Hillary DePiano's Blog

An Evening with Edgar Allan Poe (October 29th-31st)

artwork by Melissa Schenter

See a spooky production of my Edgar Allan Poe inspired play, The Raven / Lenore as well as two other great creepy plays, from the comfort of your own home this weekend only!

The Rude Mechanicals, normally the home of kick-ass Shakespeare and Shakespeare-inspired theatre in the Tri-Cities, Washington, is doing a special Halloween production this weekend online. Featuring three adaptations of some of Edgar Allan Poe’s most famous works, this production can be str...

What’s new from Hillary DePiano?

I’ve been on a blogging and social media hiatus basically since the pandemic started but that doesn’t mean I haven’t still been working. But things have been kind of crazy and time’s blurring together so I figured now might be a great time to remind you of everything new I’ve released since March 2020.

The Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad StormWeek DazeNana’s Happy Happy Good News ONLY Birthday Video ChatThe Fourth OrangeGoosedThe Myrtle

The Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Storm (YouthP...

The Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Storm now available from YouthPLAYS (and 25% off!)

Long time no chat! I’m still on my hiatus from social media but I want to pop in with some exciting news!

My first play specifically for elementary school aged performers and up, The Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Storm, is now available exclusively through YouthPLAYS. Though suitable for performers as young as Kindergarten, it can be performed for any age and is a lot of fun for older performers to put on for the underclassmen. It’s comical and educational with lots of physical comed...

Week Daze now available in stage play and streaming format from Stage Partners

In other exciting news, Week Daze (formerly named Weak Days just to make my life as confusing as possible) is now available exclusively from Stage Partners!

There are two separate versions of this play.

One is a traditional stage play that can be performed socially distanced with the actors six feet apart. The other is a version written specifically for streaming on platforms like Zoom or Google Meet where all of the actors and not in the same location.

One of the great things abo...

Nana’s Happy Happy Good News Only Birthday Video Chat now available from YouthPLAYS

I don’t know about you, but it feels like March 222nd over here and I’m kind of stuck in a bog of existential dread with no motivation to do anything. Which is why I didn’t realize I never officially announced that YouthPLAYS has acquired Nana’s Happy Happy Good News Only Birthday Video Chat, a play for virtual performances! (That means you can perform it on platforms like Zoom or Google Meet!)

You can read almost the entire play for free on the YouthPLAYS website and also book production...

NaNoWriMo Advanced Word Count Calculator (charts, percentages, stats and more!)

I know that some of you out there are as obsessive as me when it comes to trying to figure out how far along you are in National Novel Writing Month so I decided to share my personal calculator. It’s simple but powerful.

This calculator will work in Open Office, Microsoft Excel or Google Drive, depending on what you use. But it works best in Google Drive since that is what I set it up in (there are also some handy little charts in the Google version the other versions won’t get).

It is very sim...

The Myrtle Virtual Talkback

Its actually a complete coincidence that The Myrtle, my romantic comedy about a tree that comes to life, is coming out on Arbor Day but its too perfect so Im certainly not mad about it!

Check it out today in eBook and Paperback wherever such things are sold!

The Myrtle is one of the first tales in The Tale of Tales collection and it was the first one that I read and just knew I absolutely had to adapt into a play. In a lot of ways, it really was the start of the whole project and I wouldnt...

Goosed! Virtual Talkback

Whenever I adapt something, people always ask me what it was that I loved about the original that made me adapt it and, 9 times out of 10, I dont adapt something because I love it but rather because I absolutely hate it and want to fix it.

But this was not the case with Goosed!.

Photo by Scot Wittman, Rutgers Preparatory School.

When I first read The Goose, the fairy tale that Goosed! is adapted from, I absolutely loved it! I loved its complete randomness, its completely disgusting set-up,...

The Fourth Orange Virtual Talkback

Its a good Friday! (Sorry, I couldnt help myself!)

Why? Because The Fourth Orange (one act edition) is officially available in paperback and eBook today just about everywhere books are sold. Its a funny family friendly one act fairy tale with majority female roles and a large ensemble cast so you can get absolutely everyone involved. Its great for schools, theatre festivals and drama competitions and I cant wait for you to check it out!

To celebrate the release of this play, I want to share...

Virtual Scripts, Live Streaming and other Distance Theatre options

So with the theatre industry largely imploding and productions being canceled right and left. Its incredibly disappointing for all performers and everyone else who works behind the scenes to get a show up. My heart breaks for everyone who was so excited to put on a show and now cant. As a playwright, Im just sitting here watching productions being cancelled and feeling pretty helpless. In fact, feeling pretty helpless really sums up this whole weird experience.

But I ultimately realized there...