History

"When Richard Sodders, former Drama Department Chair, called and asked if I could come to Texas State University – my alma mater – to direct a reading of one of my plays for Black History month, I readily agreed. But when I got here to cast there weren’t enough Black students in the department to do the reading. We recruited from across town and across campus and pulled together a reading that was very well received. That was in 2002.

I immediately shared my thoughts and feelings about how the department had grown but not changed over the thirty years since I was there – back when it was Southwest Texas State University – when there was only one other Black student in the department besides me.  And how it did not reflect the diverse makeup of Texas or the country for that matter. And how it must be due to minimal or missing recruitment and opportunities for minority students…"

"The next few years I was able to bring in a caliber of guest artists and brilliant, compelling work that enhanced the learning opportunities for students who participated in the readings. These artists also provided the campus some quality presentations to boot. Within the first three years I proposed to President Denise Trauth that we expand to include Latino playwright’s and she thought that was an excellent idea that it fit in well with plans for the university’s growth and focus, so we expanded and that too has proven to be a good choice – creating even more opportunities for more students to learn and enjoy.

Each year drama students and faculty, along with the greater university community, participate in an intense weeklong rehearsal and performance process with established guest artists. Theatre students and faculty help the playwright to find their new play then stand that “young play” up to test its legs before a live audience whose response is also a part of the process.  There is no better training for a student actor, director, designer, or writer in theatre than this kind of on-the-job, in the trenches experience – rubbing elbows and learning the nuts and bolts of the craft from experienced professionals who are making a living doing what these university students are looking to do with their lives.

I’ve been blessed to work in several of August Wilson’s plays in regional theatres across the country and on Broadway. August smiled when I talked with him about what the BLPC could be. The two-time Pulitzer winning playwright would have been in attendance had he not taken ill and passed away. He suggested that I didn’t need to reinvent the wheel – that the blueprint was at Yale where he had been nurtured and mentored by Lloyd Richards. Lloyd Richards founded and ran the O’Neil Playwrights Conference; he touched scores of other American theatre artists of all cultures. He sat in my dressing room on Broadway before he passed away and smiled when I told him what I was doing with the BLPC and offered his advice and approval of such a worthy and necessary effort."

"I pray that writers will bring their work, knowledge, talents, and energies to bear; and we can circle the wagons for the common good of all writers seeking to document the human condition.  Already we’re attracting the crème of the crop – well established writers and actors who also see the vital need for a place that writers of color can go to safely ply their trade, tell their truths, and test and improve on their telling of those truths. Potentially these artists will find other venues for showcasing their work. Our hope is that producers and artistic directors from community to regional theatres, from Texas to Broadway utilize our website and attend the BLPC to find material and writers to take back to their stages and share with their communities."

Eugene Lee, BLPC Artistic Director