Help Sarah Lyn Get to Playwright Opportunity

My name is Sarah Lyn Eaton. I am a queer, pagan playwright, and a burn survivor. I am seven years out from an accident that almost took my life, right when I was gaining momentum with my writing. I have spent the years of my recovery writing in spurts when I wasn’t working on healing, trying to pick that rhythm back up.

I received an opportunity that could be once-in-a-lifetime for me that I do not want to pass up. My play “Well Run Dry” was accepted into the Play Lab at the Valdez Theatre Conference in Alaska this June! I did not expect to get accepted. This was a ‘swing high’ submission, just wanting to see if I was good enough.

I thought that being good and getting in would be enough…

I WANT this. For a lot of reasons. The first is the immersive, non-competitive opportunity of meeting other playwrights and watching other works. I met with a bunch of the other writers last night and this is a group of people I want to know. It will directly impact the career I want.

I have to tell them whether or not I can attend by April 2nd. I cannot tell them yes unless I have the money to book the plane ticket and the tour buses.

For this specific play? I know it could be better than it is but I cannot see it. What I will get through this experience, is a staged reading of my show, with a three-panelist feedback, then audience feedback. And then I will get a one-on-one meeting with the lead panelist for my show. I believe in this play. I am emotionally a little close to it. I can see where I want it to be but I think my experience is in my way. This particular Lab experience would be a great way to see how other writers/actors/panelists respond to the words, without the context they carry for me, so that I can elevate it into it’s own skin.

Personally? This would be the biggest trip I have ever undertaken. Maybe the biggest I ever will. I am ready. I’ve had to put off other opportunities since my accident because I haven’t been able to get there. There’s never extra money. And that’s a personal agitation that makes my heart race. If I have to keep putting things off… I could die any second. I have already lived this.

This trip would both show me that I can exist more independently in the world, as well as check off some items from my bucket list: visit Alaska, see glaciers, and be somewhere with only 2 hours of darkness!

STEPS TO ALASKA

I cannot get there alone. The new landlords doubled our rent and now what extra money we had during pandemic is gone. I understand that I am hoping my communities can help me get there—please only give if you can, and what you can. Every dollar counts.

The staged readings will be available to watch on YouTube, so anyone who helps get me there will get a chance to see and hear the piece of art I created!

Right now, I have the cost set at $3,700 (it was $3000 but I was missing some tax costs and fees). That is based on approximate costs, which I have itemized below. I will adjust it as my costs change. For example, if I can get a roommate, my housing cost will be cut in half. But I still don’t know if I will need to get a bus to the airport or not, so costs will shift a bit.

$1300 round-trip Airfare to and from Anchorage

$1200 housing for a week in Valdez

$200 bus to and from Valdez

$100 conference registration (includes lunches, glacier cruise, gala event)

$300 2 pairs medical-grade compression tights for travel

$200 potential taxes on flight and housing

$150 better-accessible travel suitcase

$150 bag check fee there and back

$100 dinners

$3700 TOTAL

More Information on the Conference