Because the life of a writer/innovator can be solitary, Z. Sharon Glantz sought out like-minded people from her community. She also valued group process and working with others.
Organizations
Open Circle Theater
For a cozy theater in Seattle’s downtown in 2010, Z. Sharon Glantz volunteered (like the rest of the company) as Managing Director. She loved the performance space with a bar attached. Her understanding was that the theater was in the process of growing. Even after meeting the board, she had high hopes.
- .Eat My Shorts, a short play festival, was a pet project of hers. The plays were the usual mix from playwrights across the country. Finalists also performed at Bumbershoot, an arts festival that was slowly minimizing local talent, opting for national.
- She was surprised she was asked to direct Wyrrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett. She was given three weeks notice, and 21 characters to cast/double-cast. The cast assumed our bad luck was because the play was based on Macbeth. I didn’t have the heart to tell them that between a dysfunctional Board , a missing set designer and an untrustworthy stage manager were more of a problem. That said, they were fantastic.
National Storytellers Network, Special Interest Group: Storytelling in Organizations.
In 2004, with the topes of expanding her network to use theater as part of training, she edited the newsletter, introducing a new model for thinking about their group.
Seattle Writergrrls
From 2001-2002, an unlikely collection of writers came together to explore ways of supporting one another. Z. Sharon Glantz organized a day for panels of popular local writers, publishers and producers at the Seattle Film Institute.
Pacific Northwest Writers Association
As a board member from 1996-1999, Z. Sharon Glantz helped mount a yearly regional writers’ conference with nationally known writers, agents and publishers. One year she acted as Program Director. She later developed the New Media Lab, starting by hosting some of the speakers in chats on America Online. The next year, she asked nationally known writers to participate remotely, but the board cancelled the program a month before the conference.
Northwest Playwrights Guild
The first organization of its kind in a bustling Seattle theater scene brought together playwrights for a variety of programs and events. In 1986, Z. Sharon Glantz founded this organization when the head of the University of Washington’s School of Drama suggested at a theater community event that this would support the already enigmatic Seattle community. (Many artistic directors had graduated together and supported one another.) The organization produced a wide range of events with nationally know playwrights in Washington and Oregon. She also edited the newsletter. Leadership turned to Oregon not long after she left in 1991.
Presentations
Z. Sharon Glantz presented at many conventions. These are some of the highlights.
Thinking and Critiquing in the Digital World
Imagination in Education. 2013
The presentation included her performing in an augmented reality theater with characters on Second Life about the critiquing process. Attendees were invited to interact with the characters who appeared on screen as avatars.
Theater in Second Life
Second Life Community Convention, 2009
This augmented reality presentation used characters on Second Life to let participants experiment with scriptwriting.
The Art of the Webwright
Participatory Design Conference of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibilities, 1990
The presentation included her performing in an augmented reality theater with characters on Second Life about the critiquing process. Attendees were invited to interact with the characters who appeared on screen as avatars.