Online Theater with Colvin Theatrical in Grand Rapids, MI

On May 23rd a play I originally wrote several years ago title What we need at the end of the day… was presented as part of an online festival of short plays called “Overcoming Isolation.” The event was organized and produced by Colvin Theatricals in Grand Rapids, MI and featured writers, actors, and directors from all over the country.

Elizabeth Price as Molly and Michael Emerson as Dean

What we need at the end of the day… was directed by Julia Moriarty and featured Elizabeth Price as Molly and Michael Emerson as Dean.

The event was livestreamed on Facebook as well as GRTV. An archive of the event can be found here at this link. What we need at the end of the day… begins around the 26 minute mark, but all of the plays are excellent so you should watch them all.

Audiodrama: The Smoking Room

I’ve been searching for projects to keep me creatively engaged during the time of COVID-19. When somebody commented on this piece I wrote many years ago I found the next thing I could do.

The Smoking Room began as a short story written in a writing class back in 2006. It became a monologue, mostly because that’s my genre. The writing is the same regardless what I call it. Now it has been recorded as a sort of audio drama. It’s been created for no reason other than I wanted to do it.

Give a listen to the recording here at this link.

CW: This piece includes references to parent/child violence and is not recommended for young people.

The Subtext: In the time of COVID19

I have been working on this podcast for nearly five years, and each of the 50+ episodes involved me sitting down face-to-face with other playwrights and talking about their lives. Due to the fact that essentially everybody is hunkered down and avoiding in-person encounters, The Subtext had to alter course.

For the March 2020 episode I decided to open a voicemail box and have other playwrights call in and leave messages talking about how they are coping in the time of coronavirus. Over 25 playwrights called and the results was the 48-minute special episode of the podcast. You can stream the audio here at this link.

I also made a shorter -15 minute- edit of the episode that you can listen to here at this link.

Podcast interview: Are Your Parents Proud of You?

I was recently interviewed for the podcast Are Your Parents Proud of You?

Episode description: In this episode, Matthew sits down with Brian James Polak. Brian is a playwright whose play, Welcome To Keene, New Hampshire, is having its world debut at Strawdog Theatre. They talk about the inspiration of the play, growing up in New Hampshire, and pasta sauce. NOTE: This episode was recorded before the Coronavirus Crisis. Events and dates may no longer be occurring. Wash Your Hands.

Click here to stream the audio or click here to listen on Apple Podcasts.

Strawdog Theatre Co. COVID-19 Update for Welcome to Keene, NH

Strawdog Theatre Company, which was scheduled to open Welcome to Keene, NH in April, made a postponement announcement (see below). We have been in remote rehearsals for a couple weeks now and will hopefully be able to share this play with the public as soon as we are able.

Dear Strawdog community,

Hope you are safe and doing as well as can be expected.

An update on Strawdog programming in this uncertain time - given current events, we will be unable to start performances of Welcome to Keene, New Hampshire on April 17 as planned and are sadly postponing the production until we are able to gather again. Rehearsals are underway online and we are continuing our work so that we can rehearse in person as soon as it is safe to do so and invite audiences to share in this beautiful new play shortly after.

It has been truly wonderful to dive into this play with this incredible group of artists over the last couple weeks and we look forward to the day we are able to share it with you.

Stay safe!

Welcome to Keene, NH Casting Announcement

Strawdog Theatre Company has announced the cast and design team for its world premiere of Brian James Polak’s “Welcome to Keene, New Hampshire,” directed by Artistic Director Leda Hoffmann.

The cast includes Kylie Anderson, Elise Marie Davis, North Rory Homeward, Marssie Mencotti, James Munson, Bianca Phipps, Michael Reyes, Jackie Seijo, Cary Shoda, Anne Sheridan Smith, Jamie Vann and David Weiner.

The production team to date includes Heath Hays (scenic design), Sally Dolembo (costume design), Claire Chrzan (lighting design), Daniel Etti-Williams (sound design), Sam Hubbard (fight director), Julia Atkin (assistant director) and Shannon Rourke (stage manager).

Keene, New Hampshire shares a view of Mount Monadnock with Thornton Wilder’s fictional “Our Town.” Modern day Keene shares many of America’s challenges – guns, opioids, divergent political views.

“I am thrilled to be making my Strawdog directing debut working with so many incredible artists,” comments Hoffmann. “Brian’s play tells a beautiful multi-generational story of a community. Like “Our Town,” “Welcome to Keene, New Hampshire” explores what it means to be human in all its complexities. In contemporary America, we need this more than ever. I cannot wait for Chicago audiences to experience this play.”

“Welcome to Keene, New Hampshire” will play April 17 – May 30 at Filament Theatre, 4041 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago. More information at www.strawdog.org.

Dates: Previews: Friday, April 17 at 7:30 pm, Saturday, April 18 at 7:30 pm, Sunday, April 19 at 4 pm, Monday, April 20 at 7:30 pm, Thursday, April 23 at 7:30 pm, Friday, April 24 at 7:30 pm and Sunday, April 26 at 4 pm
Board Night Performance: Saturday, April 25 at 7:30 pm
Press performance: Monday, April 27 at 7:30 pm
Regular run: Thursday, April 30 – Saturday, May 30, 2020
Curtain Times: Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:30 pm; Sundays at 4 pm.
Industry Performance: Monday, May 11 at 7:30 pm
Tickets: Previews $18. Regular run $35. Seniors: $26. Board Night: $55. Tickets are currently available at www.strawdog.org. Half price rush and student tickets available at every performance and other discounts available. Call (773) 644-1380 for details.

Publication: "Stages of Resistance" Anthology of Essays

In March of 2017 I contributed to an online salon hosted by The Lark and curated by playwright Caridad Svich. The series of essays, written by many fantastic playwrights I admire, focused on the creation of live performance in political and aesthetic resistance. My piece, personal in nature (focusing on how my selfish tendencies as a writer need to evolve), has now been published in an anthology along with many of the other pieces written for the project. The title of the collection is “Stages of Resistance: Theatre and Politics in the Capitalocene.”

You can purchase a copy of this book here at this link.

Protect & Serve invited to (In)Justice for All Film Festival

The short film I co-wrote with Kate Jopson (who also directed the film), adapted from my short play “Protect & Serve,” has been invited to the 2019 (In)Justice for All International Film Festival in Chicago.

“The power of film to educate and influence, to inspire and engage, and to ultimately exponentially grow the number of active allies in the fight to end the embarrassing injustice that mass incarceration represents, is the catalyst for the (In)Justice for All Film Festival.”

— https://www.injusticeforallff.com/about

The festival is scheduled to take place October 3-12, 2019. Visit their website for tickets and information.

Interview on Welcome to Keene, NH and The Subtext Podcast

Playwright, theater advocate, and journalist Kenneth Jones recently interviewed me about my coming to be a playwright, the play Welcome to Keene, NH, and The Subtext podcast that I produce and host for American Theatre Magazine.

“If you care about playwriting, you probably listen — or you should be listening — to the valuable podcast called “The Subtext,” hosted by Chicago-based playwright Brian James Polak, who asks dramatists and other theatermakers smart questions about their backgrounds, processes, goals and strategies. In 2020, Polak’s new play Welcome to Keene, New Hampshire, a 21st-century riff in Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, is getting shared world-premiere stagings in South Carolina and Chicago. It seemed like a good time to get to know Polak’s background, process, goals and strategies.”

Click here to read the interview in its entirety.

“Welcome to Keene, NH" Featured in The Keene Sentinel

“In 2014, Chicago-based playwright Brian James Polak noticed his hometown in New Hampshire was on the national news more often than usual.

That year, the Elm City found itself at the center of national attention more than once, with stories and videos on the riots the weekend of the Keene Pumpkin Festival, the Keene Police Department’s BearCat and the “Robin Hooders,” who followed Keene parking enforcement officers and put coins in expired meters.

“For the first time in my life, I had that thought, ‘Back when I was a kid, things weren’t like this.’ And then I realized, oh, my parents could say the same thing, and their parents could say the same thing, and their parents,” said Polak, who graduated from Keene High School in 1992. “And I realized that the change is what’s constant.””

Click here to read the entire article.