Austin Script Works' Time Steps: Sarah Saltwick [interview]

Ah, we near the end of our mini-interviews with the eight winners of Austin Script Work's annual Out of Ink showcase, for which participating playwrights took no more than 48 hours to pen a 10-minute play and were required to use the following "ingredients": The play must go backward, from beginning to end; Include a sudden dance break that causes a shift in the action; Include three things your mother told you not to do. Playwright-for-hire and lover of the countrytime ladies Sarah Saltwick ponies up to the bar with a few words to say.

Give us brief intro to you—an idea of who you are and what you're about.

I'm a freelance playwright! (Theatre Companies of Austin—Hire me! I am cheap! I work for coffee!) I had the chance to work with Loaded Gun Theory on their Slapdash FlimFlammery 24-hour play festival and HMBG's ArtSpark Festival. I've worked with Austin Script Works for two FronteraFests as well as Out of Ink last year. Out of Ink is like a playwright's dream come true—you are given a cast and director and production team and you just sit back and be a playwright.

I will be producing an event called IN PLAIN SIGHT next fall with ASW member Elizabeth Cobbe, featuring two new plays and some other surprises. I can hardly wait until May to see Sharon Sparlin's inspired play The E Word.

I started writing plays in college when I, for the first time in ten years or so, found myself not acting. There is a lot to like about playwriting from a shy actress's point of view—like like no auditioning. There is also the incredible thrill of bringing an idea to life, a life beyond what you alone could imagine, with a team of artists.

Give the title and a very short synopsis of your play. Is this something you had in mind before the Fling, or is this a new idea that was inspired by the ingredients?

Cowboy Fantasia is a love story inspired by country music. I have a deep love for country music, especially the ladies (like Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton). The lyrics are often so dramatic, I think it's a good fit for inspiring theatre.

This play came seemingly out of nowhere—I had a lot of ideas (some involving dinosaurs) for different plays but this is the play that came out. I fell in love with my characters Jolene and Clint and couldn't leave them for any other story.