Adam Szymkowicz's Blog, page 14

I Interview Playwrights Part 1031: Yilong Liu

Yilong Liu

Hometown: Chongqing, China.

Current Town: New York City.

Q: Tell me about June Is The First Fall.

A: It’s a play about being queer in Hawaii, eating mooncakes on made-up family holidays, and learning to sing Frank Sinatra in China. It’s a story for those who feel they have to leave home in order to find their true selves - no matter how far we’ve gone, the weight and pride of the culture and family histories we carry is always in the room.

Q: What else are you working on now?

A: I’m working on the first draft of my EST/Sloan Project commission, which is a full-length play about online censorship and video games. I also wrote a short play for the EST science brunch about the first genetically edited babies in China which I am interested in developing into a full-length.

Q: Tell me, if you will, a story from your childhood that explains who you are as a writer or as a person.

A: I was traveling with my cousins in Hangzhou when I was maybe 5 or 6. Growing up as the only kid, my cousins were like siblings to me. My aunt agreed to buy us those jade paperweights at the gift shop. There was a single Chinese character carved on each of them, usually something nice and auspicious, like “knowledge”, “health”, or “love”. I went through the pile of paperweights and finally chose “忍”, which means to endure, to put up with, or to have patience, etc… but I probably didn’t know all of the meanings back then. The character itself is quite fascinating too, because it is literally a blade hanging on top of the heart. I remembered my aunt telling me that she was a little shocked because it was not something a kid would normally choose. Looking back I guess that did make lots of sense. I’ve been quite patient as a person and a writer. And to live and write in American right now you kinda need patience and endurance.

Q:  If you could change one thing about theater, what would it be?

A:  I hope there could be more appreciation and even a hunger for a diversity of narratives when it comes to stories about minority groups and other cultures.

Q:  Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A:  Tammy Hailiʻōpua Baker. I took my first few playwriting classes from her when I attended University of Hawaii. She writes in the Hawaiian language and her use of traditions, mythology, and history in storytelling shows so much pride in one’s cultural identity. It was really inspiring and empowering to me as someone who’s also living in another culture and writing in English as a second language.

Gregg Henry at Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. I honestly think many of the amazing things that happened to me happened because of KCACTF. For me, theatrical heroes are someone who not only creates and makes things happen, but also connects, believes, challenges, pushes boundaries… and Gregg is all of them.

I guess this question is making me feel very grateful for the wonderful artists that I get to learn from: Alice Tuan, Prince Gomolvilas, Mark Bly… the list goes on and on.

Q:  What kind of theater excites you?

A:  Theatre that’s deeply honest and personal, where I can tell the story is haunting the writer so they have to get it out.

Q:  What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out?

A:  I’m still new but I’ve discovered that supporting each other’s work has helped me grow as a writer and become part of a community, which is very important if you are new to New York. So I’d say, go to readings of new plays! It’s free. It’s fun. It’s inspiring. And you don’t know who you will end up meeting there!

Q:  Plugs, please:


A:  June is The First Fall is running at New Ohio Theatre March. 31-April. 20!

Upcoming: My play Joker is part of National Queer Theatre’s Criminal Queerness Festival at IRT theatre this summer. It’s a festival that explores global homophobia and pride for WorldPride 2019, showcasing plays from Egypt, Tanzania, Pakistan, and China. The festival runs June. 13- July. 7!

Know a theatre: if you ever travel to Hawaii, please check out Kumu Kahua Theatre. In my opinion, it’s one of the coolest theatres in America. They are dedicated to producing plays about life in Hawaiʻi, plays by Hawaiʻi's playwrights, and plays for Hawaiʻi's people.

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I Interview Playwrights Part 1030: Rachael Carnes

Rachael Carnes




Hometown: I’m originally from Chicago, and moved to Eugene, Oregon, when I was a kid.



Current Town: After living in Portland, Seattle and NYC, my parents, kids and evergreen trees eventually won out, and we now live quietly in green and rainy Eugene.



Q:  What are you working on now?



A:  I work full-time and I’m a mom, so I let playwriting be a wonderful place where I can be open to whatever creative endeavor draws my interest, and right now, I’m working on an historical piece centered on Yoncalla, Oregon, a community 45 minutes south of Eugene. Weird, right?



But in Yoncalla, Oregon, in 1920, under everyone’s noses, a group of five women got themselves elected to the City Council, and it made national, even international news. There was a huge uproar, actually — “The world is ending! The women are taking over! How will they possibly be wives and mothers now?!” — Sound familiar? 100 years later, it can feel like nothing’s changed, or worse, that we’re sliding backwards.



This story piqued my interest because of the elected women, but as I’ve waded into the research, I’ve found many more narrative layers. In 1920, in a muddy little town in Oregon’s Southern Willamette Valley, you see a confluence of so many issues that we grapple with today.



So, beyond the kerfuffle of these five women elected to office, Yoncalla feels like a compelling, and timely, American story. But I’m just getting started.



Beyond that brand-new creative effort, I’m also working on refining a play that’s received some development opportunities, Canopy, to hopefully set it up for production. And I love to write short plays, often responding to submission calls with particular requirements (put a sock monkey in it, make it a fairy tale, set it under water, etc) as a way to flex new muscles and to experiment.



Since I only have about an hour a day to devote to writing, (usually 5-6AM!) I have to be pretty choosy, where to put my energy.



Q:  Tell me a story from your childhood that explains who you are as a writer or as a person.



A:  As a little kid in Chicago in the 1970’s, I always felt like I had room to do my thing. Kids growing up today will never know the benign neglect my generation enjoyed. (I’m only kidding, my mom was the director of education for the famous Field Museum of Natural History and knocking around that institution probably influenced who I became more than I’ll ever know.)



But back on my Chicago city block, left more or less to my own devices, I’d cross the street to go buy bubble gum at the corner store, or I’d ride my Big Wheel up and down the sidewalk, or I’d play paddle ball with my friends on my front stoop.



I was an only child, and in those early days, playing with lots of neighborhood kids felt so good. And we were lucky: Our apartment had a tiny backyard, with a little tree I could climb.



When we moved West, my parents told me that the building owners back in Chicago had cut down the tree and turned our backyard into a parking lot. I was pretty young, but I still remember feeling the weight of that loss.



I never thought of myself as a creative writer until fairly recently, but my sense of writing plays, I think, relates to that city block, that used to be my universe as a child. In my creative work, I keep asking similar questions:



What happens on full display to the outside world?



What happens inside, behind closed doors?



And what happens, that nobody sees?



Q:  If you could change one thing about theater, what would it be?



A:  I wish that we lived in a country that prioritized funding for the arts and arts education. It breaks my heart that most theatre-goers in America have never taken a drama class, or perhaps even read a play. Actually, it’s just so sad that most Americans will never attend live theatre, period.



Changing theatre would require a focus on reducing barriers to arts engagement for young people, from one-off’s like exposure to a performance through field trips, to experiences like artistic residencies in the schools, to curriculum-based arts learning.



Every kid deserves access to the arts, yet increasingly, only children whose families can afford to pay for out-of-school activities, or who have the flexibility and resource to provide transportation to/from rehearsals and lessons, will have this opportunity.



I am encouraged when I see arts education initiatives build out from successful theatre companies, and I hope we continue to see more of this trend, because (climbs on soapbox) when theatres make the bold choice to expose audiences to new, contemporary work, they’re moving the dial. They’re encouraging artists to explore, experiment and create more diverse and inclusive work. When theatres create platforms for new plays, they’re helping to develop the artform, and enriching the society we share.



Q:  Who are or were your theatrical heroes?



A:  I was so fortunate to have teachers who exposed me the foundations of theatre, early. I took French in my public High School, and in our upper-level classes, we read Ionesco, Camus, Molière, Sartre, Racine and others, in French. I probably couldn’t do it anymore, but that was fun. (Please note: Brilliant plays, but all white, male writers. Huh.)



And in college, majoring in DanceTheatre, I continued chipping away at the classical canon, and I also took the headlong dive into feminist theatre that I’ve not yet surfaced from. My “sheroes” include Caryl Churchill, Lorraine Hansberry, Sarah Kane, Lauren Yee, Danai Gurira, Ntozake Shange, Yasmina Reza, Paula Vogel, Sophie Treadwell, Lynn Nottage, Wendy Wasserstein, Anna Deavere Smith, María Irene Fornés — I could go on and on.



These artists are all different aesthetically, but what they have in common is that in their work, no moment is wasted. They will develop and push a theme, extrapolating from a starting point to reach an imaginative, almost supernatural plane. Now, I would never intimate that I can do that, but I remain a humble student of their craft.



Q:  What kind of theater excites you?



A:  I’m excited by rule-breakers.



Last year, I went on a pilgrimage to Artists Rep in Portland to see Magellanica by E.M. Lewis, directed by Dámaso Rodríguez. Holy smokes! What a play. And it’s five hours long! Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s production of Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles, by Luis Alfaro, at Portland Center Stage, directed by Julliette Carillo, was similarly stunning — Taking a classic and turning it on its head. And Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s groundbreaking gender-bent “Oklahoma!”, directed by Bill Rauch, was pure delight, and a seminal contribution to the world of casting possibilities, taking a stale, sexist plot and elevating it to a magical realm.



Since I live in a smaller city now, there’s not as much new work to be found, so I love reading plays on New Play Exchange, because the work there is often so fresh and experimental. I am continually inspired by my contemporaries, too many to mention. I’m excited by work that makes me think, laugh, cry. Work that makes me feel. Work that can only be in the theatre.



Q:  What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out?



A:  I’m just starting out, too.



I feel so grateful to mentors, who have shown me the ropes. My first playwriting teacher, Paul Calandrino, pulled me aside after class one night and said, “I think maybe this is your métier.” I had to go home and look up what a métier was, but yeah, I think Paul might be right.



I’m grateful to Donna Hoke, Stephen Kaplan, Carlyle Brown, Tammy Ryan, Sam Graber, for their guidance, and to Asher Wyndham, Ricardo Soltero-Brown, Greg Burdick, Emma Goldman-Sherman, Franky Gonzalez, Nelson Diaz-Marcano, Matthew Weaver and more, for their camaraderie and continuing encouragement.



I’m grateful to every theatre that’s produced my work, and to every director and actor who has brought the words to the stage. I’m even grateful to all the bazillions of places that have rejected my plays because it is all about learning.



I feel goofy offering advice, since I’m pretty new at all this, but here goes: Let’s believe in ourselves, read plays, see plays, make friends, and submit our work.



Q:  Plugs, please:



A:  Shameless self-promotion:



Upcoming productions include "Partner Of —" at Rover Dramawerks, in Plano, TX and Between Us Productions, in NYC. "Egg in Spoon" at Saw it Here First Productions in London, U.K.; "Inertia" at Oregon Contemporary Theatre, Eugene, OR, and 2Cents Theatre Group, Hollywood, CA.; "Maintaining a Space Cushion" at the Mid-America Theatre Conference, Cleveland, OH; "Incredibly Cute" at Cone Man Running Productions, Houston, TX; "Permission" at Flush Ink Productions, Ontario, Canada, and Itinerant Theatre, Lake Charles, LA; And I’m super-duper excited for staged readings of my full-length play "Canopy" at Parsons Nose Theatre, Pasadena, CA, and WriteON Festival, Cambridge U.K.



Find me on New Play Exchange: https://newplayexchange.org/users/16553/rachael-carnes



And find the group that I founded, to write and produce plays in response to gun violence:



Code Red Playwrights: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1612954052087850/























































































































































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I Interview playwrights Part 1030: Rachael Carnes

Rachael Carnes




Hometown: I’m originally from Chicago, and moved to Eugene, Oregon, when I was a kid.



Current Town: After living in Portland, Seattle and NYC, my parents, kids and evergreen trees eventually won out, and we now live quietly in green and rainy Eugene.



Q:  What are you working on now?



A:  I work full-time and I’m a mom, so I let playwriting be a wonderful place where I can be open to whatever creative endeavor draws my interest, and right now, I’m working on an historical piece centered on Yoncalla, Oregon, a community 45 minutes south of Eugene. Weird, right?



But in Yoncalla, Oregon, in 1920, under everyone’s noses, a group of five women got themselves elected to the City Council, and it made national, even international news. There was a huge uproar, actually — “The world is ending! The women are taking over! How will they possibly be wives and mothers now?!” — Sound familiar? 100 years later, it can feel like nothing’s changed, or worse, that we’re sliding backwards.



This story piqued my interest because of the elected women, but as I’ve waded into the research, I’ve found many more narrative layers. In 1920, in a muddy little town in Oregon’s Southern Willamette Valley, you see a confluence of so many issues that we grapple with today.



So, beyond the kerfuffle of these five women elected to office, Yoncalla feels like a compelling, and timely, American story. But I’m just getting started.



Beyond that brand-new creative effort, I’m also working on refining a play that’s received some development opportunities, Canopy, to hopefully set it up for production. And I love to write short plays, often responding to submission calls with particular requirements (put a sock monkey in it, make it a fairy tale, set it under water, etc) as a way to flex new muscles and to experiment.



Since I only have about an hour a day to devote to writing, (usually 5-6AM!) I have to be pretty choosy, where to put my energy.



Q:  Tell me a story from your childhood that explains who you are as a writer or as a person.



A:  As a little kid in Chicago in the 1970’s, I always felt like I had room to do my thing. Kids growing up today will never know the benign neglect my generation enjoyed. (I’m only kidding, my mom was the director of education for the famous Field Museum of Natural History and knocking around that institution probably influenced who I became more than I’ll ever know.)



But back on my Chicago city block, left more or less to my own devices, I’d cross the street to go buy bubble gum at the corner store, or I’d ride my Big Wheel up and down the sidewalk, or I’d play paddle ball with my friends on my front stoop.



I was an only child, and in those early days, playing with lots of neighborhood kids felt so good. And we were lucky: Our apartment had a tiny backyard, with a little tree I could climb.



When we moved West, my parents told me that the building owners back in Chicago had cut down the tree and turned our backyard into a parking lot. I was pretty young, but I still remember feeling the weight of that loss.



I never thought of myself as a creative writer until fairly recently, but my sense of writing plays, I think, relates to that city block, that used to be my universe as a child. In my creative work, I keep asking similar questions:



What happens on full display to the outside world?



What happens inside, behind closed doors?



And what happens, that nobody sees?



Q:  If you could change one thing about theater, what would it be?



A:  I wish that we lived in a country that prioritized funding for the arts and arts education. It breaks my heart that most theatre-goers in America have never taken a drama class, or perhaps even read a play. Actually, it’s just so sad that most Americans will never attend live theatre, period.



Changing theatre would require a focus on reducing barriers to arts engagement for young people, from one-off’s like exposure to a performance through field trips, to experiences like artistic residencies in the schools, to curriculum-based arts learning.



Every kid deserves access to the arts, yet increasingly, only children whose families can afford to pay for out-of-school activities, or who have the flexibility and resource to provide transportation to/from rehearsals and lessons, will have this opportunity.



I am encouraged when I see arts education initiatives build out from successful theatre companies, and I hope we continue to see more of this trend, because (climbs on soapbox) when theatres make the bold choice to expose audiences to new, contemporary work, they’re moving the dial. They’re encouraging artists to explore, experiment and create more diverse and inclusive work. When theatres create platforms for new plays, they’re helping to develop the artform, and enriching the society we share.



Q:  Who are or were your theatrical heroes?



A:  I was so fortunate to have teachers who exposed me the foundations of theatre, early. I took French in my public High School, and in our upper-level classes, we read Ionesco, Camus, Molière, Sartre, Racine and others, in French. I probably couldn’t do it anymore, but that was fun. (Please note: Brilliant plays, but all white, male writers. Huh.)



And in college, majoring in DanceTheatre, I continued chipping away at the classical canon, and I also took the headlong dive into feminist theatre that I’ve not yet surfaced from. My “sheroes” include Caryl Churchill, Lorraine Hansberry, Sarah Kane, Lauren Yee, Danai Gurira, Ntozake Shange, Yasmina Reza, Paula Vogel, Sophie Treadwell, Lynn Nottage, Wendy Wasserstein, Anna Deavere Smith, María Irene Fornés — I could go on and on.



These artists are all different aesthetically, but what they have in common is that in their work, no moment is wasted. They will develop and push a theme, extrapolating from a starting point to reach an imaginative, almost supernatural plane. Now, I would never intimate that I can do that, but I remain a humble student of their craft.



Q:  What kind of theater excites you?



A:  I’m excited by rule-breakers.



Last year, I went on a pilgrimage to Artists Rep in Portland to see Magellanica by E.M. Lewis, directed by Dámaso Rodríguez. Holy smokes! What a play. And it’s five hours long! Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s production of Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles, by Luis Alfaro, at Portland Center Stage, directed by Julliette Carillo, was similarly stunning — Taking a classic and turning it on its head. And Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s groundbreaking gender-bent “Oklahoma!”, directed by Bill Rauch, was pure delight, and a seminal contribution to the world of casting possibilities, taking a stale, sexist plot and elevating it to a magical realm.



Since I live in a smaller city now, there’s not as much new work to be found, so I love reading plays on New Play Exchange, because the work there is often so fresh and experimental. I am continually inspired by my contemporaries, too many to mention. I’m excited by work that makes me think, laugh, cry. Work that makes me feel. Work that can only be in the theatre.



Q:  What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out?



A:  I’m just starting out, too.



I feel so grateful to mentors, who have shown me the ropes. My first playwriting teacher, Paul Calandrino, pulled me aside after class one night and said, “I think maybe this is your métier.” I had to go home and look up what a métier was, but yeah, I think Paul might be right.



I’m grateful to Donna Hoke, Stephen Kaplan, Carlyle Brown, Tammy Ryan, Sam Graber, for their guidance, and to Asher Wyndham, Ricardo Soltero-Brown, Greg Burdick, Emma Goldman-Sherman, Franky Gonzalez, Nelson Diaz-Marcano, Matthew Weaver and more, for their camaraderie and continuing encouragement.



I’m grateful to every theatre that’s produced my work, and to every director and actor who has brought the words to the stage. I’m even grateful to all the bazillions of places that have rejected my plays because it is all about learning.



I feel goofy offering advice, since I’m pretty new at all this, but here goes: Let’s believe in ourselves, read plays, see plays, make friends, and submit our work.



Q:  Plugs, please:



A:  Shameless self-promotion:



Upcoming productions include "Partner Of —" at Rover Dramawerks, in Plano, TX and Between Us Productions, in NYC. "Egg in Spoon" at Saw it Here First Productions in London, U.K.; "Inertia" at Oregon Contemporary Theatre, Eugene, OR, and 2Cents Theatre Group, Hollywood, CA.; "Maintaining a Space Cushion" at the Mid-America Theatre Conference, Cleveland, OH; "Incredibly Cute" at Cone Man Running Productions, Houston, TX; "Permission" at Flush Ink Productions, Ontario, Canada, and Itinerant Theatre, Lake Charles, LA; And I’m super-duper excited for staged readings of my full-length play "Canopy" at Parsons Nose Theatre, Pasadena, CA, and WriteON Festival, Cambridge U.K.



Find me on New Play Exchange: https://newplayexchange.org/users/16553/rachael-carnes



And find the group that I founded, to write and produce plays in response to gun violence:



Code Red Playwrights: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1612954052087850/























































































































































---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Enter Your Email To Have New Blog Posts Sent To You



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Support The Blog









-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------




Mailing list to be invited to Adam's events



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Books by Adam (Amazon)

I Interview Playwrights Part 1029: Matthew Weaver

photo by Crystal Madsen of Crystal Madsen Photography



Matthew Weaver



Hometown: Spokane, WA



Current Town: Spokane, WA



I studied journalism at Washington State University in 1999, worked for the college newspaper the Daily Evergreen all four years, and then worked in Moses Lake, WA, for five years, working for the local newspaper, the Columbia Basin Herald, covering business and agriculture.




I moved back to Spokane in 2008 for my current job, for the agriculture newspaper, the Capital Press.

It’s been more than 10 years and I am still on a Spokane renaissance. My brother Steven and I like to try different restaurants and experience the city we grew up in as grownups.



Q:  What are you working on now?




A:  As of this writing, I’m in the middle of a monthlong personal challenge to myself where I write a monologue a day for the month of February 2019. Inspired by the monologues of Asher Wyndham.



I’ve also done a personal challenge where I write a 10-page play each day for a month, inspired by posts by Chip Bolcik on the Official Playwrights of Facebook page. It can be incredibly exciting to sit down and have absolutely no idea what you’re going to write.



Some of my favorite plays I’ve written have come out of these challenges. My full-length young adult play, “Timmy’s Big Kiss,” came out of one play. So did my one-acts “A Sprig of Mistletoe Up in That One Little Corner of the Jail” and “The Bee’s Knees.”



So far this month, I’m especially proud of the monologues “Jesus at 10,” “Les Pamplemousses” and “The Woman and the Spoon.”



I have a couple full-lengths, one-acts and screenplays in mind. I’m waiting for the next big idea to grab me and not let go.



Q:  Tell me, if you will, a story from your childhood that explains who you are as a writer or as a person.




A:  When I was little, my mom would ask me to write stories involving certain things. Like it might have to include an apple, an orange and a bald eagle.



It turned out to be perfect training for play prompts and timed-writing play festivals. I’ve been fortunate enough to participate in several 24-hour play festivals at Stage Left Theater in Spokane, where you show up one evening, are paired with a director and group of actors, given a prop and have 12 hours to write a 10-page play; they then have 12 hours to memorize and put the play on the next evening. (It’s so much fun.) My props were a stuffed iguana (“Under an Iguana Moon”) and a ceramic cat (“Operation Keep the Kitten Alive”). 



Based on the advice of my friend Will Gilman, I ask the performers and directors if there’s anything they’d prefer not to do (and then I don’t write that); what they feel their strengths are and then if there’s something they’ve always wanted to do but never had the chance. 



And then you put all of that together and make a play!



With “Operation,” actress Joni Elizabeth informed me she had been a champion thumb wrestler in high school. She was so good, her thumb had its own wrestling name: Hank!



“Well, that’s going in the play,” I thought. And Hank did indeed make an appearance. It was a gift.

I’ve also gotten to write several 10-minute plays in an hour for the Nugget Fringe Festival in Grass Valley, CA (from the comfort of home in Spokane!) We get a prompt and have an hour to write it, and it’s produced two hours later – I’ve done this with “High School Nachos,” “Continents Apart,” “Blackbirds Singing in the Dead of Night,” “Best Behavior” and “Selfies & Ladybugs.”



Again, so much fun! Thanks Mom!



Q:  If you could change one thing about theater, what would it be?




A:  Playwriting can be a pretty solitary undertaking. This can be a good thing in the course of the writing, because I’m completely free to play and break whatever rules I want or write whatever I want to write.



But the collaboration is just as important. I love turning over a play to a team of talented directors, performers, prop people, stage managers, technicians, costume designers and have them fall just as much in love with one of my scripts. We all bring our best to the play, rooting for one another all the while, and the whole becomes something greater than the sum of our parts.



I’d love to build and be a part of a theatrical team, with fellow playwrights, performers, directors and the like – and all of us just keep elevating one another as we work on our projects. To be able to say, “I love what you did here, I’m going to write THIS for you and see what you do with it.” Or, “Hey, fellow playwrights, I’ve got this idea for a theme for a festival – everybody see what you can do with this!”



Or, “Hey! I loved with what you did with [name of play] … what else you got!?”



Or, “You were amazing in this and you (another you) were amazing in this … here’s this playwright I know who is also amazing and here’s an amazing director … everybody go be amazing together so I can see what you come up with! Let me know how I can help!”



And then it actually happens. On a regular basis.



I’ve gotten little tastes of this. Most recently, this last summer, when Ignite! Community Theatre in Spokane Valley put on a special showcase of 14 (!!!) of my plays. It was so cool to see so many actors I’ve admired onstage, including some I’d worked with previously, bringing life to words I’d written.



I think I’m finding it. Slowly but surely, here in the Spokane and Columbia Basin arts communities and beyond, with my fellow playwrights online.



You can’t force it. It has to develop naturally.



But I think I’m slowly getting more and more on the radar.



Q:  Who are or were your theatrical heroes?




A:  I experienced three works of art at that critical time in a young writer’s development: In high school. I saw a local production of David Ives’ “All in the Timing” at Spokane Civic Theatre. It was a window into the kind of writing I wanted to do.



I watched SPORTS NIGHT on TV, written by Aaron Sorkin. I see a lot of problems with Sorkin’s writing today –particularly the problematic writing for women, a lot of repetition of the same chunks of dialogue – but those first few episodes, so fresh and vibrant, especially the episode “The Apology,” made Young Me want to write like THAT.



And I saw a production at my high school of ONCE UPON A MATTRESS. My friends were in the show. I’d tried out for drama freshman year, it didn’t go well and I fled to newspaper. They looked like they were having so much fun up on stage. The curtains open, the lights go up, and the actress playing the Princess Fred appears, sopping wet and spits out a mouthful of water. It sails out into the audience and lands directly on an adorable little girl sitting in the front row directly in front of me. The girl and her family were stunned. It’s quite possibly one of my favorite memories of a theatrical experience. I want to capture my feelings watching that play, and give them to the audience.



I’d love to act, even though I’d be a total ham. Absolute and total ham. But I never know when I’m going to have a last-minute meeting out of town for work, so I could never realistically commit to a full run of a show. 



When I was in Moses Lake, I’d fight to do advances for plays in a neighboring community, Soap Lake, and loved talking to actors and directors for previews. 



After I moved back home to Spokane and it wouldn’t violate any journalism ethics, I sent my play, “Bed Ride,” to Randy Brooks, one of the actors and directors I felt fairly comfortable with. I said, “I’ve written a play, never written a play before. Please tell me what I did wrong.”

Randy called back a few weeks later and said, “Matthew, this works. Can I show this to our artistic director?”

And Beverly Hasper called a few weeks after that and said, “Matthew, can we put this on?”

“Bed Ride” was performed nine times by Masquers Theatre in Soap Lake in the summer of 2013. It was my first full-length play. My dad, mom, brother and I drove two hours from Spokane to Soap Lake opening night and then for all of the Sunday matinees. My second-grade teacher was in the audience opening night. It was life-affirming.



Q:  What kind of theater excites you?




A:  I love plays that play, that explore, that seek a next level, whatever that may be. I like to compare playwriting to driving a Ferrari. You say, “Let’s take this baby out and see what she can do!”



Some playwrights who are doing this kind of work:

My fellow Spokane resident Tristen Canfield wrote my favorite 10-minute play of all time, “The Window,” about a cat and a fish at the window. I saw it as part of the Spokane Civic Theatre’s Playwrights Forum Festival in 2015 and haven’t shut up about it yet.



Asher and his monologues.



Emily Hageman and all her writing. I think the messages she’s sending through her plays are so important. I especially recommend “Joan’s Arc,” “Back Cover,” “The Women’s Ten-Minute Play Reading Committee” and “Teenage Oysters.”



Steven G. Martin and his plays. I’m especially partial to “The Subtle, Sublime Transformation of Benny V.”



Diana Burbano and all of her plays. I’m especially partial to her short play “The Tower.”



Emma Goldman-Sherman and her plays, especially the short “Toilet Paper” and the full-lengths “FUKT” and “Whorticulture.”



Scott Mullen, especially “The Peek,” “Ninjas” and “172 Push-Ups.” 



Donna Hoke. I’m an avid Trade a Play Tuesdayer and especially partial to her “Teach.”



“Miss Betsy Goes to Washington,” by Nicole Jost.



“Apples in Winter,” by Jennifer Fawcett.



So many more: Nelson Diaz-Marcano, Ricardo Soltero-Brown, Rachael Carnes, Franky Gonzalez, Scott Sickles, Kara Emily Krantz, Lindsay Partain, Will Gilman, Michelle Tyrene Johnson, Judd Lear Silverman, Rich Orloff, Hal Corley, Paul Lewis, Catherine Weingarten, Dwayne Yancey, Mark Harvey Levine and Molly Allen.



Q:  What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out?




A:  I try to write at least a half hour a day. Before I started doing this, I would get frustrated because I wasn’t doing it consistently, just every once in a while, and it didn’t feel like I was making progress. A half hour is doable. Don’t get me wrong, at the start, it still feels like it’s going to take forever. But I always feel better once I’ve done it.



I give myself permission for the writing to be bad. Some of it is terrible, and will be buried in the backyard forever, but the writing got done for the day. And I give myself permission to keep going if I really hit a groove or don’t want to lose the momentum. For the monologue challenge, my goal is at least one page, but when writing “Les Pamplemousses,” it was the evening before a really busy week of work and I was enjoying myself so much, I wound up with 31 handwritten pages. 



I write longhand first, 99 times out of 100. That way I can cross out things and rearrange sections with arrows and track my progress. On the computer, I can delete something and it’s gone forever. That makes me nervous. When I’m typing up the handwritten pages, it’s like I’m already on a third draft.



Q:  Plugs, please:




A:  Randy Brooks of Masquers Theater sadly passed away recently. His family could use some help, if you are so inclined to help a longtime theater advocate: https://www.gofundme.com/to-help-my-mother-with-the-medical-amp-mortuary?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=fb_u_g&fbclid=IwAR3z7lPWFARcl1YjagU4s7FQnGUCIAogW2FWVoPi0g3XMXxQ3oOtD6CB320



My (wonderful!) headshot is by Crystal Madsen of Crystal Madsen Photography in Spokane:http://www.crystalmadsen.com/



Trade a Play Tuesday:

http://blog.donnahoke.com/trade-a-play-tuesday/



Playwrights Offering Free Feedback: http://blog.donnahoke.com/introducing-poff-playwrights-offering-free-feedback-a-free-readingfeedback-circle/



Upcoming plays:

My Walla Walla sweet onion play, “Onion Ode” is part of the Northwest Ten March 1-10 in Eugene, OR:https://www.octheatre.org/octheatre.org/nw10



“Confession of a Modern Soap Opera Bride” is part of the Fast & Furious One-Minute Play Festival at Stage Left Theater March 15-17 in Spokane: https://spokanestageleft.org/



My Shakespearean mouse play “The Tragedie of Rockford & Almira & the Cat – A Comedie,” will be part of the Tree City Playhouse festival for the Sylvania Community Arts Commission May 3-5 in Sylvania, OH: http://www.sylvaniaarts.org/theatre/treecityplayhouse/



My YA one-act “When You Are a Little Bit Older” will be part of the Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center One-Act Play Festival, directed by Sophia Englesberg and Korey Grecek, in Midland, Pennsylvania.http://www.lincolnparkarts.org/



This is particularly cool for me, because Sophia and Korey, along with Peter Stamerra, were in the world premiere of the play in September 2017 and liked it so much they asked to direct it! A high compliment for any writer.



And my New Play Exchange page: https://newplayexchange.org/users/9069/matthew-weaver



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I Interview Playwrights Part 1028: Nelson Diaz-Marcano

Nelson Diaz-Marcano




Hometown: Gurabo, Puerto Rico

Current Town: Astoria, new York

Q:  What are you working on now?

A:  At this very moment I’m challenging myself by writing my first musical. It started as an experiment on my plane trip from the INGENIO New Play Festival. Now I’m in love with it and can’t wait to finish it and see what doesn’t work! It’s an exploration of colorism and race relations between latinx and african americans that merges Bolero and Blues to tell the narrative. I don’t know how great it will be, what I do know is that I’m having fun. I’m also currently planning a public reading for a new full length “Misfit, America: An American Western With Color,” working on a whole new draft of “Paper Towels” for a production in May, and doing rewrites for my play “Into The River I Went” after the public reading set by Troy Foundry Theater in October. Exciting year ahead!

Q:  Tell me, if you will, a story from your childhood that explains who you are as a writer or as a person.

A:  I was almost a teenager, but I remember distinctly a moment in eighth grade with the Spanish teacher. It wasn’t her fault, I was a smart ass kid that would spend most of his time arguing with her. For some reason we got along, I just didn’t make it easy for her. So one day she made us all write a poem about the Puerto Rican flag. I kept joking around with my friends in the back, thinking it was lame. That she was just being lazy. She called me out and challenged me. I remember like it was yesterday, wow, she said to me that if it was so easy how come I wasn’t doing it. Or was I dumb? That bothered me, so I did it. Out of pure defiance. I used to read a lot, I loved writers, just never thought I could be one. I come from a low-income household in central Puerto Rico, people didn’t think they could ever do things like that and it's the reason she called me dumb. Anyway, next thing I know she entered it into a poetry competition without my permission. I was angry at her, I didn’t want anyone else to see what this jibaro wrote. The poem ended up getting second place. So yeah, I became a writer because of defiance, but also because she somehow believed in me. She just knew the only way to make me do stuff was to push me. If that doesn't explain me as a writer and as a person, I don’t know what does.

Q:  If you could change one thing about theater, what would it be?

A:  The perception people have of it. It plagues everything around it. This idea that the theater is mostly for predominantly white and for an older audience is what keeps it predominantly white and for an older audience. Most production companies become afraid of that, so they keep themselves safe, and keep diversity to a minimum. Because of that perception, plays that would appeal to other audiences do not get staged. Because plays with diverse casting don’t get staged as often, actors of that particular race battle for fewer roles and become discontent. Which means less actors audition, which means a play needing those actors can’t find them… you get it. If we are going to diversify and make theater more inclusive, then we need to change the perception. We do that by producing people like Guadalis Del Carmen, Andrew Rincon, Gina Femia, Matt Barbot, Jeremy O. Davis, Inda Craig-Galvan, etc.. The list goes on. You know how many times I’ve gone to a show with someone that despises theater and have seen something like “Fireflies” by Donja R. Love leaving the person I’m with awe-struck? Let’s change the perception, let’s produce these writers.

Q:  Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A:  Edward Albee, Miguel Piñero and Maria Irene Fornes are my foundation. Stephen Adly Guirgis, Martin Mcdonagh, and Paula Vogel were my coming of age. Now I get to know my heroes, writers like Georgina Leanse Escobar, Diana Burbano, and all the writers I mentioned before. They inspire me daily.

Q:  What kind of theater excites you?

A:  The kind that dares to explore reality through the magic that exists within it. It could be subtle as the aforementioned “Fireflies” or completely out of this world like “Alebrijes” by Georgina Leanse Escobar. Plays that dare to go all the way just to tell what is essentially a very human story.

Q:  What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out?

A:  Go out, watch as much as you can, meet as many people as you are able to. Surround yourself with beautiful people that make you want to be better. Competition is with yourself, not them, they will help you improve. Drive is what your ambition needs, not greed. And love your work. Every word of it.

Q:  Plugs, please:

A:  *Ham Horn* Coming soon is my play “Paper Towels,” which will be playing at the Downtown Urban Arts Festival on May 1. A whole new version from the ones seen at The Brick and the EAT New Work Series. The Parsnip Ship will be releasing the recording of my play “World Classic” on streaming services, and the short “I Saw Jesus in Toa Baja” will be part of the William Inge Festival this summer.


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I Interview Playwrights Part 1027: Ricardo Soltero-Brown

Ricardo Soltero-Brown




Hometown:   I was born in Georgetown, Washington, D.C.



Current Town: Orlando, FL.



Q:  What are you working on now?




A:  A few things led up to this experiment. I've been trying for a great deal of time to write tight dramas with nothing wasted, not a word, a character, a stage direction, a plot point. After reading a bunch of Shaw, in his introduction to 'Heartbreak House' he mentions Chekhov as being an influence on the style. I became interested in this style of play and thought to tackle it: a long, four-act play with lots of characters where not much other than heartbreak and philosophical musings about life between the players take place. Its bare-bones plot deals with a prodigal son return type event. I'm really trying to go against most of what I've done up until now.



Q:  Tell me, if you will, a story from your childhood that explains who you are as a writer or as a person.




A:  In second or third of fourth grade a teacher asked the students to write a story about the beginning of the world. When they were turned in, she began to read them aloud and commenting on, generally, how they were not so good. When she got to mine, she said, "That's how you begin a story."



Q:  If you could change one thing about theater, what would it be?




A: Funds. Obviously. There are a great deal types of theater that are non-Aristotelian and should be seen to break the barriers of what the masses accept of "Theatre", however another big issue I'd like to see resolved are for evenings to concentrate on plays that aren't necessarily two-hours in length. There are great pieces of 20 to 80 minutes in length which are wonderful five-course meals in themselves.



Q:  Who are or were your theatrical heroes?




A:  Pinter, Churchill, Suzan-Lori Parks, Annie Baker. I'm also a big fan of some of my contemporaries like Inda Craig-Galván, Nelson Diaz-Marcano, Celine Song, Franky Gonzalez, and Asher Wyndham.



Q:  What kind of theater excites you?




A:  I'm excited by a lot of theater. I do think the Aristotelian drama is a tried and true form that Brecht was only fed up with because of its over-saturation in the market, I don't think he understood empathy as the power that it is the way that Boal did. Although Boal warned us of its dangers, and he was right. I would like to see more of Brecht's Epic Theater and of Boal's "Joker" system. I'd like to see some Artaud that actually makes sense. I've seen some very moving physical-based work. I've read a lot of acting books - Adler, Artaud, Brook, Caine, Chekhov, Esper, Gielgud, Grotowski, Hagen, Lecoq, Redgrave, Strasberg - and would like to see seasons dedicated to a particular school.



Q:  What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out?




A:  I always say never be afraid to write something short. Just make sure to finish it and then push from there with a new piece. Also, my journey has taught me one thing for certain: Outline, outline, outline. But it's okay, you can change the outline.



Q:  Plugs, please:



A:

https://50playwrights.org/2017/12/11/ricardo-soltero-brown/amp/

Playwright Interview: Ricardo Soltero-Brown

Performer Stuff Playwright | Ricardo Soltero-Brown

Ricardo Soltero-Brown (@RSolteroBrown) | Twitter

https://newplayexchange.org/users/7279/ricardo-soltero-brown



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I Interview Playwrights Part 1026: Beaufield Berry

Beaufield Berry

Hometown: Omaha, Neb.

Current Town: I call it Omaha, International.

Q: Congrats on Denver! What are you working on there?

A: Thank you!!! What a high ; ) I am workshopping my play In The Upper Room, which is one play in a cycle of Seven--yet to be titled. It is a Black family dramatic comedy about identity, religion, belonging and colorism in the 70's.

Q: What else are you up to?

A: *Momentarily freaks out about upcoming schedule* A childrens musical, a play on the red summer, two University commissions.

Q: Tell me, if you will, a story from your childhood that explains who you are as a writer or as a person.

A: Once upon a time I was five years old and it was time for the dance recital I'd been working on for months. Right before my cue, I learn that my dance partner had an accident and no longer wanted to perform. I was told I could go on alone or wait until the next number. I very clearly remember saying "I'm going on." And I went out there, did my little thing, saw my family clapping for me and have been working hard at not limiting myself since. (With many, many, many, many failures in between)

Q:  If you could change one thing about theater, what would it be? 



A:  The demographics! I love and appreciate our older, white patrons and for every one of them I would add four people of other races, ages, socio economic backgrounds, and fields of expertise.

Q:  Who are or were your theatrical heroes? 




A:  I have so many! But I really think the answer is anyone working with children, creating with them the gift of theater. Those are my everyday heroes, because I know what having theater in your life from a young age can do for a person. It can save their life...so passionate, theater educators are my heroes and goals. But I also really love Emily Mann, August Wilson, Paula Vogel, Anna Deavere Smith, Sarah Jones...and Neil Simon.

Q:  What kind of theater excites you? 




A:  Hilarious comedy. I think that is so brave right now, in a world of drama, to just flat out make people laugh...and also think or cry...but I love a gut buster. And we're all so serious about our work, I love when I see a great show or cast...that takes themselves not so seriously, while still landing the job. I also LOVE Black playwrights with Black casts and crews--that's an electric space for me.

Q:  What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out? 




A:  Stay away from facebook playwriting groups, take the time to find your voice, don't compare your work to anyone else's, own your choices and only work with people you TRUST.

Q:  Plugs, please: 




A:  Next stop: KC Fringe with my Scientology Play! my new website is under development but it's going to be very cute. www.Beaufieldberry.com


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UPCOMING PLAYS OF MINE, MAYBE COMING TO YOUR TOWN

PRODUCTIONS






The Wooden Heart

Production #1 of The Wooden Heart

Acadiana Repertory Theater

Lafayette, LA

Opens September 6, 2019.



KODACHROME

Production #8 of Kodachrome

Our Town Theatre Group

North Creek, NY

Opens March 8, 2019.



Production #9 of Kodachrome

Actors Bridge Ensemble

Nashville, TN

Opens July 12, 2019.



Marian or The True Tale of Robin Hood
Production #16 of Marian

Theatre Conspiracy

Fort Myers, FL

Opens February 7, 2019.



Production #17 of Marian

University of North Carolina

Wilmington, NC

Opens February 21, 2019.




Production #18 of Marian

Shakespeare Performance Troupe


Bryn Mawr College

Bryn Mawr, PA.

Opens March 28, 2019.



Production #19 of Marian

Regis College

Weston, MA

Opens April 11, 2019.




Clown Bar

Production #34 of Clown Bar

Liverpool University Drama Society

Liverpool, England

Opens May 7, 2019






Hearts Like Fists

Production #41 of HLF
Cyrano's Theatre Company

Anchorage, AK

Opens Sept 19, 2019



Production #42 of HLF

Cyrano's Theatre Company

Anchorage, AK

Opens Sept 19, 2019




Production #43 of HLF

Christopher Newport University


Newport News, VA.

Opens April 3, 2020.



Pretty Theft

Production #14 of Pretty Theft

Houston ISD UIL Dept.

Houston, TX

Opens March 23, 2019.



Nerve

Production #21 of Nerve

Ikag Productions

The Elephant British Pub

Adelaide, Australia

Opens June 5, 2019



Rare Birds



Production #5 of Rare Birds

University of Indianapolis

Indianapolis, IN

Opens April 12, 2019




7 Ways To Say I Love You

a night of short plays




Production #28 of 7 Ways

North Meck High School

Huntersville, NC

Opens Feb 28, 2019.


Production #29 of 7 Ways

Northern Illinois University School Of Theatre And Dance

Dekalb, IL

Opens March 20, 2019.



Production #30 of 7 Ways

Scotch'n'Soda Theatre

Pittsburgh, PA

Opens March 23, 2019



Production #31 of 7 Ways

Ursula Franklin Academy

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Opens April 20, 2019.



Production #32 of 7 Ways

Auburn Community Players

Fiskdale, MA

Opens July 12, 2019.





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I Interview Playwrights Part 1025: Asher Wyndham

Asher Wyndham




Hometown: “Hometown”? “The town where you grew up?”? I was born in a village called Grafton in Ontario, Canada. Or: “The town where I spend most of your time?”? If that, see Current Town.



Current Town: Minneapolis, MN.



Q:  What are you working on now?




A: I’m working on my multi-volume work SOME AMERICANS: SOME MONOLOGUES. Each volume has about 2-3 hours worth of monologues, each ranging from 5 to 25 minutes, each volume with common themes.



They are not intended for audition, but I have cuts available for audition.



A director can choose which monologues to produce and choose the order.



I’m revising Volume 1 so I can send it out to publishers. This volume has six monologues.



I’m writing more monologues for Volume 2 (about bad/tough jobs). Right now it has eleven monologues.



Volume 3 consists of monologues for women.



While not working on that larger project, I write monologues for adults that don’t belong to those volumes. Also monologues for kids and teens (SOME KIDS: SOME MONOLOGUES) intended for classroom use and competition.



You can check out these monologues my New Play Exchange page or my website www.robotwriter.co.



Q:  You are kind of a genius at making friends and making waves on the New Play Exchange. How do you do it and how can other playwrights emulate you?



A:  Thanks!



Here is a short list with some suggestions, many of which deal with how to make friends and “waves” on NPX, some are just best practices:



1. Read/recommend plays by your friends.



2. R/R plays recommended by your friends.



3. R/R plays by playwrights that you admire.



4. R/R plays by playwrights you have met at conferences.



5. R/R plays by playwrights whose work was staged read or developed in your city.



6. Recommend plays that you saw immediately after watching it. You can do this on the bus ride or Uber home.



7. R/R play that you’ve found on lists such as The Kilroys’ List, Steppenwolf’s The Mix List, etc. Many of them are on NPX.



8. Meet playwrights and ask, “Are you on NPX?” If so, read each other's work.



9. R/R local playwrights.



10. R/R plays by playwrights you don’t know! NPX for a few weeks has a recommended list of plays or a randomly chosen play.



11. Recommend NPX to your writing group. And when their plays are up on the site, read and recommend them.



12. R/R plays by people that complain on Facebook that no is reading their plays.



13. After recommending several plays choose your top ten and list them on Facebook and Twitter. I usually do this after reading 100 plays. You could recommend works by length and genre.



14. If a play is WOW recommend it, tweet it, post it, talk about it in the theatre lobby, tell an actor, tell a producer, tell a director, etc.



15. Read every day or maybe a few times a week: there are short plays that you can read on the bus, before going to bed, while the eggs are boiling.



16. Don't over complicate your tags. These tags are words that the theatre artists such an artistic director searches for. Mention only subjects.



17. Upload blind drafts. These are for play opps. Some theatres will only read blind drafts. (This will take time. I haven’t done this to every play yet.



18. Provide your NPX link to every email you send out to a theatre professional.



19. Add your NPX address to your resume.



20. Mention NPX on your website if you have one.



21. Mention length and genre in synopsis of play.



22. I don’t recommend samples, only full-scripts.



23. If something awesome has come from NPX such as a reading or production, share the love on Facebook and Twitter. You can mention @NewPlayX in your Tweet.



24. Participate in reading challenges. Join Nelson Diaz-Marcano's NPX Challenge group on Facebook.



25. Start a reading challenge with NPX friends.



26. Add your NPX address to your business card.



27. R/R plays written by young playwrights -- playwrights under 20.



28. R/R plays written by LGBTQnb2s+ playwrights.



29. R/R plays written by playwrights of color.



30. R/R plays written by American indigenous/Native American playwrights. Remember you’re on stole, colonized land.



31. R/R plays written by playwrights with disability.



32. R/R plays written by playwrights that challenge the status quo, that play with structure, that have transgressive ideas, etc. R/R problematic plays, plays that are challenging in some way. Study these plays, learn from them.



33. R/R plays written by member playwrights that are sad. Make their day!



34. If a student of a MFA program for playwriting: recommend NPX to your playwriting teacher, encourage your classmates to join /subscribe to NPX, and R/R their plays.



35. If you have graduated from a playwriting program: recommend NPX to your former playwriting teacher, encourage that teacher to subscribe their students to NPX. R/R their plays.



36. Mention NPX to actors of all levels, especially those who complain that there are no good plays to read.



37. Mention NPX to actors looking for killer audition monologues for classroom exercises and actual auditions.



38. Mention NPX to directors looking for good plays to read and direct for a theatre’s season, a college program, for a fringe festival.



39. Mention NPX to artistic directors looking for good plays to read and add to their season.



40. If you are part of a selecting committee for a season, not just a playwright: consider choosing all your plays from NPX instead of through online or mail submissions.



41. Mention NPX to elementary, middle-school, high-school and college/graduate school teachers that specialize in TYA theatre.



42. If you’re also a dramaturg attending a dramaturg conference, mention NPX.



43. If you’re a playwright attending a national conference, mention NPX, bring up the website, share your page, your recommendations.



44. Give someone the gift of a NPX membership for their birthday.



45. Give someone the gift of a NPX membership for Christmas/December holiday gift.



46. Give someone the gift of a NPX membership for Valentine’s Day.



47. Encourage college teachers of dramatic literature, acting, and directing to add NPX as a resource to their syllabus. The teachers can search for plays on NPX and reach out to the playwright and ask them if students can use their work.



48. Send an email to a playwriting friend and mention how much you love NPX and encourage them to join.



49. If you work for a publisher or know someone that does, mention NPX.



50. If you work for a magazine (print or online) that publishes plays or know someone that does, mention NPX.



51. Mention NPX to playwrights living outside the United States.



52. If someone recommends your play(s), send them a thank-you message. You can find ‘Contact’ on their membership page.



53. PM/Email a playwriting friend a play that you finished reading and recommended. I do this quite often - and it usually results in the play receiving not just a read and recommendation by that playwright -- other several playwrights do so.



54. Spend an entire month reading a playwright’s work. And recommend what you like.



55. Fill up the NPX page with recommendations for plays written by a single playwright. Playwrights Franky Gonzalez and Matthew Weaver do this quite often.



56. If you learn that a friend’s play was a semi-finalist or a finalist and not a winner, read the play. If you like it, recommend it. And then celebrate the play on social media.



57. Add your recommendations or top 10 lists to a blog/page on your theatre website.



58. If you have an Amazon page for your published works, add your NPX address.



59. If a playwright you know has a play that was randomly chosen as the play of the day, let them know on social media. You can PM them, but why not tell the entire world!?



60. Wake up early, enjoy a big breakfast and a short play from NPX.



61. Before going to bed, read a short play from NPX.



62. Get a group of playwriting/theatre friends that are members on NPX to join you in a coffee shop. Read a ton of short NPX plays and recommend the ones you like.



63. Know someone who loves reading? Recommend that they get a reader’s membership on NPX.



64. Like NPX’s page on Facebook.



65. Follow NPX on Twitter.



66. If you’re attending a play reading and notice the play is on NPX, stand up, mention in the feedback session that the play is on “New Play Exchange” and tell everyone that you’re going to leave an awesome recommendation. Hopefully other NPX members in the audience will do the same. Those that are not members will ask you about NPX--let them know.



67. Encourage playwrights whose play is being staged read to mention in the introduction and/or playbill that the play is on NPX. If you’re the playwright, think about doing this.



68. Encourage a playwright whose play is being workshopped and produced as a workshop production to mention NPX in the playbill. If you’re the playwright, think about doing this.



69. If you know a translator, let them know about NPX.



70. Upload your monologues from your plays so actors can use them for audition pieces.



71. Upload a collection of your monologues from your plays and/or stand-alone monologues so actors can use them for audition pieces.



72. Include a few NPX recommendations of your play after the title page in a submission.



73. If allowed, include a few NPX recommendations of your play in the body of the email or any letter that you send as a submission.



74. Consider collaborating with playwrights in your city and doing a staged reading of NPX plays by local playwrights at your local library, bookstore, or theatre. You can choose plays based on themes. Invite professionals, especially those that are not members of NPX.



75. Make sure to include Character Information for all parts, includings ages, race/ethnicity, gender, and description.





Q:  If you could change one thing about theater, what would it be?



A:  One thing!?!



That more theatres were open to producing monologues and solos plays. So many opportunities state ‘no monologues’ or ‘no one-person shows please!’ and ‘Asher $%#! stop sending us your monologues!’ So given this I get produced a few times in a year. I think the monologue is probably the most underrated and disliked forms of theatre. Maybe it’s challenging for an actor? Maybe some theatres think a monologue is just storytelling, so kind of anti-theatrical?



What can we do to change this? Reach out to me!



Q:  Which theatre artists do you admire?



A:  Tony Kushner -- His work is unapologetically political, it’s difficult, large in scope. Even though I usually write one-acts, mostly monologues - his works remind me that a play is always political.



Suzan-Lori Parks - Her work reminds me that a degree of difficulty is a good thing for a play. And the language - it’s so performative! You got to read her plays with your whole body. I try to write, read, and revise my plays with my whole body. I play the space while revising a play. By space I mean by studio. My studio apartment.



Young Jean Lee - She reminds I should let myself write the weirdest, stupidest, worst play. And not to listen to that voice, that censor when starting the play.



The language of James Purdy, Harold Pinter, Tennessee Williams, Sheila Callaghan, Kushner and Parks have had a profound influence on me.



Lanford Wilson, who was a teacher of mine at the Edward Albee New Playwrights Workshop at the University of Houston, gave me some pointers.



Caryl Churchill. Every play is so different from the previous. She reminds me to try to do something new with each play in respects to language or structure.



I enjoy monologues by Donald Margulies, Dael Orlandersmith, Danny Hoch. I enjoy Nilaja Sun’s work.



I admire the work of my peers: Rachael Carnes, Matthew Weaver, Ricardo Soltero-Brown, Nelson Diaz-Marcano, and Emily Hageman, to name a few.



Tiffany Antone, a playwright who created Protest Plays Project - a project that asks playwrights to create plays focused on a variety of topics (voting, immigration) to foster dialog and inspire action and awareness in communities. You can find more about the project here: http://www.protestplays.org/



All my friends on New Play Exchange that are writingwritingwriting, submitting, and making connections with theatres.



Q:  What kind of theater excites you?



A:  Theater that I see --- I like theatre that doesn’t play it safe, theatre that is dangerous -- theatre that questions the status-quo, forces you to question your values/traditions/beliefs/ideologies/assumptions/ prejudices/biases -- theatre that f’s up your evening.



Theater that I make/want to make/dream about making --- Theatre artists, especially directors, that have answers to the following questions or attempt to answer through collaboration the following questions, along with the playwright. (I think some of these questions can be asked for a development process, not necessarily a workshop or full production. Some may argue that such collaborations below should not be part of the development and production process -- I disagree. I will keep this short because I could write an essay.)



How does a playwright collaborate with a director and prop designer?



How does a playwright collaborate with a director and lighting designer?



...media designer?



...fight choreographer?



...costume designer?



...make-up designer?



...the person in charge of making the video trailer?



...the person in charge of promotion?



What is the beginning, middle, and end to these collaborations?



Where does it happen in the schedule?



How can such intense collaborations influence new play development and production in college/graduate school theatre and beyond?



Q:  What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out?




A:  See the the list above re: NPX.



Q:  Plugs, please:



A:  My work is available here: https://newplayexchange.org/users/3039/asher-wyndham



And excerpts here: www.robotwriter.co



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Stockholm Syndrome

Some Pull Quotes! Closes Feb 9.


"an outrageous farce of violence and lasciviousness"! --The New Orleans Advocate















“Stockholm Syndrome is a hilarious and captivating show, in the best way possible.” --Gambit Weekly









"In all its absurdity, the troupe has come up with an entirely new genre of theater - the interactive terrorist musical comedy. ...you'll get a hearty kick out of "Stockholm Syndrome." --Nola.com, The Times-Picayune









"But for all the talk about immersion, maybe the most important piece for an audience member to feel immersed in is thematic. And that’s what I enjoyed most about the show.



At the heart of Stockholm Syndrome is a group of characters who look at their lives at some point in the show and realize they’re not totally happy with how things are going. Worse yet, they don’t even understand how their lives got to this level of disappointment.



A server who sings about the dissatisfaction of every day being exactly the same as the last. A diner who doesn’t have her needs fulfilled by her husband. A manager whose dedication and loyalty frequently lead to letdowns and heartbreak. A woman who wants a man with more ambition. And a man who just wants a woman to go home and hold hands with.



This story is full of realizations of life-gone-astray, and that’s a realization most of us can relate to at at least one point or another." --Very Local











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