Discuss “Cancer, hilarity, horses, and dreams”

The New Works Festival provides a venue for the thesis plays of graduate playwrights before the pieces are shown to agents in New York City. These students have spent the past semester developing scripts and working with graduate directors, lighting designers, and undergraduate actors, each to produce what graduate playwright Christopher Dimond describes as a “work in progress...open for feedback from other writers, actors, and instructors.” Because the thesis plays are workshop pieces, actor involvement is key in the creative process; Dimond emphasized the importance of the entire journey rather than the creation of a finished product. For his musical Dani Girl, he collaborated with fellow artist and musician Michael Kooman, who provides...