I’m a member of the writing forum Absolute Write. It’s a fantastic site that deals with a lot of different genres and styles of writing, gives advice on publishing, has some fantastic threads where you can share your work and get feedback. All in all, it’s a site I recommend.

In the playwriting part of the site, …

This morning I woke up to the sun shining through my window, my cat, Puck, sitting at the foot of my bed, giving me the most puckish smile you can imagine and my phone buzzing. I sleep with my phone near me. It serves as my alarm clock and is a lot easier to ignore when I don't want to get up. It cuckoos instead of BUZZESSSS if you get my drift.

I open up my phone and scroll down through the notifications I got in the night. Weather updates, a paycheck deposited in my banking account,…

I like weird things.

I also like traditional things. But if something is traditional, or common place, or well known, I really like it much more when there's something quirky, unexpected, surprising, twisted, or re-imagined about it. I like looking at "not-weird" things from weird angles. I like it when other people help me to do that.

I like things that move me. Things that hold my attention. Things that reaches a finger into my…

While cavorting around various Playwright websites and Twitter accounts, I noticed a particular trend among some writers and that is to attach a location to their vocation such as: New York City Playwright! OK. And? So?

Yes I know, living in NYC affords you certain opportunities as a playwright such as...umm.. Ok yea, access to a plethora of independent theatre works, artists and other trendy inspirational fuel that setting up camp in Des Moines would not afford you.

All right, I…

The Tonys are all about celebrating Broadway's best -- at least in theory. By the time the award show is over, the flops are at best a vague memory; at worse a cruel running joke.

But for any of us who have mounted an original production to see it be stillborn as a critical and commercial failure (put me in that group), here's a tale about a musical called "High Fidelity."

The Friday night before the Tonys my wife and I went to see a remarkable, fun production of this musical…

As of today, I'm officially a published author! For I Am Zeus: A Collection of Plays About Greek Mythology is now available for purchase...please let me know if you buy it!

https://www.createspace.com/3836243

In a couple of days, I'm getting on a plane in DC *very* early in the morning in order to make a 12:30 curtain in Louisville. Yes, I'm returning to the Humana Festival of New American Plays, and frankly, I can't wait.

As you might recall, I went there last year to blog about the festival for TheatreFace. (Blog entries for my three days there are here,…

I have something I really need to apologize for: I've never done a good enough job of thanking the people who've brought my stories to life.

I have, on occasion, written small, personal notes of thanks to cast and director and crew, but it never felt sufficient. I have baked things and brought them to rehearsals, I have bought rounds of drinks, I have sought out each collaborator and offered a few private words of gratitude... but none of it feels like it's enough.

I'm not sure…

This week, I am very pleased to be able to announce that another voice is going to be joining the TheatreFace blogging team: my fellow playwright Marisela Treviño Orta. Her first post should appear next week; we're going to alternate weeks for the foreseeable future. (Lest any of you worry, this change is happening at my request; I need more time to focus on a long list of other projects I've been working on.) I cannot wait to see what…

As the drumbeat continues to sound around the country -- it may not be loud yet, but I can hear it, and I know others can, too -- for theaters to begin working more increasingly with local artists, especially playwrights, I have occasionally heard a few people ask what I thought was a legitimate question: you don't hear other kinds of artists complaining that arts institutions don't work with local artists? Why should playwrights be treated differently?

My gut response was to dismiss…

When I was young, there was a television series hosted first by Rod Serling, then by Leonard Nimoy, called “In Search Of…” Every episode was dedicated to the investigation of a mystery: aliens, Bigfoot, Amelia Earhart, Jack the Ripper… you get the picture. I loved that show, but in retrospect, most of the subjects they profiled seem to have been more flim-flam than fact. They never went in search of things that were easy to find, and a lot of what they set their sights on was just plain…

I think I may be getting old.

When I was a younger playwright, I had more patience for the multitudinous, bureaucratic, nonsensical tasks associated with submitting my work for various contests and grants and residencies. You want a 15-page sample instead of a 10-page sample? Sure thing. You want one copy without my name on it, then a separate title page WITH my name on it? I can make that happen. You want me to print my play on vellum using an ink jet cartridge filled with unicorn…

In my entire theatrical career, I've auditioned for two productions.

The first was a complete lark. I was a poet at the time, and I was looking for something fun to do, and I thought: why not audition for Macbeth? It was a dreadful experience, but somehow I managed to get myself cast as Lennox. (The production was dreadful, too, though I did make a few lasting friendships out of it.) To this day, I have no idea why I was cast: perhaps the director thought as a poet, I would…

My very first post on this blog questioned the value of MFA programs for playwrights, at least indirectly. Some of the commentary on that post, both here and on Twitter, left me wondering what an ideal playwright education might look like. To be honest, I’m fairly certain there isn’t one clear path all young playwrights should follow… but I do have some general ideas that I think are worth…

An artistic director friend recently asked me for advice about what sort of stance he should take with regard to playwrights submitting their work. I wrote him a long response, then realized I could boil my advice down to a few key rules -- the four "S's" for submissions -- that every single theater in the country should follow... at least if they want to be responsible and thoughtful about their new play development efforts.

1) State your intentions clearly and publicly. If you don't…

About a month and a half ago, I was part of a long discussion on Twitter about whether MFA programs were any good for playwrights. My strong opinion then, as it is now, is that I wish they would just go away. As we all know from Outrageous Fortune -- or if you don't, where have you been? -- there are now a small number of MFA programs that are producing, one way or another, many…