Decentered Playwriting, a new book from Routledge Press, will be released this December and features the work of Playwriting alumna Luz Lorenzana Twigg ’23 as well as a foreword written by Associate Professor David Henry Hwang.
Described as “an attempt to both reach back to underrepresented story-creating techniques, as well as investigate new methods to writing works for the stage, Decentered Playwriting is a textbook of decolonial theatre writing techniques which seeks to decolonize and redefine the practice of creating plays. The book features work by a multifaceted group of theatre artists, academics, and scholars and has been lauded by playwrights Paula Vogel and Larissa FastHorse, amongst others. FastHorse said, “This is the kind of playwriting education I wish that I would have had. It makes me excited for the next generation of theater makers who will emerge from studying this book.”
Hwang is a Tony-award-winning playwright and has taught at Columbia since 2014, formerly serving as Head of Playwriting. He notes, “We must not only learn how to write plays but also how to unlearn the templates and preconceptions about what stories we must tell, what characters we should portray, and what forms and structures make 'real' plays of 'universal' value and appeal.”
Twigg’s chapter in the book is called “Ethnoautobiography in the Filipinx Diaspora As a Model for Decolonial Theatre Practices.” “I am thrilled and humbled to be included in the company of such generous, deeply thinking artist-scholars,” said Twigg. “As far as I am aware, this textbook is the first of its kind, so I am looking forward to seeing how each contribution will massage our understanding of how we make theatre, who we include, and what cultural lens we are using to do it.”
Of her contribution Twigg said, “My chapter is a seed of a vision that I am, admittedly, still figuring out how to put into practice myself. I am hoping that my contribution helps bring Filipinx theatre artists together for a deeper conversation about what our contributions mean. Our presence is loud and clear, but what about our values? What about a cultural lens that informs how we make the work, not just being the subject of it?”
Decentered Playwriting will be available for pre-order November 10, 2023, with a book launch scheduled for March 5, 2024 at The Drama Book Shop.
