Betty Jane Wylie: The Playwright as Participant

Collectives are almost a way of life now as a number of theatres in Canada have built their reputations on joint creative projects, the best of which have grass roots appeal that breaks box office records. But what of the playwright involved? There usually is one, a floating name attached to the program with a jaunty acknowledgement: “consultant,” or “playwright in residence,” or “in association with.” Horror stories drift into the office of the Guild of Canadian Playwrights about some playwright or other who gets sued or ripped off for using material other than his or her own, garnered in the heat of collective creation. Did Bertolt Brecht have to cope with such effrontery when he was picking people’s brains?