News and Updates

I figured I should report on grad school here at Carnegie Mellon . It's great. It's tough. But it's great. I'm taking a full course load, which doesn't leave as much time for writing as one might desire (actually, it's the "free" time that gets used up.) But my classmates are phenomenal, always challenging me to do better, and our professor, Milan Stitt, is a wealth of wisdom. The best in the business. Without getting too sappy about it, I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity to be here, and I look forward to seeing how I turn out.

My 10-minute play, JOY OF COOKING, has been selected for the Actors Theatre of Santa Cruz "Best of the Rest" short play competition. It will receive a reading in spring 2009, along with a few other coice morsels. JOY OF COOKING is the hilarious story of a woman who must learn to cook in one night, or risk losing her marriage and maybe her sanity.

First off, let me say that I dig Pittsburgh. It's great. It's a well kept secret of urban hipness and theatrical creativity. We've already enjoyed a few productions, and I'm getting to know the community a little. And I had a chance to schmooze with the vibrant local chapter of the Dramatists Guild. (And lest you think that this is all I do, we also took in a Steelers pre-season game, got the cable installed, and have mostly unpacked.) If you're not familiar with the numerous professional theatre companies, check out the following: Pittsburgh Public Pittsburgh Playwrights City Theatre Quantum Bricolage Irish and Classical Open Stage Etc., etc. It's not a huge community, but there's enough going on to keep people busy. And I'm glad to be a part of it.

I may be out of pocket for a few days because we're about to get serious about the business of moving. Seriously. It seems like it's been forever in coming, so I'm glad that it's finally here. And I know I get all momentous about it; we're moving to Pittsburgh to start a new life, grad school for me, a new job for my wife, a new city, new friends, etc. But it all seems like such a natural next step that I'm not really weirding out. It's gonna be an adventure, true that, but we've been packing for this trip for years. Board the plane, already, and take off. Noony-noony-noo.

When it rains it pours. I've got a reading of TRUMPET SOLO at the Warehouse Theatre in Greenville, South Carolina coming up Tuesday, June 24, at 7:00 PM. I love this theatre because of the care and precision the put in to their productions. Plus they're really cool.    Leave a comment

I'm really excited to have a reading of a new play I'm working on at Trustus Theatre . This play, TRUMPET SOLO , is about a man who has a vision of the afterlife that rocks his view of reality. I'm honored to have the phenomenal actor Chris White in the role of Alan. Come check it out Monday, June 23, at 7:00 PM in the new black box.    Leave a comment

I'm doing some catching up this weekend. I've got a list of plays that I have to see to be able to say that I'm in the "theater scene". I've heard raves about most of these, and the others just pique my interest: From Up Here (Liz Flahive) August: Osage County (Tracy Letts) Body Awareness (Annie Baker) Fuerzabruta (De la Guarda) reasons to be pretty (Neil Labute) Hopefully I'll have a chance to post some thoughts about some of these after I see them. They're such sizable and provocative works that it may take time (years) for them to really soak in.