National Ubu Bake-Off: February 19th, Victory Gardens Theatre

Paula Vogel, the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer of How I Learned to Drive and Indecent, has called for a national Ubu Bake-Off to be held on Presidents Day. 

What is a Bake-Off?
A bake-off is a quickly written exercise on an assigned theme with assigned elements or ingredients that folks do within a 48 hour period of time.

What is Ubu Roi?
Ubu Roi is “an inglorious slop-pail of a play” [see the review here: https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2015/09/08/an-inglorious-slop-pail-of-a-play/]
by Alfred Jarry, which opened (and closed) on December 10, 1896. Read a copy of the play here: http://paulavogelplaywright.com/ubu-supplemental-materials

So then.... what is the Ubu Bake-Off?
Paula has started a national grassroots movement to respond to our global crisis with a bake-off inspired by this play on Presidents Day 2018 (February 19). People will be writing plays and coming together to share them all over the country.

On Monday, February 19th (President's Day) Victory Gardens Theatre is the Chicago host of the Ubu Bake-Off.

Participating playwrights include:

Marsha Estell
Ben Fisher
Tanuja Jagernauth
Samie Jo Johnson
Jasmine Henri Jordan
Nora Anne Leahy
Nancy Garcia Loza
Brian James Polak
Isaac Gomez

Tickets are FREE but an RSVP will make sure you get a seat: https://goo.gl/forms/Dxsi0UDQ2DMBvsPx2

American Theatre Magazine presents The Subtext

I couldn't be happier to announce that American Theatre Magazine, a publication of Theatre Communications Group, is now presenting The Subtext, a playwright podcast hosted by yours truly. 

New episodes to be released by American Theatre monthly beginning in January, 2018. 

Click here to stream episodes online.

Click here to listen and subscribe on iTunes.

Click here to listened to the archived interviews from 2015-2017 when this podcast was produced by LA Stage Alliance.

Returning to MORTIFIED February 10th in Chicago

Many years ago, back when I lived in Boston, MA, I stood up in front of friends and strangers to read embarrassing teenage poetry as part of the Mortified Live Show. After moving to Los Angeles, I hit the stage again so I could mortify myself west-coast style. It's now been ten years. My awful love poems have since been published in Mortified: Love is a Battlefield, and I'm about to return to the stage in Chicago on February 10th to humiliate myself for my new city of residence. 

[UPDATE: Audio of this event can be heard at this link.]

Mortified Valentine Shmalentine Show

Date: Sat Feb 10 @ 6:30PM

Location: Lincoln Hall, Chicago, IL, USA

Address: 2424 N. LINCOLN AVE. CHICAGO, IL 60614

Cost: $20 adv / $23 door

Ages: 21+

Seating: General Admission

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

Mortified stars everyday people reading aloud their most embarrassing, pathetic and private teenage diary entries, poems, love letters, lyrics and locker notes… in front of total strangers. Witness “personal redemption through public humiliation” in a refreshing show that is equal parts comedic, cathartic and voyeuristic. The largest and longest running project of its kind featuring a cast of Chicago’s bravest souls. Share the shame.

Performers include Savannah Cannistraro, Ryan McQueen, Nicole Novak, Morgan Phillips-Spotts, and Brian James Polak! Hosted by Shay DeGrandis. Musical Guest Cover Stories with The Nerdologues!

"I'm Only Sleeping" published in Best 10-Minute Plays of 2017

I’m Only Sleeping was first presented by SHOTZ LA, at The Granada Building, June 6, 2016.

This is my third time published in Smith & Kraus's "Best 10-Minute Plays" anthologies. "Reverse Evolution" appears in the 2009 edition, and "Pass Go: A Monopoly Play" appears in the 2013 edition. Each of these anthologies can be found at Amazon or at Smith & Kraus's website. 

Ukraine Week of Contemporary Plays Conference

I was recently invited to speak to a new play conference in Kiev, Ukraine. I will be appearing via Skype and discussing the movement toward equity on the stages of American theaters.

This opportunity came from my interactions with several Eastern and Central European playwrights while on a trip to Poland in 2016, working on The Time Capsule Project with Joanna Klass of Curie City and Adam Mickiewicz Institute (more on that project later). 

I had the pleasure of meeting a trio of Ukrainian playwrights. One of those playwrights, Julia Gonchar, is an organizer of this play conference and extended the invitation to me to participate. 

I love technology's ability to bring the theater world together, and I welcome the opportunity to speak with theater makers and enthusiasts from Ukraine and share information about contemporary American theater.

My discussion will take place Thursday, October 19, 2017 at 4pm Ukraine time. The discussion will be video archived for future viewing by those unable to attend (which is essentially most of the world).

HENRY AND THE HIPPOCAMPUS selected for The Road Theatre's Summer Playwrights Festival

I could not be more excited to have my play Henry and the Hippocampus included in The Road Theatre's Summer Playwrights Festival. 

Henry and the Hippocampus was originally written as part of my graduate school program with USC School of Dramatic Arts and was awarded The Kennedy Center's Jean Kennedy Smith Award in 2014. Subsequently developed in a round table reading at The Lark in 2015, this will be the first public presentation of the play. 

WHAT: Henry and the Hippocampus, by Brian James Polak | Henry suffers a head trauma causing him to lose the ability to create new memories. Maria, his wife, and Patryk, his doctor, become entwined as they both struggle to balance their own lives with the life of a man stuck in one perpetual moment.

WHEN: Saturday, August 5th at 8pm

WHERE: The Road Theatre | 5108 Lankershim Blvd, North Hollywood, CA 91601 

TICKETS: Because SPF8 is a fundraiser, tickets are by donation (suggested $15) and are only available at the door.

WHO: The reading will be directed by April Webster. Cast TBD.

Moderating SAG-AFTRA Foundation Playwrights in TV Panel

On June 12th I will be moderating a SAG-AFTRA panel with some excellent playwright/TV writers.

Panelists include: Bekah Brunstetter, Nick Jones, Molly Smith Metzler, and Steve Yockey.

Free for SAG-AFTRA and Actors Equity Association members. 

From the SAG-AFTRA Foundation website:

As the television landscape continues to expand and evolve, fresh writing talent is being mined from all kinds of sources. One of those sources is the Theatre. 

Comprised of playwrights who have successfully made a career of TV writing, this panel will explore how storytelling for the small screen has shifted in recent years making it a space more apt for playwrights to explore and contribute to. Panelists will address the process of transitioning from stage to screen, the ways in which the mediums differ, and techniques that are either carried over, discarded, or morphed altogether. 

Click here to watch the video archive of the panel.

Reading of FLEDGLINGS on June 11th at 2:30

As part of Playwrights Union annual First Peek series, my new play Fledglings will be presented on Sunday, June 11th at 2:30pm at VS Theatre in Los Angeles.

The reading will be directed directed by Megan A. McGuane.

Cast: TBD

Description:
It's Y2K and five teenagers gather to celebrate the new year. As the sun rises after a night of heavy drinking, Heather is left with foggy memories and a sinking feeling something horrifying happened to her last night.

Make a reservation at this link.

The Lark "Stages of Resistance" Salon Series

I have contributed a piece as part of a new Lark blog salon, curated by Caridad Svich, called
"Stages of Resistance." 

From The Lark's website: This salon welcomes reflections and articles on issues and themes related to making work for live performance in political and aesthetic resistance to forms and systems that oppress human rights and censor and/or severely limit freedom of expression. We are in increasingly hostile, volatile times around the world, and this blog series hopes to serve as a space for considered, thoughtful, polemical articulations of practice and theory on the subject of resistance, the multiple meanings of political art, and the ways in which progressive, wholistic cultural change may be instigated through artworks. 

Click here to read my contribution to the series.

Worcester Academy (MA) to Present LAST TO DIE FOR A LOST CAUSE

Worcester Academy's Upper School Theater program presents its 2017 METG competition show, Last to Die for a Lost Cause.

About Worcester Academy:

WORCESTER ACADEMY® is a co-ed day and boarding school for grades 6 to 12 and postgraduates. Our urban setting, diverse community, and innovative curriculum provide each student with unique opportunities for self-discovery, academic achievement, and personal empowerment.