Playreading in PA!

Tonight an excerpt of my play “Few Thy Voice” was read at The Shawnee Playhouse in Shawnee-On-Delaware, PA as a top finalist in the Shawnee Original Playwrights Series (SOPS).

I’m sorry to say that I was unable to attend the actual reading due to the long distance between me (Connecticut) and the playhouse (Pennsylvania) – but I was wishing them well from afar!!

Shawnee Playhouse 3I will keep my fingers crossed for the contest results – but I am very grateful to Shawnee Playhouse for hosting the reading and for sending me some feedback written by people on their ballots, such as:

  • witty dialog
  • good plot
  • lots of humorous lines
  • was interested to hear more
  • liked the opening

Thanks, Shawnee Playhouse!

Thank You, Eventide Arts!

I attended the second and final performance of “Fifteen Men In A Smoke-Filled Room” today – another great job! The cast was even better than it was last night and the audience was very responsive. I even got the opportunity to meet two Math and English teachers of mine from my days at Cape Cod Academy in Osterville, MA!!

I would especially like to thank the following people:

  • Toby Wilson – Artistic Director of Eventide Arts – for arranging the reading and guiding me through the process
  • Shannon Goheen – President of Eventide Arts – for writing the press release and hosting the event
  • Ellis Baker – former Artistic Director of Eventide Arts – for his play suggestions and kind words
  • John Williams – Director of the play – for so expertly getting together the cast and rehearsing them to perfection
  • David Kaplan – President of the Kaplan Foundation – for sponsoring wonderful artistic opportunities for Cape playwrights

To all of you, a great, big

Thank You

Great performance last night!

I was very fortunate to attend the first of two performances of my play “Fifteen Men In A Smoke-Filled Room” at Dennis Union Church.

I have a few impressions…

First, the Gertrude Lawrence Stage at Dennis Union Church Fellowship Hall is beautiful. It seats about 100 people and has a near-perfect level of theatricality and intimacy. I don’t think my play could have been performed in a better location or in a better environment.

Second, I was very impressed by the versatility and skill of the actors onstage. I was especially impressed by the actor playing Warren G. Harding (an associate of Harwich Junior Theater). Harding is a difficult character to play. It’s easy to make him into a whiny, boring, if well-meaning, individual, but not in this performance.

Above all, I look forward to seeing the show again tomorrow! It’s rare to get a chance to see two staged readings of a work. Most playwriting contests only result in a single reading. A second reading means I have a second chance to review the work and take it in after the initial experience. The end result is a much more knowledge-rich experience.

I’ll be back again tomorrow!

Check out my interview!

I had the great pleasure of being interviewed the other day by Lee Roscoe of The Barnstable Patriot – a great local newspaper in Cape Cod. I often enjoyed flipping through the Patriot when I grew up on the Cape. It has a wonderful section on Cape Cod-based artistic events.

My conversation with Ms. Roscoe was extremely enjoyable. Sometimes I felt I was interviewing her rather than being interviewed by her. We talked very interestingly about our play interests and found a common bond in our admiration for the British playwright Peter Shafer.

Barnstable PatriotYou can check out the interview here!

Looking forward to March

I had a great meeting the other day with the director for the staged reading of “Fifteen Men In A Smoke-Filled Room” (John Williams) and also the Artistic Director of Eventide Arts (Toby Williams). The play is close to being fully cast and will begin rehearsals soon. I very much look forward to seeing John and his cast bring the script to life (again).

The submission process for the Kaplan Competition proved to be very helpful in forming and rearranging “Fifteen Men.” I have been working on the play for many years and I was tinkering with it up to the January 1st, 2014 deadline for the contest. I received especially invaluable advice from former Artistic Director Ellis Baker of Eventide Arts.

I also had the pleasure of speaking via telephone with Shannon Goheen, President of Eventide Arts, to gather material for a press release.  I will post a link to the press release when it goes live – but for now:

Kaplan Congrats“Fifteen Men” will be read at the charming Dennis Union Church in Dennis, MA (along old Route 6). I drove by the church the other day and found it to be an extremely picturesque and beautiful spot:

Dennis Union ChurchYou can purchase tickets to the March 8 and/or March 9 reading here!

“Fifteen Men” a winner!

I learned yesterday that my play “Fifteen Men In A Smoke-Filled Room” has won the Kaplan Play Competition sponsored by Eventide Arts of Dennis, MA!

Eventide ArtsEventide Arts is an “independent organization that presents plays, concerts, lectures, and mixed media events to promote the understanding of social diversity, music, dance, and the art of playwriting and songwriting.” Eventude was formed in 1998 by Dennis Union Church (DUB) Music Director Noel Tipton and “is committed to producing thought-provoking theatre and entertainment that will stir and engage the community.” The company primarily performs on the Gertrude Lawrence Stage (named after the famous stage actress) located at Dennis Union Church Fellowship Hall.

The Kaplan Competition is sponsored by the Jeremiah Kaplan Foundation and The Arts Foundation of Cape Cod. It is open to new and established playwrights who live on Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Martha’s Vineyard. My play “Harriman-Baines” was a finalist in the contest last year.

“Fifteen Men In A Smoke-Filled Room” will be given a staged reading on March 8 and March 9. A professional director (the veteran John Williams) will lead a cast of professional actors and actresses for the readings. I will be awarded $1,000 after the evening performance of the play.

I am especially pleased to have won the Kaplan Prize both because of the respected position of Eventide Arts but also because the prize is so “close to home” for me. I have had my plays presented in numerous area throughout the United States (and beyond!) but never had the pleasure of having one of my plays presented in my own backyard.

I look forward to working with the director and the actors on this great project!

“Few Thy Voice” a finalist!

My new drama “Few Thy Voice” has been chosen as a finalist in the Shawnee Original Playwright Series (SOPS) sponsored by The Shawnee Playhouse!

Shawnee Playhouse

The Shawnee Playhouse is a community theater in Pennsylvania whose mission is “to provide entertainment and educational benefit to residents and visitors of Shawnee on Delaware, Pennsylvania.” The group was founded in 1904 and is unique among community theaters in that it explicitly supports and cultivates original work from upcoming playwrights.

Shawnee Playhouse 2

Excerpts from “Few Thy Voice” will be read by actors at the playhouse on March 7 at 7pm in front of a live audience! Audiences will vote on the plays presented (17 in total) and the top-rated plays will be produced by the playhouse.

“Encore Encore” a finalist!

I learned today that my new comedy “Encore Encore” has been recognized as a finalist in the 2014 TNT POPS! New Play Project.

TNT

TNT (Texas Nonprofit Theaters) “was formed in 1971 to encourage programmatic and managerial excellence in the nonprofit community and professional theatres of Texas.” The group is dedicated to providing “the developmental services needed to ensure survival and quality programming” among community theaters – a GREAT goal!

TNT received over 90 theatrical submissions for its 2014 contest and my play has been recognized among the top 10 scripts (roughly the top 10%).

Thanks so much to TNT for their kind consideration!

Finished a new play – “Few Thy Voice”

I finished today a draft of my new play – “Few Thy Voice” – which is my first foray into the Hitchcockian realm of drama.

Hitchcock Sillhouette

“Few Thy Voice” concerns a former movie actress, of delicate mental state, whose guilt at the abandonment of her now-deceased father leads her to take care of elderly, senile men abandoned by their families in rundown nursing homes. A guilt-ridden, well-meaning husband, coupled with a sleazy nursing home proprietor and a rather brutal, well-face-lifted social-climber, enable the actress’s caretaking needs to be met. The story quickly turns more than eerie, however, when the newest fatherly focus of the actress’s affection begins to reveal a story of murder in his family – but is his ranting the liberating cry of a male Cassandra or an invention on the part of his mentally delicate caretaker?

The play requires only six actors (4 men, 2 women) and takes place in only two locations – neither of which requires a tremendous emphasis on the set. The play also presents a diverse range of character roles, as well as racial and, in some cases, age flexibility in the casting.

You can check for a script sample from the early part of the play!

The title comes from this line in “Hamlet,” courtesy of Polonius:

Give every man thy ear but few thy voice.
Take each man’s censure but reserve thy judgment.