I'm a New Voices Fellow!

In some super good news, I recently found out that I've been selected to be a fellow in the New Voices @ New Rep program with the New Repertory Theatre in Watertown, MA.  From now until June, the other fellows (Peter Floyd, Deirdre Girard, and Alexa Mavromatis) and I will meet with the staff of New Rep and various actors, directors, and designers as we work on new plays.  The program will culminate in public readings of four full-length plays by the fellows in May of 2013.

For me, this is a chance to get to know some writers who are new to me, as well as continue a long-time collaboration with fellow Rhombus playwright, Alexa Mavromatis.  And this is a huge opportunity to get to know the folks at New Rep.

Theatrical Thanksgiving

'Tis the season that leads to looking back at the year and expressing thanks.  I am always grateful to my family, especially my wife, Tracy, who continue to support me in my creative endeavors year after year.

My playwright and actor pals at Rhombus continue to ease my playwriting life forward, as we enter our 10th year working together in Boston.  Working with them is part of what makes playwriting fun and worthwhile.

On a broader scale, I want to say how grateful I am for the recent upwelling of support for new plays and new play development in the Boston area.  This year, I've personally benefited from the incredible generosity of the Huntington Theatre Company for the Summer Play Lab workshop of my play, Flight (with a big shout out to Lisa, Charles, and Bevin, who have been supporting my work for years), and from the reading, workshop and upcoming production of Fire on Earth from the young and energetic Fresh Ink Theatre, and most recently to New Rep for including me in their New Voices program to develop my play, Distant Neighbors.  And my thanks go to Kate Snodgrass and Boston Playwrights Theatre for continuing to produce the Boston Theatre Marathon (this was my ninth year in it).  And to Dominic D'Andrea for the One-Minute Play Festival which is coming back to Boston for its second year in January. 

There are reading and development programs popping up all over the place in Boston these days.  Boston playwrights can express their gratitude to Argos Production, Boston Actors Theater, CentaStage, Central Square Theater, Company One, Interim Writers, Mill 6 (I love the T plays!), Playwrights' Commons, Vagabond Theatre Group.  I'm missing some, I know (my apologies, in advance).  And now we've got the Center for the Theater Commons and HowlRound and David Dower and Polly Carl setting up shop in Boston.  And the constant presence of StageSource, helping pull the whole scene together.  And the Small Theatre Alliance of Boston linking together the fringe theatres.

We're living in the midst of an overflowing theatrical cornucopia here in Boston these days.  Thanks to everyone in our community who works so hard to make it happen.

One-Minute Play Festival Coming Back to Boston

The One-Minute Play Festival is returning to Boston for its second year.  From January 5-7, this festival, curated by Dominic D'Andrea, will present 70 one-minute plays by 35 Boston writers at the Boston Playwrights Theatre.  I will have two short plays on the bill this year, A Little Fresh Air and Harvesting Fall Tomatoes (contemplating the approaching death of my father).

I was part of this festival last year, too, and it was really a fun evening.  This collection of ultra-short plays provides a quick snapshot into the collective unconscious of a good chunk of Boston's very talented playwriting scene.  This year's playwrights include Barbara Blumenthal-Ehrlich, Elisabeth Burdick, Bill Doncaster, Stephen Faria, Peter Floyd, Patrick Gabridge (that's me), Deirdre Girard, Kirsten Greenidge, Israel Horovitz, Colleen Hughes, Dan Hunter, Emily Lazzaro, Christopher Lockheardt, Alexa Mavromatis, Walt McGough, James McLindon, Jack Neary, Rick Park, Rosanna Alfaro Yamagiwa, Ken Urban, Mwalim *7, Natalia Naman, Thom Dunn, Grant MacDermott, Elenor Burgess, David Valdes Greenwood, Liz Duffy Adams, Tyler Monroe, Nina Louise Morrison, Lindsay Soson, Noah Tobin, Jaclyn Villano, Lila Rose Kaplan, Ginger Lazarus, Joyce Van Dyke, Michael Bradford, Obehi Janice, Steven Bogart.

The plays are divided into seven "clumps," each directed by a different director.

I hope you'll come check it out.

Measuring Matthew in FilmShift Festival this weekend!

 
Measuring Matthew, a short film based on my play of the same name, will be in the FilmShift Film Festival this weekend in Somerville (I wrote the screenplay, too).  It will be screened as part of the Shifty Shorts program 1, at 4:30pm on Saturday, October 6th, at the Somerville Theatre in Davis Square.  You can buy tickets here or else just get them at the door.  The film, directed by Gul Moonis, is a fun (and slightly dark) piece about a man with some serious obsessive tendencies and stars fantastic local actor Nael Nacer (whom you can also see on stage in Kite Runner at New Rep) and also two wonderful actresses, Renee Donlan and Audrey Claire Johnson.  The film has been selected for festivals in New York, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania, and now this is our chance to see it in the Boston area.

StageSource auction

You know how I said a few weeks ago that if I had a million dollars, I'd give it to StageSource.  Well, I still don't have that million bucks, but we are donating a box of produce from our Pen and Pepper Farm ($50 value) to their online auction.  Be sure to check it out.   The auction ends on Friday, so get your bid in before it's too late! http://tinyurl.com/8mox5ph

If I Had a Million Dollars (part 1)

Did you ever play this game with your friends and family, on long car rides?  The old "if you had a million dollars, what would you do with it?"  I think it comes naturally to writers, as we fantasize about huge windfalls from our fabulous success.

I don't have a million dollars.  But if I did a spare million bucks (you know, after the house has been paid off, and we buy a farm, and a tractor, and all that), I'd want to give it to a bunch of folks and organizations whom I admire and respect.

One place I'd start is with StageSource, the Greater Boston Theatre Alliance.  They're an organization that supports theatres and theatre artists in a multitude of ways--through regional auditions, professional development, social gatherings, putting on the Boston Theatre Conference, having online profiles for all kinds of theatre artists (not just actors), putting together the Circle of Friends discount card, and a bunch of other programs.  Plus they have a library.  And a weekly newsletter.  And they foster, through their staff and board, a great intermingling of theatrical energy and knowledge across the theatrical community.  New Executive Director Julie Hennrikus is a visionary and wiz when it comes to social networking, always thinking of ways we can enlarge the conversation around theatre in our community.

I'm on the board, so I get to see first hand how well this organization works to promote and support theatrical artists and organizations. All on a very tight budget.

A million bucks would go a long way.  I'd vote for using it for a spiffy new office that has a cool space for classes, meetings, workshops, and other gatherings.  And to boost the level of tech that's available for programs and social media.  StageSource is kind of this invisible force that is constantly pushing the theatre community forward, and strengthening the bonds between our members.    Maybe sometimes it isn't as flashy as it should be, since they're in a support role.  Which is why that million bucks would come in real handy.

They're actually in the middle of a fundraising campaign right now, called Live from the Library, where they're trying to raise $15,000 towards improving StageSources access to technology and social media, to enhance a whole variety of discussions with, between, and to members. 

I gave 50 bucks today, because that's what I can spare right now.  But if I had the spare million, I'd give it to StageSource.  (If any of you have a spare million hanging around, hey, give it some thought.)

Next Up: Fresh Ink workshop of Fire on Earth

After a few weeks with mostly farming filling up my time, it's time to head back into the rehearsal room.  I actually spent quite a bit of time last week making revisions to my play, Fire on Earth, based on the Fresh Ink reading back in June.  Now I'll get a chance to hear them and to play with the actors on some of the more physical scenes in the play.

Fresh Ink will be workshop Fire on Earth starting Sunday night--we'll spend three evenings at Boston Playwrights Theatre, reading through the play and up on our feet, playing with piles of paper and stacks of books and Bibles.  This is a chance for us to experiment and have fun with shaping this play while there is still plenty of time for me to make changes.  We won't head into rehearsal until December (for the production in February).  New play development is a long-term commitment, and I'm grateful that Fresh Ink is giving new plays the time and space they need to really grow before they get to production (and that they're giving new plays actual productions, not just workshops and readings).