2015 In Review

Oh, what a year it has been...

THEATER

Now Comes the Night  (1 production - world premiere!)

Playwright EM Lewis and Director Alex Levy: Now Comes the Night 

world premiere at 1st Stage in Tysons, VA. 

For years, I've been thinking about continuing the journeys of some of the characters in my play Heads. This year, I finally had the chance when the new artistic director at 1st Stage in Tysons, Virginia, Alex Levy contacted me about premiering a play at his theater for the Womens Voices Theater Festival.

Samantha Macher with DC Metro Theater Arts said in her review, "Visceral, haunting, and beautifully executed, Now Comes the Night at 1st Stage is an excruciating and suspenseful look at lives of three journalists whose lives were ripped apart while covering the Iraq War. This world premiere play penned by Primus Prize winner EM Lewis, as a sequel to her award-winning work “Heads,”stands alone as an explosive examination of an endless and seemingly “bloodless” war and the role of the media in its portrayal. The show is a part of the incredible efforts of the Women’s Voices Theater Festival which seeks to highlight the scope of new plays being written by women, and the range of professional theater being produced in the nation’s capital."

She continues, "...at its heart, this is a play about the power of friendship. In every scene, the expressions of these character’s affections for one another is palpable. Each tries to get the other to overcome their demons, speak their truths, and finally feel safe after being in unspeakable peril. Through the piece, the characters are forced to grow, to change, and to be honest about the choices and shortcomings that brought them to the place they were today-- in the aftermath of a truly explosive television interview. 1st Stage Theater, and Director Alex Levy, maintained Lewis’ masterful levels of suspense through a winning combination of deft design and stunning performances.

Now Comes the Night - world premiere at 1st Stage in Tysons, VA: 
Jaysen Wright, Dylan Morrison Myers, Alex Levy, Sun King Davis, and EM Lewis. 

Big thanks to Alex, who was a joy to work with as I wrestled with this story, and who directed the heck out of it. Thanks also to our fabulous cast -- Dylan Morrison Myers, Jaysen Wright, and Sun King Davis -- and our designers and crew, and the producers of the Womens Voices Theater Festival! (Also, major thanks to Deborah Kahn and Harris Miller for hosting me while I was working on the play!) I'm looking forward to completing my Iraq War trilogy in the next year or two.

The Gun Show   (3 productions)

The year started with Moving Arts' production of  The Gun Show in Los Angeles extending its fall production (directed by Darin Anthony; starring Chuma Gault) into the new year.  Deborah Klugman, with the LA Weekly, said "The drama’s life-changing moments evoke a here-and-now immediacy, not easily forgotten." They took that production to Glendale College for a special performance -- thank you to producer Cece Tio, and Glendale College host Jeanette Farr-Harkins! Chuma was nominated for an Ovation Award for Best Solo Performer.

 Trent Blanton stars in The Gun Show by EM Lewis
at Passage Theater in Trenton, NJ.

I spent several weeks of January and February in Trenton, with the Passage Theater production of The Gun Show.  Bob Brown, from the Princeton Packet, had this to say: "At a time when many on the far left and far right claim to have the answers, Ms. Lewis’ play raises essential questions. Her play is a unique and gripping experience, masterfully directed by Damon Bonetti and thrillingly performed by Trent Blanton. See it and have your head turned around. Then tell your own gun story." Thank you to artistic director June Ballinger for bringing the play to her theater, and for putting me up for most of the time I was in New Jersey!  (Thanks to Ian August and Matt Campbell, who put me up for the rest of the time I was in New Jersey.  I think I still have a pair of your socks from when I forgot most of my clothes in June's dryer...)  The production was nominated for the Virginia Brown Martin Philadelphia Award, which acknowledges a production that demonstrates the ability of theatre to illuminate the ways we live and interact with others as we seek to build community.

Josh Campbell included an excerpt from The Gun Show in a Protect MN Benefit in Minneapolis.   Cherry & Spoon reviewed the event:  "EM Lewis is one of those people who is in the middle - she grew up with guns in rural Oregon... but recognizes that there needs to be some changes in the way we think about, legislate, and handle guns.  The play is funny, honest, and thought-provoking."

Peter Townley in The Gun Show 

by EM Lewis at Impact Theater in Berkeley, CA.

Artistic Director Melissa Hillman helmed the fall production of The Gun Show at Impact Theater in Berkeley.  Sam Hurwitt, with the Mercury News, said, "Peter Townley gives a gripping performance as the voice of the author, beautifully capturing the gravity and humor, the sweetness and horror of the story...  Less than an hour long, it's a show that can't help but push some buttons and get people talking about things they disagree with or aspects they hadn't considered. That's the power of a narrative so emotionally intense and so personal: It helps put you in the shoes of people you might not have thought you'd identify with at all."

The year is ending with another production of The Gun Show (the show's fifth in less than two years), in the Tucson Solo Theater Festival, which my friend and colleague Monica Bauer is producing.  Maria Franco Caprile directs, and Clark Andreas Ray performs.

I'm in discussions regarding three more potential productions of The Gun Show across the country -- so stay tuned for the continuing adventures of this very small and very personal piece of my heart.

Heads   (2 productions)

Heads had two productions this year.  Both in New York City!  In January, Lewis Gould directed a beautiful production at Theater for the New City.  It featured my friend Robert Jordan, Carol Jacobanis, Gabriel Gutierrez, and Seamus Maynard. 

Heads at the Beckett Theater on Theater Row in New York City 2015.
Playwright EM Lewis and director Laura Savia!

In September, just as I was gearing up for the world premiere of Now Comes the Night in DC, I was able to see the second production -- produced by Sacred Heart University at the Beckett Theater on Theater Row. Broadway producer Jerry Goehring, the creator and Artistic Director of the Theatre Arts Program at SHU, selected my play. My friend Laura Savia directed, and our actors were David Dotterer, Kim Martin-Cotton, Jose Leon, and Michael Turner. The production allowed students at Sacred Heart University majoring in Theatre Arts to take part in all creative and technical areas, and to work with a professional director on staging the show in an Off-Broadway venue. Students took on all production positions including design, stage management, assistant direction, running crew, house crew, graphics, marketing, and social media.

True Story (1 production) 

Kevin Christopher Fox directed a production of my play True Story at the Theater School at DePaul University this fall.  I so wish I could have seen it!  I love this noir-ish, twisty little thriller.  This was the play's second production. 

Infinite Black Suitcase  (4 productions)

Infinite Black Suitcase was one of my very first full-length plays.  With a cast of fifteen (!!!), you would think that NOBODY would ever do it!  But after its initial productions at Moving Arts and TheSpyAnts in Los Angeles, it was published by Samuel French and has been finding a happy home at colleges and high schools across the country ever since.  It's kind of a rural Oregon Our Town, in a way -- about several families dealing with love and loss over the course of a single day.

The cast and crew of Infinite Black Suitcase
at Glendale College with playwright EM Lewis in 2015.

I was delighted when my friend and colleague Jeanette Farr-Harkins brought me to Glendale College for their production of the play.  It was a joy to meet director Ed Douglas and his cast and crew.  I had the most wonderful conversation with the students and audience after the show. 

The play also had productions this year at St. Louis Park High School in Minnesota, Marcus High School in Texas, and Lone Star College in Texas. 

Song of Extinction   (1 production)

Song of Extinction had a production at Totah Theater in Farmington, New Mexico this year.  I wasn't able to see it, but read a delightful article in the local newspaper about how the producers found the actor who portrayed my character Khim Phan.  I am so glad that this play is continuing to find good homes!

Song of Extinction also had a reading with Theatre 33 at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon.  Willamette is where I earned my Bachelors Degree, and my old theater professor Christopher Harris directed my reading.  What a joy!  Coming home again. 

Magellanica

Finishing Magellanica!

In February, I finished a draft of my epic Antarctica play Magellanica.  After six years of research and writing!  A big thank you to everyone and every theater company who has supported my work on this grand adventure of a play.  I worked on it during my Hodder Fellowship at Princeton University, and my Inge Residency in Kansas.  I've had readings of various pieces of it at Moving Arts in Los Angeles, Playwrights Theater of New Jersey, Project Y and the Lark in New York City.  But it is Chicago director Kevin Christopher Fox who I have to thank for helping me get to the finish line.  He fell in love with the play when he read it, came down to Kansas to help me work on part 3, directed a workshop of parts 1-4 at TimeLine in December of last year, and then organized a writing retreat for him and I in February, where we holed up in blizzard conditions, drank a good bit of bourbon, and I brought these eight beloved characters of mine home at last.  (Thank you to Diane Ruzevich for the retreat house!) 

In theater, the end is just the beginning; now, the real work begins as I try to find a good home for this behemoth of mine.  But it feels quite wonderful to have birthed it, and to now enjoy the process of encouraging it up into its final form on a stage somewhere.  One bit of surprising support for the play has come already!  It received Honorable Mention on this year's Kilroy List, of the plays by women that theater folk most want to see produced.

Earth Duet in the Climate Change Theater Action

Earth Duet by EM Lewis - a short film produced by Pomona College
for the 2015 Climate Change Theater Action.

I wrote a short play called Earth Duet for a global event called the Climate Change Theater Action -- a series of worldwide readings and performances intended to bring awareness to, and foster discussion around, climate change in November and December 2015. This action was in support of the United Nations 2015 Paris Climate Conference (COP21) taking place November 30-December 11, 2015. A collection of more than forty plays, songs and poems by writers from all six livable continents, curated by Caridad Svich, Chantal Bilodeau and Elaine Avila, were made available to collaborators worldwide. More than 70 groups hosted events, ranging from informal readings in classrooms to day-long festivals, from radio programs and film adaptations to site-specific performances at the foot of glaciers. Earth Duet was performed in more than a dozen venues around the world, including:

Australia 
COPout Event at Arts House in Melbourne

Costa Rica

Nature Acts! by Little Theater Group

Denmark

Celebration of the Solstice by Teater Viva in Hjortshøj

India

Vihaan International Festival of the Arts in Bhopal

New Zealand

Massey University

United States of America

• University of Connecticut in Connecticut
• Faith and Climate Change Roundtable at Stony Brook University in New York
• Notes from This Fragile Blue Place We Call Home by The Peoplehood in Los Angeles, California
• Arizona State University in Arizona
• Green Shorts: Films (Re) Imagining our Troubled World at Pomona College in California
• BigFoot Theater Company in Albaquerque, New Mexico
• DramaDogs in Santa Barbara, California
• Western Washington University in Washington
• Carnegie Mellon School of Drama in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia
• Santa Cruz Climate Change Theater Action at Mountain Community Theater
• Natural Acts in Lexington, Kentucky

OPERA

Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Fallen Giant  (opera libretto)

Composer Evan Meier, librettist EM Lewis, and mentor Mark Campbell, workshopping Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Fallen Giant with American Lyric Theater.

Two years ago, I was accepted into American Lyric Theater's Composer Librettist Development Program.  This rigorous year-long course, taught by working professionals, helps composers and librettists learn how to work together to create a new opera.  Artistic Director Larry Edelson has created an amazing program, and I will be forever grateful to him for letting me into it, and then allowing me to continue in the program for a second year.  He has been supporting and encouraging my composer partner, Evan Meier, and I as we develop our first full-length opera.  In the spring, we had a residency in New York, where we developed our idea for a family-friendly piece that would mash up the mystery and fairy tale worlds alongside our colleagues in the program.  During the summer, I wrote an 88-page libretto entitled Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Fallen Giant!  In the fall, Evan and I had another residency, where we workshopped the libretto with a great group of singers and two of our mentor/teachers -- Mark Campbell and Cori Ellison.  We're hoping to be ready for a piano-vocal workshop in the fall.

The Crossing   (opera libretto)

I met composer Clarice Assad in American Lyric Theater's Composer Librettist Development Program.  Over the summer, she and I worked on an opera piece inspired by real historical events for Arizona Opera Company's "Arizona Bold!" program.  We were semi-finalists with The Crossing, which dramatized the building of the Roosevelt Dam through letters between a local developer and President Theodore Roosevelt.

ASSORTED OTHER COOL STUFF

Acquired an agent!  --  So glad to be represented by Samara Harris Anderson at Robert A. Freedman Dramatic Agency!

Ashland New Plays Festival 2015 - JP, EM, and Artistic Director Kyle Haden.

Worked as host playwright for the Ashland New Plays Festival  --  Our inspiring new artistic director, Kyle Haden, led this year's ANPF.  It was my sixth year as host playwright!  We had a fantastic bunch of plays by Meridith Friedman, Beth Kander, Skye Robinson Hillis, and Brian Mulholland.

ANPF 2015 - winning playwrights!

Responded to plays in the KCACTF Region 7 Festival and taught a workshop -- This was my second time responding to plays for one of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival's regional events.  This one was held in Ellensburg, Washington.  I gave young playwrights feedback on their full-length, one-act, and ten-minute plays, and taught a workshop on "Writing History" to a room full of eager young writers.  Great fun!

Guest taught a playwriting class at University of Oregon

Publications

Innovation in Five Acts.

An essay I wrote about life, The Gun Show, and everything was included in an anthology called "Innovation in Five Acts."  Edited by Caridad Svich, and published by Theater Communications Group.  "In this edited collection, more than forty practitioners and scholars voice their whimsical, fiery, deeply impassioned, political, funny, sometimes elegiac and stinging words prompted by a call to write about 'artistic innovation.'  With intelligence, thoughtfulness, rigor and wit, author after author offer their considered take on the subject, unlocking new perspectives, unearthing old ones, and in general, doing what artists do best when they are walking on ground they trust and among colleagues who are not sitting before them in continual and sometimes stultifying judgment--and that is, open our eyes, hearts and minds again."

Articles and interviews!

Desa Philadelphia wrote a profile of me for the USC News Magazine.  Thanks, Desa!

Donna Hoke interviewed me for her "PLONY" series -- all about playwrights living outside New York.  Thanks, Donna!

Playwright EM Lewis driving tractor and picking grapes on the farm in Oregon.

What else?

Got reading glasses.  Started writing a new play.  Saw Hamilton at the Public before it transferred!  Started adapting one of my plays into a screenplay for an independent film production.  Had a fling/felt ridiculously heartbroken when it ended.  Picked myself up again.  Picked grapes.  Visited friends.  Planted and tended and cooked from a fantastic garden.  Spent time with my family here on the farm.  A little bit, anyway. 

It's been a roller coaster of a year.  I've worked harder than ever.  I wrote a ton.  I had a dozen productions of my full-length plays, including a world premiere.  I wrote my first opera libretto.  I taught a bit.  I travelled almost constantly, and slept in a bunch of people's guest rooms as I made theater across the country. 

I am lucky, people.  Who gets to do this???  It's a wonderful life, indeed.

A Busy Fall!

Hey, friends!  Hope you'll check out some of my fall events.

THE GUN SHOW - directed by Melissa Hillman​, now playing at Impact Theatre​ in Berkeley, CA.  Tickets here: www.impacttheatre.com

HEADS - directed by Laura Savia​, now playing at the Beckett Theatre​ on 42nd Street in New York City.  (Use discount code "TRCREATIVE" for $15 tickets here:  https://www.telechargeoffers.com/Off-Broadway/Heads/Overview )

NOW COMES THE NIGHT - directed by Alex Levy​, opening this weekend at 1st Stage​ in Tysons, VA as part of the Women's Voices Theater Festival​.  Tickets here:  www.1ststagetysons.org

SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE CASE OF THE FALLEN GIANT - American Lyric Theater​ Living Libretto event featuring this new opera in progress that I'm working on with composer Evan Meier will be at the National Opera Center on September 28th in New York City.  http://altnyc.org/new-operas-for-new-audiences/sherlock-holmes-and-the-case-of-the-fallen-giant/

TRUE STORY - directed by Kevin Christopher Fox​, at The Theatre School at DePaul University in Chicago, coming up in October.

ASHLAND NEW PLAYS FESTIVAL - I'll be acting as host playwright for the sixth year in a row at my beloved ANPF in Ashland, Oregon in October.  http://www.ashlandnewplays.org

Go see a play!  (Or an opera!)

World Premiere of my New Play in DC!

Now Comes the Night by E. M. Lewis
will have its world premiere at 1st Stage this fall
as part of the Women's Voices Theatre Festival in DC.

I am delighted to announce that my new play "Now Comes the Night" will have its world premiere at 1st Stage this fall, as part of the Women's Voices Theatre Festival in Washington, DC.  I'm in DC now, working with my director/artistic director Alex Levy on the script and casting.

What's the play about?  American journalist Michael Après has been released after being held hostage for eighteen months in Iraq.  But Michael’s colleague has begun to suspect that he isn’t free yet. Secrets, lies, and betrayals haunt both men, as an explosive television interview puts their friendship to the test

(If you think this world sounds familiar... yes, this is a free-standing sequel to my Primus Prize winning play "Heads.")

For more about the festival, here's an article from Broadway World announcing that First Lady Michelle Obama has just signed on as honorary chair. Glad to be part of this giant city-wide celebration and performance of new work! Check out this line up of plays: http://www.womensvoicestheaterfestival.org

Great Review for NYC Production of "Heads!"

Great review of the February 2015 production of "Heads" at Theater for a New City in New York City!  So glad I was able to see the production when I was on the east coast.

"...this provocative and suspenseful play also offers audiences the opportunity to experience this issue through the eyes of an exceptional playwright."

"The cast of this production delivered their roles with emotional clarity and skill. Robert Jordan delivered a fine and moving performance as Harold, the American engineer. Carol Jacobanis did an excellent job as the British embassy worker whose life has been torn apart and who now has to live with the threat of torture or violence at any moment. Seamus Maynard’s portrayal of Michael, a network TV journalist, is also exceptional. Gabriel Gutierrez delivered the most powerful performance from this finely tuned ensemble as the freelance photographer. Director Lewis H. Gould also did a wonderful job bringing forth nuanced performances from his cast and avoiding melodramatic interpretations."

"Playwright E.M. Lewis has written a play that avoids portraying the political and the sensational aspects of a hostage crisis. “Heads” reveals the human and intimate emotional details of what may occur behind the closed doors of a terrorist prison. “Heads” is a play that deserves to be seen by larger audiences."

Click here to read the review in full.

2015 Starts Off with a Bang!

The new year is busy, busy, busy already!  It's so nice to be working. I have three shows up in January, and one in February, and I hope that you'll check them out if you are in the vicinity!  

The Gun Show/Los Angeles by EM Lewis extends its production run
into January at Moving Arts!

The Gun Show/Los Angeles: extended!  Jan. 17-24 at Moving Arts

The Moving Arts production of The Gun Show has extended, so you have three more chances to see it!  Directed by Darin Anthony. Featuring Chuma Gault.  Produced by Cece Tio. Congratulations to the Los Angeles team! movingarts.org

The Gun Show/Trenton by EM Lewis runs
from January 24-February 8 at Passage Theater.

The Gun Show/Trenton: Jan. 24 - Feb. 8 at Passage Theatre

I'm getting ready to spend a month on the east coast, where the Passage Theatre at the Mill Hill Playhouse production of The Gun Show in Trenton is going to be taking the stage. Directed by Damon Bonetti. Featuring Trent Blanton. Damon directed the world premiere of my play True Story at Passage in 2012, and I'm delighted to be working with him again, and with everyone at the playhouse! passagetheatre.org

Infinite Black Suitcase by EM Lewis will be playing at St. Louis Park High School
in Minnesota from January 16-18.

Infinite Black Suitcase/St. Louis Park High School:  Jan. 16-18

If you're in Minnesota, you can check out the St. Louis Park High School production of Infinite Black Suitcase. This is a high school production. Support kids making theater!

https://www.facebook.com/slphstheatre

Heads by EM Lewis will be playing at Theater for the New City
in NYC from February 2-14.

Heads/Theater for a New City in NYC:  Feb. 2 - 14

My play Heads -- a hostage drama set during the early years of the Iraq War, winner of the Primus Prize from the American Theater Critics Association -- is going up in New York City.  Tickets will be available soon, so stay tuned for more information!  

http://www.theaterforthenewcity.net

*******************

I'm packing my parka for NJ/NY -- and hope to see some of you when I'm out there, which will be from January 14 through February 9 or 10.  I'll be down in Trenton for the most part, with my production of The Gun Show, but will definitely try to take the train into New York City for a few days as well, and maybe down to Philly and DC for a couple days, too.  After New Jersey, I'm going to be in Chicago (or thereabouts) for a little writing retreat for a week or so.  And then I go to Ellensburg, Washington for a few days, to be a playwriting respondent for the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, Region 7, and teach a playwriting workshop entitled "Writing Our Own History."  Back home to Oregon again after all that, I think!  Until the next thing comes along...

Happy new year, everybody!

2014 In Review - It was a very good year!

What a wonderful year it has been!  

I wasn't sure what impact moving back to the farm in Oregon would have on my playwriting career.  But 2014 was full of new creative partnerships, lots and lots of writing, and a nice batch of productions.

It's been a year of transition in more ways than just location.  I premiered the smallest and most personal play I've ever written ("The Gun Show"), made huge strides in my biggest play (the Antarctic epic, "Magellanica"), and wrote my first opera ("The Resurrection Engine," with composer Evan Meier).  

I feel like something is unlocking inside me right now, in some deep and fundamental way.  Writing "The Gun Show" (and being part of its production)... is letting me step out of a room I locked myself in quite a while ago.  It has been very hard.  There may have been an unseemly amount of crying involved in the eking out of those pages.  But I feel lighter now.  Like I've set down something very heavy.  And like I've stepped out of the darkness.  

Perhaps this is part of what allowed me to move forward on "Magellanica" -- an epic ecological drama, set at a research station in Antarctica in 1985 -- which I've been researching and working on for quite a while now.  I went from having part one and a little bit of part two at the beginning of this year, to having four of the projected five parts of the play drafted.  A nine-week residency and workshop at the William Inge Center for the Arts in the spring was a great help with that, as was an amazing workshop at TimeLine Theater in December.  But the biggest boon to this project has been my collaboration with Chicago director Kevin Christopher Fox.  It is wonderful to find a director who can work alongside you as a dramaturg as well as be successful in bringing productions of your plays to the stage.

My other new creative venture has brought with it another exciting creative collaboration.  I have been studying to be an opera librettist with American Lyric Theater's Composer Librettist Development Program for the last year and a half, and have found that I absolutely love working with composers and telling stories with music.  I wrote my first opera this year -- a thirty minute gothic chamber opera called "The Resurrection Engine" -- with composer Evan Meier, and we are just beginning the process of writing a second piece together.  I'm very excited to see where this new venture leads me!  I recently watched the movie "Quartet," and in it, an opera singer tried to describe what opera is to a bunch of teenagers.  He told them that in opera, when someone stabs you in the back, instead of bleeding, you sing.  I look forward to letting my characters do more singing in 2015!

I'd like to give a big thank you to all the people I've been lucky enough to work with this year.  I'm a very lucky playwright. I love what I do -- and I get to do what I love. Thanks for being a part of my life and work, friends and colleagues!

Overview of 2014

"The Gun Show" premiered at 16th Street Theater in Chicago in July 2014.

Me and actor Juan Francisco Villa in "The Gun Show" at 16th Street Theater.

"The Gun Show" had its second production in Los Angeles in November, starring actor Chuma Gault.

"The Gun Show" premiered in Chicago, directed by Kevin Christopher Fox, and went on to a second production in Los Angeles, directed by Darin Anthony (with a third coming up shortly in Trenton, directed by Damon Bonetti and featuring Trent Blanton). 

"Reading to Vegetables" at University of Washington, directed by Tina Polzin.

"Reading to Vegetables" at Independence College, directed by Kevin Christopher Fox.

"Reading to Vegetables" premiered at University of Washington, directed by Tina Polzin.  Then the play went on to a second production at Independence College in Kansas, during my residency there, directed by Kevin Christopher Fox.

Working on "The Resurrection Engine" with composer Evan Meier.  The thirty minute Gothic chamber opera premiered at Symphony Space in New York City, produced by American Lyric Theater, where we've been studying.

"The Resurrection Engine" -- my first opera, written with composer Evan Meier in American Lyric Theater's Composer Librettist Development Program -- premiered at Symphony Space in New York City. 

"Heads" at Pittsburgh Rep.

"Infinite Black Suitcase" was produced by Staples Players at Staples High School
in Westport, Connecticut, directed by David Roth.

"Dance Me to the End of Love" -- a bunch of my short plays, produced by the DramaDogs in Santa Barbara, CA.  Original music, played live!  Dancing!  And they did such a lovely job with my plays.

"Heads" was produced at Pittsburgh Rep, "Infinite Black Suitcase" was produced by Staples Players, and a bunch of my short plays was produced by the DramaDogs. 

Nine weeks in residence at the beautiful Inge House in Kansas with playwright Russell Davis!

I taught playwriting and worked on "Magellanica" during a nine-week residency at the William Inge Center for the Arts in the spring, had readings of the play at Moving Arts in Los Angeles and Project Y in NYC, and then had a tremendous ten-day workshop of the play at TimeLine in Chicago -- making fantastic progress on the play with their help. 

Me and my guys!  ANPF 2014 was wonderful again this year!  I love this festival with all my heart.

I was host playwright for the Ashland New Plays Festival in the fall. 

Samuel French, my publisher, featured "Infinite Black Suitcase" in their newsletter. 

I was a finalist for the Shakespeare's Sister Fellowship from A Room of Her Own Foundation.

Here in Oregon, I helped my Dad plant the garden in the spring, helped my brother harvest grapes in his vineyard in the fall, and took a wonderful (and much needed!) road trip down the California and Oregon coast in November.  This is such a beautiful state!

Goodbye, 2014!  Hello, 2015!

The Gun Show Is Now Up on Stage at 16th Street Theater

The Bottom of the Box. 15 JULY 2014

My second full-length play production occurred in 2007.  Darin Anthony directed the world premiere of my hostage drama "Heads" at the Blank Theater in Los Angeles, California.  It's a dark little story, about four civilian westerners who are taken hostage during the early years of the war in Iraq.  The play has had five or six more productions, but that first one came to mind the other day.  I remember having a discussion with Darin about the ending of the play.  Specifically, he was asking me about the final stage direction, in which (spoiler alert!) the two surviving hostages are thrown together into a single cell.  Both of them are grieving.  One approaches the other with a tin of food; he slaps it out of her hands.  She tries again.  My final stage direction read something like "she holds out the tin again - lights out - end of play."  And Darin asked me if I thought that Michael might reach out and take the tin from Caroline, the second time she offers it.  We talked about it a lot.  I think we might have tried the scene both ways, with the actors.  I ended up choosing to end the play with Michael accepting the tin from Caroline.  It was a small change that made all the difference.  How you end something is really important.

I was thinking about the end of "Heads" because I've been thinking about the end of "The Gun Show."  It's my seventh or eighth full-length play to be produced, and as always, I have found myself having intense conversations with my director about the play as we work together to bring it to the stage.  The original ending (before the last 20 or 30 rewrites) had the actor abandoning the audience after the last story.  He leaves the stage.  Leaves the audience to think what they think and feel what they feel.  And the play still kind of ends that way, but my director, Kevin Fox, asked me if I thought that a conversation with the audience about the rather intense subject matter of the play -- guns and gun violence and gun control -- might be a natural follow up to our performances here at 16th Street Theater in Chicago, especially since the play explicitly asks, at one point, "Can we have this conversation?"  We talked about it a lot.  I was nervous about the idea, but Kevin had a carefully thought-out plan.  I ended up choosing to let him try it.  It was a small change that has made all the difference.  People have been sharing their own gun stories, and listening to each other, really listening to each other.  I have felt both humbled and supported by their willingness to take part.  How you end something is really important.

And I realized that maybe what both of these directors were asking me to do, with these dark little plays of mine, was not to step back from the darkness, but to keep reaching inside until I got to the furthest point that the plays were trying to take me to.  The bottom of the box.  

Don't close it until you let the hope out, Ellen.

Heads at The REP in Pittsburgh - Jan. 31 - Feb. 16

Heads, by EM Lewis - directed by John Shepard.  Pittsburgh Premiere at The REP.

Heads 

Pittsburgh Premiere

Written by EM Lewis
Directed by John Shepard
Studio Theatre

Friday, Jan. 31 – Sunday, Feb. 16

An American engineer. A British embassy employee. A network journalist. And a freelance photographer. As hostages in a war zone, each responds to the unbearable situation differently, with stark reality and difficult choices. Heads is a heartwrenching story about finding hope and intimacy in an environment with seemingly no way out.

Click here for more information and tickets.

A 5th Production for "Heads" -- at The REP in Pittsburgh

Robert A. Miller returns to The REP, Point Park University's professional theater company, as the school's Conservatory of Performing Arts Distinguished Master Artist-in-Residence for the 2013-14 season, to direct "All My Sons." The season-opening play by his father, Arthur Miller, launches four works at the Pittsburgh Playhouse in Oakland and includes a world premiere by award-winning Pittsburgh playwright Tammy Ryan and the Pittsburgh premiere of EM Lewis' "Heads." The season will conclude with Lynn Nottage's play "By the Way, Meet Vera Stark."

I'm delighted to be in such distinguished company in The REP's season (including that of my friend Tammy!), to be having my first production in Pittsburgh, and to have another production of "Heads." This play is about four civilian westerners who are taken hostage in the early days of the war in Iraq -- an American engineer, a British embassy worker, a journalist, and a photojournalist.

More information about this production from the Post-Gazette feature article can be found here.

Visit the Pittsburgh Playhouse website here for tickets.

An Unexpected Adventure - Responding to Student Work at KCACTF Region 6

I had an unexpected adventure at the end of February.  I received an inquiry from a colleague, asking if I might be interested in responding to student work at the Region 6 finals of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in Shreveport, Louisiana.  I said heck, yeah!  And off I went to see plays, analyze plays, talk about plays, teach a workshop about writing plays, and eat a heck of a lot of gumbo.  It was fabulous!

I'd heard of KCACTF.  It's a nationwide competition that honors college theater student's work in all categories, from acting to directing, writing, and design.  Several of my friends who teach bring students to the competitions regularly.  I was honored to be a respondent for the playwriting students.  There was so much smart, funny, fabulous writing!  And I love having the chance to support young playwrights in their journey.  People have been so kind to me along the way.

With Jim and Billy at the closing gala.  (They both had the flu at this point, though, poor fellas.)

When I arrived in Shreveport, I went to work almost immediately, shaking hands with the head of the playwriting group, David Blakely, and his second in command, Jim Tyler Anderson, and with my fellow respondents, Guillermo (Billy) de Leon and David Moberg, and then walking straight into the room to listen to the first one-act play we would be critiquing.  Luckily, our little team worked very well together, and I think we gave the student playwrights in all categories -- ten minute plays, one acts, and full-lengths -- good feedback throughout the week.

Sharing food and stories with Heather Helinski, who was running the dramaturgy unit at KCACTF Region 6.

The week was chock full of work and fun, as we responded to plays, watched the mainstage shows (two per day), taught workshops, and talked shop.  Region 6 is comprised of six of the southern central states, but there were theater professors and professionals from all over the country participating.  The food was fantastic.  I'd never been to Louisiana before, and found the gumbo to be exquisite.  I was also able to see Harold Hynick, from Missouri Valley College, and some of his student actors and designers who had worked on the production of "Heads" in the fall, which was lovely.  The actors presented a scene from the play in front of the entire festival, and the designer won an award for her work!  I saw Mark Charney there, who I'd met at the Great Plains Theater Conference.  And I made some new friends -- including dramaturg Heather Helinski.

I hope that I'll be able to be a respondent again next year!

With Sam and Tommy, who played Caroline and Harold in the Missouri Valley College production of "Heads."  We had a lovely talk about the play, and their plans for after school.

Me and designer Katie Combs, who won an award for her work on my play "Heads" in the Missouri Valley College theater production in fall of 2012, at KCACTF Region 6.

2012 In Review

What a wonderful year 2012 has been!  Full of theatrical adventures, productions and good friends.  Thank you to everyone I've had the pleasure of working with this year.  I hope we can do it again soon!

It's been a lovely year!  Thanks, everybody!

2012!!

Recipients of fellowships from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts in 2012.

I received a $10,000 fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts in January 2012.  Because of this fellowship (which followed the Hodder Fellowship from Princeton University that I received for the 2010-2011 academic year), I've been able to write full-time again this year.  The direct result of that opportunity to concentrate on my writing has been that this was my busiest year EVER -- in terms of both writing and productions.  

Productions and Readings

Moving Arts' The Car Plays at Segerstrom.

Warren, Daria and Peter -- very cozy in the front seat!

January 14-21

"Bohemian. Like You." in Moving Arts' production of The Car Plays in the Off-Center Festival at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts.  Directed by Darin Anthony.  Featuring Peter James Smith, Daria Balling and Warren Davis.

Costa Mesa, CA

A great weekend of table work on this new play -- a murder mystery, of sorts.
Followed by the reading of an excerpt.

February 10-12

Workshop, and reading of an excerpt from new full-length play "If I Did This" at Passage Theater.  Directed by David Hilder.  Featuring Chad Hoepner, Kathryn Markey, David Crommett, Brielle Silvestri, and Nedra McClyde.

Trenton, NJ.  

Linny, played by Michael Zlotnik.

February 22-March 4

"Reveille" in Moving Arts' production of The Car Plays in the Without Walls Festival at the La Jolla Playhouse.  Directed by Sam Woodhouse.  Featuring Will Tulin and Michael Zlotnik.

San Diego, CA

Terry is caught in the middle in "Partners."

February 24-26

"Partners" in the Briefs Festival, produced by That Uppity Theater Company and Vital Voice Media.  Directed by Bonnie Taylor.  Featuring Wendy Renee Greenwood, Robert Lee Davis III, and Elizabeth Graveman.

St. Louis, MO

Riffing on Asimov and Occupy for Flux Theater Ensemble's "ForePlay: Human 2.0.

April 2

"I, Human" in Flux Theater Ensemble's ForePlay: Human 2.0

New York, NY

April 18

"If I Did This" reading at NewShoe

New York, NY

"Apple Season" in the Six Women Playwriting Festival.

So glad to be in the festival with my pals Babs Lindsay and Maureen Brady Johnson!

April 20-22

"Apple Season" in Six Women Playwriting Festival.  Directed by Birgitta de Pree.  Featuring Joye Levy and Anthony Archer. 

Colorado Springs, CO

May 16

Reading of "Heads" at Theatre Seven of Chicago

Chicago, IL

July 27

Staged reading of "If I Did This" at Judson Memorial Church, produced by Flux Theater Ensemble

New York, NY.  Directed by Pete Boisvert.  Featuring Matt Archambault, John Greenleaf, Marianne Miller, Stephen Conrad Moore, and Jane Lincoln Taylor.

July 28-August 4

"The Incident Report" in Jersey Voices at Chatham Community Players

Chatham, NJ

World Premiere of "Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday" at HotCity Theater in St. Louis, MO.

Kelly and Lynn.

Ray and Lynne.

The family.

September 7-22

The World Premiere of "Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday" at HotCity Theater.  Directed by Bill Whitaker.  Featuring Nicole Angeli, Charlie Barron, Peggy Billo, Joe Hanrahan, Rusty Gunther, and Eric White.

St. Louis, MO

"Four words: Go see this play!  'Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday' is the best play I have seen in a long time..." -Laura Hamlett, Playback: STL 

"...a funny and touching slice of life...  Director Bill Whitaker does nice work here, bringing this new play to life and gently guiding this exceptional cast.  The laughs and the tears are honest... HotCity Theatre's production of 'Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday' is entertaining and moving theater..."  -Chris Gibson, Broadway World 

"...the look and tenor of a domestic comedy layered on top of the emotional mysteries and unspoken threats of a Harold Pinter drama..."  -Judith Newmark, St. Louis Post-Dispatch 

"...an examination of one woman's desperation filtered through the prism of her life as it is, the way it was, and the hope of finding what's missing... a comedy, and a good one... remarkable cast..."  -Chuck Lavazzi, KDHX

"Apple Season."

Director Jeff Meek with the cast of "Apple Season" -- Rebecca Staab and John Walcutt.

September 29

"Apple Season" at the PlayFest Santa Barbara FunRaiser.  Directed by Jeffrey Meek.  Featuring Rebecca Staab and John Walcutt.

Santa Barbara, CA

Always a pleasure to work with my pal David Hilder!

October 2

Reading of "Heads" at West Windsor Arts Council, produced by NOW Theater Company.  Directed by David Hilder.  Featuring Chris Coucill, Thia Stephan, Christian Conn, and Eric Rolland.

West Windsor, NJ

Jack and Michael.

Harold and Caroline.

October 3-6

"Heads," produced by Missouri Valley College.  Directed by Harold Hynick.  Featuring Thomas Waller, Samantha Hill, Matthew Ford, and Joshua Tag.

Marshall, MO

The Last Four Things My Father Held Against Me. 

Six Bottles of Heineken After the Silverado.

And All the Roses Falling.

So many actors they don't even fit in the picture!
"Infinite Black Suitcase" at Colony High School in Ontario, CA.

October 24 - November 12

"Infinite Black Suitcase" at Colony High School.  Directed by Arik Boles.  First high school production of this play!

Ontario, CA

November 2 - 10

"An Evening of One-Acts by E.M. Lewis" at Everett and Sexton High Schools

Lansing, MI

Max and Ellery.  "Song of Extinction" at Hostos College.

November 8-15

"Song of Extinction" at CUNY: Hostos College.  Also Book-of-the-Semester!  Directed by Angel Morales.  Featuring Abe Rasheed, Arnold Kim, Carlos Molina, Anna Savant, and Cesar Acuria.

South Bronx, NY

November 25

"Back to the Dollhouse" (a one-act adaptation) at ISOProductions

London, England

Trevor Tucker is lost in time, exploring the history of Westfield, NJ!
A family-friendly history play, written for Premiere Stages' new "Liberty Live" program.

December 7-9

"Talking to Westfield" - the inaugural Liberty Live commission - Premiere Stages.  Directed by John Wooten, dramaturged by Clare Drobot.

Union, NJ

Other Activities

"Infinite Black Suitcase" by EM Lewis, published by Samuel French.

January

Publication of "Infinite Black Suitcase" by Samuel French

New York, NY

February

Publication of "This Isn't About Love" in Eleven Eleven Literary Journal at California College of the Arts

San Francisco, CA

What a wonderful group of young playwrights!  It was a gift to have the opportunity
to work with them for the two weeks of the "New Voices for the Theater" residency.

June 23-July 8

Playwright-in-Residence at "New Voices for the Theater" at the School of the Performing Arts in the Richmond Community (SPARC).  Taught fundamentals of playwriting to eight teen playwrights, and mentored them as they rewrote their plays in preparation for performance.  This is a fantastic program, run by the indefatigable, absolutely fantastic Laine Satterfield.  A big thank you to Babs Lindsay, last year's PIR, for recommending me!  It was a joy.

Richmond, VA

"This was truly a priceless experience and I'm so happy I got to participate this year.  I met so many people and learned about different theaters.  This was one of the best things I've ever done and I will remember this experience forever."  -2012 Playwright Michael Musatow 

"Having been able to see my play performed, and hearing the reaction of the audience, was amazing.  This program has made me want to write more, to write every day, and to succeed.  This program changed my life."  -2012 Playwright Annalee Marguerite Week 

"The program's greatest overall strengths were the choices in playwrights, directors and actors.  The original play the cast received and what we performed was entirely different, but different in a better way.  Seeing how the play transformed and being able to watch it while working with great fellow actors and an awesome director, it allowed me to see how SPARC takes New Voices in an extremely serious way and that it works."  -2012 Actor Sarah Lundberg

So glad to be back as the Host Playwright for the Ashland New Plays Festival 2012!

The four winning playwrights of ANPF 2012!

October 24-28

Host Playwright for the Ashland New Plays Festival

Welcomed the four winnning playwrights, conducted talk-backs, and taught a playwriting workshop.  This was my third year as ANPF host playwright.

Ashland, OR

With director Angel Morales and Book-of-the-Semester coordinator Robert Cohen.  It was such a pleasure to get to know them and their students at Hostos College!  I was able to participate in a post-show discussion, as well as in two panel discussions over the course of the semester.

September - December

"Song of Extinction" - Book of the Semester at Hostos College

My play was read by more than a thousand students, faculty and staff in all departments at Hostos College while it was book of the semester.  Activities included panel discussions and presentations by the History, Theater, Music, Biology and English departments.  I participated in several of these events!

South Bronx, NY

Finalist for Page 73 Playwriting Fellowship

I'm very proud to have been named a finalist for this fellowship.  The Page 73 group provides wonderful support each year to playwrights, and have fostered the careers of some amazing people!

New York, NY

Participated in the Passage Theater Play Lab

Trenton, NJ

Participated in Flux Theater Ensemble's "Flux Sundays"

New York, NY

Became the Dramatists Guild Representative for the state of New Jersey, and wrote reports from our state's theater scene for each issue of "The Dramatist."  It's a pleasure to serve my guild, and to get to know my fellow Garden State playwrights and theaters a little better in the process!

Writing

This year was really amazing -- full of productions of my plays, and opportunities to travel to Colorado Springs, St. Louis, Richmond, Ashland and New York City to participate in performance, development and teaching opportunities.  But it was a great year for writing as well!  Some particular projects I was able to focus on include the following:

If I Did This

I was able to complete a draft of this new full-length play this year.  It is a murder mystery of sorts, about questions of culpability and narrative voice.  I workshopped it at Passage Theater in Trenton, and had a very successful staged reading of the play by Flux Theater Ensemble at Judson Memorial Theater in Trenton.  (Thank you to directors David Hilder and Pete Boisvert!)  I'm still exploring and editing the play, but have begun to send it out.

Talking to Westfield

I was commissioned by Premiere Stages in Union, NJ to write a family-friendly play about the history of Westfield.  It was the first in what they hope to be an annual program called "Liberty Live" -- where New Jersey playwrights will explore the history of various cities and towns throughout the state.  Our original November performance dates were changed because of the hurricane, but we were able to go up in December.

Magellanica: A New and Accurate Map of the World

I made great strides on this large-scale play-in-progress this year.  It is about eight scientists and engineers who winter over at the South Pole Research Station in Antarctica in 1985.  Part one is finished, and part two is nearly done.  I will be continuing work on this epic project in 2013 as part of the Playwrights Theater of New Jersey Emerging Women Playwrights Project and also in Page 73's Interstate 73 Playwriting Workshops in New York City.

Apple Season

I don't usually find cause to expand a ten-minute play, but Apple Season is proving to be an exception to that rule.  I wrote it initially for Theatricum Botanicum's "Seedling" program in Topanga Canyon, CA -- they prompted a handful of writers with whom they'd worked before to write a short play for them on the theme of "backyard fruit."  I ended up writing a dark little play about a woman who returns to her family farm in Oregon after her parents' death, and and old friend who wants to buy the place from her.  It was read at TB, and had its first production this year at the Six Women Playwriting Festival.  It went over like gangbusters -- but everyone wanted more.  So I've been working to turn it into a full-length, two-character play. The long version is set to have its first reading in January at a festival, so stay tuned!

Back to the Dollhouse and Playwriting Teachers Manual

My work with the SPARC: New Voices for the Theater program in Richmond during the summer led to two exciting projects this fall.  SPARC liked the curriculum I used during my time as their playwright-in-residence, and paid me to write a Teachers Manual that they could distribute to Virginia high school teachers whose students are the constituency for New Voices.  I'm very proud of both the curriculum and the manual!  We hope it will help generate more plays for this wonderful, long-running program.  A director/teacher friend of the program, Keri Wormald, then hired me to write a one-act adaptation of her new full-length play that could be performed by a group called ISO Productions in London, with whom her Richmond high school theater class trades performance projects.  My play "Back to the Dollhouse" was performed in November, and we hope that it will have a continued life!

Bohemian Like You - film script

This ten-minute play has had multiple productions in Moving Arts' "The Car Plays" in Los Angeles.  I am now working with a friend to turn this short play into a short film, adapted by me and directed by him.

Short Plays

I wrote a new short play called "I, Human" for Flux Theater Ensemble's "ForePlay" event in the spring, in which they ask writers to create new plays that riff on the themes of their mainstage show.  My play connected the work of Isaac Asimov with the Occupy Movement to talk about morality in robots... and people.

I wrote "Waiting for the Skell" -- a short, comic sequel to my short play "Partners" -- about two cops.  It is going to be performed in the Briefs Festival in St. Louis in March 2013. 

I wrote two one-minute plays for the upcoming New Jersey One Minute Play Festival, which will be held at Passage Theater in Trenton in January.  "War Story" and "Higher" will both be performed, along with scads of other really, really short plays by some of my NJ playwriting colleagues.  Should be tons of fun.

Here's to more fun and more plays in 2013!  Happy new year!