Chamleon Vintage Fundraiser in Denver this Friday/Saturday

Chameleon Stage and the Vintage Theatre in Denver are putting together a fun fundraiser this weekend. (I helped start Chameleon, way back in 1993.) On Friday, from 6:30pm-2am, there will be a benefit gala at the theatre (2119 E. 17th Avenue), featuring live music, food & drink, a silent auction, and theatrical performances. Tickets are $35/person or $50/couple ($5 after 10:30pm).

On Saturday, from 10am-10pm there will be a marathon of staged readings of scripts by Chameleon Stage playwrights at the theatre. My work will appear from 11:30am-1pm, and will feature five short plays: Insomnia, Confirmed Sighting, Measuring Matthew, Den of Iniquity, and Lies, Lies, Lies. All have been very popular with audiences across the coutnry. Tickets are $25 for the whole day, or $10 for a single session (there are three sessions 10am-1pm, 2:30-5:30pm, and 7-10pm).

If you're in Denver, be sure to check it out. (You can buy tickets online at www.vintagetheatre.com or by calling 303-839-1361)

Chamleon's Secret to Long Life

I was recently exchanging e-mails with fellow playwright Steve Hunter, about the playwrights group that we helped start in 1993, Chameleon Stage. After fifteen years, it's still going strong. I left in 1997, so I can't take any credit for its longevity. For a while, Chameleon was a full-blown theatre company, producing site-specific work, radio plays, serial plays, and even plays in theatres, but over time, it's become more development oriented, sticking with the core bi-monthly meetings (where actors are brought in to read parts of works in progress) and putting together staged readings of full-length plays developed in the workshop. To have a group like this last so long is, it seems to be, quite an accomplishment.

Here's what Steve had to say about the possible reasons why:

it's the mutual respect we have for each other, rising to a great affection, the forebearance to injure or taunt, the lack of insistence on being right about a criticism or observation (if the person receiving ignores the advice), all of which adds up to a non-competitive and very helpful atmosphere.

It sounds simple on the surface, I guess. The people in the group are there to help, but not to win (not that some of us aren't sometimes competitive). Keeping this in practice for fifteen years is worth a round of applause, I think.