John Boulanger was shocked to learn his play was going to be featured at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
The cast of “House of Several Stories” performed for the final time this weekend in the American College Theater Festival competition.
“Winning this year’s National Student Playwriting Award is a huge honor,” said John Boulanger, theater graduate student. “One that I’m not quite sure has fully sunk in yet. I am still dumbfounded when I recall some of the names of past winners.”
Texas State hosted the Annual Region VI American College Theater Festival in February. Boulanger’s play, “House of Several Stories,” was one of Texas State’s entries in the competition.
“I received a call from Gregg Henry, the artistic director of festival in Washington, D.C. The call was both congratulatory and informative,” Boulanger said. “It was literally a dream come true. I’m not sure I fully processed all that Mr. Henry had said.”
Boulanger said the rewards from winning were remunerative and more than his expectations.
“I remembered the prize package he described, because it far exceeded what I had initially thought,” Boulanger said. “I imagined a small monetary scholarship and maybe a plaque, but my mouth dropped as he mentioned the Dramatist Guild of America membership, an option with Samuel French publishing and a fellowship at Robert Redford’s Sundance Theatre Lab. The $2500 scholarship also broadened my smile.”
Boulanger said winning thus far has inspired him to continue honing his craft.
“I’m excited about future writing projects, which I have started in the past, but which have resided as mere icons on my laptop for months, in some cases years,” Boulanger said. “With this award comes a great responsibility, if only to myself.”
The award speaks not only to the quality of Boulanger’s work but also of Texas State’s department of theater and dance.
“To be recognized nationally for writing is great in itself, but it is for the high caliber of Texas State’s production that the play is being recognized by audiences. What I’ve received from the Texas State theater department has unquestionably been the highpoint in my academic and writing career,” he said. “Being at Texas State and through the support of the theater department, I’ve been fortunate enough to see my script receive a staged reading under the direction of a New York City-based director; an Austin premiere; a remount production on our studio theater stage; and now it’s soon to be seen at the Kennedy Center Family Theatre.”
Boulanger said going back to school in 2003 for his undergrad degree after a 10-year hiatus benefited him in many ways.
“I am now a writer for two reasons,” Boulanger said. “I think I had reached an age to where attending classes was a luxury and not a chore — I was actually interested in what I was being taught.”
Boulanger said he used his time away from the classroom to mature as a writer.
“During that absence from school, I was a bartender – a lucrative and fleetingly glamorous life,” he said. “I think it was through those many years of simply having to talk for a living to myriad types of people throughout a day, and consequently getting to observe the discourse and transactions that transpired in and among these different personalities that have inadvertently fueled my love for dialogue: how people communicate, what they hide behind the words they offer, or sometimes not, and, needless to say, the colorful characters one encounters during alcohol service.”
Boulanger does not believe he has hit his creative peak yet.
“I have every confidence that one or two decent screenplays are still in me waiting to come out, but they don’t seem to be an immediate priority,” Boulanger said. “I would love to continue writing for the stage, and maybe come across a script that can be adapted to and is viable for film.”
Boulanger said he is not quite sure what will come from his experience at the Kennedy Center, but is sure it will open doors for him.
“I am still on such a high from these recent developments that I think I am actually on my ideal path,” Boulanger said. “If I have to pick a next phase, I suppose it would be to see one of my scripts premiered by one of the large, prominent regional theaters that have proven to be vehicles to New York City–Broadway or off. I think I could find satisfaction following a number of paths, as long as it leads to writing. I now have a greater want, if not need, to follow up with something that merits the attention that “House of Several Stories” has received — if not more.”