Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Play - an essay for HowlRound

In December 2020, the folks at HowlRound Theater Commons published an essay I wrote called "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Play."  Inspired, of course, by the wonderful poem by Wallace Stevens, "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird,"  I endeavored to look both poetically and craftily at the various angles a playwright might use to engage with a work in progress.  

Read it here:    https://howlround.com/thirteen-ways-looking-play

August 10th and 11th - So You Want to Write an Opera?

I'm looking forward to taking part in the Dramatist Guild's upcoming webinar!  Please join us if you're working in opera as a librettist or composer, or would like to!

August Craft Webinars: So You Want to Write an Opera

Librettist/Playwrights Roundtable on AUGUST 10 - Noon Pacific/3pm Eastern Time

Playwrights, librettists, and lyricists from both theatre and opera will discuss the differences in writing for each medium, and how to make the crossover, with personal anecdotes and examples drawn from their experience. This webinar is open to questions from the public.  Moderated by Deborah Brevoort.  Featuring:  Mark Campbell, E. M. Lewis, Sandra Seaton, and David Henry Hwang.

Composers Roundtable on AUGUST 11 - Noon Pacific/3pm Eastern Time

Composers experienced in both opera and theatre writing will discuss the pivotal role of the composer in originating and creating new operatic works for both the traditional operatic stage and new experimental venues, how opera composers find librettists and what they look for in an opera libretto, and what composers believe librettists to know, or learn, in order to serve the specialized needs of an operatic score.  Featuring: Kamala Sankaram and Stephen Schwartz.

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The conversations from the webinars will be published in The Dramatist Guild’s magazine, The Dramatist, in the November/December 2021 “Opera Issue”-- the first time the Guild has devoted a complete issue to this topic!

Click here to sign up for the webinars!