Playwrights Play with Playlists

I am loving the trend happening these days where playwrights are making public Spotify playlists that accompany their new plays. I’m sure the act of playwrights creating playlist for their plays has been happening for years in various forms; burned CD’s, iPod playlists, etc, but what is special about the current form is how publicly accessible they are when the playwright choose to share.

Here are a couple of notable examples below:

Lynn Nottage’s ‘Sweat’ Playlist

Lauren Gunderson’s ‘The Revolutionist’ Playlist a.k.a. Lady Jams

Jen Silverman’s go-to music playlist (not connected to any specific play).

Christopher Chen’s playlist of inspiration (not connected to any specific play).

Lin Manuel Miranda created a playlist not for a play but a playlist to help artists get out of their writers block with a ‘Write Your Way Out’ playlist. This curated collection of songs are intended to inspire, features songs about great writing, and includes songs that help the creative juices get going.

I find this inside look into the creative process of a playwright so delicious. It’s a peak into the mind of the writer as they were writing or how, in retrospection, they understand their play. The playlist gives you insight into the writer’s inspirations and aesthetic choices that ultimately helped to create the play. What a great potential tool for the marketing department to use during the early ramp up of marketing a playwright’s production. If you as an audience member are able to connect with a playwright with their musical choices there’s a higher chance you too will connect with their work.