Publication Announcement: LAST TO DIE FOR A LOST CAUSE Published by Next Stage Press

On April 1, 2021 Next Stage Press, an independent theatre publisher based in Colorado, will release LAST TO DIE FOR A LOST CAUSE, the 2014 winner of The Kennedy Center’s John Cauble Award.

Synopsis:

After witnessing an event they cannot shake, two soldiers go AWOL during the height of the War in Iraq. With help from a soldier still fighting and a local Iraqi mother, they attempt to escape the country and start a new life elsewhere, but the complications of war push them into a corner, forcing them to make the most difficult decision.

LAST TO DIE FOR A LOST CAUSE, formerly titled WAR PROFITS, is the final play in the 4-part The Way We Are and the Profits of War, a series of plays about the economic influence on decisions young adults make, and how those decisions can lead teenagers into circumstances for which even fully developed adults can never be completely prepared… such as war.

LAST TO DIE FOR A LOST CAUSE can be purchased and/or licensed starting April 1, 2021 at this link.

Publication Announcement: Play Excerpt in Talon Review

The Talon Review has published a excerpt of my gull-length play HERE RESTS THE HEART in Volume 2/Issue 3 of their publication.

Synopsis: A play about the value of family and friendships and finding your voice in a time of turmoil, "Here Rests the Heart" challenges us to find our voices and account for what matters most in the world, and calls us to take action with what precious little time we get to live.

You can read the digital version of the publication at this link.

Interview: The Plot Podcast with Sean Douglass

I was recently interviewed by arts journalist, playwright, and podcaster Sean Douglass for his podcast “The Plot.”

We discuss the concept of success, my work on The Subtext, my embarrassment as a philosophy major, and my personal life philosophy. This was a great chat, and I’m glad to have inspired Sean to take a moment at the top of this show to reflect on his life and work in a similar way to me at the top of most episodes of The Subtext. He was a great perspective on what it means to have a career in the theater.

Click here to listen to the episode.

ONLINE: DG One-Minute Play Festival - Live from the Anarchist Jurisdictio

"Live From The Anarchist Jurisdiction" is a micro-play project created in the style of The One-Minute Play Festival (#1MPF) playmaking process. It is designed to be a rapid-response meditation on this current cultural and political moment in our country.

Last month, The Department of Justice deemed Portland, Seattle, and New York City to be anarchist jurisdictions, in the wake of protests and civil unrest, because "they have permitted violence and destruction of property to persist and have refused to undertake reasonable measures to counteract criminal activities," according to their official memo. This attempt to delegitimize, criminalize, and defund perceived sanctuary cities that are politically opposed to the current administration, during an election season, has caused a ripple-out effect across our entire country. NYC, Seattle, and Portland, along with many of our US cities, are major hubs for American culture. While not a perfect analogy, culture is the opposite of anarchy in many ways: one is creative, one is destructive. One is about creating value, community, understanding, and appreciation, and the other is about devaluing, dividing, and erasing. The narrative that the Justice Department is framing does not match the day to day reality of what is going on in our country. We are within a month of an election, and we have a critical opportunity to reshape, reimagine, and redesign the future that we want to live in, through the power of our votes, our voices, and our actions. In that spirit, we wanted to create a rapid-response project that is an entry-point to that conversation about this moment of civil unrest, divisions of ideas and values, and deep cultural shifts.

Directors:

Nathaniel P. Claridad, Rebecca McDonald, Burgess Byrd, & Nilan

Playwrights:

Kyle Adkins, Jamie Alliotts, Jessica Andrewartha, Scott Alan Andrews, Melisa Annis, John F. Backe, Gabriella Balsam,Maureen Barnes, Chad Beckim, Meny Beriro, Suzanne Bronson, Manny Buckley, Michael Bulger, Renee Calarco, Rachael Carnes, DC Cathro, David Caudle, Terry Cawley, Alisha Christiansen, Elizabeth Coplan, Roberta D’Alois, Richard M. Daley, Diane Davis, Margaret Engel, Eric Fallen, Amy Gijsbers van Wijk, Hank Greenspan, Orian Israelsohn, George Jack, Linda Kampley, Leigh Kennicott, Jeffrey James Keyes, Frankie KL, Audrey Lang, Ashley Lara, Adrienne LaValley, Maggie Lee, Mark Harvey Levine, E. M. Lewis, Madison M. Mansouri, Oliver Mayer, Penny Mickelbury, Michele A. Miller, Nina Louise Morrison, Serena Norr, Margaret O’Donnell, Dawn O'Leary, Yoni Oppenheim, Nicole Pandolfo, Howard Pflanzer, Martha Pichey, Brian James Polak, Barry M. Putt, Jr., James Racheff, Lisa Rafferty, Cecelia Raker, Diane Richards, Cassandra Rose, Jennifer Schaupp, Laura Schofer, David Simpatico, Paul K. Smith, Tom Smith, Rachel Snyder, Ricardo Soltero-Brown, Peter Spartano, Ann-Giselle Spiegler, Leilani Squire, Caridad Svich, Eugenie Trow, Louisa Vilardi, Gregory Von Dare, Matthew Weaver, Jonathan West, Patricia Wakely Wolf, & Harrison Young 

Register for this online event here.

When Was American Great? Let's Go There...

5 years ago I wrote a rant about the rise of MAGA culture. That rant became a monologue in my play "Welcome to Keene, NH," which was supposed to have a world premiere this year. The show got shelved when the theaters closed due to COVID and I never got to share this particular piece of it that badly wants to be expressed in 2020.

During lockdown I have been giving myself little projects to stay creative and productive and sane. I call them "sanity" projects and this piece became one of them. I decided to translate it into film, and with the help of the wonderful actor/playwright/casting director Karissa J Murrell Myers, I was able to connect with 17 actors. I spent the last two weeks of September going around Chicago filming these great talents, and then spent the past ten days learning how to edit. Here is the final product. It feels good to express this right now. Some of you might feel the same. Watch the video below…

Backstage Recommends The Subtext Podcast

In a recent article titled “Ready to Jumpstart Your Writing Career? Start With These Podcast Episodes” journalist Brittani Samuel recommends The Subtext episode featuring Leah Nanako Winkler and Mark Schultz as one of the ten “best episodes to put in your ears and help jumpstart your writing career.”

Check out the full list here at this link.

Check out The Subtext Podcast archives here at this link.

3Views on Theater: Archive of Plays Impacted by COVID

Each week 3Views on Theater explores 3 productions that were impacted by COVID. This week they included Welcome to Keene, NH, which was to have its world premiere with Chicago’s Strawdog Theatre in April/May of 2020. The production was indefinitely postponed due to the virus.

Thanks to 3Views, the cast, production team, and an excerpt of the play have been archived.

Click here to see the archive page and learn more about this play/production.

Audiodrama: Fledglings

I wrote this monologue many years ago as part of the first full length play I ever attempted. It was eventually cut from that play and then added to another and then cut again. Never one to allow my writing to go to waste, I decided to record it as a mini-audiodrama.

Stream the audio below or at this link.

Live (online) Storytelling Event with Thrown Stone Theatre

On June 5th from 7:00-8:30pm E.S.T. I will be participating in a live storytelling event with Thrown Stone, which is located in Ridgefield, CT.

Ten writers share their Acts of Fate, a collection of memoir, performance, and poetry about the inflection points in our lives — the moments that changed everything.

Watch live on Zoom at this link.

24 Hour Plays: Viral Monologues

I was recently invited to write a monologue for 24 Hour Plays’ #24viralmonologues project they have been running since COVID-19 has kept us all locked up inside.

The way the project works: Each week they select a group of playwrights and actors. After matching them up the actors record a short video giving some idea of what they are capable of pulling off in their given circumstances. Some actors are living in the country and have access to gardens and trees and sky. Others are cooped up inside apartments in their respective cities. Playwrights are given these videos at 6pm and have until 9am the following morning to write a 5 minute (give or take) monologue. The actor then must memorize and record the monologue however they see fit.

I was assigned the actor Ben Ahlers, a theatre and TV actor who already has a ton a credits despite only being out of school a couple years. He’s a big talent and I was lucky to be matched with him. In Ben’s intro video he made some suggestions of things he could pull off (he lives in a NYC apartment). He mentioned a guitar and a park across the street, which I took as inspiration to write a piece about a street musician trying hard to stay positive during this crisis.

The lineup for this week’s monologues included some playwrights I’ve long admired, including Laura Eason, Rebecca Gilman, Itamar Moses, and David Lindsay-Abaire, Donald Margulies, and so many others. The lineup of actors was just as stacked.

You can watch the piece I wrote here:

The 24 Hour Plays: Viral Monologues! New monologues written, rehearsed, recorded and released on IGTV in 24 hours. #24viralmonologues "LOVE/LIKE/LOOK" writte...

The archive of all the others at this link.

Support 24 Hour Plays if you can with a donation at this link.