New Comedies Festival Semifinalist (Again!)

I just received word that my new play After an Earlier Incident has been named a semifinalist in the B Street Theatre's 2026 New Comedies Festival in Sacramento.

The theatre is scheduled to select four finalists by June 2nd. Chosen plays will receive readings July 12th through 19th, and at least one of those plays will be fully produced for the theatre's upcoming season.

In March, I previously announced that After an Earlier Incident had advanced to Round 2 of B Street Theatre's process. Last year, my play The Love Songs of Brooklynites made it to the semifinals, but unfortunately was not invited out for the New Comedies Festival.

The first scene of After an Earlier Incident had a workshop at Theatre of Western Springs outside of Chicago. I continued to develop the piece with Caryn Osofsky and Nick Walthers, two actors I met through the American Renaissance Theater Company (ARTC), and they performed a public reading of the full play in December at Theater for the New City.

In the play, a recently widowed woman meets a perpetually awkward man for their first date, only to discover that they both have more baggage than they are willing to admit. The play asks how two people can relate to one another when the technology we use to communicate keeps getting in the way, and how we can move forward with life even when a recent death remains ever present. It's a comedy about trying to live and love when tragedy lies just below the surface.

Perhaps this July the people of Sacramento will get a chance to hear this piece, which is very near and dear to my heart.

Advancing

Sometimes being a playwright means making small advances, little by little, hoping that something will finally stick.

That's how I've been feeling lately, as many small things have been dripping in, such as my play Combustion being named a semifinalist for Broken Arts Entertainment's Loved Ones series.

Combustion re-imagines the life and death of Marie-Anne and Antoine Lavoisier, who revolutionized chemistry around the same time a political revolution was happening in France. I've also been trying to get a reading of the play scheduled with American Renaissance Theater Company.

After an Earlier Incident, a play I previously developed with ARTC, has moved on to Round 2 of the selection process for the B Street Theater's New Comedies Festival in Sacramento. The festival had more than 400 submissions this year, so competition has been fierce.

So things continue to crawl along. I just hope that something sticks soon.

Top Shows of 2025

Anyone who remembers the New York theatre scene from before the dreaded covid shutdown knows that this city has yet to fully recover. Theatre today is simply less ambitious, less imaginative, and less interesting than it was before 2020.

Still, there are some exceptions. Last year, there were a few remarkable shows that made my annual top-ten list, including Broadway's re-imagining of The Great Gatsby and a new production of the Giuseppi Verdi classic La Forza del Destino at the Metropolitan Opera.

This year, I have a new list of the best shows I saw in New York City that opened since January 1st. That doesn't include some of the excellent productions I saw outside of New York, including Sunday in the Park with George in Pittsburgh or Dear Liar in Niagara-on-the-Lake, not to mention my own workshop of After an Earlier Incident at Theatre of Western Springs.

10. Nongod - This trio of one-act plays by Leon Lone was a pleasant surprise. Seeing ancient deities from Egypt, Russia, and Mexico come to life on stage turned out to be both funny and emotionally engaging.

9. The Wild Duck - Ibsen classics other than A Doll House or Hedda Gabler are few and far between in the U.S., so I was delighted that Theatre for a New Audience announced they would reviving The Wild Duck. Maaike Laanstra-Corn gave a striking portrayal of Hedwig.

8. The Lady From the Sea - What was I saying about Ibsen classics? Even better was Susane Lee's adaptation of The Lady From the Sea, performed appropriately right on the Hudson River. Lee reset the play in Canada, but kept its spirit, and the outdoor venue was delightful.

7. Pygmalion - Gingold Theatrical Group always does a good job with their shows, and this year's production of Bernard Shaw's most famous comedy was no exception. Synnøve Karlsen, now famous as young Cassie from television's Miss Austen, made her New York debut as the irrepressible Eliza Doolittle.

6. Kowalski - Gregg Ostrin's play about an imagined meeting between Tennessee Williams and Marlon Brando was a hit Off-Broadway at The Duke on 42nd Street. There have been plans to move it to Broadway. If that happens, you'll want to see it. In addition to probing into the creation of the American classic A Streetcar Named Desire, it's a great vehicle for two fine actors.

5. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay - While it's true that the second act wasn't as good as the first, this new opera based on the Michael Chabon novel of the same name still wowed audiences, in part due to sets and projections by 59 Studio. Fortunately, it's coming back this spring, so if you missed it in the fall, you can still catch it at the Met beginning February 17.

4. Wine in the Wilderness - Classic Stage Company had been planning this revival of the classic Alice Childress drama for quite some time. With direction by LaChanze, it hit all the right notes. The set designed by Arnulfo Maldonado wrapped the audience around the action, making the riot outside feel shockingly close, and Grantham Coleman once again gave an amazing performance.

3. The Last Bimbo of the Apocalypse - Michael Breslin and Patrick Foley's new musical perfectly channels pop music from earlier in the century while telling a story of the Internet stardom (and helldom) of today. The New Group deserves kudos for bringing it to Off-Broadway audiences, and for featuring some incredibly gifted young performers, including Patrick Nathan Falk, Keri René Fuller, Luke Islam, and Milly Shapiro.

2. Dead Outlaw - An even better new musical that premiered this year on Broadway (transferring from an Off-Broadway run last year) was Dead Outlaw, which tells the fascinating real-life story of Elmer McCurdy, who literally couldn't pull off a crime to save his life. Itamar Moses, David Yazbek, and Erik Della Penna were able to hilariously tell the tale while at the same time evoking scenes of sheer pathos. Like Yazbek's Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, this show deserves a long afterlife with regional and community theatres.

1. Moby-Dick - The best show I saw this year, though, has to be Jake Heggie's opera Moby-Dick, which made its Met premiere earlier this year. Though the piece first premiered at the Dallas Opera 15 years ago, this was the first time New York audiences were able to see and hear it live. Having written my own stage adaptation of the Herman Melville novel, I have lots of opinions on how to best stage the story, but the union of sets and projections seemed flawless in this staging, and the music is some of Heggie's best. The tenor Brandon Jovanovich also made a profound Captain Ahab.

That's the list. I know! Two operas and only a single work from the Broadway stage, and that one which premiered Off-Broadway first. The dynamics of New York theatre are certainly changing.

A Later Incident

As I previously wrote, my play After an Earlier Incident has been getting a lot of attention lately. It was supposed to have a reading this Saturday in Brooklyn and then another reading on Monday at Theatre for the New City. Well, the Brooklyn reading has been postponed until sometime in the new year, but the Monday reading is still on -- so please come!

The piece stars Caryn Osofsky and Nick Walther as two New Yorkers trying to connect after both having undergone some horrific experiences. It's a comedy about terrible things and second chances. The opening scene previously had a workshop outside of Chicago at the Theatre of Western Springs, but this will be the first public reading of the full script, which runs about 90 minutes.

Caryn Osofsky previously appeared off-Broadway in Highest Standard of Living and The Fantasticks, in which she played Luisa. She also is a long-time member of the American Renaissance Theater Company. She performed in the site-specific production of Fast Food Voices for ARTC, and has appeared on film in Song Sung Blue, Definitely Maybe, and Rolling. She also wrote and directed the short film Pric-ture This!

Nick Walther has performed off-Broadway, off-off-Broadway, and beyond, at venues including Theatre Row, MoMA PS1, Chain Theatre, Brick Theater, and Brooklyn Center for Theatre Research, among others. He is a member of American Renaissance Theater Company and Theatre Breaking Through Barriers. His audiobook narration work can be found on Audible and wherever audiobooks are sold. 

Both are wonderful, which you can see for yourself on Monday, December 15th, at 7pm at Theatre for the New City. Full information on the reading is available here:

Theatre for the New City - After an Earlier Incident

Reservations can be made by email at tncdreamup@gmail.com.

After an Earlier Incident

This summer, I had a workshop of the first scene of my play After an Earlier Incident at Theatre of Western Springs. Next, month, the full play will be having two readings with Caryn Osofsky and Nick Walther, with whom I've been developing the piece at American Renaissance Theater Company. 

After an Earlier Incident tells the story of recently widowed Jen who meets the perpetually awkward Elliot at a restaurant for their first date. Things do not go well. The play asks how two people can relate to one another when the technology we use to communicate keeps getting in the way. It's a comedy about trying to live and love when tragedy lies just below the surface.

Brooklyn Center for Theatre Research will be hosting the first reading on Saturday, December 13th at 2:30pm. They're located on the second floor of 251 Huron Street in Brooklyn near the Greenpoint Avenue stop on the G train. Proceeds from tickets and the bar (yes, there will be a bar) will all go to support Brooklyn Center for Theatre Research.

Then on Monday, December 15th, we'll be reading the play at Theater for the New City at 7:00pm. Readings there are free, but there's a $5 suggested donation, again going to support the theatre, which is located at 155 1st Avenue, between between 9th and 10th Street in Manhattan.

Samara Graham will be reading stage directions for both readings. I hope you can join us!

New Comedies Festival Semifinalist

I received word that my play The Love Songs of Brooklynites was named a semifinalist for B Street Theatre's New Comedies Festival.

Unfortunately, the play did not advance to the next round, so it will not be produced in Sacramento in the near future. Still, it's a good sign, I suppose.

The Love Songs of Brooklynites tells the story of Chuck, who has just moved in when his neighbor Abbie harasses him for mail misdirected to his apartment. As Abbie falls into his life, she introduces him to stress baking, computer coding, and the poetry of a city that's still trying to revise itself. 

The piece had a staged reading as a part of Emerging Artists Theatre's New Work Series. Its first act subsequently received a workshop by the Theatre of Western Springs, which more recently presented my new play After an Earlier Incident.

A full-length version of the piece had a reading by Vivid Stage in New Jersey, and it's ready for a full production. If you're interested in the piece, let me know!

Two Shows Left!

I'm out in Illinois right now for a workshop of my play After an Earlier Incident. The piece is being done at the Theatre of Western Springs, and there are two more performances on Sunday, one at 2:30 and the other at 7:30.

Edward M. Pinkowski did an excellent job directing the piece, which features Katarina Creedon as Jen and Mark MacLean as Elliot. I've also been developing the piece with American Renaissance Theater Company in New York.

After an Earlier Incident is being performed with two other one-act plays, The Voodoo Man by Carl Maronich and Yalu River by Nan Gatewood Satter. Yalu River has a particularly good cast, including Danny Parrott, who previously appeared in my play The Love Songs of Brooklynites, also at the Theatre of Western Springs.

If you're in the Chicago area, please come out to one of our final two performances!

Headin' West

Tomorrow, I head out to Western Springs, Illinois, where the Theatre of Western Springs is workshopping my new play After an Earlier Incident.

Edward M. Pinkowski is directing the piece. We had a casting change, so Mark MacLean will now be playing the part of Elliot, and Katarina Creedon will be playing Jen.

The play is being accompanied by two other one acts, The Voodoo Man by Carl Maronich and Yalu River by Nan Gatewood Satter. We open on Thursday at 8:00pm. There are additional performances on Friday and Saturday at 8:00pm, and then shows at 2:30pm and 7:30pm on Sunday.

The theatre is located at 4384 Hampton Avenue in the lovely town of Western Springs, Illinois, south of Chicago. I hope lots of folks are able to see the show!

Coming to Western Springs

I'm very excited that my play After an Earlier Incident is being workshopped May 1st through 4th at the Theatre of Western Springs outside of Chicago.

In the play, a recently widowed woman meets a perpetually awkward man for a first date. Things start off badly and quickly get worse, as both of them try to cope with recent traumas that lie just below the surface.

Edward M. Pinkowski is directing the show, which features actors Tommy Aldis and Katarina Creedon. The piece goes up with The Voodoo Man by Carl Maronich and Yalu River by Nan Gatewood Satter. Admission is free, though donations will be gladly accepted.

The Theatre of Western Springs workshopped the one-act version of my play The Love Songs of Brooklynites back in 2019. Vivid Stages later did a reading of the full play in Summit, New Jersey, but it has yet to have a full production.

If you're in the Chicago area for the first weekend of May, I hope you'll come out to see After an Earlier Incident. Performances will be at 8:00pm on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and then at 2:30pm and 7:30pm on Sunday.

The theatre is located at 4384, Hampton Avenue in Western Springs, Illinois. Maybe I'll see you there!

Bunbury Players

Bunbury Players in Clifton Park (outside of Albany) are set to present a workshop of one of my plays this weekend.

Due to some recent events, I'm not sure if I'll be able to get up there to see it myself, which is massively disappointing, but if you're in the area, please come.

The play, After an Earlier Incident, is being presented with three other short works at the Clifton Park-Halfmoon Public Library at 475 Moe Rd. Performances will be at 7pm on March 28th and 29th, and at 2pm on March 30th.

Coming Soon!

I have lots of events coming up over the next several months related--in various ways--to the theatre, both past and present.

Today, February 7th, is the birthday of Charles Dickens, and the Friends of Dickens New York will be having a special luncheon tomorrow, including a reading from Dickens's novella The Chimes. That story has been frequently adapted for the stage, including at the Adelphi Theatre the very year it was first published.

Later this month, I'll be directing a reading of scenes from Mark Levine's play Evicting the Rabbit Goddess for American Renaissance Theatre Company. This will just be a private reading, and not even of the whole play, but Mark has expressed a desire for getting the full play read in the future. We have a great cast, with Nick Walther and Pëtra Denison both performing.

Then, next month, I'll have my own work performed in Clifton Park, New York by Bunbury Players. Today, I met with the director, Ro Dell'Acqua. Ro will be staging as a 10-minute play the beginning of After an Earlier Incident. I've been developing the piece as a full-length play, but the first scene can also be performed on its own. It will be presented as part of Bunbury Players' Festival of One-Acts at Clifton Park-Halfmoon Public Library, March 28-30.

Later this year, I plan on going to Boston for the 2025 Dickens Symposium, where I am slated to deliver a paper called "'Dirt and Discomfort': Theatrical Audiences in Dickens." Much attention has been given to Dickens’s representations of actors in novels, but this talk will examine the author’s portrayal of audiences.

That's quite a bit happening soon, so perhaps I will get to see you, dear reader, at one of these upcoming events!

American Renaissance

I recently became a member of American Renaissance Theater Company. Last week, they did a reading of the beginning of my new play After an Earlier Incident, and now I'll be directing for them a short play by Bara Swain that will be performed in November.

The Tank will be hosting us as ARTC presents The Boob Tube Plays, five short pieces by Swain all related to television. The evening will begin with I Love Lucy, about two women who meet in the lobby of an OBGYN's office. It will be followed by Folded about a young man's search to know his father, Wasted about a family torn apart by Covid, and If You See a Hyena, a spoof on reality television. I'll be directing the last show of the evening, Beyond a Reasonable Doubt.

We have a great cast, company members Megan Greener and Nick Walther as a soon-to-be married couple on the eve of their wedding night. Nick read the part of Elliot for me in After an Earlier Incident, so I know he's delightful, and I'm equally excited to be working with Megan. Both have wonderful comic sensibilities that are perfect for the play.

We open on November 2nd, and have two more performances on November 7th and 8th. I hope you can come out to see it!