What a joyous and inspiring week I had in Durango, Colorado last week! I was invited to workshop my play “Circle Forward” with a wonderful team of actors and crew, all led by the brilliant director, Pesha Rudnick. And the amazing staff who run the festival are so well-organized! I was able to make some great tweaks to my play, and I feel like it’s better than it was before. (The revised version is available on New Play Exchange here.)

The cast included Tony-nominated Enid Graham as Mia, Catia Ojeda as Lexi, Conor Sheehan as Ethan, and Siena Widen as Calista. Cindy Laudadio-Hill read stage directions, Misha Zimmerman was Stage Manager, and J’Kye Wientjes was Assistant Stage Manager. A fun, lovely, and supportive group of artists!

A big thanks to everyone in Durango for making us feel so welcome. We had the pleasure of two separate readings and both audiences had thoughtful and helpful responses.

Please join me for a FREE reading of my hot-off-the-press comedy “This Is Crazy” on Saturday June 15 at 8:00 p.m. in Santa Monica!

The reading will be part of the Playwrights Union “First Peek Reading Series” and is free to the public. Every February, member of Playwrights Union are encouraged to write a brand new work, and then this series presents these new pieces to the public. This year we have nine new plays!

Here’s the synopsis for “This Is Crazy”:
Sometimes life throws you a curveball, or, in Laila and Jackson's case, a giant, pointy, mysterious (and possibly intergalactic) Thing. Will they be able to hold on to their understanding of how the world works, achieve their hard-earned dreams, and still look their oddball neighbors in the eye again? Life is full of surprises, but this is crazy.

An amazing cast has assembled for this thing: Emily Goss, Ed Rosini, Kwana Martinez, Ravi Kapoor, and Julia Manis!

This rollicking 85-minute comedy has no intermission, and the reading takes place at City Garage Theater at Bergamot Arts Center (T1 Bldg) in Santa Monica (2525 Michigan Ave). Free parking. Reservations highly suggested so sign up here today!

What an honor to once again be selected as a Semifinalist for the 2024 National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center — this time for my play “Circle Forward.”

Out of the many plays that were submitted for this prestigious development opportunity this year, I feel very lucky to have my work be recognized! Onwards!

Colorado is the home of the Durango PlayFest, the prestigious new play development workshop, and I’m thrilled that my play “Circle Forward” was selected as one of four new plays that will headline its 6th annual festival, June 25-30, 2024. PlayFest's mission is to bring well-known and emerging playwrights, well-known actors and directors to Durango to incubate new plays, hold free events for the community, and culminate the week with staged readings for local audiences.

Directing “Circle Forward” will be Pesha Rudnick. A full cast list will be announced in early June.

Here’s the synopsis of “Circle Forward”: Seventeen years after the loss of her young husband from cancer, Mia meets a teenager who believes he is the reincarnation of her late husband. When the teen and his mom come to Mia's house for lunch, his uncanny memories force Mia to face her doubts, her past, and the whole truth.

The festival's full schedule and ticket information will be posted at durangoplayfest.org in late April. For more information, visit www.durangoplayfest.org.

Take a look at the BROADWAYWORLD press release HERE.

South Dakota State University Department of Theatre and Dance produced “The Escape Thingy” in February and the crowds loved it! Directed by Artistic Director W. James Wood, the production featured an all-student cast (Israel Caldron, Blake Fabre, Jacob Stevens, Alex Gales, and Peyten Wiese) and design team. I was delighted to be in attendance to see the wonderful collaboration. Thanks, Brookings, for welcoming me!

Although it was not selected for the award/fellowship, I’m very proud to have written one of the few plays selected as Semi-Finalists for the 2023-2024 Princess Grace Award in Playwriting/Fellowship at New Dramatists. With the subjective nature of the selection process of these organizations, it means a lot to me to have the play get to this level of competition, and every acknowledgment is appreciated and taken as great encouragement!

I continue to develop (and hopefully improve) this play which was originally written as part of the Playwrights Union “February New Play Challenge,” was selected for Antaeus Theatre’s Lab Results Reading Series, and which will be workshopped at Gulfshore Playhouse’s New Works Festival in September 2023.

Synopsis for “Circle Forward": Seventeen years after the loss of her young husband from cancer, Mia meets a teenager, Ethan, who believes he is the reincarnation of her late husband. When Ethan and his mom Lexi come to Mia's house for lunch, Mia must face her doubts, her past, and the whole truth.

A big thank you to the Princess Grace Foundation and New Dramatists for this recognition. Onwards!!

I am over the moon excited to have my play Circle Forward selected for the Gulfshore Playhouse New Works Festival this September. I’ve had the pleasure of working with this extraordinary LORT-D theater before, when they produced the world premiere of my play Miss Keller Has No Second Book in 2018.

With the talented folks they are assembling (including director Jeffrey Binder), I can’t wait to bring my play to the table. The week’s workshop will conclude with a reading that is open to the public on Saturday Sept 16, followed by a Q&A with the audience.

Synopsis of Circle Forward: Seventeen years after the loss of her young husband from cancer, Mia meets a teenager, Ethan, who believes he is the reincarnation of her late husband. When Ethan and his mom Lexi come to Mia's house for lunch, Mia must face her doubts, her past, and the whole truth.

More info about the festival here in the BroadwayWorld press release. For Gulfshore Playhouse tickets, click here.