For Riverdale Park’s Nicole J. Burton, working together with other playwrights has spurred her to greater things.

The award-winning playwright belongs to a group of collective of women playwrights of the greater D.C. area called Pipeline Playwrights, which meets twice a month to go over their work.

Burton is also an active part of Route 1’s greater arts community, having given presentations at Joe’s Movement Emporium in Mount Rainier, among other things.

Pipeline Playwrights will be staging its first full production at the Capital Fringe Festival later this month, a suite of short comedies about women at work called “How’s That Workin’ Out For Ya.” (See the event schedule here for ticket information.)

Her most recent work, “Swimming Up the Sun,” is a semi-autobiographical piece dealing with adoption.

Burton talked with the Hyattsville Wire recently about her approach to playwriting.

How long have you lived in the Route 1 corridor? 

I’ve lived in Riverdale Park since 1989. I like most of the changes I’ve seen over the years because so far, we seem to be developing affordable, useful resources that people who already live here can enjoy rather than displacing existing residents with “luxury people.” I love the larger community’s diversity and variety. With the new bike paths, there are so many interesting places within walking or biking distance from my house.

What do you think of the arts community along the Route 1 corridor? How could we support writers and playwrights more?

Love it! My husband, Jim Landry, was a member of the Hyattsville Community Arts Alliance for years, and we both have presented at Joe’s Movement Emporium in Mount Rainier. I’d like to see more exchange between local playwrights and the University of Maryland, with its extensive resources. More small grants that don’t require too many hurdles from the Prince George’s Arts and Humanities Council, local municipalities, and businesses would be helpful. In the early days of HCAA, the City of Hyattsville Administrator was very supportive of the arts and she made city facilities available for our fundraisers, exhibits, and play readings. Offering low- or no-cost opportunities to local artists is very helpful and encouraging because it adds value and legitimacy to our work in the community. It’s a win-win.

How did you end up becoming a playwright?

I started writing poetry and stories as a teenager and one day, a theater director read one of my poems and said, “There’s a lot of dialogue here. Have you thought about writing plays?” I turned a short story into a one-act play and immediately fell in love with playwriting!

You belong to a collective of women playwrights. How do you support each other?

I joke that I’m the diversity for my writers group, Pipeline Playwrights, because I’m the only one not based in Virginia. We have a writers group that meets twice monthly to we read scenes from our new plays with each other, and we also produce new play readings and this year, our first full production, “How’s That Workin’ Out For Ya?”, at the Capital Fringe Festival on the D.C. Wharf.

What advice do you have for a young person who would like to become a playwright?

Try it! But once you have the bug, you may never be able to stop. I recommend taking a beginner playwriting class to learn basics. That also puts you in contact with other new playwrights. Go to see plays and read plays. Start analyzing the structure of plays, asking yourself what moves you about the story, characters, or staging. Playwriting is different from screenwriting, though some people do both.

What is your latest play about?

“How’s That Workin’ Out for Ya?” is composed of four short comedies by persistent women. My play, “Rebellion Dogs,” is about politics and drinking and takes place at National Airport during a snowstorm. The other plays are “Mad Women” by Patricia Connelly, “In the Ladies” by Ann Timmons, and “Got a Light?” by Jean Koppen. Part of the Capital Fringe Festival, we’re performing at Arena Stage (Violet Performance Space) on July 17, 18, 22, 26, and 28. Tickets are available online here. Hope to see you there!