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Chicopee native wins playwright competition

Date: 9/12/2012

By Carley Dangona

carley@thereminder.com

CHICOPEE — "Wedding Secrets," a play written by Chicopee native Joe Starzyk, won the 2012 McLaren Memorial Comedy Playwriting Competition in Midland Texas; in reward, it will be produced from May 10 to June 1, 2013, at the Midland Community Theater.

Starzyk, now a resident of New York, returned to playwriting in 2007 after a 27-year hiatus and cited his schooling as one source of encouragement for his venture into theater.

"Jane Babachicos was the teacher in the high school that organized the theater activities," he recalled. "Every year the [Chicopee] high school had a one-act play competition and a senior play. There were also summertime activities that brought kids together from across the community."

While attending Shimer College in Illinois, Starzyk wrote his first plays and traveled abroad to Oxford, where he studied playwriting.

"I've written six full-length plays and about two dozen short plays," he said. "I'm inspired by a lot of different things, primarily I generally write comedies, but they [the themes] vary.

"Sometimes you start writing and the dialogue takes a completely different turn than you had initially intended and you go with it. It can be an adventure. I've always thrown around story ideas [even when I was just an actor] that's what I prefer, to craft the whole play from beginning to end, how I want it [the events] to transpire," he continued.

"Wedding Secrets" was also the first of Starzyk's plays produced, in 2008, by the Arts Center in Troy, N.Y., and was a finalist in the Neil Simon Playwriting Competition in Utah.

Starzyk illustrated the difficulty in finding venues willing to produce new artists.

"Trying to get an original work into theater is almost impossible to do," he said. "Finding a needle in a haystack is easier. Once you win an award, people pay more attention [because many theaters hesitate to produce plays from unknowns, so it is a form of validation]. It's a long, uphill climb when you're trying to be a playwright."

He thanked his family for their influence. "They're all incredibly supportive," Starzyk said. "For every time you hear a 'yes,' you get 30 to 40 'no' [responses]. It's easy to get discouraged."

Starzyk described himself as "very mindful when I write," and credits his experience as an actor and director for his ability to accommodate the staging needs of plays. "If you start with the notion that everything will appear in one room, it's easier to write," he explained. "For example, I consider costume changes and I allot time for the change and for the actor to reappear on stage."

When asked about his favorite part of playwriting, Starzyk replied, "The first time I start to hear it aloud. Even if it's a gathering of people around my living room — it gives grounds for alterations. I don't do it every time, but love the opportunity to do so."

When asked what his favorite piece is, Starzyk replied, "Whatever I've just finished."

Starzyk hopes to one day have one of his plays produced locally.

Four of his short plays, "Instant Harmony," "The Darker Side of Brown," Santa in a Quantum World," and "The Men's Book Group," will be featured in an upcoming festival being organized for Nov. 16 to 18 in Troy, N.Y.

The Napa Valley Playhouse will feature "When Irish Eyes Are Flirting," as part of their short play festival from Dec. 7 to 16.

For more information about Starzyk and his plays, visit https://starzykplayproductions.com or www.facebook.com/joe.starzyk.

Any theaters interested in producing his plays can contact him directly via email at jstarzyk@nycap.rr.com.