"Magellanica" monologues in the Drew University Congress on Ecstatic Naturalism

And now, for something completely different!  

On April 13, I worked with Sloane Drayson-Knigge and a wonderful little cohort of actors to present monologues from my play "Magellanica" to the philosophers who were attending the Congress on Ecstatic Naturalism at Drew University.  I visited Sloane's "Women in Theater" class at Drew last year, as well as an undergraduate theater class.  This was a different kettle of fish, but very enjoyable, always, to work with actors on characters and voice and help them more fully inhabit the lives they are living on stage.  They did a great job.  I think the philosophers liked it!

Guest teaching at CUNY Hostos College

CUNY Hostos theater professor Angel Morales directed a production of "Song of Extinction"at the college last year.  I was able to meet him, his actors, his colleagues and his audience through a series of events planned around my play being named Book-of-the-Semester, and was very impressed with him. So when he asked me to come and guest teach a playwriting unit to his theater class in April, I was glad to do it.  I talked with his students about how a playwright begins to think about how to write a play -- about goals and obstacles, characters, a sense of place, and story structure.  It was a lovely morning!

The Gun Show in NYC on March 12

We have a gun problem in America.  The problem is, we really, really like them.

THE GUN SHOW

A new one-man show written by EM Lewis
Directed by Pete BoisvertPerformed by Christopher Yustin
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/332755

Everyone has guns in rural Oregon, where I grew up.  But somewhere between there and here and then and now, my feelings on the subject have grown complicated.  This is a show about guns and gun control -- Dirty Harry, Trayvon Martin, the NRA, Columbine, Tarentino, Sandy Hook.  This is a show about my own experiences with guns.  Can we let go of our firearms?  Do we want to?

Tuesday, March 12, 2013 at 7pm 

Emerging Artists Theater 

One Man Talking * New Works Series 

At TADA! Theater in NYC

15 West 28th Street, 2nd Floor

Tickets $10

Running time:  40 minutes.  

Followed by THE MOMENT (20 minutes) by Lavinia Roberts, 

and a short conversation with the writers, directors and performers.

Emerging Artists Theatre (EAT) New Work Series is a three-week developmental festival that provides artists of different disciplines the opportunity to present one night of a “work in progress” with audience feedback. Successful Fringe, NYMF, and Off-Broadway shows have been born out of this festival, and Emerging Artists is excited to present a new round of opportunity to local artists for the 9^th year in a row. 

Hope to see you there!

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.

"Waiting for the Skell" in the 2013 Briefs Festival in St. Louis

Have you ever had characters who wouldn't stop talking to you?  Terry and Pete are like that.  They crack me up.

"Waiting for the Skell" by EM Lewis, directed by Bonnie Taylor for the 2013 Briefs Festival in St. Louis. 

Robert Lee Davis and Wendy Renee Greenwood as cops on a stake out in "Waiting for the Skell," written by EM Lewis and directed by Bonnie Black Taylor

I created Terry and Pete a few years ago for a comic ten-minute play called "Partners," about a lesbian cop who was bringing her work partner -- a gruff, funny, un-PC guy -- home to meet her life partner -- a smart, sassy, strong-minded woman who was none too happy to have to share. It's become one of my most frequently produced ten minute plays, and was done as part of the Briefs Festival in St. Louis last year -- a festival of short plays on LGBT themes, produced by That Uppity Theater Company, in association with Vital Voice Media.

Well, when the fabulous Joan Lipkin, who runs TUTC, called and asked if I had any short plays to submit this year, it spurred me to polish up the next installment in Terry and Pete's partnership -- a stake-out story, called "Waiting for the Skell." In a move that absolutely delighted me, Joan brought back our director (Bonnie Taylor) and cast (Robert Lee David and Wendy Renee Greenwood) from last year. I so wish I could have been there to see it!

KDHX: "In “Waiting for the Skell,” two police officers, one gay, one straight, share an easy companionship and comfortable openness with each other that brought tears to my eyes during the final moments. The bond these actors created in this short play was convincing and effective."

For more information on the Briefs Festival, click here!

Drop-Off Day in The Car Plays at the Off-Center Festival

DJ Harner and Mia Danelle in "Drop-Off Day" by EM Lewis, directed by Michael Shutt.  The Car Plays, produced by Moving Arts for the Off-Center Festival at Segerstrom Center.

Once again, I had a play in Moving Arts' The Car Plays -- this time, it was "Drop-Off Day" in the Off-Center Festival at Segerstrom Center in Costa Mesa. I love The Car Plays, which have become Moving Arts' signature event and an annual tradition. Car plays are so much fun to write!

"Drop-Off Day" is about a mom who has just moved her daughter into her dorm room for the daughter's first year of college -- but saying goodbye isn't easy for either of them, when all they have is each other. The Orange County Register called the play "poignant;"-- "its depiction of a mother and daughter struggling with a fundamental change in their relationship was quietly touching and completely believable." That was very much thanks to stellar performances by DJ Harner and Mia Danelle, and direction by Michael Shutt.

For more information about the Car Plays in the 2013 Off-Center Festival, click here.

"Higher" and "War Story" in the NJ OMPF

On January 19 and 20, I had to be (had to be?!) in Santa Barbara for PlayFest.  But two of my one-minute plays were being done back in New Jersey at Passage Theater in Trenton, home to the 2013 NJ One Minute Play Festival.  A celebration of theater and community, the one minute plays were submitted by writers from all over the state, and directed and acted by local talent.  It was a great challenge to write these short plays -- like writing haiku.  Wish I could have been there!

"War Story" is about a couple soldiers who are caught in a no-win situation.  

"Higher" is about a couple who is weathering a storm, and figuring out what matters most to them as the water rises.

More about the NJ OMPF 2013 here.