News and Updates

I'm so pleased to have the chance to be a returning artist in residence at the lovely and gracious Studios of Key West this summer. TSKW provides access to the inside world of this fascinating island, and the cottage we're staying in offers artists and writers the perfect place to reflect and cool off, all under the shade of a graceful mango tree. I'm here developing a new play about the Treasure Hunting industry - a staple of Key West life for hundreds of years - and I've been conducting research, interviews and gathering experiences. All this will feed into the eventual formation of a work around salvage and recovery, which I hope to develop further this fall. Stay tuned.

So this week I'm in New York for the 2010 Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama Showcase. This represents the culmination of our efforts at CMU and helps us get introduced to the professional community. We have a good schedule of meetings and events, plus a cocktail party tomorrow night. (If you think you can make it, let me know and I'll get you on the list.) Come meet the future playmakers of the American theatre. WHEN: Wednesday, May 19 from 6:00-9:00 WHERE: Midtown Loft 267 Fifth Avenue (at 29th Street) 11th Floor

“ When we were young, we were told that poetry is about voice, about finding a voice and speaking with this voice, but the older I get I think it's not about voice, it's about listening and the art of listening, listening with attention. I don't just mean with the ear; bringing the quality of attention to the world. ” - The Irish poet Kathleen Jamie (with whom I share a birthday) From The Writer's Almanac

“ You need courage to follow the formless path, until the true form of the work emerges. ” - Peter Brook

I'm really happy to announce that I was selected as a Core Member Apprentice at the Playwrights' Center for the 2010 / 2011 season. I got a phone call from Anna Peterson, Membership Manager, late Saturday night, and afterwards we popped some Champagne. The list of new Apprentices was announced at the Kennedy Center / ACTF National Conference in DC. The program offers a development session and workshop reading of one of my plays to be presented some time this coming year. They'll fly me out to Minneapolis, and pair me with a professional director and dramaturg for the reading. Plus I get a "mentor playwright" that I can contact with all my questions. If you could ask a pro anything, what would it be? I'll have to start compiling my questions now...

In a coincidence that is strangely appropriate, my Zombie play will have a staged reading this week during the Lenten celebration of Maundy Thursday . Homo apocalyptus , a story of Zombies, survival, and the meaning of family, will be presented by The Garage Theatre in San Francisco as as part of their New Play reading series. I've been in contact with director Kirk Johnson and it promises to be a holy event. If you're in the area, it's this Thursday, April 1, 2010 at 8:00 PM, and you can call the theatre at 415-885-4006 for more information.

One of the hippest theatre companies here in Pittsburgh is the amazingly agile and in-touch Bricolage group run by Jeff Carpenter and Tami Dixon. "Making artful use of what is at hand" means that they encourage and challenge audiences to look at normal things from all angles. They have a fantastic reading series which culminated last year in an oustanding production of Jennifer Haley's Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom, and this year they have asked me to participate in their annual B.U.S. event - the Bricolage Urban Scrawl. It's a 24-hour play festival where playwrights take inspiration from a ride on a Pittsburgh City bus. If you need to reach me this Friday night, I'll be on the 14-C. WHAT: 5th Annual Bricolage Urban Scrawl WHEN: Saturday, March 27th, 2010 @ 7:30PM WHERE: 937 Liberty Ave, First Floor, Pittsburgh ( Google Map ) TICKETS: Brown Paper Tickets MORE: 412.381.6999