News and Updates

The rise of mass media and broadcast television in the late 40's and early 50's fanned the flames of public outrage against Polio, and also galvanized the forces that found a cure. In the spirit of historical redux, check out the new promotional video for my play Paradise Key coming to the Hyde Park Theatre in Austin, TX produced by a chick and a dude productions . I have had a great time working with Shanon Weaver (at right) and director Melissa Livingston (not pictured), and I promise that if you "like" this on Facebook, nothing bad will happen to your computer. UPDATE: In an interesting public-health-related twist, there will be no smoking during this production because of Austin City ordinances. The artistic team is working to maintain the historical accuracy presented in the script, while trying not to break the law.

I am simultaneously humbled and jazzed-out-of-my-socks to hear that my MFA-thesis play Bellhammer , an allegorical meditation on the nature of goodness set in the world of Christian Professional Wrestling, has been named a Semi-Finalist for the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center's 2010 National Playwrights Conference . I am honored to be recognized by this amazingly prestigious group, and I'm gratified that this piece is being considered.

I am thrilled to announce an upcoming production of my award-winning play Paradise Key to be performed in Austin, TX at the Hyde Park Theatre . The production will run from March 31 through April 16, 2011 and is being produced by Austin's own a chick and a dude productions . I have had a great time working with (actor / producer) Shanon Weaver and (director) Melissa Livingston and I'm stoked about the production.

Two pieces of hot news: This past week I had a section of my new, untitled, unfinished Treasure Hunting play read during the Naked Angels Tuesdays @ 9 event. I've hyped about them before, and I am always impressed with the talent and energy in that room. And this coming week I will be reading a section of another play as part of The BE Company's BEginning's series, a periodic collection of playwrights and song-writers who share work in their own voice. It's at a former massage parlour in the Lower East Side, so it promises to be a fun night. WHAT: BEginnings @ Happy Ending WHEN: Thursday, January 27th 8-10 PM, (doors open at 7:00) WHERE: Happy Endings ( 302 Broome St., NY, NY 10002 )

We had the chance to see a preview of Rajiv Jospeh's Gruesome Playground Injuries last night, now playing at Second Stage , under the able direction of Scott Ellis, with Assistant Director, CMU-alum Kate Pines . (Also starring CMU-alum Pablo Schreiber.) The smooth, sterile nurse's office (designed by Neil Patel) was the stoic backdrop for the chance meetings of two desperate, self-destructive people over the course of many years. And the story gently reminds us that some scars heal slowly, if at all, but that doesn't stop us from wanting to jump off the swings.

How does one appreciate the experience of watching Nature Theatre of Oklahoma's open rehearsal of their new work "Life and Times, Episode 1" beyond the fact that it was a three-hour verbatim transcript of a series of phone calls with one of their ebullient members set to a toe-tapping show tunes score, packaged in their charming, trademark, documentary-meets-performance-studies style? (It was packed, I might add. In the Bronx.) I think the haiku form is required. Singing "Uhm's" and "Well's" Under gymnasium lights: Hipster opera.

The best part of living in New York is finding your own favorite spots. You don't live in anybody else's city, and there are as many ways to navigate it as there are ginko leaves on Central Park West. One of the secret little gems for playwrights is the weekly happening known as Tuesdays @ 9 hosted by the heavenly Naked Angels. Each week raw pages are cooked over an open flame by passionate actors in cold reads. What you get is the collective energy of a great room of over 100 people, (which is a larger audience than half the shows I've seen) who are all expecting something to be good. I had the chance to hear part of my Zombie play Homo apocalyptus read last week, and when the vibrancy of smart actors meets the written page, a little bit of magic seems to happen. You know you're in the right place, and suddenly the big cold city starts to feel more like home.