"Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" moves from Chicago to DC...

A nice interview here with director Pam McKinnon and actor (and playwright) Tracy Letts about the production of Edward Albee's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" that has moved from its Chicago home at Steppenwolf to DC's Arena Stage.

Arena is doing a big celebration of Mr. Albee's work right now, with multiple productions and readings of his work.  I'm thinking I might buy myself a ticket down there for my birthday -- because what a tremendous gift of a play his "Who's" is...

"Song of Extinction" Opens at the Guthrie!!!

I've just returned from an amazing two days in Minneapolis, where I was celebrating opening weekend of "Song of Extinction" at the Guthrie with the fabulous folks at Theater Latte Da.  (All these beautiful photos are by Michal Daniel!)

Max Forrestal plays his "Song of Extinction."

Peter Rothstein did a wonderful job directing!  The production features beautiful performances from a stellar cast -- which includes poet-scholar-actor David Mura as Khim Phan and real-life high school student and cellist Dan Piering as Max Forrestal, Carla Noack and John Middleton as Lily and Ellery Forrestal, Garry Geiken as Gill Morris, and Matt Rein as Dr. Joshua Dorsey.

The music, the set, the sound design and the art design were all fantastic.  And the reviews have been pretty darn fantastic, too...

Khim Phan remembers.

All the right notes:  Theater Latte Da’s ‘Song of Extinction’ a touching triumph

“…filled with compassion for its characters and a delicate touch that makes [Song of Extinction] a very moving drama… To the credit of author Lewis and director Peter Rothstein, no point is belabored, no audience member bludgeoned with a message. For a work with so many layers, it’s nevertheless almost minimalist in structure, its dialogue convincingly realistic, its tone admirably restrained.”  — Rob Hubbard, Pioneer Press

Song of Extinction at the Dowling Studio: Examining the death of a family

“Making his professional debut, Piering gives a natural, nuanced performance as Max. His anger and pain are always near the surface and explode at the smallest provocation, but Piering never moves into melodrama. His focus fuels several of the show’s best moments, especially the final minutes, when the cello comes out of the case and Max finally is able to get beyond his anger and into his sorrow. The piece, composed by longtime Latte Da music director Denise Prosek, reflects that perfectly, while Piering plays it as Max would—full of anger and passion.”  — Ed Huyck, City Pages

‘Song’s’ refrain: Simple story, complex emotions

“…90 minutes of poignant worthiness … Rothstein’s second small jewel of the year… [He] shows us his articulate understanding of drama that gets inside the human psyche.”  — Graydon Royce, Star Tribune

Song of Extinction by Theater Latté Da performing on the Guthrie’s Dowling Stage

“This piece is intense, rich, affecting… [David] Mura lends the play understated resonance… Also first rate are John Middleton and Carla Noack as the Forrestals… Anyone raising a teen-ager knows how illogically volatile they can be and Dan Piering, as Max, captures this gorgeously.”  — John Olive, How Was The Show?

Ellery Forrestal looks in at his wife, Lily.

More information on this Theater Latte Da Production at the Guthrie Website.

Television interview with actors David Mura and Dan Piering on the KARE - Channel 11 website.

More about Theater Latte Da.

Khim and Lily.

Check out my monologue "Big" in Port Townsend, WA: March 7-8

I have a piece in "Here, There & Everywhere" -- a festival of monologues by women playwrights that celebrates International Women's Day -- happening at Key City Public Theater in Port Townsend, Washington on March 7-8, 2011.

For more details, look here!


Area playwrights (“Here”) include Denise Fleener of Sequim (“Chinese For Dummies”), Rebecca Redshaw of Port Angeles (“Nellie's Memory”), Barbara Lindsay of Shoreline (“Belt Loop Man”), and Rebecca Goldberg of Seattle (“Me Vs. My Subconscious”).

Monologues by other American writers (“There”) are “Big” by EM Lewis, New Jersey, “The Hunter” by Gloria Calderon Kellett, Los Angeles, “The Last Reading of Charlotte Cushman” by Carolyn Gage, Maine, and “The People” by Vicki Caroline Cheatwood, Texas.

Representing “Everywhere” is the twenty-three-year-old writer Hina Siddique of Pune, India, whose untitled monologue presents two very different women with one terrible secret.

From the Writer's Desk...

Where do I work?  At a moderately messy desk in Princeton, New Jersey... but if you'd like a few more details about where I do what I do, check out this interview with the splendid Sara Israel, who is blogging for the Theater @ Boston Court in Pasadena, California about playwrights and their workspaces.

Joe supervises.  And occasionally attacks the printer.

2010: The Year in Review -- Stuff I Did

This has been a very different year.  Big things have happened.  (Publications.  Productions.  A fellowship.  A big move!)  Risks have been taken.  Fun has been had.  All in all, I feel like I can confidently say that the day has been seized!

I always feel like I need to be doing more.  But I'd like to take a moment, now, to celebrate what I did accomplish in 2010 -- and to thank everyone who helped to make this such a wonderful year.  

Me and everything I own, in the back of a U-Haul Truck.

Changes in 2010

Quit day job at USC in the spring, where I had worked for nine years as a "Documentation Specialist" -- doing user support, teaching training classes and writing documentation for their Student Information System.  I miss all my friends there!

Gave myself a summer vacation, and spent that time back on the farm, in Oregon.  Nice to spend some time with my family!  And in close proximity to Dad's vegetable garden...

Moved across the country, into the cutest little cottage in Princeton, New Jersey in the fall -- accepting a year-long writing fellowship at Princeton University.

The cottage.

Accomplishments in 2010

Song of Extinction, by EM Lewis - published by Dramatics Magazine.

Winter

Began the year with a two-week long writing residency at Soapstone in Nehalem, Oregon.  What a beautiful place!  Set deep in the woods, overlooking a river.  A writing aerie, where I could work on my new play, "Magellanica: A New and Accurate Map of the World." 

Completed one last round of Lee Wochner's "Words That Speak" playwriting workshop, where I began a new full-length play called "Magellanica."  (Lee has been a wonderful mentor, teacher and friend to me.  Thank you, Lee!)  This was my workhorse of a workshop for... so many years that I'm having trouble calculating.  I met a bunch of my very favorite playwrights there.  You know who you are.

Took two day-long playwriting workshops from Los Angeles playwright Aaron Henne.  Great stuff!  I got a good bit done on a rather elliptical new full-length called "The Year I Don't Remember."

Attended an early meeting of the new organization LAFPI -- the Los Angeles Female Playwrights Initiative.  Check it out!

Publications!  A scene from "Heads" was published in Smith & Kraus' "Best Men's Monologues and Scenes 2009" anthology.  My short play "The Edge of Ross Island" was published in the literary magazine "Eleven Eleven."  And best of all, "Song of Extinction" was published in Dramatics Magazine, and then by Samuel French.   Yay!

Song of Extinction, by EM Lewis - published by Samuel French.

Spring

Had a reading of my ten-minute play "The Manuscript" in "Shorts & Briefs" -- a festival of short plays produced by the Los Angeles Women's Theater Project.

Directed a reading of Part I of my play Magellanica in the Dramatists Guild's "Friday Night Footlights," and then again at [Inside] the Ford, as part of the Words That Speak workshop readings.  Had an outstanding cast!  It is so amazing to hear something out loud for the first time.

Got my first passport.  Just in case I get the chance to go someplace wonderful and far away.

Had a reading of "Song of Extinction" at TimeLine Theater in Chicago.

Had a production of "Song of Extinction" at Ion Theater in San Diego, California.

Song of Extinction at Ion Theater in San Diego, CA.

Matthew Alexander and Robin Christ in Song of Extinction. 

Celebrated my fellowship (and said goodbye) with parties at my work (USC) and my theater company (Moving Arts).  I appreciate all the love and support so much!

Was talked about in a lovely article by my mentor, teacher and friend Lee Wochner.  Thank you, Lee!  You are the best.

Summer

Spent the summer back in Oregon, on the farm.

The farm.

Hiking in Oregon.  On top of the world, on Table Rock.

Had a production of "Song of Extinction" in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland, produced by Rio Hondo College.

Wrote (and was paid for) an hour-long screenplay for a publishing company, creating a new story based on the work of one of their non-fiction writers.  It was an interesting challenge!

Was interviewed by Theresa May, University of Oregon theater professor and director of the Earth Matters on Stage Conference and Theater Festival.  ("Song of Extinction" was the winning play in the festival in 2008.)

Was interviewed by Theresa Dudeck, University of Oregon doctoral student and director of the workshop production of "Song of Extinction" in the Earth Matters on Stage Conference in 2008.

Me and Stephanie kayaking in Friday Harbor!

Took a trip up to Washington state and visited playwright pals Babs Lindsay (Seattle) and Stephanie Walker (San Juan Islands).  So much fun!

Actors Michael Shutt, Peter James Smith and Stephanie Erb, director Darin Anthony, and me -- having lots of fun with "The Incident Report" at the Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway Short Play Festival

Produced "The Incident Report" in the Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway Short Play Festival.  We made the finals!  I was very proud of our intrepid Los Angeles crew:  director Darin Anthony, and actors Peter James Smith, Michael Shutt and Stephanie Erb.

Fall

My new mascot -- the Princeton Tiger!

Began 2010-2011 Hodder Fellowship in Playwriting at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey.

Did a reading with the other two Hodder Fellows -- Cynthia Cruz and ZZ Packer -- at Princeton University.  Actor Mark Nelson was kind enough to read with me, and we did two monologues (one from "Song of Extinction" and one from "Magellanica") and a scene from "Heads."

Had a reading of a scene from "Heads" in a fundraiser for friend Monica Bauer's upcoming production of "Balls:  The Testosterone Plays."

Sat in on a History of Science Seminar at Princeton University.

ANPF board president Fred Wright and me.

Acted as Host Playwright for the 2010 Ashland New Plays Festival in Ashland, Oregon -- welcoming the four winning playwrights, introducing the plays, conducting talk-backs and teaching a playwriting workshop.  It was a fabulous week!

Joined the Ashland New Plays Festival Advisory Board.

Had a reading of a new 10-minute play called "Apple Season" at Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga Canyon, California.  The theater asked a number of playwrights who had been lucky enough to have plays developed in their "Botanicum Seedlings" development program to write new short plays on the theme of "backyard fruit" that they could read on their lovely outdoor stage.

Participated in "Drunken Careening Writers" by reading short play "Seven Bottles of Heineken After the Silverado" with Aaron Simms.  Thanks for asking me to come out and play, Kathleen Warnock!

Joined a new playwriting workshop!

Had a reading of "Song of Extinction" at Briccolage Theater in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, followed by my first "Skyped" talk-back.  Technology, for the win!

Was asked to write an adaptation for Halcyon Theater's annual festival of plays by women playwrights in 2011, and began work on the project.  Keep an eye out for "Strong Voice" in Chicago this summer!

_________________________________

I'm very thankful for all the opportunities that have come my way this year -- and am looking forward to lots of work, fun and theater-going in 2011!

2010: The Year in Review -- Shows I Saw

No wonder I have no time to see movies anymore!  Here is a list of the theater I saw in 2010, along with a few music events, poetry events and talks.  I don't think I missed any, but...

Los Angeles, CA (and thereabouts)

·      Carousel at Reprise

·      Readings of plays from Lee Wochner's "Words That Speak" Playwriting Workshop at [Inside] the Ford

·      Exiles at the Hayworth

·      Sidhe at the Road, directed by Darin Anthony

·      Reading of Stephanie Walker's new play American Home at the Blank

·      bobrauschenbergamerica at [Inside] the Ford, produced by TheSpyAnts

·      Reading by poet Mary Oliver at Royce Hall.

·      A Wrinkle in Time at South Coast Repertory Theater

·      Stage Door at Open Fist

·      Reading of Rick Setlowe's new play at the Blank

·      Reading of Apogee +26 at Palisades Theater

·      Reading of my play Magellanica (Part I) in the Dramatists Guild's "Friday Night Footlights"

·      Men of Tortuga at Furious

·      Reading of Jami Brandli's play "Technicolor Life" at the Blank

·      Lacsivious Something at [Inside] the Ford, produced by Circle X

·      The Wake at the Kirk Douglas

·      Loyalties at Pacific Resident Theater

·      Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights Party

·      Workshop production of Stranger Things at Bootleg, produced by Ghost Road

·      Getting Frankie Married... and Afterwards at Open Fist

·      Reading of my play Magellanica (Part I) at [Inside] the Ford, in Words That Speak workshop readings

·      The Twentieth Century Way at The Theater @ Boston Court

·      Workshop mates' readings at [Inside] the Ford, produced by Words That Speak

·      London's Scars at the Odyssey

·      South Pacific at the Ahmanson

Portland, OR and Ashland, OR

·      Reading of Gnit at the JAW Festival at Portland Center Stage

·      Hamlet at Oregon Shakespeare Festival

·      Readings of Ashland New Plays Festival winning plays: The Exceptionals, by Bob Clyman; Technicolor Life, by Jami Brandli; The Insidious Impact of Anton, by David Hilder; and The Gold Star in the Window by Harlene Goodrich

·      American Nights at Oregon Shakespeare Festival

New York and New Jersey

·      Oh, Deer at Princeton University

·      Band of Changes (music!) at BT Bistro

·      Aurelia's Oratorio at the McCarter

·      The Living Newspaper presents: Google Rising at Le Poisson Rouge

·      Lost Boy at Premiere Stages

·      Reading of The Mneumonist at Naked Angels, directed by Laura Savia

·      "The Wicked Women of Off-Broadway" talk -- Annie Baker, Lisa Kron, Theresa Rebeck and Sarah Ruhl

·      Paul Muldoon and Michael Wood (poet/critic) discussion at Labrinth Books

·      Love and Communication at Passage Theater in Trenton

·      Wings at Second Stage

·      That Hopey Changey Thing at the Public

·      An Iliad at the McCarter

·      EST event for playwrights

·      Anne Carson and S. Bynum (poet/fiction writer) at Princeton University

·      Edward Albee talk at NYPSI

·      La Bete on Broadway

·      Reading of Oedipus El Rey at the Lark

·      Princeton Symphony Orchestra (music)

·      Princeton University Triangle Show

·      Play Dead at the Players Theater

·      Middletown at the Vineyard

·      The Great Game at the Public

·      Reading of David Hilder's new play

·      Princeton University Orchestra's Shostakovich concert (music)

·      La Cage au Faux at the LongAcre

·      Next to Normal at the Booth Theater

Plays from Coast to Coast this Week!

Oh, blog... since we last spoke, I've quit my job, sold my car, packed up my stuff, spent the summer at home on the farm, and moved to central New Jersey.  This is my year of CHANGE!


I miss my friends and colleagues in Los Angeles, but have been enjoying being in lovely Princeton, where I'm the lucky recipient of the Hodder Fellowship in Playwriting for this academic year.  I've also been enjoying being New York adjacent.  I can go see a world-class museum, a Broadway show, and a panel discussion with a bunch of my favorite playwrights, then stroll through Central Park on my way back to the train station, eating a bagel and trying to remember which pocket I hid my Metrocard in.


This post is not about my new life, though.  It's about WHAT'S HAPPENING THIS WEEK!!  Which is really the best of both worlds, as I have readings happening in both New York and Los Angeles.  I hope you will check one or the other out, if you're in the vicinity! 

Thursday, November 18th at 7pm

KGB Bar in New York, NY

SIX BOTTLES OF HEINEKEN AFTER THE SILVERADO at "Drunken! Careening! Writers!"

Featuring yours truly, reading with Aaron Simms!

Saturday and Sunday, November 20-21 at 2pm

Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga Canyon, CA

APPLE SEASON in "Backyard Fruit"

Directed by Jen Bloom, and starring Victoria Hilyard and Carl Palmer.

Let me know if you can attend either event!  They both should be lots of fun.

  

Ferber, Lewis, Warnock at Drunken! Careening! Writers!

Thursday, November 18 · 7:00pm - 8:30pm

KGB Bar

85 E. 4th St.

New York, NY

Drunken! Careening! Writers! is a reading series based on the proposition that readings should be by 1) good writers; 2) who read their work well; and 3) something in it makes people laugh (nervous laughter counts). And 15 minutes tops.

Lisa Ferber

EM Lewis

Kathleen Warnock

"The Write Stuff"

FREE

Lisa Ferber is a multidisciplinary satirist. Her paintings and illustrations have shown at National Arts Club, Location One, Governors Island Art Fair, Manhattan Borough President's Office, and other galleries, and have sold to private collectors. Her plays and songs have been performed at La Mama, The Duplex, The Brick, Theater for the New City, and other venerable locations, and her play "Bonbons for Breakfast" was a New York magazine "notable production." Her play "Lisa Ferber's 'An Evening With Molly Hadafew'" is published in "The Book of Estrogenius 2008." Her film "The Celery Stalker" toured US film festivals. Her stories have been read at Dirty Laundry, Barbes, and she was featured in the KGB evening "People Who Get More Done Than I Do." She made her singing debut in the musical "Whimsellica's Grand Inheritance," which she wrote with Emmy-nominated composer Robert Firpo-Cappiello. She co-composed the music to match her lyrics on "You Left Me for a Tranny and I'm Still Drinkin'" and "Married Don't Mean Unavailable." She was a guest celebrity on WVOX Radio and was profiled on BroadwayAfterDark.com. She experiences frequent bursts of gratitude for living in New York City.

EM Lewis won the 2009 Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award for her play "Song of Extinction" (published by Samuel French, and playing at the Guthrie early next year) and the 2008 Francesca Primus Prize for an emerging woman theater artist for "Heads" from the American Theater Critics Association. Her work has been produced across the country, as well as in Canada, China, South Africa, and at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland. She is currently working on a new play called "Magellanica: A New and Accurate Map of the World" at Princeton University, where she is the 2010-2011 Hodder Fellow in Playwriting.  www.dramatistsguildweb.com

/members/emlewis

Kathleen Warnock is a New York City-based playwright and editor. She has curated Drunken! Careening! Writers! since 2004 and enjoys it more and more each year. Her plays have been produced in New York City, regionally, and in London and Dublin, Ireland. She is Playwrights Company Manager for Emerging Artists Theatre, and Curator of the Robert Chesley/Jane Chambers Playwrights Project at TOSOS Theatre. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild. She is series editor for Best Lesbian Erotica (Cleis). By day, she edits travel guides for Frommer's. 

BACKYARD FRUIT
Botanicum Seedlings Fall (short) Playreading Festival
Eight new plays by emerging and award-winning playwrights
November 20 & 21

TOPANGA, CA – November 3, 2010 – Theatricum’s play development program, Botanicum Seedlings, continues to foster its relationship with local playwrights by producing its first ever festival of new short plays.The Fall (short) Playreading Festival features the works of emerging and award-winning writers based in the L.A. area, all of whom have been involved with Seedlings. A harvest of eight short plays based on the theme “backyard fruit,” along with gourmet seasonal refreshments, The Fall (short) Playreading Festival takes place Saturday and Sunday, November 20 & 21, at 2 pm. Admission is Free; donations gratefully accepted.

“Although our program supports the work of playwrights from across the country, we’re always on the lookout for ‘locally grown’ writers we can nurture in new ways,” says Seedlings literary manager Julie Retzlaff. “With this festival, we wanted to reach out to LA-area writers we’ve worked with in the past, and at the same time plan an event that would bring together the community of Topanga and Theatricum artists. The summer season of classics is over, so we’re offering something fresh and different to our audiences.” Retzlaff is producing the Festival together with Theatricum playwright-in-residence Jennie Webb.

The plays composing “Backyard Fruit” on both performance dates are:

• “Night” by Ella Martin - Bathed in moonlight, a garden is full of possibilities. Especially to a young, impressionable radish. Ella Martin is a writer, director and actor whose plays have been developed by Rubicon International Theatre Festival, Theater Charity, and PianoFight LA. She is founder and artistic director of Theatre Mab.

• “Apple Season” by EM Lewis – Lissie has no problem selling the family farm she’s inherited.  But Billy hadn’t bargained on her asking price. EM Lewis is the recipient of numerous awards including the Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award, Francesca Primus Prize and LADCC Ted Schmitt Award. She is currently a Hodder Fellow at Princeton University.

• “The Fruits of Their Labor” by Michael Premsriart – Not everyone in Russia is ready to turn their piece of the motherland over to an American real estate speculator. Michael Premsriart has had plays presented at the Public Theatre, Asian American Theater Company and the Asian American Repertory Theatre in San Diego. He’s a member of LA’s Playwrights Arena.

• “Trick Ride” by Mary F. Casey – Life is like a rodeo. The saddle gets harder, the competition gets younger and your memory starts to play tricks on you. But what a ride. Mary F. Casey’s plays, including Unspeakable Acts, have won the Jane Chambers Playwriting Award and Zane Gray Playwriting Contest. She received the Butcher Scholar Award from the Autry National Center.

• “The Ladder” by Damon Chua - A married couple deals with the loss of gravity, and the gravity of loss, all in their own backyard. Damon Chua is the author of numerous plays including the Ovation Award-winning Film Chinois (published by Samuel French). His pieces have been presented in Los Angeles New York, Boston, Alaska, Ohio, Pennsylvania, London and Singapore.

• “Community Property” by Tira Palmquist – Even in the perfect neighborhood, a good fence doesn’t make for good neighbors when a property dispute turns sour. The author of full-length plays featured on stages and in festivals across the country, Tira Palmquist is a writer, director and teacher. Her short plays have recently been produced in Los Angeles, Chicago and Virginia.

• “A Strawberry for Your Thoughts” by Shannon Lee Clair – A tender look at young love and what flavors the future may hold on the eve of a backyard wedding. Shannon Lee Clair is a graduate of Princeton University, where she wrote and directed her first play. She has studied abroad at LAMDA and worked locally with the La Mirada Theatre’s Young Artist Project.

• “Sour Fruit” by Tiffany Antone – A play about politics, double standards and the cost of getting elected… particularly if the candidate is a woman who’s got a choice to make. Tiffany Antone’s award-winning plays have been presented in Los Angeles, New York, D.C. and Minneapolis, and published by Samuel French. She is the literary manager for LATE.

The Festival features the work of five directors working collaboratively with the playwrights, and and an ensemble cast that features members of Theatricum’s company along with new actors brought in specifically for the Festival. The “Backyard Fruit” directors are Jen Bloom, who developed the Performing Arts Program at the Los Angeles Natural History Museum and has extensive credits on the East Coast and in L.A. (Rogue Machine Theatre, Chalk Rep and the Playwrights Union); Katherine James, a playwright, artistic director of Free Association Theatre, and frequent Seedlings collaborator; Julie Retzlaff, who works on primarily new works, as a producer and director, in N.Y. (Ensemble Studio Theatre and Arclight Theatre Company) and California (Pacific Repertory Theatre and Seedlings); Ann-Giselle Spiegler, an award-winning director for theater, film and music video based in Los Angeles; and Joy Howard, artistic director of LA’s critically-acclaimed LOFT ensemble.

Initiated in 2002, the Botanicum Seedlings series acts as an adjunct to the Theatricum Botanicum’s Summer Repertory Season, mounting spring playreadings as the season opens, and culminating after the season winds down with a fall workshop production or playreadings. Throughout the calendar year, plays are also selected to receive GreenReads, providing an unrehearsed, fresh look at scripts in various stages of development.
“Backyard Fruit,” Botanicum Seedlings Fall (short) Playreading Festival takes place Saturday, November 20 and Sunday, November 21 at 2 pm. Admission to the festival is free and open to the public; gourmet refreshments will be served and donations to support this series will be gratefully accepted. The Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum is located at 1419 North Topanga Canyon Blvd. in Topanga, midway between Malibu and the San Fernando Valley. For further information, the public should call (310) 455-2322 or visitwww.theatricum.com. The theater is outdoors; dress warmly and please call the theater in case of inclement weather.