Relative Theatrics (RT) will present a showcase of 8 student written plays on May 19th at the Thrust Theatre of  UW’s Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts. The performance will be the culmination of the pilot year of  RT’s newest education initiative, Play/Write Wyoming. 

Since the fall of 2022, RT staff members & teaching artists Will Bowling and Kim Lockhart have been working  with 5th graders at Linford and Spring Creek Elementary schools to teach a 20-week curriculum that focuses on  theatre arts skills, and creative writing and literacy academic standards. Over the course of the year, students  learned improvisation exercises and acting techniques, and were taught the basics of script writing. Each  student has written an original short play of their own that will be bound and published by RT. 

As a celebration of all student work, 8 plays will be performed by Wyoming theatre artists from all backgrounds.  Participating companies include artists from Relative Theatrics, The Eppson Center’s Unexpected Company, a  group of University of Wyoming theatre students from the Associated Students of Performing Arts, and a  high school group from the WYO Performing Arts and Education center in Sheridan. The evening will be a  community celebration of student creativity and the talents of theatre practitioners from around the state. 

“Play/Write Wyoming offers students in Albany County a much needed arts education program, and hopes to  foster a new generation of writers, performers and theatre goers,” says RT Project Director Will Bowling. RT’s  Play/Write Program is modeled after a program of the same name Bowling helped start in New Orleans in  2010, which continues to grow and serve public school students in the south. Will Bowling and Kim Lockhart  have adapted the program to fit the needs of students in Laramie, and hope to expand to other parts of the  state in the coming years. 

Play/Write Wyoming will be performed as a morning field trip for participating students, and then RT will host  an evening showcase for the general public at 7PM, with seating beginning at 6:30PM. The event is free, open  to the public, and suitable for all ages. 

Play/Write Wyoming is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, Wyoming Arts Council (with  support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Wyoming Legislature), Wyoming Humanities,  Wyoming Community Foundation, City of Laramie and Albany County Community Partner Funds, Rocky  Mountain Power Foundation, ANB Bank, and First Interstate Bank. 

About Relative Theatrics 

Founded in 2013, Relative Theatrics is a local nonprofit performing arts organization in Laramie. It is our  mission to present thought-provoking, contemporary theatre that examines the joining qualities of the human  race. We believe that theatre is a forum with the power to illuminate the binding qualities of humanity and  reinforce the ideals that as a society we have values that pose as common ground and emotions that relate us  to one another. Taking artistic risk, we provide a community gathering place where thoughts can be exchanged  about society, culture, and the power of creativity. www.relativetheatrics.com 

For more information, contact: Will Bowling, Project Director william.bowling@gmail.com 

For press inquiries, contact: 

Anne Mason, Producing Artistic Director amason@relativetheatrics.com 

May 19th – 7:00PM – UW Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts Thrust Theatre – Free – Open to the Public