News and Updates

I am thrilled to be selected as a Playwright-in-Residence with the Tennessee Repertory Theatre for their 2013-2014 Ingram New Works Lab. Over the next nine months, I'll be flying down to Nashville to develop a brand new play, culminating in their New Works Festival next May. From their website: "The Ingram New Works Lab is intended to be an artistic home for emerging playwrights to share work, hone craft, receive direction, and springboard themselves into the next phase of their writing career, providing a fertile environment for the emergence of great new plays." With a mission statement like that, you can bet it will be a good time! I am very excited to work with these amazingly generous and supportive people. More to come.

I'm thrilled to announce that my new play YOUNG NEGRESS STEPPING OUT OF THE RIVER AT DAWN has been selected for the 2013 Centre Stage New Play Festival in Greenville, SC. As one of only three plays selected, I will enjoy a week of workshop, rehearsal, and a formal presentation. This story has been a labor of love since the very beginning, and I am so glad to have the chance to share it with new audiences.

My new play YOUNG NEGRESS STEPPING OUT OF THE RIVER AT DAWN will enjoy a Main Stage reading next week at the 2013 Great Plains Theatre Conference in Omaha, NE. I've had a great time working with the director D. Scott Glasser and composer Mark Bruckner, and I'm very excited to share this new play. UPDATE: Winner of the Holland New Voices Playwright Award

Midtown meets Key West this month in a reading of my new play THE MORE BEYOND with one of NYC's hottest theatre clans. The Drawing Board tackles meaty, challenging work, in an informal, collaborative setting, and I'm honored to be part of their schedule. Plus they have a roster deep enough to produce this reading - 34 characters! - without (almost any) double casting. THE MORE BEYOND follows a Spanish treasure galleon in 1622 that sinks off the coast of Florida, and a modern-day treasure hunter from Key West as he tries to piece his life back together and find lost glory. WHERE: MEC - 825 Seventh Ave, 2nd floor. (Bring photo ID) WHEN: Monday, February 25, 2013 at 7:00 PM

My new play YOUNG NEGRESS STEPPING OUT OF THE RIVER AT DAWN was selected for a main stage reading at the 2013 Great Plains Theatre Conference this coming summer in Omaha. I'm humbled and honored to be selected for this event. Playwrights being featured this year include Erik Ehn who graciously advised me in the early stages of this project, and also Kate Snodgrass who encouraged and challenged me during the Summer Playwrights' Intensive at the Kennedy Center last year. It's gonna be a great week!

If you need a warm, dry, well-lighted place to spend a few hours on Friday evening, then come by The Dramatists Guild for their Friday Night Footlights series. My new play YOUNG NEGRESS STEPPING OUT OF THE RIVER AT DAWN will have a reading and I'd love to have you there. This play grew out of my experiences in Rwanda earlier this year. It shines a spotlight on the daily struggles of a small population of illegal immigrants living and working in the United States, as they seek to harmonize the demands of their own culture and traditions, with a new life far from home. Featuring: Donnetta Lavinia Grays - ALYZE Owiso Odera - MARTIN Jamyl Dobson - EDMOND JoAnna Rhinehart - RONNIE Our director is the lovely Mary Birnbaum . WHEN: Friday, November 2, 2012 at 6:00 PM (promptly) WHERE: The Dramatists Guild - 1501 Broadway, Suite 710

I am honored to be able to direct a upcoming reading of a brand new play FOR THE LOVE OF DAMIEN HIRST written by my friend the incredibly talented Michael Patrick Collins. It isn't every day that we get to step outside our comfort zone and try on different roles in the theatre, but I think it's important. And I have worked with some amazing directors, both as an actor and as a playwright, so all I do is act like those directors, and treat the playwright like I want to be treated. The story tells itself. The Drawing Board presents FOR THE LOVE OF DAMIEN HIRST by Michael Patrick Collins WHEN: Wednesday, October 24, 2012 at 7:00 PM WHERE: The Players Club (16 Gramercy Park, NYC)