The World Premiere of "True Story" will be at Passage Theater in NJ this Fall!

I'm so pleased that Passage Theater is going to be producing the world premiere of my new play "True Story" this fall.  I've been part of the Passage Play Lab since arriving in Princeton three years ago, and it's been a wonderful writing home for me, here in New Jersey.

"True Story" is about grieving mystery writer Hal Walker, who is hired to ghostwrite the "story of the century" -- the truth about what happened between Donnie Lawrence and his wife.  Donnie has been acquitted in a court of law -- but everyone believes he killed her.  And if he did, Hal begins to wonder where justice comes into it.

The production will be directed by Philadelphian Damon Bonetti.  Casting has already begun.

Watch this website for details!

"If I Did This" becomes "True Story" at the Arkansas New Play Festival

I try to calculate the experiences of my life in gifts and friends and opportunities.  The ten days I spent at the Arkansas New Play Festival was full of all three.

I met the Artistic Director of TheatreSquared, Bob Ford, and his Associate Artistic Director (and wife) Amy Herzberg a few months ago, when I was responding to student work at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival's Region 6 Finals down in Shreveport, Louisiana.  They both teach at the University of Arkansas, in addition to running the theater and writing, directing, producing and acting in plays, and they were at the KCACTF event to support one of their students.  They invited me to share some of my work with them, which I did.  And soon after, Bob called to invite me to come down to Fayetteville and workshop my new play in the Arkansas New Play Festival.  The play will be having its premiere this fall, so the timing couldn't have been better -- I welcome the opportunity to take one more good look at the script before bringing it to the stage.  And y'all know I always like a theater adventure!

From June 6 - 16, I worked on "If I Did This" (now "True Story") in Fayetteville.  The TheatreSquared team took such good care of all of us!  Morgan Hicks picked me up at the airport, and she and I chattered all the way into town.  Then I had lunch and a fantastic, far-reaching dramaturgical conversation with Bob.  He'd just returned from workshopping his own play, "The Spiritualist," at New Harmony, so of course I wanted to hear about that.  He had read my play carefully, listened closely to my plans for revisions, and offered some wonderful suggestions and thoughts.  After lunch, he took me to Anne's house -- Anne is a wonderfully kind friend of the theater who was my host.  (I did a whole lot of rewriting in her lovely back yard, sitting under a tree, and in her kitchen.

Over the next few days, I met the rest of the ANPF participants.  The three other playwrights were local writer/teacher Les Wade (with his play "Raw Vision"), Susan Felder from Chicago ("Swimming with Van Gogh"), and Juan Francisco Villa from New York, now living in Chicago ("Don Chipotle").

Local Morgan Hicks directed Juan's piece, which was in the early stages of development -- about two boys and their poetic, dark journey through New York City on a Don Quixotesque quest.  Kevin Christopher Fox from Chicago directed Susan's play, about a painter trying to find her vision and inspiration again in mid-life.  Chicago director Andrea Dymond directed Les' play, which is about art and appropriation in rural Louisiana.  And I worked with New York director Shana Gold on my play, which is about a grieving mystery writer who grapples with issues of justice when he's hired to ghostwrite the story of an acquitted murderer who everyone thinks is guilty.

I loved working with Shana, and we had a fabulous cast, anchored by New York actor Sean Patrick Reilly, who played the lead, my troubled mystery writer, Hal Walker.

The entire company of writers, directors, actors and tech folk had dinner together every evening, at the theater.  The food was provided by the theater's board members and other supporters.  We had four hours of rehearsal every day, and when we weren't working together in the theater, we playwrights were writing and rewriting our plays.  The week culminated in readings of all of the plays, followed by discussion with the audience.

I emerged with a stronger draft of my play, a new title for my play, and a whole bunch of new friends.  I hope I get to work with Bob and Amy and their TheatreSquared family again soon.  They know how to foster and support the development of new work.

"True Story" by EM Lewis, directed by Shana Gold, at the 2013 Arkansas New Play Festival. 

The cast of "True Story" by EM Lewis at the 2013 Arkansas New Play Festival.  John T. Smith at Donnie Lawrence, Bryce Kemph as Brett Martin, Sean Patrick Reilly as Hal Walker, Kevin Christopher Fox as Hayden Quinn, and Alyx Claus as Miriam Lawrence.

Hal and Miriam.

Hal defends himself from Detective Hayden Quinn.

Afterwards, director Shana Gold and I had a conversation with the audience, moderated by Bob Ford.

"If I Did This" goes to the Arkansas New Play Festival

From June 14-16, TheatreSquared in Fayetteville will be presenting four new full-length plays (and a number of other exciting events) in the 2013 Arkansas New Play Festival.  I'm delighted that I've been invited to take part with my play "If I Did This."  I'll actually be in the city for ten days -- working with a director and actors on my play, talking shop with my fellow playwrights and the theater-makers of Fayetteville, and exploring the city!

TheatreSquared presents

2013 Arkansas New Play Festival

at the Walton Arts Center's Nadine Baum Studios
Fayetteville, Arkansas
June 14-16, 2013

DON CHIPOTLE, by Juan Francisco Villa — Friday, June 14, 6:30pm

Two 11-year-old boys—a hero and his sidekick—set out on a quixotic quest through the streets of the Lower East Side to locate the missing Twin Towers. A raw, comic fable that draws on the Columbian-American experience in New York, this new play shines a bright light on social hypocrisies and the adventurous spirit of youth.

RAW VISION, by Les Wade — Friday, June 14, 8:30pm

An African-American brother and sister, both 30-something, live a ramshackle existence well off the grid in southern Louisiana. She is the brilliant, if deeply conflicted, caretaker of her artist brother, whose paintings have recently begun to turn up on the New Orleans art scene. When an outside interloper — who can't seem to keep his story straight — insinuates himself into their close-knit world, all three lives are changed forever. A gorgeously poetic drama, Raw Vision will remind many of the Oscar-nominated film, Beasts of the Southern Wild, in its heartfelt portrayal of a stubbornly offbeat way of life.

IF I DID THIS, by E.M. Lewis — Saturday, June 15, 6:30pm

A brainy, edge-of-your-seat thriller about a ghost writer, an acquitted murder suspect who is his subject, and the literary editor who may (or may not) be his best friend in the world. A brilliantly theatrical jigsaw puzzle, this play goes to the heart of the question, “What is truth?” — or maybe, “Whose ‘truth’ is really true?” Part film noir, part theatrical tease, If I Did This will toy with your perceptions and touch your heart.

SWIMMING WITH VAN GOGH, by Susan Felder — Saturday, June 15, 8:30pm

Set in a lighthouse just off the coast of Lake Superior, Swimming with Van Gogh tells the story of a middle-aged painter who stumbles into sudden prominence, only to come face-to-face with her own worst doubts—not to mention an old flame, a mid-career artist who knows just how to keep her off-balance. When an adoring young art student invades her lighthouse retreat, the chemistry becomes overpowering. This play takes a profound look at the possibility, and impossibility, of originality and renewal as an artist.

Special Performances:
ARKANSAS YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS SHOWCASE — Saturday, June 15, 2:00pmIn partnership with the University of Arkansas Brown Chair of Literacy, TheatreSquared is proud to present, for the fourth year, the Arkansas Young Playwrights Showcase. Students from across the state have been invited to submit scripts, and six will be selected for public readings at the Arkansas New Play Festival.

THE 24-HOUR PLAY-OFF — Sunday, June 16, 6:30pm TheatreSquared is partnering with Fayetteville-based Ceramic Cow Productions to present the Northwest Arkansas 24-Hour Play-Off, a perennial favorite for artists and audiences alike. Teams of artists will write, rehearse, and perform a new ten-minute play, all within the space of 24 hours, in competition for a grand prize sponsored by local businesses.

Click here for more information about the festival, and about TheatreSquared!

Pictures from PlayFest Santa Barbara!

I had a wonderful time at PlayFest Santa Barbara in January.  The inaugural festival included plays by me (If I Did This) and Catherine Butterfield (It Has to Be You), as well as a host of other events.  I taught a playwriting workshop to a room full of eager students, young and old.  And I even took a little time out from rehearsals to walk on the beach in the bright, warm, southern California sunshine.  Beautiful!!  Many thanks to the event's producers R. Michael Gros, Jeffrey Meek, and Amanda Kramer, to my hosts (who allowed me to stay in their lovely guest cottage), and to my cast.

Talkback after the reading of "If I Did This" at PlayFest Santa Barbara with director and actors.

In rehearsal for "If I Did This" with director R. Michael Gros.   

With two of my actors from the reading of "If I Did This."

Teaching a playwriting workshop at PlayFest Santa Barbara, to Santa Barbara City College theater students as well as members of the community.

Teaching playwriting fun (and fundamentals) at PlayFest Santa Barbara. 

With the indefatigable Amanda Kramer!  Associate producer extraordinaire!

Go to Santa Barbara in January for a theater festival?  Well, you might have to twist my arm a little...

The Santa Barbara waterfront is a five minute walk from campus.  So pretty! 

Happy playwright at PlayFest Santa Barbara!

"If I Did This" at PlayFest Santa Barbara!

The new year is starting out with a wonderful invitation to sunny Santa Barbara!  I hope that some of you will be able to attend this event.

The co-artistic directors of the brand new PlayFest Santa Barbara -- Michael Gros and Jeffrey Meek -- have decided to include a reading of my new play "If I Did This" in their festival.  Michael will be directing.

"If I Did This" synopsis:
A grieving mystery writer is hired to ghostwrite the "story of the century" -- but finds himself becoming part of the story instead.

Dates:
January 18 and 19, 2013

Location:
The Garvin Theater
Santa Barbara City College's West Campus
721 Cliff Drive
Santa Barbara, CA

The Garvin Theater, where most of the festival events will take place, is located on the beautiful Santa Barbara City College Campus, overlooking the gorgeous Santa Barbara harbor.


According to the PlayFest website:

PlayFest Santa Barbara stages professional theater readings and workshops, and promotes original new plays, musicals, new translations and adaptations of classics by emerging and established writers.  We provide theater lovers with the opportunity to attend performances, lectures, interviews, and master classes with some of the world's leading artists.  PlayFest Santa Barbara takes place in the city of Santa Barbara, California -- known as the "American Riviera."

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Jan. 18

8pm - Reading of "If I Did This" by EM Lewis

Jan. 19

10am - "Bringing Words to Life in a Body-Centered Way" workshop with Drama Dogs

1pm - "A-5678! -- A Musical Review"

3pm - "Commedia dell Arte" lecture and demonstration with John Achorn

4:30pm - "Playwriting Fun (and Fundamentals)" workshop with EM Lewis

8pm - Reading of "It Has to Be You" by Catherine Butterfield

You can find more information about PlayFest Santa Barbara and get your tickets on their website:
http://playfestsantabarbara.org

"If I Did This" at Flux's Food:Soul in NYC

I finished the first draft of a new play a few months ago, just in time to work on it with my fantastic director friend David Hilder and a most wonderful cast at Passage Theater in Trenton, where I attend the Playwriting Lab.  Since then, I've been tinkering with it a bit, but haven't been sure, yet, what it's really made of.  

Enter Flux Theater Ensemble!

I've been attending Flux Sundays at FTE for more than a year, now -- their Sunday afternoon theatrical "work-outs" with playwrights, directors and actors -- and enjoying the opportunity to see their fierce productions.  And I was very pleased when I received an e-mail from Matt Archambault at Flux, asking if I'd like to workshop that play I'd been bringing in pieces of over the last few months.  I leapt at the opportunity!  There's nothing like working with a great bunch of actors over a couple weeks of rehearsal to figure out how a play is working.  Actors and directors ask great questions as they're trying to figure out how to make a play work.

We had our first read-through on Monday, and will continue rehearsals next week.  The process will culminate in a potluck and staged reading of the play.  Big thanks to Matt, FTE Artistic Director Gus Schulenberg, and director Pete Boisvert for putting this whole thing together!

Flux Theater Ensemble (in partnership with Judson Memorial Church) presents Food:Soul

A Staged Reading of "If I Did This" 

Written by EM Lewis

Directed by Pete Boisvert

Featuring: Matt Archambault, John Greenleaf, Marianne Miller, Stephen Conrad Moore and Jane Lincoln Taylor

Friday, July 27th

At Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square Street South

Doors Open and Food is Served at 7:00pm

Staged Reading Starts at 8:00pm

Please RSVP if you plan to attend!  

For more information about this reading, visit the FTE Blog.  

For more information about the company and their Food:Soul play development workshops, visit the FTE Website.  

April 18 -- Reading of "If I Did This" in NYC!

Coming up next:  A reading of my new play "If I Did This" in New York City on Wednesday, April 18th, at 7pm.  I hope friends and colleagues in the area will come out and see!  The play is about a grieving mystery writer who is hired to ghostwrite the "story of the century" -- but finds himself becoming part of the story instead.  
___________________________________

New Shoe Theatre presents a reading of

IF I DID THIS

By EM Lewis
Directed by Elysa Marden

with
Joel de la Fuente
Melanie Nicholls-King
Brian Fuqua
Juliet Brett
Pamela Nyberg

April 18, 2012 ~ 7pm
Dramatists Guild, 1501 Broadway, 7th floor
Free/No Reservations Required
www.newshoetheatre.org
____________________________________


What's past is prologue.

Finished a draft of a new full-length play!

I had a wonderful weekend at Passage Theater in Trenton, workshopping the new play that I have JUST finished -- a five-character murder mystery called "If I Did This."  A big thank you to Passage for organizing this wonderful event, in which eight members of our playwriting workshop were able to work with directors and actors from New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia -- more than sixty theater artists in all!  Thank you, also, to my friend David Hilder for his dramaturgy and directing, and to my wonderful cast:

• Chad Hoepner, as mystery novelist Hal Walker
• Kathryn Markey, as senior editor Brett Martin
• David Crommett, as real estate agent (and acquitted murderer) Donnie Lawrence
• Brielle Silvestri, as Donnie's teenage daughter, Miriam Lawrence
• Nedra McClyde, as detective Hayden Quinn

Now...  delving into the rewrites!

Passage Theater Playwrights Lab Retreat! 

David Hilder, directing our merry little band of actors.

Characters, from left to right:  Brett, Hayden, Hal, Donnie, Miriam.

Characters at the music stands:  Brett, Hal, Donnie.

If I Did This
90 minutes
Five Characters:  2 Men / 1 Woman / 2 characters that can be played by either men or women (all any race)

Grieving mystery novelist Hal Walker has been sent by his editor, Brett Martin, to the home of Donnie Lawrence -- infamously acquitted in the murder of his wife.  But Hal didn't anticipate the presence of Donnie's teenage daughter, Miriam, nor the emotional undertow that his own wife's death creates as he attempts to ghostwrite Donnie's book "My Story."

Looking back at 2011; looking forward to 2012!

It's a nice tradition to take note of accomplishments at the end of the year, and make goals for the year ahead!  So on this first day of January, 2012, I'd like to do just that.

In 2010, I took a great leap into uncertainty when I quit my steady, reliable day job doing tech support at USC (which I'd held for nine years) to accept a year-long playwriting fellowship for the 2010-2011 academic year.  I was excited to be able to write full-time, and to live within a train ride of New York City for a while.  

"Song of Extinction" promo poster for the Guthrie production.

The timing was good.  "Song of Extinction" had done rather well, so 2011 became part follow-up on that success and part working on new projects, in good combination.  In February and March, 2011, "Song of Extinction" was produced at the Guthrie, in their Dowling black box theater, by Theater Latte Da.  It felt really lovely to have a production at a theater with so much history.  They brought me out for 24 very chilly hours in Minneapolis, so I got to see what they did with the play; I was very pleased!  Peter Rothstein did a wonderful job directing the play, and I loved seeing how they brought my little story to life.  This year also marked the first high school production of "Song," at Harmony High School in Florida.

"Song of Extinction" at the Guthrie, produced by Theater Latte Da.

I joined a playwriting workshop this year in Trenton, which has been lots of fun, and a weekly playwright/actor "workout" in New York City, where playwrights bring pages and the actors bring them to life.  I miss my old Los Angeles playwriting group, but it's great to be meeting some new folks to work with.  I do better when I have places to bring my pages on a regular basis.

I wrote a short play called "The War Museum" which was read in Flux Theater's "New World Iliads" show (supporting their mainstage production of Ellen McLaughlin's "Ajax in Iraq").  That was fun! I also had two readings of "Magellanica" at the Lark, both directed by my friend and fellow playwright David Hilder.  I'd like to continue to try to get to know New York theaters, and hopefully work with more of them in the new year.

"Strong Voice" premiered in Halcyon Theater's 2011 Alcyone Festival.

Questions of faith in "Strong Voice," directed by Margo Gray.

"Strong Voice," which I wrote for Halcyon Theater's Alcyone Festival in Chicago, had its premiere.  Ultimately, I felt like it was ready for a workshop production and some more rewriting, more than the festival production it received, but I was glad to have had the chance to try my hand at an adaptation for the first time.  It wasn't really an adaptation proper... but Halcyon had challenged five women writers, myself included, to either adapt or riff upon the themes of a woman playwright from 1850 or earlier.  I selected Hrosvitha of Gandersheim -- a woman who lived in a convent in the Dark Ages, and wrote some odd and interesting little plays and poems about Christian women who had their faith challenged.  My play was about a woman whose faith is challenged by the events of 9/11, and a murder investigation in her community which she and her neighbors are caught up in.  I hope to revisit the play at some point in the next few years, to see what it wants to become in its next iteration.

"Drop-Off Day" premiered in Moving Arts "The Car Plays" in the Radar Festival in Los Angeles.

My short play "Drop-Off Day" -- about a woman who is dropping her daughter off at the dorm, as her daughter leaves home for the first time to attend college -- was included in Moving Arts' "The Car Plays," which joined other fun and exciting productions from Los Angeles and around the world at this year's Radar Festival.  Moving Arts has been my Los Angeles theater home since I started writing plays, so it was great to have another project with them.  The Car Plays has been one of their most successful events.  (Short plays, produced inside actual cars, to an audience of two at a time!)  The Car Plays will be playing at two festivals in 2012, and I'm pleased to have a play in each -- "Bohemian. Like You." in the Off Center Festival at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, CA in January 2012and "Reveille" in the Without Walls Festival at San Diego Rep in La Jolla, CA in February 2012.

My wonderful actors and director for the SlamBOSTON production of "Partners."

Speaking of short plays, "Partners" was back at SlamBOSTON again, at Another Country Productions, and made the finals.  It's a comedy about a lesbian cop who brings her rednecked cop partner home to meet her life partner.  That play is headed to St. Louis next, for an appearance at Uppity Women Productions' "Briefs" Festival in February 2012.  Some ten minute plays just keep on giving!

I had two opportunities this year to mentor kids who were writing plays -- one with the Blank Theater's Young Playwrights Festival in Los Angeles, CA and one in Passage Theater's State Street Project in Trenton, NJ.  I love helping kids work on their plays!  I'm pleased that 2012 will bring a new chance to do so in an even more involved way: I'm going to be the Playwright-in-Residence at SPARC's New Voices for the Theater high school playwriting residency in Virginia in summer 2012.  A big thanks to my colleague Babs Lindsay for connecting me with this opportunity.

Ellen at Giverny.

The year has brought with it extraordinary opportunities for travel.  Over the summer, I made my first trip abroad and got the very first stamp in my little passport!  Through a friend of a theater friend, I was given the opportunity to stay in a flat in the middle of Paris for three weeks, with the only cost being the care of two cute French cats and the plane ticket.  It was an amazing trip!  Paris is so beautiful!  I walked everywhere, saw bridges and museums and monuments and gardens galore, and am absolutely sure that a play will come out of it at some point.  

In the fall, I took three theater trips in quick succession.

Here are the four winning playwrights from ANPF 2011, along with artistic director Doug Rowe and me.  This photo, taken by Elizabeth von Radics, was featured in American Theater Magazine.

I was host playwright for the Ashland New Plays Festival again, in Oregon (great fun!).  I love Ashland so much!  We had a very strong line up of challenging plays this year, and the readers did an extraordinary job in bringing them to life.  As always, I was able to sneak in a few shows at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and a quick trip to the farm while I was in my home state.

Our bold gang of theater makers, sitting out on the front porch in Independence, Kansas, after a wonderful week of hard work, good eats, and lots of fun.  Peter Ellenstein, who made it all happen, at the top, representing the Inge Center for the Arts.  Director Stephen Brackett and his playwright, Ken Urban.  Chuma Gault, Ben Corbett, and yours truly.  Heather Alicia Simms, Mark Pinter, Mina Kim, and my director, Laura Savia.

I flew from there to Independence, Kansas, where I stayed for two and a half weeks at a writing residency in William Inge's childhood home (along with my colleague Ken Urban).  I worked on and had a reading of "Magellanica" (parts one and two), and taught some playwriting classes at the local high schools and community college.  It was a wonderful experience, and I got some good writing done on the play.  I felt like William Inge's ghost was encouraging me along.

"Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday" was a finalist for the HotCity Greenhouse Festival in 2011, and will have its world premiere with them in St. Louis in September 2012.

HotCity Greenhouse Festival 2011 playwrights:  Christopher Wall (Shake and Be Saved), EM Lewis (Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday), and Gino Dilorio (Release Point).

I flew from Independence to St. Louis, Missouri -- changing gears to work on "Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday" -- a comedy about a woman who decides to leave her life behind to become a commercial fisher in Alaska, but whose family refuses to let her go.  This was really the first play I ever wrote, and I've been hoping to figure out a way to revisit, rework and fix it up.  The play was a finalist in HotCity Theater's Greenhouse Festival, and they brought me and two other playwrights -- Gino Dilorio and Christopher Wall -- out for a week of work on our plays.  I felt really good about the rewrites I was able to do with the help and support of my director, dramaturg and cast.  The reading went great!  And HotCity has selected "Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday" to have its world premiere on their stage in September 2012.  I'm absolutely delighted!  It's nice to have another full-length play finding its first staging to look forward to.

"Infinite Black Suitcase" is now available for purchase from Samuel French!

The year was capped by Samuel French's publication of my first produced play, "Infinite Black Suitcase."  It's now available for purchase from their website, and I hope you'll buy a copy!  It's also available from Amazon.com.  Only $8.95!  According to the website, "it's the story of one day in a small Oregon town and three families who are trying, in the most loving and human ways, to deal with death and dying."  I feel like I first became a playwright when this play was put up by Moving Arts in a workshop production at the Los Angeles Theater Center in 2005.  It had its premiere when it was produced by TheSpyAnts in 2007.  I'm so glad that it is moving forward into a new life in publication!

My fellowship ended in May of this year, but by living somewhat frugally and eating lots of homemade soup, I've been able to extend my happily jobless full-time writing for a bit longer.  It took me a little while to get into the rhythm, but now I'm really starting to get some good work done.  So I guess one of my main goals for 2012 is going to be to try to figure out a way to continue to live simply and happily while writing full-time, if I can swing it.  I would also like to finish the two full-length plays I'm working on now -- "If I Did This" (a sort of murder-mystery/psychological thriller) and "Magellanica" (my epic Antarctica play).  In February, I'm going to be workshopping "If I Did This" at Passage Theater in Trenton, NJ.  I'm hoping to have a reading of a bigger chunk (if not a completed draft) of "Magellanica" this spring.

In France, amongst the flowers.  May the coming year be as full of joyful adventures as the last one was!

A big thank you to all the theater companies, directors, dramaturgs, playwrights, actors, tech folks and other theater people who I was lucky enough to work with in 2011.  May 2012 bring peace, prosperity and great projects to your lives!