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The Road to "Because of Beth" Publication

When I was in first grade, I convinced my teacher to let me put on a play that I had written called “The Good Butterfly”. Developmentally, it was highly appropriate. The butterfly was a good character. There was a bad character who was going around doing mean things to the other animals and the butterfly had to save them. My teacher (shout out to Ms. Rose!) did something so wonderful: she said yes. And, not only did she say yes, she took us to the auditorium, held rehearsals, made it a full class project that our parents were invited to. She let me be the director (probably not the wisest move for a seven year old) and I, in true theater fashion, cast myself opposite the boy I had a crush on. Yes, I had crushes at age seven.

I knew then that I wanted to be a playwright.

It is *mumble mumble* amount of years later. It is October 1st, 2025. While I have had monologues published….THIS is the day that I am getting my first play published.

IT’S TODAY!!!!!!

Because of Beth’s Road

“Because of Beth” was written hundreds of years ago (or what feels like it) since I have had two children since then. I started writing it in a New School continuing education class for playwriting and continued writing it with my newfound playwriting group, EMG Playwriting Workshop.

In 2007, after marketing it around, I met someone who was very important in the field and gave me the confidence to do an Equity showcase. It was an enormous challenge but it went up for two weeks and it was seen by lots of friends and family, some who traveled in from distances.

Postcard from the 2008 production of “Because of Beth”, co-produced by Small Pond Entertainment and Elana Gartner at Workshop Theatre in New York City (Image: Various photographs of young female children as they are growing up. At the bottom right is a picture an adult Asian woman looking over her left shoulder at the camera. It appears that the glass on the postcard has broken around her picture. The postcard reads “Because of Beth” by Elana Gartner, Directed by Clara Barton Green)

The script has two monologues for young women that became very popular on the then active site, the Monologue Database. As a result, many of these young women interested in the script were purchasing the PDF’s off of my website. I heard from young women who were having their own emotional reactions to the monologues, telling me that it had helped them heal from their own loss of a parent. The monologues went international. I heard from teachers in Dubai who wanted their students to use it for competitions. I corresponded with young women preparing for classroom exercises to dig deeper into the characters. The two monologues were published in an anthology and continued to have their own lives.

One day, a theater reached out to me that I had never marketed to. They were in New Zealand. I was mystified. They wanted to produce the play. I looked back through my the script purchases on my website and noticed that there was a New Zealand email address. It turned out that an actress had purchased the script, fallen in love with the play and brought it to this theater that she was involved with. And that is how “Because of Beth” made its international debut in production in New Zealand.

This experience was particularly interesting because I had to work with the director to adapt it to New Zealand culture. I learned that they don’t have diners in New Zealand. This cut out a minor character completely. While I wished that I could have gone to New Zealand for the production, I was told that it was met with great enthusiasm.

The postcard from the Little Howick Theatre production in Auckland, NZ. (Image: Two little girls, both Caucasian, lie in the grass, chins in hands, looking at one another. They both have blond hair. The postcard reads “Because of Beth”, A Drama by Elana Gartner, Directed by Pam Browne, Season, “March 25-28 8pm, Matinee: March 28, 2pm. It includes a quote from the play “I’m the only one left who actually knows, who remembers everything about you.” and a brief synopsis “In the aftermath of Beth’s death, all those she loved, including her feuding daughters, estranged ex-husband and her overwhelmed fiance, seek to mourn her in their own way.”)

Several years later, I ran into a former theater teacher of mine on the street and she was so excited to share with me a recent experience. She had been working with a graduate of my high school on an audition piece and was stunned at the monologue that the actress had brought in to share. The teacher asked who the playwright was. It was me. It was one of the “Because of Beth” monologues. The teacher was thrilled to have everything come full circle.

“Because of Beth” is now one of those older plays that has been in the stables a while but has done what it can in the current structure of marketing. Having it published was the next best option for its growth. While I wasn’t looking for the opportunity, I was delighted that it presented itself.

The cover of Next Stage Press’ publication of “Because of Beth”, coming out TODAY!! (Image: Bright yellow cover. Title of the play “Because of Beth” by Elana Gartner. At the bottom of the page, a small comedy and tragedy picture next to the words Next Stage Press)

I hope that you purchase “Because of Beth” and enjoy these characters!

Elana