Rachel F Hirsch
SAG-AFTRA. AEA. PANA.
Audiobook Narrator. VO Artist. Actor. Musician.
an emerging hub for new play creation
AT PIC WE AIM TO CHANGE...
the landscape of new play development by eliminating the traditional gatekeepers and letting the playwright spearhead their vision with the support of our collective of theater makers.
Our Mission
We are a collective of empowered theater artists centering stories that challenge the status quo through a highly collaborative, unique play development process. PIC artists (actor-dramaturgs, directors, stage managers, designers, and more) work with the incoming writer(s) to identify the most beneficial next steps in the development of their piece: a customized approach tailored to their specific needs. We are dedicated to building long-term collaborative relationships with all artists we work with, providing a safe space to experiment with new ideas and concepts on an ongoing basis.
Our Values
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Prioritizing scripts centering the voices of diverse identities- including but not limited to race, gender identity, sexual orientation, and age
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Mirroring that diversity in our company of artists
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Elevating BIPOC representation in the New England theater landscape
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Profit sharing in a pay-equity co-op model
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Creating a familial environment and network in which risk taking is encouraged and supported
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Raising up locally sourced artistry and expertise
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Providing parent-friendly organizational practices
JOIN THE COLLECTIVE
FOR WRITERS: We are currently only seeking rolling submissions of full length and short plays and musicals, from BIPOC creators located in the New England area and interested in developing lasting working relationships with our collective of artists. To be eligible for development with PIC, your piece must be unpublished and actively seeking development opportunities. You do not have to have a fully completed draft to be considered. Please review the "Mission" and "Values" sections to get a sense of the stories we are interested in telling. Have a piece you'd like to contribute?
FOR ACTORS AND OTHER THEATER ARTISTS: Interested in getting involved in the play development process? We'd love to chat with you too! Step one is to fill out the Artist Intake Form. We are particularly interested in connecting with BIPOC and gender diverse artists at this time who are in the proximity of New England.
SOME OF OUR PLAYWRIGHT COLLABORATORS
OUR BEGINNINGS
Rachel F. Hirsch and Sarah Marcus first met in 2015 and quickly bonded over their shared experience as Equity-actor-Brooklyn-to-Northampton transplants raising young kids. Over the years, they had many conversations about their passion for new plays and desire for more local opportunities for paid professional theater. Years of navigating the artistic landscape as parents of growing families also fueled Rachel and Sarah to seek parent-friendly work environments.
Over the next four years, the pair explored and implemented various ways of gathering artists together that made space for these needs and desires. Rachel and Sarah found that, much like parenting, a creative endeavor requires loads of time, patience, and trial and error.
Eventually, in the summer of 2019, the first iteration of PIC took place. Under the name Play Reading Co-Op, a group of local actors gathered for an informal table read of Darcy Parker Bruce’s The Place That Made You at Northampton’s Forbes Library. Right out of the gate, it became clear that theater artists in Western Mass were hungry to explore more new plays and be a part of their development. The Play Reading Co-op continued to read new plays monthly in the fall/winter of 2019/2020 at the Upstairs Studio in Northampton’s Fitzwilly’s Building.
Starting in March 2020, we pivoted to Zoom with the rest of the world where our cohort of artists developed a group submission evaluation process in addition to continuing the tradition of reading and discussing new works with the playwright. After months of working in this way, it became clear that the group had tapped into something special as a collective and organically began tearing down the traditional play development process. PIC was born.
