-leading prom queen whose boyfriend is cheating on her. It sounds like the stuff of a TV after-school special, except for two things. They don't have after-school specials anymore. And this is part of a play, Laurie Brooks' Wrestling Season...more