With Alaska’s stage world in flux, the Valdez Theatre Conference infuses creators with inspiration and insight

Every year in June, the small Prince William Sound town of Valdez undergoes a profound transformation, becoming a vibrant haven for playwrights, directors and actors from across the state and beyond.

This year, 140 Anchorage residents were the majority of the 200 participants at the Valdez Theatre Conference. Over seven days of play labs, workshops, and endless conversations, participants experienced a metamorphosis, immersing themselves in the art of theater.

As they returned home, they brought back more than just memories — they carried newfound inspiration, invaluable insights and a renewed commitment to their craft. The hope is that they will infuse our local theater scenes with the transformative power they have gathered.

One of those creators is Anchorage’s Kristen Ritter. Ritter first participated in the Valdez conference in 2017.

Earlier this summer, “Blanche Stuart Scott,” a historical comedy Ritter wrote, was chosen to be part of the selective SheLA Summer Theater Festival in Los Angeles, a premier festival for gender-marginalized playwrights. The play is about the lengths women must go to be recognized in their time.

Ritter is making progress in having her voice heard.

Her play was one of five plays produced by SheLA, and it was chosen out of a pool of more than 450 plays. The production won three awards at the festival: Best Director (Kalli Denali Randall), Best Lead Actor (Katy Laurance) and Best Ensemble. “Blanche Stuart Scott” will have a fully produced evening mainstage show in next year’s Valdez Theatre Conference.

Ritter credits the Valdez conference for the fact she became a playwright. Her background is in fiction writing. She went to her first conference “on a whim” with the sole intention of improving her ability to write dialogue in her books. She wrote a play just because it was the only way for her to be an active participant in the play lab, and it was supposed to be a “one and done” deal.

The play was accepted to the play lab. The experience had a profound effect on her and her professional life, and she continued participating in it yearly.

“It is always an incredibly valuable experience,” she said, “the most significant developmental opportunity that Anchorage playwrights have.

“Unlike selective developmental opportunities in major cities that choose five playwrights out of thousands and prohibit repeat applicants, the Valdez Theatre Conference brings 40-60 playwrights every year. I think this repeatability is one of its greatest strengths. If I had gotten in that first year and then never been accepted again, I would very likely not be a playwright.”

In the current climate, the Valdez conference is now even more impactful. In the last 10 years, the theater community has experienced some major shakeups. Out North Theater shut down, Cyrano’s moved from downtown to the building where Out North used to be housed, and the most significant blow was the shuttering of UAA’s Department of Theatre and Dance.

[7 things to do around Anchorage this weekend]

The conference cannot replace a theater program, and it doesn’t focus on creating new generations of playwrights, directors and actors. It helps to charge the batteries of the ones who live and create in Anchorage during the year. It is a resilient event that was able to keep going through the pandemic and is now back in almost full force.

“It takes time to improve, and it takes time to make real friendships in the artistic community,” Ritter said. “It is also comparatively affordable for Alaskans to attend because we don’t have to fly to Alaska, and housing is often available for those who need it, so the cost is minimal, and yet we get access to the kind of professional feedback normally reserved for people living in New York and LA.”

A deep history going back 31 years

The Valdez Theatre Conference has a rich history that dates back to 1993. It all began when Dr. Jo Ann C. McDowell reached out to her friends Edward Albee and Marshall W. Mason for help in organizing the first conference. McDowell’s expertise and connections brought together an impressive lineup of talent for that inaugural event. For over a decade, the conference hosted famous actors, playwrights and directors who shared their knowledge and insights. Valdez welcomed renowned playwrights like Arthur Miller, August Wilson, Terrence McNally, and others, offering valuable educational opportunities to all attendees.

One of those dedicated attendees was Dawson Moore, then a young and passionate student in UAA’s Department of Theatre and Dance. In 1995, the conference started a play lab where playwrights could present their work and receive feedback. Moore submitted a play, and it was accepted to the lab.

“It was a transformative event,” Moore said.

Fired up by his experience, he kept submitting his plays to the play lab. For five years, every play he submitted was accepted — and then came the first rejection.

Moore kept attending as an actor, but after his third rejection, he decided it would be his last time attending. That was when he was drafted at the last moment by McDowell to be a play respondent in the play lab. In 2002, he was recruited to be a respondent to plays. Soon afterward, McDowell left the conference and entrusted the conference to Moore’s care. He moved to Valdez and became the coordinator of the conference.

Over time, the conference underwent significant transformations while continuing to serve as a constant source of motivation and support for local creators.

“When the founders left,” Moore said, “we had to reinvent ourselves. We became more focused on craft and on participants.”

The pandemic presented yet another set of new challenges, and the conference responded by reducing the number of stage productions from seven to two. They also changed the kind of feedback playwrights are given at the conference.

“We moved the needle on what I expected from my panelists,” Moore said. “I asked them to be kinder and more nurturing towards authors.”

Coming back from Valdez each year, participants are confronted with a tough reality. Ritter is painfully aware of the narrow path to get her plays produced. As budgets are low, theaters in Anchorage cannot afford to take risks on new plays, and they lean on producing plays by well-known playwrights.

As usual, “it is all about the economy,” Ritter said.

“Alaska doesn’t have a creative economy like New York or California,” she said. “I don’t know anyone here who is making their living as an actor, or director, or playwright. Without consistent paid opportunities, I think we’ll keep losing our best talent to other locations or to careers that compensate them.”

[Rasmuson estate donates $3 million to Anchorage performing arts organizations]

Ryan Buen is another actor and director who came up through the Valdez Theatre Conference. He has been involved with the conference for 20 years. Originally from Portland, Oregon, the Buen family moved to Valdez when Ryan was 2 years old.

He started participating in “The Valdez Actor Academy” when he was 10 years old. When he was 17, he participated in his first Valdez Theatre Conference.

“The conference opened me up to massive theatrical opportunities and helped guide me towards my undergraduate degree in theater at UAA and eventually my master’s degree from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire in England,” he said.

After Buen got to study with the big masters from the Royal Shakespeare Company and the British National Theatre, he moved to California and then came back home to Alaska. He works for UAA at the Wendy Williamson Auditorium as a technician, he is the co-founder of Blue Chair Productions with his producing partner Colby Bleicher, and he serves as the associate education director for TBA Theatre.

When discussing the influence of the conference on the local art community, Buen talks about getting inspired, but he also realizes the challenges.

“Every year, the conference fills me with inspiration and energy to create new things in our community,” Buen said. “In the past, I have taken plays directly from the conference and worked with the writers to produce a reading or even a performance.”

This year Buen isn’t sure about future productions. Like Ritter, he talks about the lack of funds available to the arts and the challenges it presents, but he has no intentions to give up. Here, he is raising his children, and he is willing to fight to stay and create so he can give them a better future. Buen believes that healthy communities need art and artists in order to thrive.

Like Buen, Moore and Ritter are equally committed to the cause. They all experienced in Valdez the power of theater in fostering understanding, community building and giving a voice to the voiceless. They are all devoted to being part of the solution and continue to push for more funding, opportunities and theater productions in Anchorage.

“The Valdez Theatre Conference is amazing and provides us with so much, but it can’t do everything,” Ritter said. “I think we would need serious investment and art subsidies to sustain any kind of meaningful, professional, long-term theater/playwriting scene in Anchorage.”