“Flower” among top 20% of scripts

I’m thrilled to say that my Gothic play “A Flower of the Field” has been recognized as one of the top scripts submitted for the 2023 Austin Film Festival Playwriting Competition!

While the “film” title may lead you to think otherwise, the Austin Film Festival accepts all types of scripts, including stage plays that may work well as a film.

“A Flower of the Field” was among the top 20% of scripts submitted this year (and I’m happy to say was also recognized similarly in last year’s festival, as well).

One of the many great things the Austin Film Festival does is provide readers’ comments for your script, which I’m happy to include below and which include many kind nods to my writing:

Plot:

In 1349 Kilkenny, Ireland, a Franciscan friar willingly houses and treats those afflicted with the Black Death in the Nave of St. Francis’s Abbey until a witch, disguised as a healthy woman, exposes his dark secret. The conflict with every character and relationship is exposed with a moral dilemma ultimately well resolved in the end.

Concept:

A FLOWER OF THE FIELD is an original story taking place in 1349 Ireland during the Black Death, with the small cast of men and women questioning and experiencing the conflict between God’s will and witchcraft. The writer crafts a very compelling story with both potential and authenticity in the subject matter.

Overall:

A FLOWER OF THE FIELD is a unique and compelling story that begins with a mysterious slow build of tension that comes together for a satisfying resolution for the audience. The writer handles the material with ease and includes vivid stage directions. The cast size is reasonable, cast list is clear and precise, no intermission, simple location and set design all work well for the production. The writer shines with character development and surprising plot twists. The reader is invested in John Clyn’s journey and the multitude of sub-stories supporting the overall narrative arc. John Clyn’s story is complete, and the story concludes with a satisfying ending. The writer’s note on the stage directions is very helpful and makes clear the purpose is for dramatic cadence and visual poignancies. The lengthy directions do not detract from the story nor necessarily indicate the run time of the show.

Dialogue:

The dialogue works well for the created world taking place within the period 1349 Ireland. Though the speech isn’t written with an obvious Irish dialect, it’s presumed the appropriate characters will adapt appropriately. If the writer so chose, including specific dialect or Irish words might help craft more authenticity to the characters.

Structure:

The 90-page one act script can reasonably be performed in less time since much of the pages are filled with stage directions. The story is well-paced appropriately from slow build to dramatic climax with scenes that move the story forward in a consistent tone.

Characters:

The cast of five characters are interesting, compelling, distinct, and developed through backstory and action. The reader is invested in the characters and their journeys. The characters could have more Irish tone brought into the writing, but overall, all of the characters fit their words well.

“Respectfully Yours, Julia Sand”

I am thrilled to announce I have completed another play (one of two in six months) – a historical drama – “Respectfully Yours, Julia Sand.”

As a lover of history, I have often used my theatrical writing to resurrect little-known or under-reported stories from the past, and this story in particular is one that I find very touching, very hopeful, and very relevant, especially in an age where, regardless of political persuasion – right, left, or in-between – Americans have lost faith in our leaders and our institutions.

Considering that rather depressing situation, it helps to turn back the clock to a man who, though widely decried at the time as pleasure-seeking and corrupt, rose to the greatest of challenges and aimed to restore faith in the American government and in American institutions – and all the time being encouraged by a most unlikely, yet remarkable woman.

This is “Respectfully Yours, Julia Sand”…

Chester Alan Arthur and his unlikely penpal, Julia I. Sand

In the year 1880, James A. Garfield is elected President of the United States, with Chester Alan Arthur as Vice-President – but while Garfield is generally well-regarded, Arthur is a creature of the New York political machine and a participant in the rankest corruption. As a devotee of soirees above all, he is content to remain in the largely ceremonial role of Vice-President – until, that is, President Garfield is suddenly shot and killed by a deranged office-seeker. Propelled into history, Arthur has to choose between feeding the corrupt impulses of his friends and doing what is right for the country. He waffles, he wavers – and then suddenly he receives an inspiring letter from a mysterious woman who gives him the courage to stand up for himself and for what he knows is right.

A brisk-paced, two-act drama – funny in parts, heartfelt in others, and even tragic in some – “Respectfully Yours, Julia Sand” is a play about hope and redemption – and specifically, the hope and redemption of the unlikeliest people from the unlikeliest sources. 

Classical, yet avant-garde in style, the play requires as few as 6 performers and takes place entirely in an English garden, as Arthur relives his life in memory, and is performed, aside from the actor playing Arthur, entirely by young women of all races, who play over 20 different roles.

You can read an excerpt of the play here!

Introducing “The Last Flight of the Electra”

I’m thrilled to announce the “launch” (if “launch” is indeed the right word) of my newest play, “The Last Flight of the Electra!”

Taking place in late 1968, “The Last Flight of the Electra” concerns the retired magazine executive Aileen Craigmore, who finds her carefully manicured (and well-protected) world turned upside down by an obsessive secretary, who insists that Craigmore is, in fact, Amelia Earhart, the famous aviatrix who went missing while flying over the Pacific Ocean in July of 1937.

A brisk-paced, full-length one-act, “The Last Flight of the Electra” is an exciting, even haunting play about the nature of identity – who we truly are and who we choose to be – and, indeed, the extent to which there is any difference between the two – requiring only a single unit set and a cast of five actors to bring its story to life.

The play is inspired by a real-life historical incident, encapsulated in the below picture:

Irene Bolam before the press, denying she is Amelia Earhart – 1970

The woman above is Irene Craigmile Bolam, who was famously (or infamously) “accused” of being Amelia Earhart in a book by Joe Klaas in 1970. Joe Klaas wrote his book inspired by former air force officer Joe Gervais, who became convinced that Irene Bolam – a retired bank executive, living in New Jersey – was actually the living, breathing Amelia Earhart. (Hopefully, most readers know that Amelia Earhart was a world-famous pilot who disappeared while flying over the Pacific in an around-the-world tour way back in July of 1937.) Gervais met Bolam in the early 1960’s at an event sponsored by The Early Flyers’ Club of Long Island (Bolam was a former aviatrix) and became convinced she was Amelia Earhart, secretly repatriated to the United States by the American government following World War II. Bolam subsequently sued the publisher of the book and pursued legal action against Klaas and Gervais, but withdrew the case eventually when a judge asked her to provide her finger prints for comparison with Amelia Earhart’s. This decision – and the fact that Bolam subsequently insisted she be cremated upon her death in 1982 – have kept the extraordinary claims by Klaas and Gervais, if not fully “alive,” at least in a state of labored breathing.

You can check out a synopsis of the play here!

Great experience with “Flower”

Yesterday, my play “A Flower of the Field” closed at Tyler Civic Theatre Center in Tyler, TX.

I was very blessed to be able to travel and see two performances of the show, as well as meet the directors, the cast, the set designer, and the Managing Director of Tyler Civic Theatre Center.

I can truly say that visiting TCTC was one of the more enjoyable experiences in my time doing theater and I left extremely impressed by the great job everyone did on the show.

I have already written about my happiness with TCTC’s production, but some kind theatregoer left this lovely post on Facebook under a post by the theater reminding people of the closing performance of the play on Sunday:

This is a unique and riveting show! 

Imagine getting on an amusement park ride with no other knowledge than “Bubonic Plague.” Your little train cart immediately moves into darkness and the vaguely anticipated historical themes — I’m picturing a warped “It’s A Small World” — but THEN the ride begins a clackety-clack climb that makes your palms sweat, as you realize the floor is about to drop and you’re in for way more twists and turns than you expected. 

The script is interesting and well-written. 

The directing is spot-on. 

And every actor delivers a strong, engaging performance. 

As a brand new play with a short run, this one might be easy to miss; but, trust me… DON’T!

Comments like that that really push you forward – as a playwright, as an actor, as a director, as anyone involved in the world of theater.

I also thoroughly enjoyed my talkback sessions while I was in Tyler, getting a chance to chat with the audience and with the actors in the play.

I’ll be forever grateful for TCTC giving ”A Flower of the Field” its first set of wings and I look forward to when it can grace the stage again!

Another great show at TCTC!

Last night, I had the pleasure of seeing another performance of my drama “A Flower of the Field” performed at Tyler Civic Theatre Center.

I also had the pleasure of conducting another talkback with the audience following the performance and hearing their very valuable feedback.

During this experience, I confess I had an experience I have not had previously in theater, sitting in the audience as the play was concluding and the very last line was spoken and the lights fell – and somewhere in the darkness, though I don’t know where, I heard a woman say under her breath… “AWESOME.”

I must say, this is also my view of the great work done by Tyler Civic Theatre Center and the wonderful cast and crew who made my play come to life.

There are so many people to thank…

  • David Dickerson – for his marvelous directing and deft use of the stage
  • Kevin Willis – for playing the lead role of John Clyn with so much inner strength and humanity
  • Aletha Nelligran – for playing the nefarious Alice Kyteler with such understated evilness
  • Bryan Michels – for changing type to play a villain with such priestly, well-adorned aplomb
  • Heather Hufterson – for playing Mathias O’More with such sing-song Irish smarminess
  • Georgi Dumas – for learning her role in a little under two weeks (!) and yet acting her part with such fervor and feeling
  • Kevin Phillips – for bring a shadow to life! (you have to read the play to understand this)

Again, I can’t begin to express how impressed I have been with the work by David and the cast, for a piece that is rather difficult to perform.

I have left the experience with awareness of where I need to tweak the play, but also confidence that this is a piece that truly has wings.

Great show last night at TCTC!

Last night, I had the great pleasure of seeing my drama “A Flower of the Field” come alive for the first time at the Rogers Theatre at Tyler Civic Theatre Center in Tyler, TX!

“A Flower of the Field” won the People’s Choice Award in Tyler Civic Theatre Center’s 2022 new play contest after an excerpted reading was done of the piece last July and the audience voted it the show (out of five others) that they most wanted to see produced.

I must say, I was extremely impressed with the great work done by TCTC’s production of “A Flower of the Field” – everything from the deft directing by David Dickerson to the extremely talented cast of actors and actresses to the marvelous synergy of lights, sound, and set that created such a gothic atmosphere around the play and encapsulated its eerie, mysterious, threatening feel.

Additionally, I must give a shoutout to Tyler Civic Theatre Center for such a great theater complex (they have two theaters, both in-the-round) and such a vibrant artistic community in Tyler, TX (including extensive educational outreach to the surrounding community) and really see them as a perfect representation of how the future of theater is increasingly in the community, with all the talents that communities offer.

Lastly, I would be amiss not to point out that I learned Tyler Civic Theatre Center is the oldest continuously operating theater-in-the-round in North America – an undervalued way of producing plays.

I will be around in Tyler, Texas for the Saturday evening show, as well.