Four New Plays Published by Brooklyn Publishers

In the past few weeks, I've had four more of my short plays published by Brooklyn Publishers.  This brings the total number of my plays with them to 37, plus they also publish a collection of my short plays for women, Tightly Bound.

Though Brooklyn primarily markets their scripts to students and the school market, almost all of my plays were originally written and produced for adults (including these four new plays).

The new plays (all ten-minute duets) are all a lot of fun and great for students or adults (you can read samples at the Brooklyn site).  They are:

Confirmed Sighting: Fiona and Kelly have spotted an ivory-billed woodpecker, once thought extinct, in the swamps of Arkansas. Fiona is an ornithologist and this sighting will make her career, but Kelly owns the photographic evidence that Fiona desperately needs.  (This one was in the Boston Theatre Marathon and won the UMBC's In10 International Playwriting Competition.)

Recognition:  A chance encounter between an adoptive mother, Allison, and the birth mother of her child reopens old wounds. How far will Allison push Tanya for information?  (This was a T Play and has been produced in Boston, New York, and California.)

Schedule-Meisters:  Schedule-Meisters promises to help ease any mother’s busy schedule, but Mary might be their most challenging customer yet.  (This was just produced in Australia last week, and won the Lakeshore Players new play competition this past summer.)  (It's a hoot.  A dark comedy that harried parents will appreciate.)

Stick Up for Mars:  Fiona and Kelly are halfway to Mars, but after a year in space their personalities are wearing on each other. One little Post-It note might be the last straw. A zero-gravity comedy.  (Originally produced in 10x10 in North Carolina.  Think "Odd Couple" in space.)

Here's a photo from Schedule-Meisters in Minnesota:

(photo by Joan Elwell of Anissa Lubbers and Jan Arford)

Confirmed Sighting in SLAM Boston, Jan 7-9, at BPT

My award-winning short comedy, Confirmed Sighting, about two women who see an Ivory-Billed Woodpecker (previously thought extinct) will run January 7-9, at the Boston Playwrights Theatre, at 7:30pm, 949 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, as part of SLAM Boston.  The audience directly affects which plays win prizes, so please come and cheer on your favorite (I'm hoping that it's mine, so I can earn some pizza money).

Baltimore was a blast

The trip to Baltimore for the reading at Centerstage was over in a flash. My flight left Logan Airport at 6:30 a.m., which meant leaving the house at 5 a.m. I was in Baltimore by 9. After that I managed to cram a lot into one day. I found some local places to eat (great fried haddock at Milton's Grill) and stopped in at The Walter's Art Museum. The Museum was an unexpected treat--it's free (oh do I wish the MFA was free) and had an exhibit on the St. John's Bible, a modern illuminated bible, along with lots of other illuminated historical texts (it's pretty cool if you're into that stuff).

The folks at the theatre showed us great hospitality, and I got to hang out with Lee Blessing, Kia Corthron, and Caridad Svich (talk about a lot of theatrical experience and talent in one room). The UMBC students were energetic and inquisitive and thoughtful, in a way that only undergraduates can be. Young actresses Ellen Fine and Abigail Unger did a fine job reading my play, Confirmed Sighting, for an audience of about 100. All four plays fulfilled the In10 Festival's goal of creating new and exciting roles for women in very different ways. (If you're near Baltimore, definitely try to see the production at UMBC, March 4-8.) To have Blessing, Svich, and Corthron commissioned to write parts for you must feel pretty cool.

The afternoon and evening was full of more talk about theatre and everything else, plus pizza and Afghan food, and more theatre (we saw Lynn Nottage's Fabulation at Centerstage).

Not bad for a 24-hour trip.

reading of Confirmed Sighting in Baltimore on Saturday

I'll be in Baltimore tomorrow (Saturday) for a reading of Confirmed Sighting at Centerstage (700 N. Calvert Street) at 2pm. Plays by Caridad Svich, Lee Blessing, and Kia Corthron will also be read. And all the writers will be there. I'm excited to meet the other writers and have been reading various plays by them this week (just finished Corthron's Breath, Boom. Tough stuff. Wow. I'd be very interested to see it staged.). I'm hoping to glean whatever I can from them about theatre and the playwriting life.