As most people in the theatre community have heard by now, The Drama Book Shop, one of the largest and most important drama bookstores in the world, was badly damaged by a burst pipe, losing tons of inventory in one of their most popular sections. If you haven’t already, I urge you to support them by paying them a visit or placing an order online. They stock both of my Carlo Gozzi adaptations in store and online if you’re interested.
Their 100th Anniversary is coming up and they’d put out a call for personal comments from fans of the shop. I submitted mine back in August but, in light of the trouble the store has had, I wanted to share those comments here to stress the importance of this fantastic store.![[IMAGE SOURCE]](https://i0.wp.com/www.hillarydepiano.com/pages/wp-content/uploads/The-Drama-Book-Shop.jpg?resize=600%2C338&ssl=1)
The Drama Book Shop is such an important piece of NYC theatre in general, I wanted to share a little story about how you helped shaped my career specifically. When I was a newbie playwright without a clue in the world what I was doing, the Drama Book Shop, and Eleanore specifically, were so incredibly supportive that I really don’t think my play and, by extension, my career, would have had the success it’s had since without that. You not only stocked and restocked my weird commedia dell’arte adaptation when so many other bookstores turned up their noses at a self-published script but you also gave it fantastic visibility, helping it find new productions again and again thanks to the stamp of approval of being on your well regarded shelves I’m not sure any of us can ever thank you properly for your continued support of the theatre in ways both big and small and I can only hope we’ll have at least 100 years more of your wonderful store.
Here’s hoping they get back on their feet as soon as possible!
Hillary DePiano is a playwright, fiction and non-fiction writer who loves writing of all kinds except for writing bios like this.
