We recently connected with Serena Norr and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Serena thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?

During COVID, I experienced a creative boom with playwriting. I found myself crafting and writing so many new plays but I also was longing for community, specifically from other theater makers in NYC/Westchester. I was also thinking about the accessibility of the craft of storytelling and how it couldn’t be simpler to learn and teach. After some brainstorming, I developed “Let’s Make a Play” as a way to create a playwriting community that was open to all – no mater what your experience level is.

This started with playwriting classes for adults that morphed into playwriting classes for kids that I teach around Westchester and the Hudson Valley. After a few sessions of gathering papers and resources online, I realized that I should create my own workbook from the class with my simple and clear step-by-step playwriting method. The program expanded to offer monologue writing to adults a year later and it has been incredible to work with my students and see the development of their work and their stories come to life. Everyone really can make a play!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My story goes back to my childhood in Brooklyn. My family life was chaotic, but I found refuge (of sorts) in my imagination where my sister and I would make up plays, songs, skits, etc. At one point, I jotted down dialogue for a movie. I didn’t really know what I was doing but I loved it! It felt freeing, fun, and creative.

As life went on, I went to college to become a teacher and later an actress, and finally landed on english with a minor in theater after falling in love with dialogue/plays when I was an actress. After taking a playwriting class in college, I instantly felt connected to that style of writing. My career, however, followed a path of editorial, writing, content management, and EIC roles, working behind the scenes to manage writing teams, craft social media, write marketing. SEO, and blog copy. It felt like I had this puzzle of different remote jobs that allowed me to be a leader while also being home to raise my 3 kids.

Throughout the years, I sometimes felt a push to write dialogue where I wrote a plays in 2010/2011 in a 24-hour writing festival that was performed in NYC, and then dipped in and out of playwriting, jotting down ideas but I didn’t really have the bandwidth to figure out how to literally make a play. It really wasn’t until 2018 after I took a continuing education class at Westchester Community College that something “clicked” again. I reconnected with playwriting, which lead to the writing of over 50 plays/monologues since then! This was really the push that lead me to starting Let’s Make a Play in 2021 as I reconnected with my passion/love of playwriting as well as my interest to help others do the same to tell their stories. We all have the power to imagine, create, and explore!

Since the brand started, I have had partnerships throughout Westchester with Yonkers Arts, Yonkers Public Library, Pound Ridge Library, Mid-Hudson Arts, Women’s Theater Workshop, SUNY Westchester Community College, Rivers Edge Theater Co, Beacon Performing Arts Center, and more. I’m excited to try virtual options as well. I even wrote 3 workbooks for the program so I’m excited to see where it goes next!

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My goals are simple: to empower others (kids and adults) to learn the craft of playwriting as a way to tell their stories and personal stories. As someone who is basically self-taught (except for a few classes), I want to empower my students with the tools they need to make a play and make the process accessible and open to all. The act of writing/playwriting is a deep solo process but it doesn’t have to be completely alone. I am also driven to create community as a way for my students to connect with one another and grow together.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I grew up with very little and a home where my father left when I was young and my single mom wasn’t around much due to having to work/support the home. It was difficult because I didn’t really have anyone guiding me or showing me a path in life. I had to build myself up from nothing with the guidance of an inner knowing that I account to my will, creativity, and drive to push myself beyond the life I was given. There isn’t a specific story exactly but a lifetime of ups and downs as I worked really hard to create a life of my own in work, in my company, and with my family. I think my resilience is driven by a knowing that I’ve had since childhood. It’s pushed me to hustle and take on (and do) a lot. I’m at the point now where I’m trying to slow down, focus, and even give myself a pat on the back, which isn’t easy. :)

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.letsmakeaplay.com/ and https://www.serenanorr.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/serenanorrcreative/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/serena.norr
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/serenanorr/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaDzOLFLCMg&list=PL8Sh_K4Hwje7-wmN0TaGuzJi57hbeOi86

Image Credits

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