Protagonists in Paper

My article "Protagonists in Paper: Toy Theatres and the Cultivation of Celebrity" is out now in Theatre Notebook.

I was able to write the article with help from a research award from the Society for Theatre Research, which publishes Theatre Notebook. They helped subsidize a trip I took to London to examine the toy theatre collection in the British Museum.

The new issue of Theatre Notebook also has Julian Crowe's follow-up article on the actress Mary Ann Canning and an article by Gerald Baker on performance in the late 17th century. The journal always has interesting articles, which have provided fodder for some past blog entries.

I have some other good news to announce as well. PlayMakers Repertory Company has chosen my play Worth as a semifinalist for the International Thomas Wolfe Playwriting Competition. I should find out in February if the play makes it to the finals.

Also in February, New York Theatre Barn will be presenting selections from my new musical Burned, with songs by Joshua H. Cohen. More information on that will come next month, but in the meantime, mark your calendars for February 3rd.

Hopefully, I'll be able to make some other exciting announcements here soon!

The Results are in...

Well, my play Worth did not win the the Khaos Company Theatre's Dionysia New Play Festival. However, fellow playwright Nancy Gall-Clayton was victorious with her play The Wedding Dress. Congratulations, Nancy!

Fifteen plays each had their opening scenes performed in Indianapolis yesterday as part of the festival. The audience then voted for their favorite, with the winning play getting performed in full at the festival next year. Last year's winner, Yellow Heat: Vincent Van Gogh in Arles by Allan Bates, was presented last night, and now next year's audience will get a chance to see The Wedding Dress.

Nancy Gall-Clayton has had her full-length plays produced at CenterStage Theatre (General Orders No. 11), Bard's Town Theatre (The Snowflake Theory), Horse Cave Theatre (Just Taking Up Space), and Lilith Theatre Company (Wearing My Own Clothes).

As for the rest of us playwrights at the festival... better luck next year!

Khaos Reading

Today the Khaos Company Theatre in Indianapolis performed the first five minutes of my play Worth as a part of the Dionysia New Play Festival.

I didn't get a chance to see it myself, but fellow playwright Nancy Gall-Clayton was there and sent the below picture of the actors. Nancy's play The Wedding Dress also had its opening scene performed. The audience will be voting for their favorite of 15 plays having selections presented, and the winner will have his or her full play performed at the festival next year.

Worth tells the story of a money manager trying to convince a prospective investor he can make him rich... but little does he know the investor is actually investigating the firm for fraud! If the play gets picked up for next year, I'll let you know.

Indiana Reading Next Month

Khaos Company Theatre will be giving a staged reading of the first five minutes of my play Worth next month in Indianapolis.

The reading is a part of the company's 2018 Dionysia New Play Festival.  Fifteen plays in total will have excerpts read to an audience at a local coffee shop, and the audience will then vote on which play they want to see performed in full the following year.

Last year's winner was Yellow Heat: Vincent Van Gogh in Arles by Allan Bates. He's apparently a popular playwright for Khaos, since an excerpt of his play Adah about the actress Adah Isaacs Menken is being read this year as well. Other playwrights also having their work featured include Julia Everitt, Jared Delaney, and Nancy Gall-Clayton.

Tickets are now available for the festival, which will be on Saturday, November 3rd. There will be two rounds of readings of new play excerpts (at 1:00 and at 4:00) followed by Yellow Heat at 7:00. If you're in the Indianapolis area, I hope you can make it!

WORTH in Indianapolis

Good news! My play Worth has been selected for the Khaos Company Theatre's new play festival in Indianapolis this November.

A five-minute excerpt of the play will be performed November 3, 2018 at The Neidhammer coffee shop on Washington Street. There are 14 other plays that were also selected to have excerpts read at the festival. Audiences will then be asked to vote on their favorite excerpts.

The excerpt with the largest number of votes will be declared the winner, and that play with then be performed in full during the company's following season. This November, Khaos is putting on last year's winner, Yellow Heat: Vincent Van Gogh in Arles by Allan Bates.

Worth deals with an investigation of a potentially fraudulent money manager in a charged atmosphere following recent financial scandals. The characters begin the play by acting respectably, but gradually turn vicious as livelihoods, reputations, and their own sense of identity get called into question. The play explores where we are in the wake of the financial crisis and where we might be headed.

The piece was developed at the Abingdon Theatre Company, where it received a script-in-hand reading, but it has yet to be fully produced.

More information to come!