Playwrights’ Perspective

Here come the Jets?

2012-03-09T00:03:00.000-05:00

When you're a Jet, you're the top cat in town...

Friends and fans

2012-03-07T00:00:00.003-05:00

Melinda Lopez

Friends and fans. After a wonderful and satisfying twenty-five years in the theatre, I have decided it's time to spread my wings! The success of my last musical Dante in Abu Ghraib has allowed me the financial stability to finally pursue my lifelong dream of investment banking.

I know you are all thinking this is a crazy whim. But the truth is, I’ve been dabbling in finance my whole life. Sometimes, during rehearsals in the back of the theatre, when I knew I was supposed to be feeling the magic, instead, I’d fiddle with adjustable rate mortgage numbers, just for fun. And I found it (secretly) thrilling to read The Wall Street Journal. It started from loneliness -- I was in production in Berlin, and I found the familiarity of the numbers comforting. I thought, I’ll stop as soon as I'm home. I never wanted my kids to know. But lately, with a smart phone, and down time between acts…well you see where this is going.

At first I was embarrassed by my investment efforts. I fooled around with my portfolio, yeah, but I never really took it seriously. I have no training. I've never paid Capital Gains Tax. And there are people who have studied market trends for years. But then, last spring, I showed my figures to a friend at Morgan Stanley, and she said, “I think you’re on to something here.”

It was then I realized, that all my life, I’ve been in love with the stock market. As a kid, I made up ‘pretend’ bond certificates, and went around the neighborhood selling them at a depreciated price. And in high school, I was part of the Investment Club. But I dropped out in 10^th grade because I didn’t want to get labeled a “money grubber.” Instead, I joined the Ibsen Society.

And yes, it’s been a fantastic ride.

But somehow, I’ve always felt there was a hole at the center of me -- a hole that no amount of developmental workshops or TCG funding could fill. Even getting my picture in The Dramatist just made me feel even more hollow. The truth is, I need to give back, and I feel from the bottom of my heart that money will reach more people than art. Call me old fashioned. I guess it’s just how I was raised.

I’m so grateful to the artists, teachers and University Programs who have helped me get where I am today; the staged readings; my agent, Tyrone, who signed me when Castro's Guitar was still in development. And of course to my parents and wife Bitsy.

It’s not too late to follow my heart, and with the time I have left, I’d like to make a contribution to this big, wonderful world. So I’ll be starting my Hedge Fund next month. I promise you the American Theatre will go on without me. In fact, the revival of The Darfur Follies will open at the Denver Center in time for the holidays. But maybe, just maybe, I’ll be able to reach one child, touch one heart, and truly, finally, be the ME I’ve always wanted to be.

-- Melinda Lopez

Don't, uh, read too much into the monologue above. Melinda's going to give this playwriting gig one more shot. In fact, she'd love it if you would join her for the first public reading of her new play, Becoming Cuba, part of the Huntington Theatre's Breaking Ground reading series.

Deane Hall, Boston Center for the Arts

127 Tremont Street, Boston

Tuesday, March 13

7:30 p.m.

Directed by M. Bevin O'Gara

RSVP

Final adjustments...

2012-03-06T10:28:00.002-05:00

Joyce Van Dyke

Deported is about to open on March 8^th and I feel like I’m in a dream state most of the time. We’ve moved into the Modern and every day more and more of the set appears onstage. I’m sitting at one of the tables – where the front rows will soon be installed – making notes and cuts and changes as we do a run-through of the play.

And I’m amazed as I always am at the amount of labor going on all around me by the stage management, set builder, director, actors, costume and lighting and sound and set designers, props person, marketing people and producers, those responsible for the venue at Suffolk, and so many others. I wish the ticket buyers could have even a glimpse of the astonishing number of tasks that have to be accomplished to pull the play together. I think it’s also amazing how tightly organized the process is, down to the smallest details – how the daily reports and notes and scheduling coordinate so much, how everybody incorporates the changes overnight. It’s a level of organization that would be impressive in an established business – and here it’s happening with a group that’s just come together for this one voyage. As I write this, I’m looking forward to tech – which I love because I get to watch everything getting stitched together.

- Joyce Van Dyke, Playwright

Alumni news, in brief:

2012-03-05T00:41:00.000-05:00

A national tour is on the horizon for Lydia Diamond's Stick Fly!...

M. Lynda Robinson's short play An Egg is an Egg will be on the bill to celebrate SWAN Day (Support Women Artists Now) at the 6th annual Our Voices Festival at Regis College on March 24...

The Provincetown Theatre Company's 16th annual winter reading series will feature John Greiner-Ferris' Highland Center, Indiana on March 28...

Molly Smith Metzler's Carve is part of the Geva Theatre Center's Plays in Progress reading series tonight...

And here's a lovely feature from The Boston Globe about the story behind the story of Joyce Van Dyke's Deported/a dream play, which opens in previews this Thursday!

Rewind.

2012-03-02T06:00:00.002-05:00

Maybe it’s Peter Floyd’s excellent KCACTF news this week or the "unusual" wintery weather. Either way, I’m thinking back to December and remembering the exquisite musical tribute (especially the finale) to Broadway legend Barbara Cook at the Kennedy Center Honors – which features some ladies I fully expect to be sitting up there in the balcony with the President themselves one day. I meant to post this long before now, but as they say, better late than never.

Just around the corner: New Noises 2012

2012-03-01T00:00:00.003-05:00

Next month, fledgling playwrights from all over the Boston Metro will converge on BPT for the annual New Noises festival of ten-minute plays. New Noises showcases work developed in the Massachusetts Young Playwrights' Project (MYPP), which sends mentor playwrights into area high schools; student playwrights whose plays are selected for the festival are partnered with professional directors and actors. Technically, the result of these collaborations is two days of staged readings...but really, the result is two days of magic.

I look forward to MYPP each year, and always find myself energized by the intense creative spirit, enthusiasm, and sheer talent of the high school students involved. Alum Michael Towers agreed to share a little about his experience working with students at Revere High School this year:

It was nearly 5:00 on Thursday, February 9^th when the school day ended for eight Revere High School students. They weren’t in detention. They weren’t in rehearsal for an upcoming production or at practice for a varsity sport. They weren’t even receiving course credit for the extra work hours behind a desk. The students seated in Ms. Rice’s third floor classroom for an extended school day were there for one reason alone: they want to be playwrights.

Mentor: Michael Towers (Asa Photographic)

When teachers Ms. Sara Rice and Mr. George Hannah opened an invitation to the entire school to join them in a new play production initiative that would feature the original works of Revere High School students, they weren’t sure what to expect. The response not only pleased them, it made them proud. And with good reason. Today I met with nine enthusiastic and committed playwrights. Long before my arrival, each playwright had been given a writing prompt and had been paired with a faculty member who will serve as their personal mentor throughout the process. (Time out. Wow. Good for you Revere High School. Or should I say: Lucky you. Lucky for you that you have such innovative educators who truly care about their students. And lucky you that you have students who are seizing learning opportunities outside the school day without the promise of course accountability or credit. Either way: Wow. Time in.)

Given the prompt of Bullying for inspiration, the playwrights were encouraged to explore their own experience and craft a ten-minute play. From here, the process will continue with play readings, casting, and revisions through an active workshop of their piece. In addition to their involvement in the New Noises experience at BPT in early April, the playwrights will ultimately enjoy a fully realized performance of their work in May: the final stage of the plan as conceived by Ms. Rice and Mr. Hannah.

I was struck by so many moments on my visit.

The young woman who greeted me at the door asking, “Are you our playwright guest? Because that’s really what I want to be.”

The essential question emblazoned on the wall of the classroom wall that read: What can we learn about ourselves and about humanity from literature?

The incredibly diverse backgrounds and interests that compel these students. The languages that they speak (from Italian to French to Arabic.) The instruments that they play (from percussion to guitar.) Their ART beyond the theater (from dance to film to the brilliant pencil sketch of Hamlet that hung on the wall.) The images of being on the Cross Country team and training by running through the busy city streets. And of course…the love of eating….just about anything.

But most of all, I was struck by these nine students. Choosing to sit in a classroom on a beautiful day beyond school hours. Intent. Creative. Ready to work. And ready to risk.

They want to be playwrights? They don’t know it yet, but they already are.

Old Friends and New in 'Deported'

2012-02-28T10:28:00.001-05:00

Artistic Director, Kate Snodgrass

Folks, we're finally at the Modern Theatre over near the Opera House for our upcoming production of Deported / a dream play by Joyce Van Dyke, and directed by Judy Braha. Marc trucked the set from BPT over to the Modern yesterday, and he is over there now rebuilding, hanging lights, setting up sound equipment, et al., in readiness for the technical rehearsals beginning this coming weekend. We open next Thursday, March 8, in previews! I'm so thankful to finally be in the space where we can begin to really explore this important and exciting piece of theatre. It's our last production in our 30^th anniversary season, and I'm sad to see this season end. However, it's going out with a bang!

We have brought together many old friends and new to celebrate our 30 years of new work, and we’re especially happy to be working again with the lovely and talented Joyce Van Dyke (Love In The Gulf, 1996; A Girl’s War, 2001; The Oil Thief, 2008). I am honored that she has trusted us with this play in particular, founded as it is in her personal family history. We want to do her proud.

Joyce's and Judy Braha's three-year long collaboration is culminating in this production. Judy directed Joyce’s Elliot Norton Award-winning The Oil Thief at BPT several years ago. (I feel like a matchmaker of sorts.) It’s a playwrights’ dream to find a director with the same world vision, and Joyce and Judy (I call them “Juice”) have the same strong, collaborative spirit.

The play has had a long gestation period, and this is as it should be since it began as a “true” story and has transformed into an imaginative “dream” state. Yes, it is a difficult story, but it is an important one that must be told. Joyce has let the story take a shape all its own—a non-linear stream of consciousness that makes emotional sense first, and logical sense afterward. I am in love with how the back-story and tensions of the Armenian/Turkish century-old battle and its aftermath build until finally all of us are touched by the universality of this journey.

We are cooperating with the mighty Marilyn Plotkins, her wonderful staff at The Modern Theatre at Suffolk University, and her gifted actors, directors, and dramaturges. It has been an honor to work with all of them. And the Modern Theatre, in its beauty and intimacy, is the perfect theatre space to explore this Armenian dream in all its glory.

We want to continue our Founder Derek Walcott’s vision in his stead—a theatre about playwrights, for playwrights, and run by playwrights. Deported/a dream play is everything Derek hoped for when he began our theatre, and I hope that you'll all come to see this extraordinary vision.

‘Deported’ funded on USA Projects

2012-02-28T09:13:00.004-05:00

Great news to share: Joyce Van Dyke’s Deported/a dream play is funded on USA Projects…and then some! Currently, the project is more than 103 percent to goal, with nine days still left to donate if you would like. Thank you to all who continue to support this project financially and otherwise!!!

There will also be a fundraising party on Sunday March 4, 3:00-5:00 p.m. at the Armenian Cultural Foundation, 441 Mystic Street, Lexington.

And, here’s a related article to check out, about Armenian Genocide education in Merrimack Valley. Wilmington High School students plan to be in the audience of Deported! Which brings me to…

Opening is quickly approaching, so go ahead and get your tickets!

Floyd's 'Absence' wins Jean Kennedy Smith Playwriting Award

2012-02-27T00:08:00.000-05:00

Peter M. Floyd

Peter M. Floyd’s Absence is a co-recipient (along with The Man in the Sukkah by The University of Iowa's Deborah Yarchun) of the Jean Kennedy Smith Playwriting Award, part of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival's Michael Kanin Playwriting Awards program.

The Jean Kennedy Smith Playwriting Award is offered for the outstanding student-written script that explores the human experience of living with a disability.

The award will be presented on April 21 in the Kennedy Center Family Theater.

Congratulations, Peter!

Alumni news, in brief:

2012-02-27T00:05:00.000-05:00

Walt McGough

Walt McGough is DOUBLY nominated in the IRNE Awards' Best New Play, Small Theater category for The Farm (BPT) and Priscilla Dreams the Answer (Fresh Ink Theatre). Walt's short play Exposure will be part of this summer's Source Festival of new work in Washington D.C...

John Kuntz's Elliot Norton Award-winning (and IRNE-nominated -- Best New Play, Small Theater) The Hotel Nepenthe is on the calendar for this summer's Emerging America Festival...

Melinda Lopez's Sonia Flew gets off the ground later this week at Cal State Long Beach. Closer to home, Melinda's newest play, Becoming Cuba, is part of the Huntington's Theatre's Breaking Ground reading series on March 13 -- RSVP here...

Karmo Sanders' Birdie Googins: Accidentally Maine's only Supermodel & Possible Future Queen is now available on DVD. Take a look at a sample here...

Catch Werner Trieschmann read on Tales from the South on March 6...

Richard Snee and Steve Barkhimer will appear in Round and Round the Garden, the third installment of Alan Ayckbourn's The Norman Conquests trilogy, this summer at Gloucester Stage Company...

'EH' -- so true!

2012-02-23T08:48:00.000-05:00

Great photo! Thanks, Sarah Newhouse!

'Deported' update

2012-02-21T00:00:00.006-05:00

We're pleased to report that -- with only a little more than two weeks to opening night -- the USA Projects campaign for Deported/a dream play is 70 percent to goal. To those who have already offered a gift of support, thank you. To those who would still like to contribute, you may do so by visiting here. [A very important piece of information from the USA Projects FAQ: If a project reaches its fundraising goal by the deadline, it is funded. If it does not reach its goal, no pledges are processed, and the artist does not receive any funding.]

And (so you may plan ahead and arrange your calendar accordingly) there are a number of special events happening in conjunction with the play, including post-show talk backs, Armenian dance demonstrations, and more.

Be sure to visit the Deported Web site too!

Alumni news, in brief:

2012-02-20T00:00:00.003-05:00

Face It -- a one-woman ten-minute film written by Karmo Sanders will be presented as part of the Vancouver Women in Film Festival next month (and she acts in it, too!)...

Karen Zacarías' Legacy of Light opens this week at Ohio's Denison University...

The cast has been announced for Monica Bauer's My Occasion of Sin, opening next month at Urban Stages...

A glowing review for Molly Smith Metzler's Elemeno Pea, which closes at South Coast Rep on Feb. 26...

Read The Boston Globe's feature about Blood Rose Rising, co-created by Steve Barkhimer...and hear Bark discuss the series' premise here...

Nice feature about Joyce Van Dyke's Deported/a dream play in The Armenian Mirror-Spectator...

Check out how Jonathon Myers puts his MFA to work...

What do theatres need to do to save themselves? Colleen Hughes weighs in, in response to Brendan Kiley's post in The Stranger...

Meme fever!

2012-02-17T06:34:00.001-05:00

These have been making their way around Facebook and Twitter and tickling my funny bone this week, so of course I had to put them up here... (Would love to credit these creative peeps, but these things are passed around so much who knows where they actually originate, so I'll just say Thank you, magical mysterious meme makers!)

The Wow Factor

2012-02-16T00:11:00.002-05:00

Vanessa Rios y Valles | Photo: Petr Jerabe

Leslie Dillen tells us about the new way of working that inspired her Psalm of the Castle, which opens tomorrow night at Santa Fe’s Theaterwork as part of its Four by Four festival of chamber plays. Boy, do I wish I could see this!

Six months ago my writing life changed. I put the play back in my playwriting and discovered a new direction for my work. The director, David Olson of Theaterwork, a theater company here in Santa Fe, approached me and three other women writers to generate four chamber plays from our individual responses to an American woman poet, living or dead, of our choosing. Whatever we wrote Theaterwork would give these pieces full productions in February of 2012!

Wow! I’ve never had anyone say to me whatever you write we will produce, especially before it’s even written. So right away that took care of that wretched critic voice inside that says, who’s going to want to produce this?! Of course quickly that voice was replaced with the fear voice that said, you don’t know poetry or poets so how can write this?

Fortunately Olson encouraged us -- to break new writing ground, do anything we wanted, no boundaries or restrictions. We would meet every two weeks as a group to check in on our progress and share whatever we were doing. Good. Safety in numbers. I felt less afraid.

Trish Vecchio and Vanessa Rios y Valles | Photo: Petr Jerabek

I found a poet I liked – Denise Levertov. Rather than going the biographical route I decided to read her work and respond as though we were having a creative dialogue. Whatever poems hit me I set them aside to see if I could discover a common thread. Since I was writing this for a director who responds strongly to visual imagery in set, lighting and sound, I decided to make those elements integral to whatever I wrote.

Then the fun started. I composed weird music on my iPad with Garage Band and recorded some of the poems over the music. I made collages full of fantasy and danger. Favorite poems became dialogues. Confusions became dances. Soon I had two characters, a lost woman and a fallen angel inhabiting a Landscape of Longing.

Finally a script emerged integrating Levertov’s poetry and my words, a kind of adult fairy tale that falls off the edge. After some years of writing semi-autobiographical work I found a new avenue of expression because a director and his theater took a chance with me. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if more theaters in communities took chances like this with their playwrights?

On February 17 my chamber play Psalm of the Castle opens. The actors, the director, the sound, light and prop people have responded with their own imaginations and taken the play to a new level. How will an audience respond? I hope they enjoy experiencing the world of the play as much as I did in creating it.

Vanessa Rios y Valles and Trish Vecchio | Photo: Petr Jerabek

Love-filled alumni news, in brief:

2012-02-14T10:21:00.001-05:00

Monica Bauer's Off-Broadway bound My Occasion of Sin was awarded Best New Script at the Omaha Arts and Entertainment Awards, and her Made For Each Other was accepted to the Edinburgh Free Fringe...

Joyce Van Dyke's Deported/a dream play -- which opens on Mar. 8 -- is on the list of The Boston Globe's Critic's Picks...

Great review of Molly Smith Metzler's Elemeno Pea, now playing at South Coast Rep, right here...

Blood Rose Rising (co-written by Steve Barkhimer) opens Feb. 17 at the Davis Square Theatre, and Will Fancher's The River Was Whiskey opens at Middle Tennessee State University on Feb. 16...

Our Girl in Trenton, by Cliff Odle, will be part of Central Square Theatre's PlayPen Readings on Feb. 27...

Richard Snee will appear in the world premiere of Boston Children's Theatre's Reflections of a Rock Lobster Mar. 3-11...

The curtain will come down on the Broadway production of Lydia Diamond's Stick Fly on Feb. 26. Get tickets...

MJ Halberstadt reflects on the KCACTF Region 1 experience on his blog, and you can watch Colleen Hughes' KCACTF entry The Button here...

Alumni news, in brief:

2012-02-07T10:10:00.000-05:00

Coming soon: Blood Rose Rising, co-written by Steve Barkhimer (with Ben Evett), opens Feb 17 at Somerville's Davis Square Theatre. Keep tabs on this intriguing project here and here, and contribute to the production through its Kickstarter campaign...

What did Kate Snodgrass have to do with Boston Children's Theatre's production of Calvin's Monster? Read this article from The Boston Globe and find out...

A nice review of Molly Smith Metzler's Elemeno Pea, at South Coast Rep through Feb. 26...

And Monica Bauer's hometown paper kicks off the press coverage for her Off-Broadway bound My Occasion of Sin...

Metzler's 'Close Up Space' named Blackburn Prize finalist

2012-02-02T00:11:00.003-05:00

Molly Smith Metzler

Molly Smith Metzler’s Close Up Space – which closed last week at Manhattan Theatre Club – has been selected as a finalist for the 2012 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Congratulations, Molly! We can’t wait to see where this adventure takes you next! [Molly's Elemeno Pea opens at South Coast Rep Rep tomorrow night.]

Here’s the official announcement from the Blackburn Prize Web site:

The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize has announced 10 Finalists for its prestigious playwriting award, now celebrating its thirty-fourth year.

The ten Finalists for the 2011-2012 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, chosen from over 100 submitted plays, are:

Johnna Adams – Gidion’s Knot (U.S.); Alice Birch – Many Moons (U.K.); Madeleine George - Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England (U.S.); Jennifer Haley – The Nether (U.S.); Nancy Harris – No Romance (Ireland); Zinnie Harris – The Wheel (U.K.), Jaki McCarrick – Belfast Girls (U.K.), Molly Smith Metzler – Close Up Space (U.S.); Meg Miroshnik - The Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls (U.S.); Alexis Zegerman – The Steingolds (U.K.).

The Winner of the 2011-2012 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize will be named at the Awards Presentation on February 28th in London.

The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, co-founded by Emilie S. Kilgore and William Blackburn, annually honors an outstanding new English-language play by a woman. For over three decades, the Prize has encouraged women playwrights and drawn attention to notable new works. Many of the Winners have gone on to receive other honors, including Tony Awards and The Pulitzer Prize. The Finalist plays also benefit from the exposure, which generates interest and productions at theater companies across North America and the United Kingdom.

The 2011-2012 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize Winner will be awarded $20,000, and will also receive a signed and numbered print by renowned artist Willem de Kooning, created especially for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Each of the additional Finalists will receive $1,000.

The international panel of judges for the 2012 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize includes U.S. judges Randy Gener, award-winning writer/editor/critic; Martha Lavey, Artistic Director of the Steppenwolf Theatre (Chicago); and Frances McDormand, Oscar and Tony Award-winning film and stage star. U.K. judges are Jonathan Church, Artistic Director of the Chichester Festival Theatre; Ben Power, Associate Director of the National Theatre; and Imogen Stubbs, Actress/Writer/Director and stage and screen star.

The Houston-based Susan Smith Blackburn Prize received the 2010 Theatre Communications Group's National Funder Award. The annual honor goes to a company, foundation or other entity for “leadership and sustained national support of theater in America.”

The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize reflects the values and interests of Susan Smith Blackburn, noted American actress and writer who lived in London during the last 15 years of her life. She died in 1977 at the age of 42. Over 300 plays have been chosen as Finalists since the Prize was instituted in 1977. Over 80 of them are frequently produced in the United States today. Seven Blackburn Finalist plays have gone on to win the Pulitzer Prize in Drama. The authors of those plays, Margaret Edson, Beth Henley, Marsha Norman, Lynn Nottage, Suzan-Lori Parks, Paula Vogel and Wendy Wasserstein are the only women to have done so since the Blackburn Prize was first established.

American playwright Katori Hall received the 2010- 2011 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for her play HurtVillage, which was nominated by Signature Theatre Company (New York), where the play will premiere on February 7.

Other recipients of the Prize include Chloe Moss’s This Wide Night, Judith Thompson’s Palace of the End, Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti's Behzti(Dishonour), Sarah Ruhl's The Clean House, Dael Orlandersmith's Yellowman, Cheryl West’s Before It Hits Home, Susan Miller's A Map of Doubt and Rescue, Gina Gionfriddo's U.S. Drag, Bridget Carpenter's Fall, Charlotte Jones' Humble Boy, Naomi Wallace’s One Flea Spare, Wendy Kesselman’s My Sister in this House, Jessica Goldberg's Refuge, Paula Vogel's How I Learned to Drive, Moira Buffini's Silence and Caryl Churchill’s Serious Money.

Former judges of The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize over the past thirty-three years are a Who’s Who of the English-speaking theatre and include, Edward Albee, Eileen Atkins, Blair Brown, Zoe Caldwell, Jill Clayburgh, Glenn Close, Harold Clurman, Colleen Dewhurst, Ralph Fiennes, John Guare, A.R. Gurney, David Hare, Doug Hughes, Judith Ivey, Tony Kushner, Janet McTeer, Marsha Norman, Joan Plowright, Marian Seldes, Fiona Shaw, Tom Stoppard, Meryl Streep, Jessica Tandy, Paula Vogel, Wendy Wasserstein, August Wilson and Joanne Woodward among nearly 200 artists in the United States, the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Each year artistic directors and prominent professionals in the theatre throughout the English-speaking world are invited to submit plays. Plays are eligible whether or not they have been produced, but any premiere production must have occurred within the preceding year. Each script receives multiple readings by members of an international reading committee that then selects ten Finalists. All six judges read each Finalist’s play.

Alumni news, in brief:

2012-01-31T00:35:00.006-05:00

Mariela in the Desert (Mariela en el Desierto), by Karen Zacarías, opens in its world premiere on Feb. 6 at NYC's Repertorio Español’s Gramercy Arts Theater...

Emily Kaye Lazzaro's short Saving Deshawn is on the bill of Stone Soup Theatre's (Seattle) Double XX Fest this spring. And that's double X as in two X chromosomes, y'all, so get your minds out of the gutter...

Demonio at The Hunt's God of Carnage

Kate Snodgrass' Heideman Award-winning Haiku will be part of Goshen College's Winter One-Acts this weekend...

Molly Smith Metzler talked about South Coast Rep's production of Elemeno Pea with The Orange County Register...

Back by popular demand: More dates announced for Sinan Ünel's A Madperson's Chronicle of a Miserable Marriage at NYC's Stage Left Studio...

Peggy's Properties by MJ Halberstadt will be part of StrangeDog's First Annual Beer Battered Play Festival this spring in NYC...

Here's the official announcement for Monica Bauer's My Occasion of Sin, which will bow Off-Broadway in March...

Read Donna Sorbello's article about director David Wheeler on the Actors' Equity Web site. Wheeler died earlier this month at the age of 86...

Behind the scenes at KCACTF Region 1...

2012-01-30T00:15:00.002-05:00

They may not have won any awards this time around -- although it should be said that it's a huge honor to have work selected for regional competition, so congratulations, guys! -- but BPTers had a good time making friends at last week's KCACTF Region 1 competition at Fitchburg State University. Roving photog Kate shared a few pictures...

Colleen Hughes and Lesley University's Angel Nunez

Kate, with current BPT students MJ Halberstadt and Michael S. Parsons

KCACTF Artistic Director Gregg Henry with Region 1 NPP Chair Brandt Reiter

Jaclyn Villano, MJ Halberstadt, and Michael S. Parsons

Peter M. Floyd and Lesley University's Charlene Donaghy

About KCACTF

Started in 1969 by Roger L. Stevens, the Kennedy Center's founding chairman, the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) is a national theater program involving 18,000 students from colleges and universities nationwide that has served as a catalyst in improving the quality of college theater in the United States.

The KCACTF has grown into a network of more than 600 academic institutions throughout the country, where theater departments and student artists showcase their work and receive outside assessment by KCACTF respondents. The KCACTF regional festival showcases performances, design exhibits, workshops, and seminars.

In the past, topics have included playwriting, auditioning, voice, movement, stage combat, theater for children, scene painting, scenery construction, makeup effects, and so on. There are sessions for the beginning theater artist and the experienced faculty member. During January and February, a total of eight regional festivals are held throughout the country.

The Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival provides opportunities for students to compete regionally and, if selected, nationally in all areas of theater, including design, acting, production, and playwriting.

Boston University participates in KCACTF Region 1, which includes institutions from Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and Eastern New York.

Demonio gets "Smashed"

2012-01-27T07:00:00.000-05:00

I’ve said it here before, and I’ll say it again: I’m a sucker for a fun marketing idea. And, you know, Demonio is obsessed with this show before it’s even started really, so of course he had to try it. Like, five times, because we deserve to live in a world where Mexican wrestlers pay homage to Lena Horne. It’s Friday, so Smash yourself.

A few things that have been on my mind this week

2012-01-26T00:43:00.000-05:00

And if that title didn’t scare the bejesus* out of you and you kept reading, good for you! Here goes:

We will only be talking about this more, as the year (which is already flying by) goes on: The 2012 TCG National Conference is going to be in Beantown, y’all*. In less than 150 days! Read Teresa Eyring’s Weekly Update, which focuses on the event and ways she hopes Boston will “Model the Movement.”

I was thrilled to learn that Mike Daisey’s excellent, excellent show The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs will be returning to The Public next week. In the meantime, take a listen* to the adaptation of the monologue on NPR’s This American Life.

And, in case you missed it: As a follow-up to our [very un-scientific] look at feelings about tweet seats in Boston, playwright Jason Grote weighs in on the issue in this article from The Washington Post.

* Note the Southerness coming through in this post. Why here? Why now? No idea.

Support 'Deported'

2012-01-25T07:00:00.002-05:00

Six weeks from tomorrow the curtain will go up at the Modern Theatre on Deported/a dream play, Joyce Van Dyke's new play about two women friends and the repercussions of the Armenian genocide. Opening night will mark the beginning of an exciting new phase of this play's journey, one that has unfolded through years of its unique development process…which you can read all about here.

This project needs your support. Here is how the Deported team describes its fundraising goals on its USA Projects page:

In an era of small-cast plays with two or three characters, this play has over 20 characters from different cultures, played by a cast of seven actors, plus seven dancers. Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, the producer, is a small non-profit theatre dedicated exclusively to the production of new plays.

The cost of this non-profit production is $78,000, which is much more than Boston Playwrights’ Theatre's typical budget for a new play. We still need to raise additional funds. The artists have already raised over $17,000 for this production. Our USA goal is to raise the last $10,085 needed to meet the theatre's production costs. If we are lucky enough to raise more than $10,085, we will spend the additional funds on promotion and outreach to bring the play to the attention of the widest possible community.

Learn more about this amazing project on the play’s official Web site, a Q&A with playwright Joyce Van Dyke on this blog…and please consider making a donation via USA Projects. (And share this post with your friends!)

Alumni news, in brief:

2012-01-24T11:21:00.000-05:00

Jackson Heights, 3 a.m., co-written by Les Hunter, is in its world premiere run at NYC’s Theatre 167 (produced in association with Queens Theatre) through Feb. 5. Tickets and more information here…

The Off-Broadway run of Zayd Dohrn’s Outside People – a co-production by NYC’s Naked Angels and the Vineyard Theatre – has been extended through Feb. 4…

Molly Smith Metzler – whose Elemeno Pea opens at South Coast Rep on Feb 3 – was featured in Sunday’s Los Angeles Times. And, take a look at the set model here…

Monica Bauer’s short House Broken will be included in the Abingdon Theatre’s fundraiser The Denial Plays on Feb. 14…

New Voices @ New Rep Playwriting Fellow Emily Kaye Lazzaro declared Old Habits Die Hard on the New Rep blog…

Stick Fly media round up: Lydia Diamond in The Huffington Post, on The American Theatre Wing’s Working in the Theatre, and in conversation with David Dower on HowlRound’s Friday Phone Call…

Never too late

2012-01-19T00:32:00.002-05:00

I had planned to post this on Monday. When I wasn’t able to, I was disappointed and just wasn’t going to put it up at all. But then I felt guilty about letting the week go by and decided that was the wrong attitude; truth is, the questions asked and ideas raised in these posts from other blogs are worth reading whether it’s MLK Jr. Day, Week…or any old time.

First, “Why Am I Afraid to Write African American Characters?” from HowlRound, by playwright and teacher Marshall Botvinick. Make sure you read the comments too – lots of interesting thoughts in there, including this from our own Monica Bauer:

I grew up in a segregated city, in a Polish neighborhood. When I was 12 years old, the local Accordion Studio was turned, almost over night, into a Rock and Roll Studio, where neighborhood kids could learn to imitate bad top 40 bands. My first drum teacher was also the first black man I ever met, the late, great, Luigi Waites. I wondered how it was that Luigi got along so well with the Accordion Guy who owned the store. Thirty years later, that's turned into a play that Urban Stages will open this March, My Occasion of Sin.

When I first started developing this at Nebraska Rep. Theater, there was only one black character in the play: Luigi. The play's climax comes during a race riot, inspired by the all-too-real race riot of 1969 in my home town (Omaha). After the staged reading, the only black person present (other than Luigi) spoke out, saying he was disappointed there was not enough of the black perspective in the play. A year later, a new character, a 14 year old black girl, started talking to me.

When the play was produced in Omaha this past April, there were Talkbacks given with me sharing the stage with black folks who had lived through that riot. And the most important thing to me was hearing them say that I "got it right, told the truth." So I'd encourage anybody to write about any subject where they have a genuine emotional connection. Be brave. But be respectful. And listen.

Second, Sukari Jones’ “Keeping it Real: Black Female Playwrights and the Myth of ‘Authenticity’” on the Public Theater’s blog. Jones is a member of the emerging playwrights group there, and her post is about her excitement for the recent boom of plays by African American women on Broadway…and how those high profile plays have caused her to reflect on her own identity and work.

Good stuff. Important stuff.

Alumni news, in brief:

2012-01-17T10:55:00.000-05:00

Steve Barkhimer -- along with the rest of the cast of Superior Donuts at Lyric Stage -- got a shout-out in The Globe...

A photo gallery from last week's opening of Zayd Dohrn's Outside People...

Food Douche, a short play by Molly Smith Metzler, is included in The Urban Dictionary Plays, presented by NYC's Ars Nova Play Group at Ars Nova, Feb. 1-11...

Exactly the kind of thing that makes Google Alerts fun: Check out photographer Peter Sumner Walton Bellamy's blog, which includes creative portraits of Melinda Lopez and other playwrights...

Theresa Rebeck fan Demonio (at right, in front of the Seminar marquee) was thrilled when he learned he could download the pilot episode of one of his favorite BTM playwrights' new NBC series for free...and he thinks you should watch Smash too...

Tweet seats: Yay or nay?

2012-01-13T00:03:00.001-05:00

In order to reach new audiences, theatres around the country are employing a range of social media tactics, among them "tweet seats" -- designated sections of the house reserved for patrons who want to tweet during the show. Locally, Lyric Stage is one theatre considering implementing such a section, and when our own Rick Park wrote this post for the One-Minute Play Festival blog last week (just the other day, John Greiner-Ferris weighed in as well), I began to wonder how we feel about this issue. I sent out an e-mail asking, How do you feel about the notion of designated "tweet seats" at live performances? Here's what some of us had to say:

Gregory Fletcher
@Fletcher10027
Perhaps for a specific production that had something to do with social networking or asked for up-to-the-minute comments, "tweet seats" might be a fun gimmick to fill some seats. But if I'm watching a performance, the last thing I would want (as a playwright or audience member) is someone near me distracting me with movement and the light on their phone. Despite the fact that I sometimes tweet, there's a time and place for tweeting like everything else. And in a dark room, sitting with a tight group of people, all focused on a world we are observing or stepping into--this is not a place for tweeting.

Kirsten Greenidge
Mmmm...my initial thought when I heard about tweet seats was this one: a few months ago I had my first New York show up and I became hyper aware of tweeting and Facebook activity related to my play. One hand it was wonderful to be so accessible to people who had seen and experienced my words. One the other hand it was completely unsettling. I was not sure if, when people posted or tweeted about my show that it would be information I wanted or needed to know. Sometimes people would ask to "friend" me, then unleash all their thoughts about my play TO me. It wasn't that I felt my play was perfect, it was that I am also working on other plays and am very careful about my process when I do that. I began to fear I was asking the theater community to treat me like a delicate flower of a writer until I came across a Facebook exchange where a person posted about seeing a certain show multiple times, such as "I am going to see _____" "Am so excited to see_____" "Am sitting in third row of _______". At intermission she posted something that resembled this: "Seeing ______. I sure hope the second act is better. This is slow and terrible". Which is a provocative post to your 600 Facebook friends but a somewhat devastating post to one of this person's Facebook "friends" in particular, who happened to be performing in yes, the first and second act of _______". Her comment on the post was something that resembled "wish I had not read that. Going to be really hard to do act II in two minutes".

I have read similar exchanges on Facebook and have less experience with Twitter, but I began to ask: what is the relationship between tweeting/posting and the artist? What value is there in inviting tweeting in minute one of a performance when illumination, understanding, gratification might come in minute one hundred sixteen of a performance? And what happens if understanding happens in minute two, but said poster or tweeter was too busy typing to hear it. Thus making the tweet for minute three, "this play makes no sense, wish I was drinking instead".

We can argue whether a blue screen is distracting to other patrons (my opinion: it and typing are distracting to everyone, especially in a smaller house), but it seems completely contradictory for a theater that cares about its artists to allow instant commentary flow in a way that might compromise the work on stage.

Colleen Hughes
@colleenm_hughes
I like the idea of tweeting during intermission. I think for me personally, if I were to tweet during the show itself, I'd miss a lot of what was going on. I think there's better ways of attracting younger audiences besides allowing "tweet seats," such as offering new work that might appeal to a younger audience or lower ticket prices. I'm more a fan of tweeting during a show if it's a festival of shorter work, because you can fit in a quick tweet in between performances and promote each individual artist you want to support. With a single full-length work, I feel that most tweets could wait until intermission or after the show.

Dramaturg Ilana Brownstein tweeted about tweeting

Ginger Lazazus
@Glazwright
A story, and a confession: Last year, I attended an outdoor theater production of As You Like It. More importantly, I posted on Facebook that I was going. I like to post on Facebook about the shows I'm attending, because in doing so I'm helping to promote the Boston theater scene. And also, because I get attention. I like attention.

So by the time we got settled on our blanket, I checked my iPhone and found some friends had commented on my post (woo-hoo!) Specifically, someone alerted me to some hilarious in-jokes that I should watch out for in this production. Which I eagerly did. And when I saw one, I was in such raptures I had to comment back, right at that moment. RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SHOW.

And then I felt like a HUGE JERK. I had just posted on Facebook. In the middle of a show. Had I no restraint? Was my post really so genius, so insightful, so...anything that it had to be broadcast right at that moment? (In case there's any doubt...no, it was not.) I could have waited. I could have waited, and watched the show in the meantime, actually paid attention like the rest of the audience. (It was daylight, so the glow of my screen wasn't bothering anyone, but it was daylight, so anyone--including actors, some of whom were my friends--could have seen that I was looking at my sleek little device instead of at the stage.) And even worse...my daughter was with me. Probably she was too busy flashing her underwear at someone to notice (she's four), but still. That's the kind of example I was setting: this dumb digital doohickey was as deserving of my attention as this, her very first live Shakespeare performance. Go, Mom.

Social media are described as revolutionary, and yes--yes, they are. Someone else can talk about their profound impacts and benefits. I myself feel compelled to point out that the deep, dark draw of these media is the promise of--for at least the space of a post or a tweet--attention. For just a moment, it's all about me. Which is fine, really. There's nothing wrong with that! But do you deserve attention in the middle of a show? If you couldn't tweet, would you resort to throwing popcorn at the stage, or standing up and flashing your underwear at everyone? (Even if you're four, you know where that's going to get you.)

We all have our own personal response to a performance--that's great. In fact, that's the whole point of theater--to provoke us into a response. What a joy it is to laugh with my daughter when Ganymede bosses Orlando around, or see her eyes light up when Audrey comes out in her wedding dress. But to take myself out of the moment to digitally broadcast this to a whole bunch of people who aren't physically present, to mark the moment in cyberspace just because I can? That is not revolutionary. It is sad.

Robert Murphy
No matter where you are sitting in the house, it is disrespectful and distracting to the actors on stage. This is live theatre, friends, come and sit at the grown up table.

Lack of Twitter is not keeping away the coveted and elusive "young market,"programming is.

K. Alexa Mavromatis
@bptalumni (and sometimes @PlaywrightsBPT)
I consider Twitter useful in "keeping up with the conversation"; I learn about a lot of theatre-related goings-ons/issues via Twitter, and for that purpose view it as a very good thing indeed. Events -- including plays -- are enhanced by the level of buzz social media tools can help create. It's exciting. I will, no doubt, be among the tweeters during this year's Boston Theater Marathon, for example…but only during the breaks between plays. (I think the key is recognizing events -- like the BTM -- for which tweeting may be appropriate, and finding ways to allow the buzz to surround a show…not allowing it to become the irritating hum that distracts from the show.)

That said, I can't get excited about "tweet seats" and live tweeting (which is a whole different animal) as a standard part of the theatre-going experience and this is why: I often find myself in the awkward position of having to reinforce even to most basic manners to theatre-goers around me (e.g., "Will you please stop kicking my chair?" and "Do you mind taking your conversation to the lobby?"). If cell phone use is allowed in the house at all -- even tweeting, in a designated area of the theatre -- I have little confidence that people in any area of the theatre would be able to restrain themselves from texting the babysitter, responding to e-mails, playing Words With Friends, etc. I simply do not believe most people have the manners to handle it.

Sarah Newhouse
I do not tweet. I have no desire. Nor do I have any desire to perform for a group of people while they're tweeting. Theater is an intimate, unique experience that is reflected upon individually as it's happening. It becomes something else when the audience is engaged in a different activity. Not theater. I am a firm advocate of all things in their proper time & place. And I fear for the future of communication if we can't even have a conversation with another human being without constantly checking our phones, our email, updating our statuses, tweeting, or recording life as it happens. I may be old-fashioned, but why go to the theater if you aren't interested in hearing the story, reveling in the nuances, entering into the realm alongside your fellow audience members, and breathing the air in the room together?

Michael Duncan Smith
@PlaywrightsBPT
I guess I'm somewhat conflicted on the matter.

Firstly, I ABSOLUTELY see the benefit to live-tweeting events and social media in general when it comes to theatre. It's a lot of fun and it allows the audience to engage in a different way than ever before.

But…I also don't want to alienate patrons who are used to a more traditional evening of theatre as a certain glow emanates from a group of seats specifically designated.

I'm always up to try something new and as long as other patrons are aware ahead of time that a certain night will be whip-out-you-phone night at the theatre I'd love to see how it is received.

Werner Trieschmann
@wernertplays
Theatre as a church-quiet place where we all respect the work on stage and focus full-bore on the actors is a relatively new development in the history of theatre. Actors in Shakespeare's age would laugh like crazy at the idea of somebody typing being a distraction. While chasing the latest fad is almost never a good idea, I can't see the harm in selling a couple of tweet seats in the back. Pretty soon we're all going to have computers wired right into our heads. Then we'll all have to really deal with this issue.

What do you think? Feel free to add a comment below.

Off-Broadway debut for Bauer, with award-winning play at Urban Stages

2012-01-11T07:00:00.009-05:00

Monica Bauer

My Occasion of Sin will mark Monica Bauer's off-Broadway debut with a production this spring at Urban Stages.

Here’s the official announcement:

Urban Stages is proud to announce its spring production of My Occasion of Sin by Monica Bauer – a play that was submitted during our 'Words By Women' Reading Series.   

1969. Omaha, Nebraska. Around town feet tap to new types of rhythms – to Soul, to Rock and Roll and, most of all, to Jazz! Mary and Vivian, two young girls from two different sides of town – the white side and the black side – vow to drink the jazz scene in for their own private reasons. Music seems to unite and uplift everyone around despite creed or color…that is, for a little while. Soon racial tensions grow louder than beats on a drum and the lives of the young girls are the first demolished.   

Previews begin March 16, with opening night set for March 21.

My Occasion of Sin received a workshop production at Omaha’s Shelterbelt Theatre last April. That production won two of Omaha’s Theatre Arts Guild Awards (one for outstanding script), and is currently nominated for an Omaha Arts and Entertainment Award (in the Best New Script category). The play was also was a finalist for The Abingdon Theatre’s (NYC) Christopher Brian Wolk Award in 2011.

Monica shared her account of My Occasion of Sin’s “meandering” journey to production with us here.

Congratulations on the next stop on the journey, Monica! Road trip!

Alumni news, in brief:

2012-01-09T07:00:00.008-05:00

Zayd Dohrn and his wife Rachel

Zayd Dohrn's Outside People opens tomorrow night at NYC's Vineyard Theatre, in a co-production with Naked Angels. Check out the trailer...

This article from The Washington Post has a great quote from Karen Zacarías...

Walt McGough got some love from The Boston Globe...

Molly Smith Metzler is in rehearsal for the South Coast Repertory production of her Humana hit Elemeno Pea...

Werner Trieschmann shared a year-end recap of playwriting-related activities on his great-looking blog, and Anna Renée Hansen compared playwriting with open-heart surgery on the New Rep blog...

Playbill offered a look back at their covers for all the Broadway shows of 2011. Check out number 40...

Acme Theater's 11th annual New Works Winter Festival will include Perspective by Peter M. Floyd and Jinxed by K. Alexa Mavromatis...

Rothko fan: Demonio at SpeakEasy's Red

A look at some of what puts the oomph in OMPF

2012-01-08T02:53:00.001-05:00


Demonio Rosa heads inside


OMPF AD Dominic D'Andrea and Kate start the show


A packed house


Jessica Maria Tuccelli, with Tracy and Pat Gabridge


Mingling


The scene backstage. Well, in the hall. You know.


Relieved: Dominic post-show


Playwright AND performer Emily Kaye Lazzaro after the show. She did a great job. Two more performances! Join us!

OMPFBOS: All the stuff (and more)

2012-01-06T03:06:00.023-05:00


Boston Playwrights' Theatre \| Jan. 7-9 \| 8 p.m.

We hopeyou’re planning to join us this weekend for the first-ever Boston One-MinutePlay Festival. Here’s a little information round-up, so that you’re ready foran exciting weekend.

Tickets:

If youdon’t have tickets yet, buy them now online or by calling (866)811-4111.

Livestream:

Tell your far-flungfriends and fans that Monday night’s performance will be live streamed (andarchived) on AVNPI/Arena Stage's New PlayTV! http://www.livestream.com/newplay

OMPF Website:

The OMPFsite/blog has lots of good reading about the one-minute play experience, somake sure you check it out for additional information about the event…includingposts from OMPF playwrights Lisa Burdick, Patrick Gabridge, Walt McGough, Rick Park, and more.

This blog:

Don't miss Kate's thoughts on OMPF and parts one and two of our Q&A with OMPF Founder DominicD'Andrea.

Globe feature:

Hot off thepress, right here.

WBUR's WeekendArts Picks:

Featuring areading of Patrick Gabridge's Card Holder Services.

Twitter:

Use#OMPFBOS or #OMPF to spread the word and continue the conversation after theshow!

Facebook:

"Like"the OMPF Facebook page and the invite to share!

List of plays(directed by Steven Bogart, Ben Evett, Megan Gleeson, Jason King Jones, M.Bevin O’Gara, and Summer L. Williams):

Hey by John Shea

No Ice by Christine Evans

Princess by Natalia Naman

Two AndA Half Seconds byMatt Mayerchak

Tough by Ronan Noone

Boyfriend by Michael Hammond

Bye ByeBilly by PatrickGabridge

Pop by Barbara Blumenthal-Ehrlich

Brothers by Ronan Noone

Wolf atthe Door by DeirdreGirard

ThePenguin Sees Foreverby Walt McGough

Whitethorn by James McLindon

OnePerfect Minute byMatt Mayerchak

BadPeople by EmilyKaye Lazzaro

A BrightSpot by William C.Fancher

CardHolder Services byPatrick Gabridge

Portrait by March Schrader

RestStop by MarchSchrader

SnowDome by GregoryHischak

The Flaw by Peter M. Floyd

SweetGirl by Anna RenéeHansen

DivineIntervention by S.Faria

Love No.38 by MichaelBradford

Drive ByHarvester by JoeByers

Persuader by William Donnelly

LastMinute by DeirdreGirard

DaylightSavings by GregoryHischak

TheFight by IsraelHorovitz

StrangledEggs by Dan Hunter

TheBusiness by JackNeary

ThePunchline by JackNeary

You'veBeen Approved byRick Park

ExplodingWatermelons by JohnZakrosky Jr.

Too MuchTo Ask by RosannaYamagiwa Alfaro

WorseThan Demeaning byRosana Yamagiwa Alfaro

That'sThat by William C.Fancher

Cups by Kirsten Greenidge

Wake by Heather Houston

A MinuteAlone by ColleenHughes

GivingThanks by ColleenHughes

The ManIn The Moon by K.Alexa Mavromatis

What ItFelt Like by WaltMcGough

MondayNight by NataliaNaman

Dishes by John Shea

The Wind by Donna Sorbello

Curse IsBack by BarbaraBlumenthal-Ehrlich

Research by Michael Bradford

Rotary by Joe Byers

RidiculousProfundity by LydiaDiamond

Check by Anna Renée Hansen

Bingo by Emily Kaye Lazzaro

Breathless by Christopher Lockheardt

ChickenDance by K. AlexaMavromatis

TrafficStop by JamesMcLindon

SwingAnd A Miss by RickPark

Hide AndSeek Ken Urban

Penny by Elizabeth Burdick

Quarrel by Lisa Burdick

Hit Play By William Donnelly

SpaceAnd Contract ByStephen Faria

Arrival by Peter M. Floyd

Lettuce by Kirsten Greenidge

TheVerdict by MichaelHammond

InPerson by HeatherHouston

WaterHeater by DanHunter

Reinforcement by Christopher Lockheardt

TheWatch by MWALIM

See youthere!

Part two of our Q&A with OMPF founder Dominic D'Andrea, in which we discuss things he's learned and what's unique about Boston

2012-01-04T07:00:00.000-05:00

We're in the final stretch of preparations for the first-ever Boston One-Minute Play Festival, to be held at BPT this weekend -- January 7-9. Rehearsals are well underway, and directors, playwrights, and actors are offering their thoughts in the Twittersphere (feel free to join the conversation with #OMPFBOS). Proceeds from the event will support new plays in our community, and we hope you'll join us!

Today I offer part two of my Q&A with OMPF Founder Dominic D'Andrea. I feel like I've learned a lot as a festival participant, and I love what Dominic shares about the lessons he's learned along the way, in his five+ years working on this project...and the insights he's gained about Boston.

And in case you missed it, here's part one.

KAM: As youcurate and organize One-Minute Play Festivals throughout the country, what doyou learn about the communities involved? What have you learned about Boston?Are there themes, issues, styles, etc., that are unique to us?

DD: Wow, theseare HUGE questions. I’ll attempt to frame this.

First, it’simportant to note that OMPF does NOT tell writers what to write about. OMPFengages writers to create new work specifically for this festival, using a setof offerings: examine and create a relationship to the space of a minute; knowwhat it is for yourself and don’t make an assumption about it; focus on creatinga single theatrical moment; start from the smallest possible unit and work up.This unit can be a line, a word, an action, and image, but identifyingsomething and building up to a minute to create meaning/consider the experiencethe writer is offering. It’s about the navigation of saying something in that space,while making it feel relaxed, considered, and have the opportunity to reallyland. Working this way as opposed to cramming a bunch of content in, whichmakes the experience about a clock racing down from 60 seconds. They canapproach it any other way too, as long as it can be stages with four chairslights up/down in under a minute, and provide clear emotional, visceral, orstory content. All of this is to say: I give a lot of structural offerings, butnever thematic. That’s up to the writer.

I’ve grownto think of the work OMPF does as sort of the ultimate artistic survey/core-sample/cross-section of the work of writers in each community. It reallyis a conversation between the collective conscious and the individual voice. Ibasically look at the landscape of the work that comes into me, and try to makeconnections as to what’s being said.

What I’velearned is that in every city, every year, many themes, styles, and storiesemerge that are totally unique to those specific populations of writers at thosespecific times. They never repeat themselves in any city. OMPF looks different each and every time.This says to me that theatre really is a completely local phenomenon, and doesnot have a broad national identity. I think this is the one thing theatre cando that film and TV can’t: be for, about, and by specific communities. I thinkthe future of the theatre lies in acting locally: looking inward, and notpushing outward. OMPF has informed my value system in this way, and in light ofthat I try to be really careful to meet writers and artists where they are, asopposed to prescribe much beyond the basic structure.

Dominic D'Andrea

I’velearned that Boston has a whole lot of writers. There’s a ton of amazingwriters that I’ve never heard of before, but have offered very profound work inthe space of a minute. These writers are among the hardest working collectivegroup of writers I’ve experienced in the festival before. I often ask forrevised drafts, but here, I’ve gotten a dozen plus additional drafts of playsbeyond what I’ve required. I’ve learned that there are many different attitudesand perspectives about Boston and New England in these ranks: what it means tobe a New Englander. I was not aware of the cultural implications on that levelbefore. I’ve learned there are some major voices in Boston, which are demandingto be heard. I can’t wait to see if the OMPF forum offers any sort of possibleconduit for these voices.

It’s alwaysinteresting when I go to a new city, because it’s like starting over at squareone each time. In NYC we are almost six years deep. The festival, its aesthetic,and the community around it is quite evolved. When going to a new city, there’sa big learning curve the first year, as most of the writers have not done thisbefore. I have been very aware of the need for each festival to have theopportunity to plant its own seeds, make its own mistakes, and evolve based onthat local culture. I try to set everyone up for success as best as possible,but in the end: it will never look the same in any two cities. They have allbeen successful in different ways, and I think that speaks to the strength ofthe whole thing. I look at this as a long-term investment in a communityconversation for years to come, not just a one-off. This is true for Boston.But I am very impressed by the level of participation it started from.

As forthemes: I don’t want to give too much away. I’ll say that the MAJOR theme inBoston this year is deep loss. There are many plays dealing with the loss ofloved ones, the loss of family, the loss of status, or circumstance, or pride,or money, or the loss of an era. There’s also big racial conversation in a lotof these plays, that’s a little more heightened and pointed than in othercities. I can’t speak to what this is about yet, but I’m really curious tounpack this a bit further. It seems to me, as an objective outsider, that theremay be a real deep need to discuss or investigate topics of race that can evengo further. I think the work here might just be scratching the surface. And above all: a style of writing. It’sdialogue heavy work. In SF there were a lot of plays that were gestural orsymbolic, and here the work looks like quite the opposite overall. I’ll becurious to see if this changes when the plays are realized in space.

I’ll sayoverall: come and find out for yourselves! Come see what’s on your writers’’minds.

KAM: Whathave you learned yourself, as an artist, through the experience of curatingthese Festivals? And what do you hope the communities engaged gain through theprocess?

DD: Anotherhuge set of questions! For me, I’ll say that OMPF has allowed me to be anartistic leader on my terms and in my ways. It was a change to marry what Iknow about directing, dramaturgy, the new play culture or “development” (I hatethat term!), community-based and applied theatre practice, and the partyculture. I’ve learned that what happens at the bar after the event is asimportant as the even itself. It seems silly, but very true. People havingbeers and talking in the spirit of art making and community building is anunderestimated powerful tool to effect lasting change. Hell, I got the idea forthis festival while having a beer and shooting the shit! I’ve learned to lookfor the gaps: listen to what the artists say they need to investigate or whatopportunities they need in their communities, look at the partneringinstitutions to see what they are missing in their programming, look to see howthis kind of programming can bridge gaps, if any. I’ve learned to let thewriters set the tone, and set their own goals. My hope is simply that they willengage in this, and see the meaning and the value. I’ve learned how to holdpeople accountable for their ideas and work: from institutional promises andplanning to the engagement in the writing and the executing of thedirecting. This includes myself for myown work. I’ve learned how to adjust, set goals, and create a sustainable modelfor theatremaking that can look different each time.

I’m stilllearning how to ask for what I need to make this happen in the long-term. OMPFis growing at a rate that is unbelievable. And because it’s a unique model ithas unique needs. To be totally honest, I was not completely equipped for thelevel of success it reached so quickly, so I constantly feel like I’m playingcatch-up. It’s been an incredible journey; an exhausting, penniless one for mepersonally, but I would not trade it for the world. This next chapter in theworld of OMPF will be about staffing, fundraising, and publishing.

There willbe much more news on this front later. But right now: it’s all about BOSTON!!!

Stand in the place where you lived: restaurants, religion, wrestlers

2012-01-01T19:36:00.000-05:00

The town where I grew up is known for the music it produces. (Yeah, yeah, college football also puts us on the map, and we’re proud of that too.) Many people I’ve known over the years have journeyed to Athens, Georgia to seek their musical fortunes – sort of an “If I can make it at the 40 Watt, I can make it anywhere” kind of thing, I suppose. I feel lucky to be the product of an environment that is supportive not just of music, but of the arts in general: This is the land of alligator-shaped dulcimers, entire stores devoted to handmade clothes, artfully-arranged detritus (a.k.a. yard art), and a bunch of other things that may or may not qualify as art in other regions. Like whirlygigs. And playing the saw (yeah, the tool). Truthfully, it’s a bit of a free-for-all, which can be encouraging: Sometimes I remind myself that if somebody can put a rusted-out boat motor topped with the head from a deer statue in their yard and call it art, then surely I can be brave enough to write a play.

Anyway, we’ve talked about the inspiration music provides here before. I spent some time in Athens last week, and sort of accidentally ended up giving my brother (and Demonio) an R.E.M. mini-tour. Of course, the band's music figures prominently on my growing up/young adulthood soundtrack. I say "accidentally," because when we were driving around one day, my brother told me he didn't know about these places and one thing led to another:

People know this railroad trestle from the cover of R.E.M.’s first LP, Murmur

R.E.M.’s 1992 album takes its name from the slogan for this soul food joint. (I’m sure the food inspired them too!)

Before they were losing their religion (sorry, sorry), the band played its first show at a party held here, at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in 1980 (not operating as a church at the time)

Dominic D'Andrea on the origins of OMPF, how 10-minute plays provided a jumping-off point, and what (and who) brought him to BPT

2011-12-30T07:00:00.000-05:00

Dominic D'Andrea

I'm looking forward to the first-ever Boston One-Minute Play Festival and since the event is being co-produced by BPT, that gives me an excuse to ask questions...lots of 'em. I was eager to know more about one-minute plays, the genesis -- and growth -- of the Festival (which has grown from a single event in NYC to a nationwide movement in a half dozen years), OMPF's mission, and, well, keep reading.

OMPF Founder Dominic D'Andrea gamely and graciously (and thoroughly!) answered my queries, and I can't bear to cut a single word. What follows is the first of two parts of our Q&A, so get ready to be inspired.

Tickets can be purchased online; proceeds from the event will support new plays in our community, so be sure to come check it out on January 7-9 right here at BPT.

KAM: How did the first One-Minute Play Festival (in NYC)come about?

DD: The One-Minute Play Festival actuallystarted over half a decade ago when a theatre company I am a member of and Iparticipated in a large national short form festival sponsored by a major NYCinstitution that was supposed to be about inclusion, bringing the communitytogether, and deep conversation/collaboration with people who wouldn’t normallywork together. I really bought into the whole culture of this festival, anddeeply wanted it to be a transformative experience. I spent a lot of timecrafting the work for it with no resources, as did my colleagues. Some of thework assigned to us was really tough to connect to our work and personalmissions, as it was about a singular writer, but we tried to “go big” and “makeit our own.”

Long story short: After going through it, Iwas really disappointed by the reality. I didn’t meet anybody, and didn’t haveany meaningful conversations, I didn’t learn anything, and I was neithertransformed nor transported. It felt like we simply participated in a massivePR stunt, or some bizarre ongoing flash mob and not much like the communitytheatre event it said it was. I felt duped. I felt like I had just participatedin a system that had nothing to do with me or my community, or the communitiesaround me. It felt about as personal as taking the SATs.

While I really loved this institution (andstill do) for their history and importance, I felt this particular event fellvery short of its goals they so eloquently articulated—at least I can say thatwas true for me and my collaborators. It may not have been true for everyone,but based on our conversations, it was safe to say that our experience waspretty unanimously poor. Standing on the steps of the massive theatre immediatelyafter the event was over, the feeling of disappointment was quite apparent inall of us. I thought in that moment: I can do better at making a communityevent than this! I think an important seed was planted that day. Or at least aspecific need/desire to connect to the community around me was instantaneouslyarticulated. Whatever that experience ended up being, I’m eternally gratefulfor the opportunity it provided me to learn about myself and to haveilluminated such an important new goal.

Parallel to this experience, a bunch ofthat same group of artists were having an ongoing conversation about how whythe culture of 10-minute play festivals were problematic. It was said in thesechats that 10-minute play festivals had a lot of the same disconnectingqualities as the festival we had just participated in: lots of work, no realcommunity context. As emerging artists, it always seems it would ask us towrite and direct for festivals that had no central goal, or context; and, oftenit would end up feeling like a competition about which play of the evening wasthe best. I personally had experienced that several times, and it left mefeeling alienated. During one particular conversation over many beers, someone said10-min plays were boring; that in watching 10-minute plays there were only likea minute of them are actually the thing that happens, and the rest is just spentwaiting for those minutes to pop.

That prompted a big “ah-ha” moment for me:what if I could make a festival of just those things that happen in a 10-minplay that you wait for. Two weeks later, I was reaching out to playwrightsasking them to participate in a playwright-focused community event/experiment:sort of looking at the 10-minute play form and distill those ideas down tounder 60 seconds. We didn’t really know what to ask for, just a sense that wewanted to try this out. No one knew what this was going to be like; it couldhave been a disaster. That fall we did like 65 one-minute plays by writers likeJason Grote, Mike Daisey, Rajiv Jospeh, Bash Doran, Adam Szymkowicz, CallieKimball, Sibyl Kempson, James Comtois, Ashlin Halfnight, and others. Everyoneshowed up to our tiny theatre. We had over 90% of the writers there in residencethat weekend. We had so many actors, that we had to keep some at the bar acrossthe street, and switch them out at intermission. It was an incredible,exciting, surprise to discover all of the energy around it, as scrappy as itwas at the time.

Itwas quickly apparent that this was a very good idea and needed some refinement.The festival had community buy-in, now I had to look critically at what workedand what didn’t.

As OMPF developed as an entity, many examplesof what a good one-minute play was became very apparent from the work wedeveloped in the festival. Writers like Rajiv Joseph, Andrea Thome, AshlinHalfnight, Kyle Jarrow, Liz Meriwether, and Bash Doran provided so many greatexamples of the work, that we drew on them to develop the form. Plenty of greatwriters offered work that wasn’t as successful, so we were able to see why aswell. The idea that what we are really looking at in this work are a series ofhighly theatrical singular moments started to emerge. Based on what we learned,I started guiding writers towards thinking in directions, which would offerstronger, more specific work in the context of our festival.

Also during this time OMPF completely stoppedlooking at 10-minute plays for any sort of jumping-off point, and startedreally basing our progression on the one-minute work that was specificallycreated for the festival. So it’s safe to say, the work OMPF does is based onits prior history, which continues to be the case even to this day. What’slearned is absorbed, and put into action. It became all about the concept ofpraxis: action, critical reflection, further informed action.

In this way a specific OMPF methodologyand ideology started to strongly emerge. Artists and institutions alike startedtaking notice.

After our third year, where welucky enough to receive a space grant from HERE Arts Center, regional theatresstarted contacting me, and wanted me to come and do runs, which was a completedeparture for the OMPF model. One theatre in particular wanted to give me a three-week LORT contract for eight actors to come and perform 50-60 of our best plays.It meant exposure and money for everyone. This was an amazing opportunity thatwe had to explore. But as I started planning it, it just felt wrong. Then itgot complicated with the artist, the institution, and then the goals got lostin an ongoing negotiation of what this would look like. It wasn’t working. Theconversation went cold; I pulled the plug.

Going back to the goals as to why Istarted OMPF, it was out of a need for a community event and community context.I realized that if I was going to “bottle the lightning” of what made the eventexciting in NYC, I would have to make it like I do here in NYC: with thecommunity! So I had several conversations with colleagues in other institutionsabout what their institutional and community needs are, and what OMPF mightlook like working in these unique contexts. Then next thing you know, thesepartnerships evolved organically: and then a national OMPF movement started.

So, this unique partnership model startedto emerge between OMPF and other institutions. OMPF was going to partner withplaywright or community specific theatres, and the participants and most of theproceeds would benefit those specific communities. So the artists are local,and in buying-in, they would be also giving directly back to their community.It is a nice eco-system for work that keeps cost and demands down for theinstitutions hosting, while maximizing the potential for participation andshared meaning with the artists in those communities. This model is what OMPFis currently using, and it’s working quite well!

The festival grew from one to four to six to 10cities in two years of working nationally. I’m proud to say that every city OMPFhas been is, it’s been back for a second year. I’m proud that theatres I don’thave relationships with are reaching out and wanting the festival to come totheir cities, and I’m happy to be able to provide this service and learn aboutthese communities.

OMPF has grown into a movement,legitimized and developed a form of theatre into the mainstream that reallyjust existed on the fringe, and created a network of national partnerships,which include some of the most important institutions and artists in thecounty. Not bad for a no-budget experimental festival which started in a smalltheatre in the depths of Brooklyn, NY!

KAM: What connected you to BPT?

DD: As I said, most all of the festival I havedone have occurred very organically from conversations with institutions andartists who know me and what I was up to in NYC very well. These arerelationships I’ve had for years.

In the cast of BPT: this marks the firstOMPF I’ve done where I really didn’t have an existing relationship with thetheatre or the artistic leader beforehand. This connection was made throughplaywrights! I can credit writers Christine Evans, Ken Urban, and JamesMcLindon for reaching out and making the connection between Kate Snodgrass andI.

I realized in that conversation thatKate’s Boston Theater Marathon has a lot of similar goals and ideas aboutcommunity engagement, and OMPF and BPT seemed to me a natural fit. As I alsowork in the new play world-I’ve been lucky enough spend the last seven years asa director at the Lark Play Development Center in NYC throughout their season,so Kate and I share a similar value system for working with writers too.

It can be a little bit strange to partnerso intimately with an institution that one does not know, but fortunately, Kateand BPT are really keyed into what OMPF is doing, and it’s felt like I’ve knowthem for years. They know the drill. It’s been a pretty straightforwardrelationship, all about the work! I’m sure it this particular festival willhave a very similar feeling and spirit to past events at BPT, but hopefullywith a unique spin!

So: Thanks to Christine, Ken, and James!

Stay tuned for part two. Also: Check out the OMPF blog for insights from playwrights Lisa Burdick, Israel Horovitz, Natalia Naman, Ken Urban...and more to come!

Kate on the One-Minute Play Festival Fight Club

2011-12-26T07:00:00.000-05:00

Dominic, Dominic, Dominic. That's who I think of when I hear One-Minute Plays (or OMPF). Dominic D'Andrea -- he's the OMPF GUY who called me about this strange and wondrous adventure we're all of us on now. I said, "Uh...Dominic, is it a lot of work? Because if I have to work...FORGETABOUTIT!" (Okay, I'm overworked. I know it, and now you know it. I keep saying "Yes" -- this is my problem.) Dominic promised me no work. No work, he said! Okay, so there's ALMOST no work (he's doing most of it), and...I love him still. Most of all, I love his passion about this whole process. You can't slow him down or pull him away from the goal of seeing these bite-sized morsels come alive. Or maybe the metaphor is more like a slap. Yes, I love it! We're in a Fight Club! And all of our proceeds, every single bit of what Boston Playwrights' Theatre earns, will go back to where it belongs -- to the entire playwriting community around Boston.

For those of you not in the know about BPT, the caveat we face is that we must produce playwrights who are associated to Boston University in some way -- all our productions come from our MFA alumni population of writers (unless, of course, someone else is paying -- would that be you?). However, we despise elitism -- we want to help EVERYONE! So these OMPF proceeds will go to helping playwrights in the community at large -- with staged readings in the spring in our Ground Floor Reading Series (as many as we can muster). Playwrights need to hear their work out loud, and we pay our actors and directors a small honorarium out of respect. Plus, BPT awards Black Box Fellowships every year, so these proceeds will help our Black Box companies do new work at our theatre.

Kate Snodgrass

Thanks to our wonderful directors directors -- Steven Bogart, Ben Evett, Megan Gleeson, Jason King Jones, Bevin O'Gara, and Summer Williams -- who are giving their time (and so are their actors) to do about 10 plays each. What a gas!

It's all a Win-Win situation, this OMPF Fight Club. I'm sure that Cha Cha Picante and his brother El Demonio will be there wrestling the crowds on January 7, 8, and 9 (Saturday, Sunday, Monday at 8 PM), so watch for their appearances. In the meantime, get ready for the slaps, the punches, the black eyes, the bruises, and the absolute joy of the fight! Ding-ding-ding!! You thought the Boston Theater Marathon was fast, but you ain't seen nothin' yet!

SUPPORT NEW PLAYS!

With warmest regards (as I put on my boxing gloves),

And be sure to check out the One-Minute Play Festival blog, which features even more information about this fantastic event...and guest posts from participating Boston area playwrights including Ken Urban, Natalia Naman, and Israel Horovitz.

The Greatest Story Never Told?

2011-12-25T09:26:00.001-05:00

What gift did Demonio bring?

Bloggy cheer

2011-12-22T14:17:00.001-05:00


Where's Demonio?

As things begin to get holiday-quiet, it’s fun to check in on some of the other blogs on our blogroll (to the right) and see what folks are doing. What have people been posting about lately?

Emily Kaye Lazzaro shared a little of what’s on her cutting room floor. John Kuntz posted some gorgeous photos from the photo call from The Balcony, which he directed recently at The Boston Conservatory. John Greiner-Ferris just turned three (as a playwright), and reflects on his advancing age. And Colleen Hughes is celebrating the season with her roundup of Bad Santas.

And speaking of other blogs, don’t forget to watch the One-Minute Play Festival blog for posts from some familiar faces (including this one by Israel Horovitz and this one by Natalia Naman) and more about this exciting event...coming to Boston on Jan. 7, 8, and 9.

Alumni news, in brief:

2011-12-20T00:12:00.001-05:00


Cha Cha Picante was in the house for opening night of Molly Smith Metzler's Close Up Space at Manhattan Theatre Club...

Lydia Diamond's Stick Fly made Bloomberg News' list of best shows of 2011...

Speaking of lists, ASP's The Merry Wives of Windsor (directed by Steve Barkhimer, and featuring Richard Snee) is one of The Boston Globe's critics' picks...

And while we're on the topic of Steve Barkhimer, next on his dance card is Lyric Stage's Superior Donuts...

Here's the poster for Zayd Dohrn's Outside People in front of NYC's Vineyard Theatre. The play begins previews this Wednesday, with opening night set for Jan. 10...

...and a funny thing happened on El Demonio Rosa's way to the [Looking Glass Theatre Writer/Director] Forum (to see K. Alexa Mavromatis' The Stakeout). Well, funny things happen pretty much wherever plastic wrestlers show up.

Demonio, Cha Cha -- this one's for you!

2011-12-16T07:00:00.001-05:00

BPT parties down

2011-12-13T09:10:00.002-05:00

It's safe to say that a good time was had by all at BPT's holiday gathering last night. Thank you to Kate, Jake, Marc, Mike, and everyone else behind the scenes who helped make it happen -- each year, this party is a wonderful chance to toast the season with friends old and new.

Here are some photos. Disclaimer: I wasn't really making an effort to fully document the evening, so this is by no means a comprehensive look at the event. Now I wish I'd taken more! But anyway, here are a few fun moments (the ones that were fully-clothed, anyway...kidding, kidding):

The Brawlers (Will Fancher, Jake Strautmann, Sophie Gibson Rush) tear it up

Some of the alums in attendance

Classmates: Joyce Van Dyke and Deb Fortson. Joyce's play Deported (which opens in March) is the final play of BPT's 30th season.

Red shoes emerged as a fashion trend of the evening. This is me and Sally Nutt. Well, these are our fancy feet.

Jake (with Sally) gets in on the red shoe action

Alumni news, in brief:

2011-12-12T09:32:00.000-05:00

El Demonio Rosa and Cha Cha Picante high-five it on their way in to see Walt McGough's Priscilla Dreams the Answer...

One-act plays by Michael Parsons (House Rules) and Peter M. Floyd (Beleaguered), and ten-minute plays by Colleen Hughes (The Button) and MJ Halberstadt (Peggy's Properties) will be presented at KCACTF's Region 1 competition. The event will be held in Fitchburg in January...

Zayd Dohrn's Outside People meets the press...

Molly Smith Metzler's Close Up Space made Time Out New York's must-see list of plays for winter...

Check out the Q&A with Walt McGough on the Fresh Ink blog...

No plans tonight? Take a break from the holiday madness and stop by StageSource's If I Knew Then... panel. The event, moderated by MJ Halberstadt, will put some of our favorite local playwrights (Kirsten Greenidge, Ginger Lazarus, Rick Park) in the hot seat to answer questions about making it as a writer in Beantown...

...and Cha Cha Picante drops in on his buddy Theresa Rebeck's Seminar.

Holidays. Draining? No way!

2011-12-08T07:00:00.000-05:00

Clockwise from top L: Ma, Streep, Diamond, Cook, and Rollins (Photo: AP)

In case you’refeeling a little low on inspiration this holiday season (and let’s be honest: We’reall stretched in a million different directions right now…and most of thosedirections probably have not much to do with the practice of our own art), lookno further than the exciting cross section of talent represented by this year’sclass of Kennedy Center Honors inductees – Barbara Cook, Neil Diamond, Yo-YoMa, Sonny Rollins, and Meryl Streep.

Theceremony was held at the Kennedy Center last Sunday (read more about it here),and will be broadcast on CBS on Dec. 27. I try to make tuning in part of myholiday tradition each year.

Tocelebrate this year’s honorees – and as a shout-out on opening night ofLydia Diamond’s Stick Fly on Broadway(another amazing inspiration!) – here is Yo-Yo Ma and The Silk Road Ensembleperforming Alicia Keys’ ‘Empire State of Mind’. The video is from a performancefor public school students last year at NYC’s American Museum of NaturalHistory, and you need only watch the young audience tounderstand the power of art and…well, just check it out. You’ve probably never seen sixth graders so excited about a cello.

Alumni news, in brief:

2011-12-05T07:00:00.001-05:00

El Demonio Rosa pauses to wave on his way in to catch part two of Tarell Alvin McCraney's The Brother/Sister Plays at Company One...

A gaggle of alums was commissioned to write one-minute plays for the first-ever Boston One-Minute Play Festival (a co-production of the NYC-based One-Minute Play Festival and BPT) including William Fancher, Peter M. Floyd, Deirdre Girard, Anna Renée Hansen, Heather Houston, Colleen Hughes, Dan Hunter, Emily Kaye Lazarro, K. Alexa Mavromatis, Matt Mayerchak, Walt McGough, Ronan Noone, Rick Park, John Shea, Donna Sorbello, and John Zakrosky, Jr. All told, the January event will feature 70 plays by alums and other favorite Boston-area playwrights. Watch this space for much more on this exciting event...

Here's a lovely preview from The Boston Globe for Fresh Ink's production of Walt McGough's Priscilla Dreams the Answer, which opens this week. The play features Emily Kaye Lazarro, who is not the only alum hitting the boards in the coming months...

John Kuntz will star in Apollinaire Theatre Company's Uncle Vanya (opening later this month), and Ginger Lazarus will be featured in the cast of Theatre At First's Pride and Prejudice in March...

Lydia Diamond's Stick Fly opens on Broadway this Thursday. Join the rush and catch the show for yourself...

Stephen Sondheim on The Colbert Report earlier this week

2011-12-02T07:00:00.000-05:00

My hero! (Sondheim, but Colbert's not so bad himself.)

And speaking of Sondheim, here's an excerpt from his new book from The Guardian...

Alter egos

2011-12-01T06:31:00.000-05:00

I thought it would be a good idea to share a little inside scoopabout the process I use to create the Playwrights' Perspective's ‘Alumni news,in brief’ bulletin each week.

Covering Cleveland

There are a number of ways I collect thisinformation. The first, as you may have guessed, is word of mouth (or FB, orTwitter, etc.). I know many of you personally, and you share your news with me,which is fantastic. Thank you (and keep it coming). Second: Other media. I tryto be aware of local press, and what's going on. But I can't catch everything,which is why the third method – Google Alerts – is so handy.

Google Alerts is pretty great. You can get updated search results based onkeywords, names, subjects – whatever – sent automatically right to your e-mail.Somebody trash-talking about you on their blog? The ultimate tattletale, Google Alerts will find it and showyou. Some rogue theatre attempting a royalty-free production of your play?Google Alerts! You get the idea.

But there's a downside. You see, Google Alerts cannot discern some guy namedRichard Snee from THE Richard Snee, or some random Kate Snodgrass from OUR KateSnodgrass. So sometimes, I end up getting news updates about people who are simplynot our people. Which brings me to the crux of the matter here: You need toknow that there is an entire parallel universe out there, populated by peoplewho are using our names! Who are they?

Superstar realtor

Well, The Other Richard Snee is a marketing guru who travelsthe country going to conferences and imparting his wisdom to the masses. I geta lot of alerts for him, so he’s apparently a pretty big deal (or at least,really good at what he does). Fake Kate Snodgrass is a real estate superstar,so she’s the one you need to contact about that timeshare in Boca – not the lady in theoffice at 949. Alternate Gregory Fletcher is a vocalist for The Cabana Boys. Other Janet Kenney seems to be part of Occupy Flint. Not to be outdone, Not Our John Kuntz has thiswhole split-personality thing going on: Sometimes he’s an IT bigwig, and othertimes he covers news in Cleveland.

And, in case you’re wondering, adding “playwright” as akeyword to one’s name on the alert does not necessarily help filter results;interestingly, there is a second playwright named Melinda Lopez (a.k.a., at least to us, Not the Actual Melinda Lopez).

Uh oh.

Oh, and we're not all overachievers! At least some of thesedoppelgängers are up to no good: The Other Jonathon Myers was arrested in thePacific Northwest. Sorry Jon – in another universe, you may be athug.

You would think, with a crazy name like mine, I'd be able to avoid this kind ofthing altogether, right? Wrong! There is an elementary school student inFlorida who shares my name exactly – no kidding. But at least she makes thehonor roll.

Alumni news, in brief:

2011-11-28T07:00:00.000-05:00

The Actors' Shakespeare Project's The Merry Wives of Windsor, directed by Steve Barkhimer, opens next week, and also features the talents of Richard Snee...

Jonesing for a Priscilla update (as in the upcoming Fresh Ink production of Walt McGough's Priscilla Dreams the Answer, featuring Emily Kaye Lazzaro)? Check out the show's production blog...

The cast of Zayd Dohrn's Outside People (a co-production of NYC's Naked Angels and the Vineyard Theatre, opening in previews Dec. 21) has been announced, and rehearsals have begun...

Birdie for Thanksgiving: Q&A with Karmo Sanders

2011-11-24T07:00:00.000-05:00

Gold Rush Girls, a new musical with a book and lyrics by Karmo Sanders (a.k.a. Birdie Googins -- more about that in a minute) will have its world premiere at Cyrano's Theatre Company in Anchorage, Alaska next July, after a long development process. Recently, Karmo took a break from some rewrites to talk turkey.

Karmo Sanders

KAM: First of all,congrats on the world premiere run of GoldRush Girls next summer! That’s fantastic. The development process ofthe show has been a long one – according to the project history on the Website, a decade. Was that frustrating, or necessary/by design? Or both?!

KS: You’vegot me laughing here. Has a decade been frustrating? You bet. Was thatnecessary? Apparently.

Weall know the art of crafting theater is precise and demands honesty andperfection. Lucky for me, over the yearswith encouragement and help from Kate Snodgrass and Rick Lombardo, we had aseries of wonderful readings at BPT and a great two-week workshop at The NewRepertory Theatre. We’ve been ready for the next phase of collaboration forabout a couple years now. Of course the reality is once the piece is finishedyou’ve got to embark on a whole new journey of selling the fruit of thatpassion. Because you hit a point whereas the writers you must have anopening. I need that team of actors, director, dramaturg and theater, to moveonto the stage, work the material and give GoldRush Girls a chance to shine. I’mready to see these “ladies of the night” singing and dancing their way throughthe dance hall.

AndI’m really proud of the musical. I love musicals – music is an immediate accessto emotion. I love that.

So- yes - we’re thrilled to be headed to Cyrano’s working with Sandy Harper andJayne Wenger. Since Gold Rush Girlsis set in the heart of the Klondike Gold Rush, Anchorage is the geographicperfect fit for our opening.

KAM: What drew youto this subject?

KS: Myfriend, Lael Morgan, wrote the book Good Time Girls which is about the "ladies of the night" in the heart of the Klondike gold rush. The minute I sawthe pictures on the cover I knew those ladies were my sisters. I felt like Iknew these girlfriends. At the time I was in the Boston Playwrights’ Mastersprogram. Inspired by the book, I wrote a scene for class. That night when I got home Jerry was actuallywriting a song: “Sweet Understanding.” Iloved it! I told him I wanted that song, read him the scene and said let’swrite a musical. If I’d known then what I know now… a decade? Gulp.

KAM: Tell us alittle bit about your collaborator.

KS: He’sa great collaborator, I trust him. Jerryand I’ve been together nearly 40 years. We began working on musical theaterprojects in the early 90’s. He grew up in the Mid-West with all those 60’s Rockand Rollers where he and his best friend Steve Gaines, of Lynard Skynard fameplayed in bands together. Being a rock and roll drummer he tends to loverhythm. He’s a self-taught pianist; just now learned how to read music. He canwrite a hook better than anyone else I’ve ever met. You name the style he’s got it covered. I love his music. And he’s a great lyricist.

Onereason we’re able to easily collaborate is that we can talk through anything.Reaching to allow one another the respect to hear thoughts, feedback, andviewpoints and celebrate individual discovery. Then put it into form.

Ienjoy co-writing lyrics. Interestingly we’ve had some feedback that the musicalis using near rhymes and not perfect rhymes. I’ve finally come to be able to say – yes, that’s our style. And thoughnot hitting the perceived musical perfect format of perfect rhymes – I thinkwe’ve met our goal - that you’ll be able to step out of the theater, read theprogram and find you can actually remember and sing the songs you just heard.Leave the audience humming.

KAM: With theproduction planned for summer, you have a little time on your hands. Are you doingany work on the piece right now, or waiting until you are actually in Alaska?

KS: We’rein contact with our director/dramaturg who has some suggestions which we agreewith, so there are rewrites happening right now. Also we’re re-working some of the music,adding reprises where they belong and have actually re-inserted a song I lovedwhich was taken out but needs to be back. So all exciting!

KAM: And speakingof Alaska, what happens once you’re there? I imagine, being a musical, therehearsal process will probably be pretty intense.

KS: Ican’t wait. It will be a thrill and I’msure a little intense. But we’re ready and we’ll be ready. Interestingly agreat number of people on this end are planning trips to Alaska for the openingand we’re working on finding discounts for air fares. Let the games begin!

KAM: Another thingthat sounds intense is that “hey-the-sun-is-out-at-1:00 a.m.” thing thathappens in Alaska. Are you ready for that?

KS: Ithink it might be lucky that I enjoy whiskey and vodka. And I always enjoysunshine.

Birdie Googins

KAM: You’re aplaywright, and a performer too. What are the pleasures and pitfalls ofcreating material for yourself, and what is your development process like forthose solo works?

KS: Ifeel extremely fortunate to still be performing, and lucky as well to have beenan actress before becoming a playwright. It’s so helpful to know every aspectof the craft.

Thepleasure of my solo performance is that I am: “Accidentally Maine’s OnlySupermodel -- Un-Registered Maine Guide – And Possible Future Queen.” Up here I’m a very famous commercialtelevision personality known as the Mardens Lady. These commercials air allover the State, I’m the spokesperson for a discount warehouse. Leading me tosay: “I may be cheap but I’m not surplus.”

WhenI finally realized the statewide popularity of this character, I named herBirdie Googins, wrote a one-woman stand up comedy show and hit the road. I’vebeen touring the state for five years now, actually making my living with thisproject. Which is a lot of fun, Birdie hits an extremely wide demographic andfor some reason they all love her. Luckyme.

Pitfallsof creating solo material? I don’t know,I think a solo show requires the ability to be really absolutely honest. Whichis no different from anything else. No hem hawing around, you better know whatyou’re talking about and what you really want to say. The show has to be a ride, like grabbing yoursurfboard, getting on a wave and swooshing it home. Any slack you falloff. Over time writing and performing soloshows, I have discovered some basic rhythms that really work.

Itseems I’ve become really good at writing comedy – though I never expected to bea stand up comedian. But people love hearing dry Maine humor coming out of awoman’s mouth.

Theonly real pitfall of a solo show – is that I deeply miss the thrill ofinteracting on a stage filled with my fellow actors. Developing and emotingtogether is something I really miss.

The only other pitfall isthat I’d like to take this character national and I’m from Maine. Which is oneof my great challenges in moving the musical forward as well. Being up here we are definitely out of theloop. And as Mainers say: “You can’t get there from here.” But I’m determined thatI’m going to dispel that silly rumor.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-22T09:02:00.003-05:00

I'd like to thank everyone for an amazing fall season! Enjoy your Thanksgiving and if you haven't seen Epic Meal Time before, well, enjoy...

Alumni news, in brief:

2011-11-21T07:00:00.000-05:00

Cha Cha Picante celebrates Deirdre Girard at her play The Christina Experiment...

A launch party and concert will be held at BPT to celebrate the publication of Dan Hunter's new book Iowa? It's a State...Of Mind on Nov. 22 at 7:30 p.m. The evening will feature delicious food by Sivika Pon Hunter, as well as book excerpts and songs written and performed by Dan Hunter. Please RSVP to attend. Books are also available for purchase online...

Check out the photo call for Molly Smith Metzler's Close Up Space, opening next month at Manhattan Theatre Club...

Anna Renée Hansen (née Pattison) is looking for a few good women for her inQueery Theatre Project...

Alumni double trouble: Gregory Fletcher interviewed Sinan Ünel about his Mad Person for the Stage and Cinema blog...

Lydia Diamond's Stick Fly opened in previews at Broadway's Cort Theatre...

...and El Demonio Rosa in NYC at Playhouse Creatures' From Page to Stage New Play Fest,
which featured a one-act by K. Alexa Mavromatis.

Ira Glass, on being creative

2011-11-17T00:00:00.000-05:00

I'm sure this video is familiar. This very reassuring piece of insight and advice cycles through the Twittersphere/Blogosphere/Whateversphere pretty regularly (as it should!), but I thought it would be a good thing to have a record of it here, for those moments when we need it.

This weekend, as I sit watching my new play in front of an audience for the first time, I will surely hear Ira Glass' wise words ringing in my ears, urging me to keep working to close the gap. In fact, let me go ahead and listen to this thing one more time...

Raw and Honest

2011-11-15T07:00:00.000-05:00

Kenard Jackson (top) and Alex Pollock (bottom)

The first time I read a draft of The River was Whiskey, I realized that it was a gift—it was so rich and full of opportunities even at the early stages of working with the text. Even the very first stage directions are compelling and immediately brings you into the world of the play. Will has created a story where the language is rich and incisive but even the moments of silence are heavy and telling. The play brings to light a small piece of American history that connects us all to the larger, more complicated idea of the South and dramaturgically experienced, is enhanced by the Americana music that Will amazingly composed. The background of this play and his creation process are extraordinary. His influences, drawn from many details of his life and Southern American cultural history, combine into a work that translates on stage into something challenging, raw and honest.

The rehearsal process was such a learning experience as an actor. Working with Will and our director Jim, the play became a ‘rolling stone’ that constantly gathered greater meaning. I was honestly terrified during the time leading up into the first days of rehearsal. But Will has invested so much personally into the show that he created a common ground that enabled me to work on this project fearlessly—that’s what’s beneficial about working so closely with a playwright in the rehearsal process.

This experience has also been a gift because it enabled us to explore storytelling through body and movement. Anne Bogart says: “When in doubt, listen to the body. The body constantly receives myriad impressions from multifarious sources, from temperature, visual stimulus, sound, ideas, suggestions, people, odors, colors and so on.” Jim’s direction and the design team created a world where we could explore and connect the movement with the text. Finding that energy within the movement was something that we explored from the first day and as more elements were constantly added in the building process—from the sand bags to the rain water on stage.

Even though the show has opened and Will has taken a step back, he’s created a character that enables me to continually discover and learn things. And in that way, each performance for me is different—there are more layers and different routes to go down when inside each moment in a scene. I hope that this play translates to the audience what Will, Jim, Ark and my cast mates have worked to communicate: that human beings, even in their darkest forms, are the basic subject of art. The material is so provocative and invigorating that it can be rightfully disturbing for some people—but that shouldn’t be a reason to shy away from the play. We’re in our last week of our run and I’m still finding cuts and scratches that will no doubt serve as memorabilia. When I initially question where they could’ve come from, my thoughts quickly go to “The Whiskey.”

- Kenard Jackson

Alumni news, in brief:

2011-11-14T07:00:00.001-05:00

El Demonio Rosa and Cha Cha Picante enjoy the preshow at Theatre on Fire's Mojo

Lydia Diamond's Stick Fly opens on Broadway in previews this Friday. Here's a look at the load-in. And, in case you missed it, the cast and creative team in conversation at WNYC's The Greene Space...

Hey, iAddicts: You can download and play a game produced and designed by Jonathon Myers! Check out Candescent for your iPhone or iPod...

Kate Snodgrass' Haiku was a winner for some North Carolina students...

John Greiner-Ferris has McCraney envy (Don't we all?)...

Director Melanie Garber talks about Walt McGough's Priscilla Dreams the Answer on the Fresh Ink blog...

Only quiet snacks allowed at the theatre. Johnny, I couldn't agree with you more...

Exploration and Discovery

2011-11-09T07:00:00.003-05:00

Jim Loutzenhiser and Sarah Newhouse

One of the things I love about working with new material is the possibility of being part of the creation. Having been working on existing material for quite some time, it's been a breath of fresh air to revisit the unique process of putting a new play on its feet. My early career was filled with new work; it seems like it was all I did for a while, as a young professional in NYC. Playwrights Horizons, Ensemble Studio Theatre, my own production company: my experiences were full of exploration & discovery. And some of those early writers I got to work alongside have been successful beyond what we imagined at the time.

But back to the here & now. It has been quite something to see the elements of this show come together. From my very first read of it, I knew the play was rich in atmosphere & loaded with feeling. It is about sin,

religion, race and redemption. It has a specificity that cannot be ignored, yet it is about all of us. And it is a ghost story. Perfect for this season. I hope you enjoy watching it as much a I have enjoyed being part of the amazing team of artists that is bringing The River Was Whiskey to theatrical life!

- Sarah Newhouse

Q&A: Deirdre Girard on 'The Christina Experiment'

2011-11-08T07:00:00.000-05:00

DeirdreGirard’s The Christina Experimentopens Thursday at Newburyport’s Firehouse Center for the Arts. The event willmark the first production of one of Deirdre’s full-length works, so of courseit was fun to chat about it…

KAM:Is this the first production of one of your full-length plays?

DG: Yes! And I had noidea it was even being considered for a full production. I had a staged reading of the play at theActor’s Studio in Newburyport and apparently the President of the Board for TheFirehouse Center for the Arts (a 200 seat historic theater) was at thereading. A couple of months later, theArtistic Director of the Firehouse surprised me by saying that they commit toone new play each year and my play was their first choice for the 2011production.

KAM:That is absolutely fantastic! Tell us a little bit about The Christina Experiment.

DG: The ChristinaExperiment questions how we make committed choices in a world that is neverblack and white, a world where our complex pasts and current perceptionscontinuously alter what we know to be facts. How can we ever feel truly safe? And what is at risk if we require a surety that simply doesn’t exist?

Christina is living a quiet life with her daughter Abby,when her celebrity psychologist father writes a book that exonerates his fosterson of murder. But Christina trustsneither her father nor his book, and insists on verifying the facts beforeshe’ll expose her daughter to a man who might be a brutal killer. As she tries to find the truth, Christina riskslosing everyone she has ever loved, including her daughter.

KAM:What made you want to tell this story?

DG: It started with a recent newspaper article about awidowed minister in New Hampshire who allowed a level-three sex offender tolive with him and his young daughter. The minister felt that he was responsible for providing for his entire“flock”. I started thinking about thedaughter. What happens to that young child as she grows up knowing that herfather, the person who is supposed to protect her, put his theoretical idealsbefore her personal safety? That girlhas been transformed into my Christina, and the molester into a child killer.

Deirdre Girard

I wanted to write the story because I love to write strongfemale roles, and I could not stop imagining the adult this woman wouldbecome. As a mother (who can sometimesbe too safety conscious), I thought a lot about how our quest for safety in anunsure world can lead to isolation.

KAM:How are you feeling about the production?

DG: As you would expect, both excited and terrified. The theater was able to engage my favoritelocal director, Steve Haley, and he cast it beautifully. I have complete faith in Steve’s vision anddirection and couldn’t be happier with the cast. My greatest comfort is that the actors seemto really like the play and the lead studied the script extensively to securethe role even after swearing she was only going to accept roles in comedies fora while.

But… it’s my first play, so it will never be my best play…I’m learning so much all the time about playwriting, which makes me want tokeep tearing it apart and rewriting it. Andthe thought of all those empty seats haunts me -- it’s a large theater, and anew work from an unknown playwright is not likely to attract largeaudiences. Then there are those thoughtlesspeople to contend with. You knowthem. The ones who love to say obnoxiousthings to playwrights after seeing their work, like “What did YOU think?” “You must be so excited” or “You had awonderful cast” -- all of which mean they hated the play. And they actually believe they are beinggracious!

KAM:What are some of the challenges you’ve run into so far?

DG: Rewriting. I loveit. I can’t stop. I’ll never stop until the director demandsthat I do. Actors find this veryannoying when they’re trying to memorize lines. Fortunately, all is forgiven if they like the new lines better. I’ve rewritten the last three pages at leasta half dozen times, and told the actors I refuse to stop until the directortells me he fucking loves it. He reallyliked yesterday’s version so I’m close…

KAM:Working on anything else we should know about? What’s next?

DG: What I’m most excited about is a one act I’ve writtenbased on the life of Phoebe Prince. Itis designed for high school production (or to be brought into a high school)and my dream is that it will open up a discussion about bullying without beingan “issue” play or pandering to the students in any way. The entire cast is 15 and 16 year olds; theadults are represented only by offstage voices. The dialogue is brutal, sexually charged, hopeful and heartbreaking—theworld as teens know it. It’s only infirst draft and I’ve shown it to a few high school students—I was prettyfloored when they all seemed to love it, and found the dialogue and situations tobe on target. I know that with “TheChristina Experiment” I’ve had a lot of compliments on the mother/daughterrelationship and the daughter’s dialogue, so maybe capturing a young girl’svoice is strength for me.

Alumni news, in brief:

2011-11-07T07:00:00.001-05:00

Luchadore Cha Cha Picante in D.C. for Karen Zakarías' The Book Club Play...

Monica Bauer's My Occasion of Sin is a finalist for the Abingdon Theatre Company's Christopher Brian Wolk Playwriting Award... Urban Stages will also host a staged reading of the play on Nov. 21...

Listen to what Alicia Keys has to say about composing the music for Lydia Diamond's Stick Fly in this interview with NY1 News' On Stage. Also included in this segment: BTM playwright Theresa Rebeck and cast members from her Seminar...

Rehearsals have begun for Molly Smith Metzler's Close Up Space, which begins previews at Manhattan Theatre Club on Dec. 1...

BU's Arts & Sciences blog ran a very nice feature on Ronan Noone...

Karen Zakarías', whose The Book Club Play finished its run at Arena Stage in D.C. this weekend, answered ten questions for the theatreWashington blog...

Walt McGough reviewed Lawrence Douglas' The Vices for the Ploughshares blog... On a more theatre-related note, take a look at the posters for his Priscilla Dreams the Answer, which will be produced by Fresh Ink Theatre next month...

...and El Demonio Rosa in NYC at (frequent BTM playwright) Kirsten Greenidge's Milk Like Sugar.

Q&A with Glen Merzer

2011-11-03T07:00:00.000-04:00

Glen Merzer

Alum Glen Merzer remembers some ofthe earliest days of the playwriting program here. Since his time in Boston hiswriting has taken many different forms, and one of his recent projects is thescreenplay Best Seller, which will be read at the Writers Guild of America, West -- starring Kevin Pollak and Ed Begley, Jr. -- on Nov. 7.

KAM: A recent issue of The Dramatist was dedicated to LosAngeles, which I thought was great because even thought it’s a city with athriving theatre scene, of course it’s also synonymous with Hollywood andmovies. How would you characterize the theatre community out there?

GM: I grew up on NYC theatre, whose beatingheart was mid-sized theatre. Circle Rep, Playwrights Horizons, theManhattan Theatre Club and other such theatres were constantly producingnew plays, and often launching plays that went on to nationalprominence. LA theatre divides itself mainly into two camps: a profusionof small, Equity Waiver houses, and a few large, institutional theatres likethe Mark Taper.

The former is not cohesive and is to some extentdriven by actors wishing to showcase themselves, and the latter tends to begutless. That said, there's a constant infusion of new energy into theEquity Waiver scene; for the committed theatre-goer, there are gems to be foundhere and there. But you have to do a lot of driving to be a committedtheatre-goer here. It's daunting.

KAM: You’ve written your share ofscripts for films and television shows. You’ve also written a few books onhealth. What keeps you returning to plays?

GM: I have no idea why I keep returning to playssince the theatre world is so unwelcoming to playwrights. I actuallyhaven't written a play in a couple of years, though. I'll write one againif I have an idea. In my mind, I'm a playwright first, but that's neverbeen how I've made my living. My latest project has been anotherco-authored book on health, which I hope will come out early in thespring. I remain in a protracted battle against animal agriculture,whose practitioners don't seem overly worried about me. In fact, most ofthem don't know that I exist. But on my diet, I can wait them out. So that's going well.

KAM: Your screenplay Best Seller is about to have a readingat Writers Guild of America. Tell us a little bit about it.

GM: Best Seller usedto be called Anonymous, but now there's a big movie coming out calledAnonymous. After a long career in Hollywood, I've found that while Istill struggle to get my scripts made, I'm having more and more luckgetting my titles made. Best Seller concerns a struggling novelist whotakes a gig to polish the manuscript of a thug, and gets the thug a bestseller, on the condition of anonymity. It's a comedy based on my playAnonymous that was produced Off-Broadway in 2000. I'm having a reading atthe WGA on Nov. 7. Today I lost Jeff Garlin, so I have to replace him assoon as possible.

KAM:You studied playwriting here in the very early days of the program. Share withus, if you will, a memory of that time.

GM: Yes, I was one of the first, if not thefirst, to have plays produced at the Boston Playwrights' Theatre. DerekWalcott was running the theatre, but he and I didn't see eye-to-eye so I wasallowed to just direct my one-acts myself. One of them was called ThePoetry Reading and I got an actor who taught at Emerson College, Jim Sweeney,to perform the piece. It was a monologue about a poet giving a poetryreading after his wife has just left him for a woman, and he never gets aroundto reading a full poem; he just keeps going on verbal detours as he essentiallybreaks down on stage.

After doing the show at the Boston Playwrights'Theatre, Jim did it at a space downtown, I think it may have been a church, I'mnot sure, and we billed it not as a play, but as a poetry reading by the famouspoet Darryl Henry. Jim goes on the stage as Darryl and has his personalbreakdown on stage, and the audience bought it the whole way. They neverknew they were watching a play. I had invited the American RepertoryTheatre to send a rep to see it, and it turned out that they did send someone,but the person didn't stay to see it because he thought he was coming to see aplay, and at the door he was told there would be no play, just a poetryreading.

KAM:Was writing for film and TV a goal for you early on, or an interest thatevolved over time?

GM: Writing for TV was never a goal of mine, butfor a string of ten years I was blessed to suffer the embarrassment ofdoing it. My original intention was to be a playwright only, but myinterest in film evolved as I lived in L.A., starting in 1986.

KAM:Do you ever make it back East?

GM: I haven't been back East for many yearsnow. My wife and I don't like to fly. I think the last time was2005.

KAM: What's your next writing project?

GM: My next project is a book I am co-authoringwith Pam Popper on health, to come out in the spring. We haven't settledon the title yet. It will be my fourth co-authored book advocating theplant-based diet.

If you’re in the Los Angeles area, check outthis reading! Tickets are free, but please RSVP to diversity@wga.orgwith “Best Seller” in the subject line. Monday, Nov. 7, at 7 p.m., at theWriters Guild of America, 7000 W. 3rd Street, 2^ndFloor Multi-purpose Room, Los Angeles, CA 90048

Original Sin

2011-11-01T12:55:00.001-04:00

Sarah Newhouse and Jim Loutzenhiser

The characters in this play all swim in a world of manmade suppression: levees, intense racism, artificial borders (“toe across Bradford Street”), sanctioned deities (“God” and “the Devil”), prohibition, and institutional marriage. And each has different strengths and tactics to survive it. Will’s remarkably precise and funny language fuels the fire. (As an actor I can feel it when I’m saying a line incorrectly.)

We sense that while this suppression can be “successful” for long periods, the primordial cataclysms are only that much greater when they finally come. The “original sin” in the play seems to be both collective and individual. The vulnerable have been forced into “work” while those in positions of power take full opportunity to exploit. And a senseless murder has taken place. In an earlier version of the script, Evans said: “we were all drunk on the same evil…” His journey since then, I think: suppression of memory, exile, failed attempts at recovery, and now, after 19 years, and one of sobriety, a first real attempt to reclaim his place.

But sometimes a senseless act committed 20 years ago can’t be undone -- and sets off some weird kind of butterfly effect that, like a flood or great fire, may consume us all. And then, as Nettie says, “it’s done. It’s a storm. It’s only to be weathered. And maybe it comes for us.”

- Jim Loutzenhiser

Spooky alumni news, in brief:

2011-10-31T07:00:00.000-04:00

Joyce Van Dyke

The Armenian Library and Museum of America will host a preview of Joyce Van Dyke's Deported on Nov. 6...

Monica Bauer's already award-winning My Occasion of Sin is nominated for an Omaha Entertainment and Arts Award, in the Best Original Script category...

Join Lydia Diamond, director Kenny Leon, and the cast of Stick Fly for a conversation about the play in The Greene Space on Nov. 2...

The Balcony, directed by John Kuntz, opens on Nov. 17 at the Boston Conservatory Theater...

Congrats again to New Rep's New Voices @ New Rep Playwriting Fellows (lots of familiar faces here)...

Karen Zakarías' The Sins of Sor Juana opened last week at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Peck School of the Arts...

Opening weekend...

2011-10-28T00:34:00.003-04:00

El Demonio Rosa expects you to see The River Was Whiskey.

(And he means business, y'all.)

For tickets, please visit bostonplaywrights.org or call 866.811.4111

Q&A: Zayd Dohrn on 'Want' and 'Outside People'

2011-10-27T01:50:00.002-04:00

Zayd Dohrn’sWant opens tonight at SteppenwolfTheatre Company’s First Look Repertory of New Work, and in January his Outside People opens Off-Broadway in aco-production by The Vineyard Theatre and Naked Angels. Of course, we hadquestions for him…

KAM: Wow – you have a one play (Want) at Steppenwolf, and another (Outside People) opening Off-Broadway inJanuary. I guess we could say this is shaping up to be a really busy fall andwinter for you. How are you managing your time?

ZD: It’sbeen busy, but the timing worked out well. Right now I’m in the middle ofrehearsals for Want. We open October27 and run through November 20. Then OutsidePeople rehearsals start two days later, so they’re close, but notcompletely simultaneous. Luckily, I don’t have to be in two places at the sametime.

KAM: And you have a family too. Howare the people at home coping?

ZD: Prettywell, thanks. It’s a family of writers, so everybody understands.

KAM: Tell us a little bit aboutthese plays and where you are in their development at the moment.

Zayd Dohrn

ZD: I wroteOutside People at Juilliard,workshopped it there, and then developed it further during a series of readingsat Naked Angels. So I’ve had some time to work on it. Want is brand new, pretty much a first draft. We’re a week awayfrom opening, and I’m still working on it.

KAM: So these pieces are at two verydifferent points in their individual lifecycles. Does that mean they balance eachother somehow – in terms of what each must demand from you – or does it justfeel crazy for you right now?

ZD: Theybalance. I think early rewrites and final polishes take very different energyand come from different parts of the brain. And I’m working on a bunch of newthings too, so that feels very different as well.

KAM: One thing that strikes me – asI look at your body of work – is the range of subject matter you seem to cover. What themesdo you find yourself visiting time and again?

ZD: They’reall plays about people trying to build a new world – a support group, anultra-hygenic home, a revolutionary movement, a life in China, whatever –that’s somehow opposed to, or separate from, the larger world. And they’re alsoabout whether that separateness is ultimately attainable, or even advisable.

KAM: How do those themes revealthemselves in Want and Outside People?

ZD: Want is about a bunch of former addictswho have dropped out of AA and NA and decide to form their own group – a kindof tough love therapy commune. But the group becomes a cult, and the play isabout how the characters try to extricate themselves from this new societythey’ve build.

Outside People is about an American guy who goesto China because he’s never felt at home in the U.S. He gets to Beijing, and hethinks the strangeness of the place is what he’s been looking for, but then heslowly realizes he’s exoticized the difference – that his reflex liberal humanismisn’t really adequate for understanding people across languages and borders.

So bothplays are about trying to find a home in a place that feels inhospitable. Andalso about the dangers of trying to escape entirely – they’re about the need tofind a way to live in the world, even as you see it’s problems and dangers withclear eyes.

KAM:What's next for you?

ZD: I wish I knew. I'm writing a couple movies and workingon a series for HBO. And trying to write a new play.

The Flood

2011-10-25T07:00:00.018-04:00

Playwright Will Fancher

In 2007 I had an image pop into my head of an old man and a young boy sitting in a rundown house, talking about their sins. In 2009, having turned that image into a play called The River was Whiskey and labored on it for a semester in Melinda Lopez's workshop here at BPT, I put it away for good. I had hit a brick wall. The language had curdled into a pointless babble of ain'ts and y'alls, the characters' motives and desires were murky at best (nonsensical at worst), and I was in open revolt against anything that might be regarded as southern gothic, which is all too often assumed to be the default style of a Southern writer. And there was nothing I could do to fix it. Every revision was just digging the hole deeper.

The play was in a drawer maybe three months before I got the call that it had been accepted to the WordBRDIGE Playwrights Lab in Clemson, SC. Not only could I no longer forget about it, but I would have to rehearse it with a director, dramaturg, and actors for two weeks, and then present it in a public staged reading. So I started working again, from scratch, with input and advice and inspiration from wherever I could get it. And then, in the midst of that development, came the flood of 1927, which broke the play open and spilled all over my pages. The play was suddenly about something very real and very specific. The story of the play became the story of its development: a clean and orderly lie overwhelmed by the force of a messy, bloody truth.

And there were always songs. Mississippi is where America's music was born, where the tunes of England and Ireland found a new rhythm in a heartbeat wrenched from the shores of West Africa. Where hard work met hard times and there was never quite enough of anything to go around. Where passion and joy were found wherever they could be, and held tight for fear that they'd never show back up again. Family, liquor, sex, religion. And music flowing like a river under it all. Saturday night blues and reels, seeping into Sunday morning hymns. Johnny Cash once said that the stuff of songs was love, God, and murder. I've tried my damnedest to make that the stuff of this play as well.

I'm extremely grateful for (and have been occasionally puzzled by) the incredible support this play and I have received over the last three years--not just from Kate and everyone at BPT, but Mark Charney and Dave White at WordBRIDGE, Gregg Henry at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, and Celise Kalke at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta. I want to thank the half-dozen directors and countless actors who have dedicated their time, be it a little or a lot, to wade through my mess and find something real on the other side. I want to thank Mike, Alexis, Chris, and Masha, my brothers-and-sister-in-arms from the class of '09, who are woven into the play's DNA whether they like it or not.

I am blown away on a daily basis by the talent and drive of my director, stage manager, actors, designers, and crew. They've really put something special together, and at the very least you should see it for their sake. Twice. And bring friends. Tell them there's music.

- Will Fancher, playwright

----------------
For tickets to The River Was Whiskey please visit bostonplaywrights.org or call 866.811.4111