Artistic Statement
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David Blakely
Artistic Statement
Stories help expand our knowledge of the world around us. Stories can warn us away from danger, fill us full of laughter, teach us valuable moral lessons. Mostly, in my work, stories help people connect to each other.
I find stories as a vital part of my art. The story of humankind is a rambling tale, where the focus is not always on the moral or lesson, but on the here and now, or the long ago, or what should be here but isn’t. The story of humankind is many stories and songs and scientific discoveries and mystical, inexplicable events woven together into a tapestry that we cannot understand. I write plays that try to capture that inexplicable sense of humankind.
I want to make plays that connect the audience to the complex fabric of the human condition. I want them to come out of the theatre feeling like the world is a part of them and they are a part of a big, vast world. I want the audience to come away from the theatre thinking about how the world is held together.
So, I paint on a larger canvas a bigger picture, to offer more than still life, portrait and landscape. Not many playwrights are doing that. I see my future in theatre as being one of voices that offer more than the single, linear story.
Resume:
DAVID BLAKELY
Playwright Member, The Dramatists Guild, Inc.
Home Address:
1145 N Cheyenne Ave.
Tulsa, OK 74106
e-mail: playwrought0@gmail.com
cell: (918) 430-4309
PRODUCTIONS [selected]
Ars Longa, Vita Ferris (ten-minute play)
Heller Theatre, Tulsa, OK, Full Production August 2019
Northwest Arkansas Community College, Bentonville, AK, Full Production (Aud. Favorite) October 2015
Heller Theatre, Tulsa, OK, Full Production September 2014
Finalist, Source Theatre New Play Festival January 2010
Semi-finalist, Lakeshore Players’ 6th Annual 10-Minute Play Contest January 2010
Carpenter Square Theatre, Oklahoma City, OK, Reading July 2009
Trade Privileges (one act)
Heller Theatre Company, Tulsa, OK, Full Production April 2019
Recipient of 3 TATE [Tulsa Area Theatre Excellence] Awards:
Outstanding Actor [Steve Barker]
Outstanding New Script [David Blakely]
Outstanding Costume [Paulette Record]
The Fall and Rise of Benjamin Moss (Serialized one act)
Heller Theatre Company, Tulsa, OK, Second Sunday Serials, Reading October 2018 - March 2019
Baby Steps (short play)
Rogers State University, Claremore, OK, Full Production October 2018
Four Ways to Die (one act)
Heller Theatre Company, Tulsa, OK, Full Production April 2018
Recipient of 4 TATE [Tulsa Area Theatre Excellence] Awards:
Outstanding Direction [David Blakely]
Outstanding Props [David Blakely, Lisa Berry, Starlite Bar]
Outstanding Ensemble
Outstanding New Work [David Blakely]
For Your Examination (full length Performance piece) Co-written with Anna Hudson
Itinerant Theatre, Lake Charles, LA (staged reading/performances) June 2018
Living Arts Contemporary Gallery, Tulsa, OK, Full Production May 2016
The Light Fantastic (full length play)
TATE Outstanding New Work June 2017
Heller Theatre Company, Tulsa, OK, Full Production May 2017
Attention (short play)
Rogers State University, Claremore, OK, Full Production November 2016
Heller Theatre, Tulsa, OK, Full Production (Audience Favorite) July 2016
7 Stories, 7 Doorways (site specific Performance piece) https://youtu.be/azkqIl8KMmQ
Co-written with Anna Hudson, Doorway #3 The River Hope, Tulsa, OK, Full Production June 2016
Lesson Four: the Blackout Sketch (ten-minute play)
Arkansas Playwright Collective, Spring Cleaning, Fayetteville, AR, Reading April 2016
Rogers State University, Claremore, OK, Full Production September 2013
Carpenter Square Theatre, Oklahoma City, OK, Reading July 2009
… The Oceans Would Be Full (one act play)
Heller Theatre, Tulsa, OK, Full Production June 2015
Hank the Cowdog and Monkey Business (children’s musical)
Tulsa Repertory Musicals, Tulsa, OK, Full Production, Mizel Jewish Day School November 2014
Tulsa Repertory Musicals, Tulsa, OK, Full Production, Owasso High School October 2013
Tulsa Repertory Musicals, Tulsa, OK, Full Production, SummerStage production June 2012
The Next Blue Moon (ten-minute musical)
Rogers State University, Claremore, OK, Full Production September 2014
Heller Theatre, Tulsa, OK, Full Production August 2012
Gemstones (ten-minute play) (co-authored with Knox Blakely)
Rogers State University, Claremore, OK, Full Production September 2014
AIE Japanese Summer Play Buffet, Tacoma, WA, Full Production August 2011
Sapulpa Community Theatre, Sapulpa, OK, Full Production June 2009
Semi-finalist, Summer Shorts 4, Williston, ND, for Gemstones May 2009
Two Rights (full length thriller)
Heller Theatre, Tulsa, OK, Reading April 2013
Lime Green Jackals (full length comedy)
Semi-Finalist, Playpenn New Play Development Conference November 2010
Semi-Finalist, HotCity Theatre New Play Development April 2010
Kennedy Center, Washington, DC, Reading July 2010
Finalist, Seven Devils Playwrights Conference April 2009
Tales of Shoogilly (full length drama)
Alvernia University, Reading, PA, Full Production March 2009
Charles M. Getchell New Play Award 2003
Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus (full length thriller)
Finalist, KCACTF, David Mark Cohen Award January 2009
Rogers State University, Claremore, OK, Full Production October 2008
Temple Theatre, Sanford, NC, Non-Equity Production October 2004
HONORS AND AWARDS
TATE for Outstanding New Work [Trade Privileges] 2019
TATE for Outstanding New Work [4 Ways to Die] 2018
TATE for Outstanding New Work [The Light Fantastic] 2017
Playwright-in-Residence, Heller Theatre Company, Tulsa, OK 2016-19
4th Annual 24 Hour Play Festival, Playhouse Tulsa Theater, 2nd Place March 2013
Kennedy Center, Gold Medallion March 2013
Semi-Finalist, Playpenn New Play Development Conference for Lime Green Jackals November 2010
Finalist, Source Theatre New Play Festival, Washington, DC for Ars Longa, Vita Ferris January 2010
Finalist, Seven Devils Playwrights Conference for Lime Green Jackals April 2009
PLAYWRITING WORKSHOPS
Serial Writing, Region 6 Theatre Festival, KCACTF, Abilene, TX, February, 2019.
Playwriting & Game Theory, Region 6 Theatre Festival, KCACTF, San Angelo, TX, February, 2018.
Playwriting & Social Justice, Region 6 Theatre Festival, KCACTF, San Angelo, TX, February, 2017.
Workshop leader, Conservatory Class, Clark Theatre, October 2016
Guest Artist, Hollins University Festival of New Works, Roanoke, VA, July 2016
Playwrights: generating ideas, Region 6 Theatre Festival, KCACTF, San Angelo, TX, February 2016.
How Plays Work, Northwest Arkansas Community College, Bentonville, AK, October 2015.
The Geometry of Playwriting, Region 6 Theatre Festival, KCACTF, San Angelo, TX, February 2015.
How Plays Work on the Audience, Region 6 Theatre Festival, KCACTF, Shreveport, LA February 2014.
EDUCATION
JD, Duke University School of Law, Durham, NC.
MFA Playwriting, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA.
BFA, Theatre, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK.
OTHER TALENTS: Accordionist, Poet, Director, Set/Lighting Designer, Teacher, Actor.
I find stories as a vital part of my art. The story of humankind is a rambling tale, where the focus is not always on the moral or lesson, but on the here and now, or the long ago, or what should be here but isn’t. The story of humankind is many stories and songs and scientific discoveries and mystical, inexplicable events woven together into a tapestry that we cannot understand. I write plays that try to capture that inexplicable sense of humankind.
I want to make plays that connect the audience to the complex fabric of the human condition. I want them to come out of the theatre feeling like the world is a part of them and they are a part of a big, vast world. I want the audience to come away from the theatre thinking about how the world is held together.
So, I paint on a larger canvas a bigger picture, to offer more than still life, portrait and landscape. Not many playwrights are doing that. I see my future in theatre as being one of voices that offer more than the single, linear story.
Resume:
DAVID BLAKELY
Playwright Member, The Dramatists Guild, Inc.
Home Address:
1145 N Cheyenne Ave.
Tulsa, OK 74106
e-mail: playwrought0@gmail.com
cell: (918) 430-4309
PRODUCTIONS [selected]
Ars Longa, Vita Ferris (ten-minute play)
Heller Theatre, Tulsa, OK, Full Production August 2019
Northwest Arkansas Community College, Bentonville, AK, Full Production (Aud. Favorite) October 2015
Heller Theatre, Tulsa, OK, Full Production September 2014
Finalist, Source Theatre New Play Festival January 2010
Semi-finalist, Lakeshore Players’ 6th Annual 10-Minute Play Contest January 2010
Carpenter Square Theatre, Oklahoma City, OK, Reading July 2009
Trade Privileges (one act)
Heller Theatre Company, Tulsa, OK, Full Production April 2019
Recipient of 3 TATE [Tulsa Area Theatre Excellence] Awards:
Outstanding Actor [Steve Barker]
Outstanding New Script [David Blakely]
Outstanding Costume [Paulette Record]
The Fall and Rise of Benjamin Moss (Serialized one act)
Heller Theatre Company, Tulsa, OK, Second Sunday Serials, Reading October 2018 - March 2019
Baby Steps (short play)
Rogers State University, Claremore, OK, Full Production October 2018
Four Ways to Die (one act)
Heller Theatre Company, Tulsa, OK, Full Production April 2018
Recipient of 4 TATE [Tulsa Area Theatre Excellence] Awards:
Outstanding Direction [David Blakely]
Outstanding Props [David Blakely, Lisa Berry, Starlite Bar]
Outstanding Ensemble
Outstanding New Work [David Blakely]
For Your Examination (full length Performance piece) Co-written with Anna Hudson
Itinerant Theatre, Lake Charles, LA (staged reading/performances) June 2018
Living Arts Contemporary Gallery, Tulsa, OK, Full Production May 2016
The Light Fantastic (full length play)
TATE Outstanding New Work June 2017
Heller Theatre Company, Tulsa, OK, Full Production May 2017
Attention (short play)
Rogers State University, Claremore, OK, Full Production November 2016
Heller Theatre, Tulsa, OK, Full Production (Audience Favorite) July 2016
7 Stories, 7 Doorways (site specific Performance piece) https://youtu.be/azkqIl8KMmQ
Co-written with Anna Hudson, Doorway #3 The River Hope, Tulsa, OK, Full Production June 2016
Lesson Four: the Blackout Sketch (ten-minute play)
Arkansas Playwright Collective, Spring Cleaning, Fayetteville, AR, Reading April 2016
Rogers State University, Claremore, OK, Full Production September 2013
Carpenter Square Theatre, Oklahoma City, OK, Reading July 2009
… The Oceans Would Be Full (one act play)
Heller Theatre, Tulsa, OK, Full Production June 2015
Hank the Cowdog and Monkey Business (children’s musical)
Tulsa Repertory Musicals, Tulsa, OK, Full Production, Mizel Jewish Day School November 2014
Tulsa Repertory Musicals, Tulsa, OK, Full Production, Owasso High School October 2013
Tulsa Repertory Musicals, Tulsa, OK, Full Production, SummerStage production June 2012
The Next Blue Moon (ten-minute musical)
Rogers State University, Claremore, OK, Full Production September 2014
Heller Theatre, Tulsa, OK, Full Production August 2012
Gemstones (ten-minute play) (co-authored with Knox Blakely)
Rogers State University, Claremore, OK, Full Production September 2014
AIE Japanese Summer Play Buffet, Tacoma, WA, Full Production August 2011
Sapulpa Community Theatre, Sapulpa, OK, Full Production June 2009
Semi-finalist, Summer Shorts 4, Williston, ND, for Gemstones May 2009
Two Rights (full length thriller)
Heller Theatre, Tulsa, OK, Reading April 2013
Lime Green Jackals (full length comedy)
Semi-Finalist, Playpenn New Play Development Conference November 2010
Semi-Finalist, HotCity Theatre New Play Development April 2010
Kennedy Center, Washington, DC, Reading July 2010
Finalist, Seven Devils Playwrights Conference April 2009
Tales of Shoogilly (full length drama)
Alvernia University, Reading, PA, Full Production March 2009
Charles M. Getchell New Play Award 2003
Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus (full length thriller)
Finalist, KCACTF, David Mark Cohen Award January 2009
Rogers State University, Claremore, OK, Full Production October 2008
Temple Theatre, Sanford, NC, Non-Equity Production October 2004
HONORS AND AWARDS
TATE for Outstanding New Work [Trade Privileges] 2019
TATE for Outstanding New Work [4 Ways to Die] 2018
TATE for Outstanding New Work [The Light Fantastic] 2017
Playwright-in-Residence, Heller Theatre Company, Tulsa, OK 2016-19
4th Annual 24 Hour Play Festival, Playhouse Tulsa Theater, 2nd Place March 2013
Kennedy Center, Gold Medallion March 2013
Semi-Finalist, Playpenn New Play Development Conference for Lime Green Jackals November 2010
Finalist, Source Theatre New Play Festival, Washington, DC for Ars Longa, Vita Ferris January 2010
Finalist, Seven Devils Playwrights Conference for Lime Green Jackals April 2009
PLAYWRITING WORKSHOPS
Serial Writing, Region 6 Theatre Festival, KCACTF, Abilene, TX, February, 2019.
Playwriting & Game Theory, Region 6 Theatre Festival, KCACTF, San Angelo, TX, February, 2018.
Playwriting & Social Justice, Region 6 Theatre Festival, KCACTF, San Angelo, TX, February, 2017.
Workshop leader, Conservatory Class, Clark Theatre, October 2016
Guest Artist, Hollins University Festival of New Works, Roanoke, VA, July 2016
Playwrights: generating ideas, Region 6 Theatre Festival, KCACTF, San Angelo, TX, February 2016.
How Plays Work, Northwest Arkansas Community College, Bentonville, AK, October 2015.
The Geometry of Playwriting, Region 6 Theatre Festival, KCACTF, San Angelo, TX, February 2015.
How Plays Work on the Audience, Region 6 Theatre Festival, KCACTF, Shreveport, LA February 2014.
EDUCATION
JD, Duke University School of Law, Durham, NC.
MFA Playwriting, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA.
BFA, Theatre, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK.
OTHER TALENTS: Accordionist, Poet, Director, Set/Lighting Designer, Teacher, Actor.