Collaborative Online Playwriting Project Launches

A new collaborative playwriting project, The Living Script, has just been launched by Chicago-area artist Brett Hanover. The Living Script uses wiki technology to create an online, user-editable theatrical script.

As press notes describe, "Users of Wikipedia will be familiar with the format, though here the intent is to create a work of art constantly in flux - a script that never reaches its final draft. While collaborative writing projects have utilized wikis in the past, this is the first time the format has been used to create a stage play. Whatever develops from this unique process will be available for performance under a free-media, Creative Commons license."

A product of the burgeoning Memphis independent film scene, Brett Hanover debuted in 2005 with the short documentary Above God, winner of Best Documentary at both the Indie Memphis and Atlanta Underground film festivals. This was followed by the experimental film Schiavo, featured both at Indie Memphis and the 2006 Spun from the Web exhibition in Chicago. Since that time, he has directed numerous productions, including the critically acclaimed performance S4tyr Play (2006), described as "the first theatrical work to deal with anthropomorphic identity."  Hanover currently attends the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and is working on a feature documentary, Bunnyland, set for release in '08.

The Living Script can be edited online at www.livingscript.com beginning the first of March.  Visit www.bretthanover.com for more on Hanover.