Dr. Will Weigler has been an applied theatre director, playwright, teacher and producer for over 30 years. Both his award-winning book Strategies for Playbuilding: Helping Groups Translate Issues into Theatre, and his doctoral dissertation Engaging the Power of the Theatrical Event (University of Victoria), address practical ways that artists can work collaboratively with community members to help them create aesthetically compelling plays about the issues that matter to them. Will recently produced and directed Common Wealth, an original large-scale musical play developed in collaboration with an inter-cultural, multi-generational ensemble of over one hundred residents of Darrington, Washington (population 1100) and the nearby Sauk-Suiattle Indian reservation (population 400). Performed in a large festival tent on the edge of town, the show incorporated stories from both communities and celebrated their mutual relationships with the mountains, forests and rivers that surround them.
Will's website is www.willweigler.com
