History is the word in the theater department these days, as St. Louis University makes preparations to put on the world premier of the new play A Guest of Honor. Written by Michael Dinwiddie and directed by Greg Horton, A Guest of Honor will premiere on April 20 right here at SLU. In preparation for the debut of his work, Dinwiddie is in town making changes to the script, to ensure that the play goes off without a hitch.
At a reception last night, Dinwiddie was introduced to the University. Dinwiddie fielded several questions about his past work and why he chose St. Louis and SLU for his current project. The event lasted from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and was held in Cook Hall.
A Guest of Honor deals with Scott Joplin and the time he spent in St. Louis. Dinwiddie originally came up with the idea of the play after spending a day at the Joplin house here in St. Louis. In town for a conference, Dinwiddie decided to visit the home as a way to spend his birthday.
The excitement of that day and a previous love of Joplin brought Dinwiddie the idea of writing the play. He has written another play about Joplin titled Original Rags. That play premiered in 1996 at Florida A&M.
Horton, a longtime friend of Dinwiddie’s, asked him if would like to do the play at SLU. The idea of debuting the play in the city where Joplin had lived made the writer jump at the chance.
One of the main reasons of Dinwiddie’s visit is to expand the cast. The original script dealt with three African Americans, but after visiting SLU he decided to make the cast more diverse.
“I decided that since I was going to a diverse university to make the play itself more diverse, a big cast with all different people,” said Dinwiddie.
When not writing plays, Dinwiddie works at New York University as an assistant professor at the Gallatin School of Individual Study. He enjoys his time working with students and helping them perfect their own writing but likes to get back on his work from time to time.
The time that Dinwiddie spends here in St. Louis not only improves the play but also gives the actors involved the chance to work with the playwright himself. Fred Briers, a graduate student at Aquinas University and an actor in the production, clearly sees the benefit of having someone like Dinwiddie around.
“Usually when you do a play you never meet the writer so you have to guess what he or she wants. Having him here fills in all the gaps and answers all the questions,” said Briers.
No matter what happens, the play will not fail due to a lack of hard work. The writer, director, cast and crew have all put in long hours to make the play a success. The benefit of having the writer on hand clearly shows as the clock ticks away to the world premier of A Guest of Honor.
