THE CALL LIST Part of Garage Theatre's 25th Season

The Call List, a play I wrote for one actor, is part of Garage Theatre’s 25th Season. The production will run May 2-17 at their space in Long Beach, CA. This production is an advance of the yet unannounced world premiere production scheduled to take place in 2026.

The Call List is about a dispirited legal assistant who is tasked with calling individuals on a list left behind by a man who committed suicide. The work assignment could not come at 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.

New Play Commission

I was recently commissioned by Matthew McCray, Artistic Director for Son of Semele in Los Angeles, to write a play inspired by the work I have been doing with The Subtext Podcast. This podcast has been running for nearly 10 years, starting as a program of LA Stage Alliance in 2015 and moving to American Theatre magazine in 2018. In each episode I interview a playwright about their lives and their writing. But the subtext of The Subtext is my journey as a playwright. The play I am writing is essentially a memoir of the time following the parallel paths I’ve trekked as a podcaster and playwright over the last decade. Matt is collaborating with me on the story and I will be writing the script which will be completed in 2025.

This commission arrived at a particular time for me. When Matt contacted me about this project he had no idea how long I had been struggling to forge my playwriting path as the podcast grew in popularity. I have, on many occasions, considered ending The Subtext due to my insecurities and frustration. Instead of quitting, I get to write about it. It will be a painful and vulnerable process and I’m scared to write it. But that probably means we are on to something. This is not a play I ever would have sought to write so I am incredibly grateful to Matt and Son of Semele for bringing this to me. He is one of my all time favorite directors and literally every Son of Semele production I attended while living in Los Angeles blew my mind open and inspired me to be a better artist.

Sign up for Son of Semele’s email list to stay up to date on this project.

ABOUT SON OF SEMELE: Semele creates and produces theatrical work that explores compelling universal questions, celebrates creative risk-taking, and centers collaboration and community. The impact of a theatrical experience should resonate beyond the theater door. We embrace the friction between emotion and intellect, integrating design, rhythm, media, technology, and performance to present theatre that is emotionally engaging, thought-provoking, and ambitious in reach.

Nautilus Composer-Librettist Studio

I had the good fortune of being selected for the Nautilus Composer-Librettist Studio. Over the course of two+ intensive weeks, I learned about a variety of music-theater characteristics, song structures, and songwriting techniques while collaborating with a composers and performers in the creation of new works. This was an incredible opportunity I’ve long wished to be part of. I came in knowing virtually nothing about how to write music for theater, despite having attempted to write many songs in several plays.

The Minnesota Star Tribune visited the studio to witness firsthand the magic of this program. They watched several works-in-progress, including a song written by me and composed by the great Timothy Kirchhof.

“The tone shifted greatly during rehearsal of the freshly written two-person scenes. A graveside dialogue sung by a grieving son (Joshua Row) and his deceased mother (Keri Rodau) brought to life Brian James Polak’s anguished lyrics that were lent weighty sadness by the minor-key music of Tim Kirchhof. Some participants were moved to tears as they offered feedback.”

Read the entire article here to learn more about this wonderful program, led by the inimitable Ben Krywosz at this link.

ABOUT NAUTILUS:

Since 1986 Nautilus (formerly The New Music-Theater Ensemble) has provided opportunities for the artistic growth of music-theater artists who create, develop, and produce new operas and other forms of music-theater that are emotionally expansive, dramatically engaging, and spiritually stimulating. We form partnerships between creators, performers, and audiences in order to contribute to the quality and diversity of new American music-theater, and we envision an extended family of artists and audiences that uses music-theater as a tool to support the individual and collective growth of the human spirit.

Mouthing Off Podcast, from Bad Mouth Theatre Company

I was recently interviewed for Mouthing Off Podcast, from Bad Mouth Theatre Company. On this episode we talk about my work with The Subtext Podcast, my playwriting, and how my next project is a combination of the two.

Mouthing Off is a theatre, arts and culture podcast from Bad Mouth Theatre Company in St. Paul, Minnesota. The show features compelling interviews and discussions with artists and creators from around the Twin Cities and beyond. Episodes stream online, at Minnesota Playlist, and in St. Paul from Frogtown Radio, 94.1 FM.

Appearing at Toadstool Bookshop in Conversation with Amanda Shaw

On July 30th I had the great pleasure of appearing at my hometown bookstore, Toadstool Bookshop, to have a public conversation with my high school classmate, poet Amanda Shaw, on the publication of her first collection of poetry. It was a special event to me with two former teachers and some hometown friends in the audience listening to Amanda and I discuss how we became writers and also listening to Amanda share poems from her collection.

The Keene Sentinel wrote about this event and her book and you can read about it at this link.

Amanda’s book is on sale through Lily Poetry review. You can purchase a copy at this link.


NEWS FOR THE DEAF MAN to be presented in Budapest, Hungary

My play News for the Deaf Man will be presented in English for one night only by Dramaworks Theatre Company in Budapest, Hungary.

Synopsis: Having reached rock bottom, Harry reconnects with his estranged artist father. When the old man's health appears in decline, Harry is caught between cashing in his famous father's art in order to save himself, and reconciling their long-ago destroyed relationship.

Tickets and information can be found at this link.

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.