Relative Theatrics (RT) presents the 4th Annual PLAY/WRITE Showcase on May 21nd in the Thrust Theatre of UW’s Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts (BCPA). This showcase consists of 14 student-written plays and is the culmination of the fourth year of RT’s education initiative: PLAY/WRITE (PW). 

Since the fall of 2024, RT staff members & teaching artists Will Bowling, Kim Lockhart and Sean Coyle, have been working with 4th and 5th graders at Indian Paintbrush, Linford, Rock River, Spring Creek and Slade Elementaries to teach a 21-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. 

“PLAY/WRITE 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 Education Director Will Bowling. RT’s PW 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. The Relative Theatrics Education Team has adapted the program to fit the needs of students in Laramie, hopes to expand to service all Albany County schools by the 26/27 academic year, and is working to bring the program to other parts of the state. 

As a celebration of all student work, 14 plays will be performed by Wyoming theatre artists from all backgrounds. Participating companies include artists from Relative Theatrics, Laramie’s own The Unexpected Company, a group of University of Wyoming theatre students, a high school group from the WYO Performing Arts and Education center in Sheridan, and the STAGE III Theater Company from Casper. The evening will be a community celebration of student creativity and the talents of intergenerational theater artists from around the state.

The PLAY/WRITE Showcase will be performed as a morning field trip for participating students, and then RT will host an evening showcase for the general public at 6PM, with seating beginning at 5:30PM. The event is free, open to the public, and suitable for all ages. Relative Theatrics is committed to providing universal access to all of our events. American Sign Language accommodations can be made as necessary. Please contact Sean Coyle at executive@relativetheatrics.com to request accommodations by May 15th. 

PW is supported in part by The John. P Ellbogen Foundation, the Wyoming Arts Council (with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Wyoming Legislature), The Wyoming Community Foundation, Wyoming Intertie, the Hughes Charitable Foundation, City of Laramie and Albany County Community Partner Funds, Albany County Recreation Board, Albany County School District #1, the Rocky Mountain Power Foundation, and the Laura Jane Musser Fund. 

About Relative Theatrics 

Founded in 2013, Relative Theatrics is a local nonprofit performing arts organization in Laramie. It is our mission to engage the community in thoughtful, contemporary theatre, expand worldviews, and connect us to collective humanity. 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, Education Director education@relativetheatrics.com For press inquiries, contact: 

Sean Coyle, Executive Director executive@relativetheatrics.com 

May 21st – 6:00PM – UW Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts Thrust Theatre Free – Open to the Public