A reading of Song of Extinction close to home!

Save the date, Oregon friends!  At 2pm on Sunday, June 14th, there will be a reading of my play "Song of Extinction," produced by Theater 33 at my old alma mater, Willamette University.  My theater professor, Christopher Harris, whose class I LOVED, is directing.  I'm so pleased that this is happening!  (And to be in the same reading series as my friends and colleagues Aleks Merilo and Andrea Stolowitz is a special bonus.)

"Song of Extinction" is a play about a musically gifted boy who is falling off the edge of the world, and his biology teacher, who reaches out to try to help him.

It won the ATCA/Steinberg Award from the American Theater Critics Association, the Ted Schmidt Award from the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, the EcoDrama Festival at University of Oregon, the Ashland New Plays Festival, and was production of the year at the LA Weekly Awards.  The play is published by Samuel French.

I'd love to see you there!  Join us!  More details on the Theater 33 website.

"Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday" premieres at HotCity!

I spent a wonderful weekend out in St. Louis, helping my director Bill Whitaker, my fantastic cast, and all the nice folks at HotCity Theater celebrate opening weekend of the world premiere of my play "Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday."

"Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday" is about a young woman named Lynn who decides to leave her whole life behind, to become a commercial fisher in Alaska -- and about her family, who decides that they'll do absolutely anything to keep her from leaving.  It was a finalist for HotCity's Greenhouse Festival last year, and the company selected it for full production.

The Hallaby family -- Margie and Lynn and Kelly and Hudson.

Lynn and Margie.

Lynn and Kelly.

Hair brush and duct tape.

"I hate Alaska."

"Don't leave."

"You want to fish?  We'll fish!"

Ray and Lynn.

The play is just receiving its debut... but it was actually the first real play I ever wrote.  Before "Infinite Black Suitcase," and "Heads," and "Song of Extinction."  Like those plays, it's personal.  (Is it possible to write a full-length play without including a slice or two of your soul?)  Watching it play out on the stage was like stepping back into a turning point in my own life.  It's not a true story or anything.  But... I might have entertained notions of flight at one point myself.  And Alaska is a beautiful place for people who are running away from everything to imagine themselves going.

"Going.  I'm going.  I love you.  But I'm going."

In the end, my character went one way; I went another.  I stayed; she goes.  It's hard to watch the play without wondering if everything might not have turned out differently if...

But I don't get to step back in time and change things.  Just peek in the window, remember, laugh a little, cry a little, and appreciate the talented people -- actors, designers, director, producers, stage manager -- who have worked so hard to bring this play to life.

The whole family.  Lynn and Ray, Gary and Kelly, Hudson and Margie.

Endings and beginnings.

Upcoming Theater Travel!

This year is turning into one of unexpected opportunities for travel.  What a way to bring my time as a Hodder Fellow to a close!

Summer 2011:

Paris, France -- Tourism, housesitting and play research are all part of my first trip abroad.  And what a trip!  Three weeks at the "moveable feast!"  Stay tuned here for reports and pictures from the City of Light.

Oregon -- There's no place like home.

Fall 2011:

Oregon, redux -- I'll be the host playwright again this year at the Ashland New Plays Festival!  This is a fantastic event, held in the city that hosts the inimitable Oregon Shakespeare Festival, but a celebration of new work all its own.

Independence, Kansas -- I'm delighted to be joining playwright Ken Urban as the two playwrights-in-residence at the William Inge Center for the Arts.  We'll both be workshopping new plays.  I'll be working on my Antarctic adventure story in progress, "Magellanica: A New and Accurate Map of the World."

Soapstone - 1 JAN 2010 - Writing in the New Year

Happy new year, everyone!

For the next two weeks, I'll be blogging at you (occasionally, anyway) from Soapstone -- a beautiful and solitary place on the Oregon coast for women writers to have a chance to focus on their projects in progress. I have several plays underway (as usual), and am glad to welcome in the new year with time to devote to my writing.

Soapstone provides women writers with a stretch of uninterrupted time for their work and the opportunity to live in semi-solitude close to the natural world.

In addition to that rare but essential commodity for a writer—a quiet space away from jobs, children, and other responsibilities—Soapstone provides something less tangible but also invaluable: the validation and encouragement necessary to embark upon or sustain a long or difficult writing project.

Located in Oregon’s Coast Range, nine miles from the ocean, the retreat stands on twenty-two acres of densely forested land along the banks of Soapstone Creek and is home to much wildlife. The writers in residence enjoy a unique opportunity to learn about the natural world and join us in conscious stewardship of the land.

Soapstone is set up for two writers at a time, each with her own writing studio. From an applicant pool of 400 to 500, approximately thirty-five writers each year are awarded residencies of one to four weeks.

May 2010 bring you joy and productions! See you in a few weeks.

~Ellen

A Rockin' Good Time at the EcoDrama Festival!

I've just returned from Eugene, Oregon, where I was attending the "Earth Matters on Stage" EcoDrama Festival. What a wonderful trip! Here are a few pictures.






The poster.











The wonderful Farmer's Market in Eugene -- I listened to music, walked around all the booths, had lunch, saw a woman with a tame skunk, and bought fresh-picked straw- berries to carry with me on my bike ride.


Canadian geese (and goslings).


The Willamette River. I rented a bike and rode on Saturday and Sunday. The path takes you down one side of the river and back the other.








Una Chaudhari (NYU teacher and scholar), C. Denby Swanson (playwright: Atomic Farmgirl) and John Schmor (U of O Theater Department Head).

Una Chaudhari with Rachel Rosenthal, who talked about (and showed clips from) her theatrical activism.


University of Oregon's motto, written on their front gate: Mens agitat molem. The mind moves the masses.






Me in the hot seat, with playwright Jose Cruz Gonzalez moderating, at the talk-back after the first performance of "Song of Extinction" at the EcoDrama Festival.

Song of Extinction in the EcoDrama Festival in May

I'm delighted to announce that Song of Extinction will be having a workshop production in May as part of an amazing event -- the Earth Matters on Stage (EMOS) Festival at the University of Oregon! Over the course of ten days, U of O will be investigating all the ways that theater and the environment intersect. I'll be there the first weekend and hope to see you there! (PS: Ian Garrett, who did the wonderful lighting design for Song of Extinction's world premiere in Los Angeles, will be at EMOS too, presenting workshops on Sustainable Design in Theater. Check it out!)

Earth Matters On Stage

www.uoregon.edu/~ecodrama

University of Oregon, Eugene

The mission of Earth Matters on Stage is to nurture connection and collaboration among artists and scholars who share an ecological sensibility. The Ecodrama Playwright's Festival calls for innovative dramatic work that explores our ecological condition; then to showcase the best work through collaborative workshops and production. The concurrent Symposium asks us to think more deeply about how theatre and performance might participate in a sustainable society.

Join us May 21 ~ 31, 2009 for ten days of performances, workshops, readings, and round-table discussions dedicated to nurturing theatrical work that rises out of our connection to the environments we share and love. Presented by the Department of Theatre Arts of the University of Oregon.

“Ecological victory will require a transvaluation so profound as to be nearly unimaginable at present. And in this the arts and humanities – including the theater – must play a role.” ~Una Chaudhuri