Bates College in Lewiston Maine to Present The Gravediggers Union

From March 7-11 the Bates College theatre department will be presenting The Gravediggers Union, directed by Kevin R. Free.

The Gravediggers Union synopsis: A group of people work at a cemetery in the fictional Ashworth, New Hampshire... some wishing they were elsewhere, others perfectly happy to be miserable where they are. Ronnie used to be married to Bobby, who is unhappily married to Ricky. Mike plays drums in a wedding band on the weekend and can't stop talking about how incredible the song "Pour Some Sugar on Me" is. Johnny shows up at the cemetery surreptitiously recording a podcast called "AshTown." They all work together digging holes and passing the time. When the WalMart of cemeteries opens across the street everybody begins to worry about losing their jobs. So they plan to put on a play to raise money to buy the cemetery themselves. The only problem is nobody goes to plays anymore...

Click here for tickets.

New Play Festival - Playwright-in-Residence - at Centre Stage in Greenville, SC

This coming week I will be in Greenville, SC as the playwright-in-residence at Centre Stage's annual new play festival. I have been looking forward to this week for a very long time and am both excited and scared to death because I will be presenting a new play on the last night of the festival. Why is that scary? I literally just finished writing the play moments prior to rehearsal. I am sure what I'm writing is a complete mess. People will hate it. They will question my sanity. They will wonder if I am actually a playwright or con artist pretending to be one for the free trip to SC. All of this is normal. If you have a playwright in your life they are likely feeling all these things at some point. We all have our processes for writing new work and sharing it with folks. My process usually includes a great deal of time which I don't have in this case so I am trusting collaborators I have never met to tap into the weird, dark thing I'm creating and helping translate it for an audience. That's the exciting part. It's an incredible leap of faith to have my play arrive before me to be read and rehearsed as I cross all the fingers and toes that what I am trying to say about human connection lands with people. That is, in essence, what I am trying to do with every play I write.

This is all a very long way of saying if you're in the Greenville, SC area on November 9th, I would love to see you at Centre Stage.

Publication Announcement: THE ERGONOMIC PERFECTION OF THE ROTARY PHONE

"The Ergonomic Perfection of the Rotary Phone" has been published by Smith & Kraus in their 2023 anthology of best ten-minute plays. My play is included alongside 49 other plays by some of the best playwrights in the country, curated by the wonderful playwright Deborah Lamedman for Smith & Kraus publishers. Click here to purchase a copy.

Big thank yous to Lizzie Lovelady, Kim Boler, and Michael-Ellen Walden for bringing this play to life and to Broken Nose Theatre in Chicago for producing it last year. My name might be attached to the title of this play, but it only exists because of everybody who worked to bring it life on stage.

Publication: Canyon Voices Issue 27

I have two works and an interview published in the latest issue of Canyon Voices.

Included is a monologue titled “Fledglings,” which is included in the full length play of the same name as well as the film adaptation of my short play “Protect & Serve,” which was adapted and directed by Kate Jopson.

Canyon Voices is an online literary magazine that features the works of emerging writers and artists. Founded in spring 2010, Canyon Voices is supported by students and faculty of the School of Humanities, Arts, and Cultural Studies at ASU’s New College.

Click here to read the digital publication.

Returning to Door Kinetic Arts Festival Sept. 18-23

I had the great honor and pleasure to attend Door Kinetic Arts Festival in 2022 with my play The Patient. That play, which was my grad school thesis, holds a special place in my heart so I was overjoyed to spend a week workshopping it with some immensely talented folks. This year I will be returning to the festival with my play The Call List, a solo play I will be workshopping with Eva Nimmer who was in The Patient at DKAF last year.

The Call List was originally inspired by a brief moment from the podcast S Town, created by Brian Reed. When I listened to S Town, I was obsessed with a part of it where the town clerk was tasked with calling a list of people to tell them John B. McLemore, the subject of the podcast, died. I couldn’t stop thinking about how this work assignment could make a person feel so I created a fictional circumstance to explore it. This work in progress is the result. Here is a synopsis of the play:

A dispirited legal assistant is tasked with calling individuals on a list left behind by a man who committed suicide. The work assignment could not come a worse time, as they are dealing with their own life/work existential crisis while their mother and sister badger them via text message. Wanting to connect with their estranged father, it's a few kind words from a stranger that might give them what they ultimately need.

Visit DoorKinetic.com for information about the festival and/or send me an email if you’re interested in this solo play.