News and Updates

The South Carolina weekly Columbia City Paper did an article about me in their most recent issue. We talked about writing and stuff, but I have to say I don't remember it happening exactly that... Also, here's an article by the Southern arts aficionado Jeffrey Day on his blog Carolina Culture . He was interested in our Key West residency for my new play in development Homo apocalyptus , and kindly sandwiched us in between other local arts events. Finally, here's the official news item from The Studios of Key West with more details about Homo apocalyptus and the reading coming up August 6.

I'm very pleased to announce that my play LOSING SLEEP will be produced in New York by the American Theatre of Actors next month as part of their Summer Directors Series. I'm looking forward to this production, and working with director Michael Bordwell . Show opens August 26, 2009 at ATA - 314 W. 54th Street. For tickets, call (212) 581-3044.

OK, I'm really excited to announce that my full length play PARADISE KEY has been named the winner of the 2010 Trustus Theatre Playwrights Festival. This is a national competition for full length plays, that receives hundreds of entries each year. I knew I was a finalist a few weeks ago, and now I've been told I won! That means they will have a reading of the play this fall (August 15, 2009), I believe, and then a full production next fall. Check back for dates, times, more info, and more jubilation!

The Public Theatre presented a new work-in-progress last night by the amazing Suzan-Lori Parks as part of their Lab series. The piece, titled Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1 and 8) was the start of a nine-part epic retelling of the Iliad and Odyssey from the perspective of a newly freed slave living in South Texas, 1865. Although we only saw part of the story, I'm assuming that we will see the slave, Homer, journey to freedom, and then return to his love, Penny, as suggested by the archetype. There were hints at other time periods, and multi-media elements, but the core we followed was the immortal tension between the hope of freedom, and the agony of experience. And it was a beautifully crafted piece, full of intricate language and astounding performances. The subtle musical accompaniment and rhythmic movement (direction by Jo Bonney) counterpointed the text without distraction. And the generous asides and humor (including a wonderfully loyal dog) brought us in to the m...

I'm getting excited about the opportunity to workshop a new play this summer during a residency at The Studios of Key West in Florida. TSKW is a unique place offering residencies and facilities to artists for project development. I'll be down there from late July through mid August, working with some of my favorite collaborators of all time on a brand new piece. The play is a campfire tale about life after the Zombie apocalypse; it offers a meditation on survival, family, and cost of being human. After a few months on other projects, I'm finally turning my focus back to this one, and I think it's going to be fun.

Now that school is finally done (for a few months, at least) I can focus on some other projects that have been simmering away in the back of my mind. One of these, a yet-to-be-titled psychological thriller, will have some further development in Florida during July and August (more details to follow). All I can say is it's good to write things that excite you.

I'm excited to announce a reading of my new full length play, PARADISE KEY, coming up in exactly two weeks. It will be at the CMU School of Drama , on the third floor in the Brown Studio, on Wednesday, April 29th at 6:30 PM. No tickets are required, but you can contact me to learn more.