Adam Szymkowicz

Zin Galactic cut

2026-03-01T12:29:00.003-05:00

Zin Galactic cut

Sometimes there's something I like but I have to cut it because of how the play functions better without it. I just cut this from Zin Galactic and The Saloon at the Edge of the Universe.

LEXILI

I am Lexili and I will be your demise.

(Everyone except JULE freezes.)

JULE

And what if she is? What if that’s the end of me, right here and now? I have not lived my life fully. I have not reached for all that I want. I let them tear down the library. I let it happen. No. That’s not fair. What could I have done? There were too many of them. Not like now when I’m one-on-one. I can slice. I can kill. Can I fight? What if I’m no good? If I survive this, I will be different. I will grab what I want and I won’t let go. I won’t be bullied. I won’t be pushed around. I will will be something to behold. You better watch out. I will topple your unjust government! And I will grab life by the strata! Cornk!

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I Interview Playwrights Part 1124: Sophie McIntosh

2026-01-27T14:23:00.002-05:00

photo by Nina Goodheart

Sophie McIntosh

Hometown: Sun Prairie, Wisconsin!

Current Town: Brooklyn.

Q: What are you working on now?

A: I’m juggling revisions of two different projects. First is a screenplay currently titled Provocator, which follows a group of Sabine Women in a sort of dystopian, “RETVRN”-esque recreation of Ancient Rome as they fight to escape their oppressors. The other is a play called Chicane, which follows a pair of Formula 1 drivers who hatch a murderous scheme against the current championship leader to claw their own way onto the podium.

Q: Tell me, if you will, a story from your childhood that explains who you are as a writer or as a person.

A: I was extremely obsessed with creating these extremely intricate war games with plastic animals. My favorites were those Schleich animal figures—you know, the super realistic ones they have on the big racks at Michaels craft stores. But I also had other random ones, like an Aslan lion from some Chronicles of Narnia playset and some rubber snakes from Halloween. I’d divide them into different factions—for example, the lions were the leaders of the Mammals (aside from the Canines, who refused to be ruled by Felines had their own enclave in the tall grass by the wooden fence), while a schism between the Snakes and Alligators had fractured the Reptiles into warring camps. It was all very intense, with dynasties rising and falling and alliances being forged and shattered. I loved to kill characters off, only to promptly replace them with an identical-looking distant cousin or vengeful offspring (since I didn’t have enough animals to sustain my own narrative’s fatality rate). Sometimes real-life circumstances would intrude on my fantasy world, such as when my dad mulched Aslan with the lawnmower and I quickly had to explain this away as a successful assassination attempt by the snakes with the motive of sparking an untimely succession crisis. I still keep a handful of these plastic veterans on my writing desk as a reminder.

Q: If you could change one thing about theater, what would it be?

A: The basic answer is that I wish that the theater was provided with more resources in this country, because I believe that’s the root cause of so many of its problems regarding lack of accessibility, failure to implement sustainability (in both the “go green” and “prevent artist burnout” senses), and the prioritization of profit over artistic merit. Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of faith that our current government is going to be federally funding the arts anytime soon. So, to shift to something a bit smaller and more specific: a really great and much-needed change would be an update to the AEA Showcase Code, or the introduction of an Equity production contract that falls somewhere between Showcase Code and the Mini Contract. I am firmly pro-union, and love to work with Equity Actors—but the existing agreements haven’t been updated since 2018, and it’s incredibly difficult to successfully make theater with AEA actors at the indie level in the post-Covid financial landscape.

Q: Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A: Sarah Kane and Annie Baker, first and foremost. The earliest plays I very intentionally set out to read were by Miller and Williams, who instilled in me an early fixation upon structure. Also, Sarah Delappe, Kimberly Belflower, Lily Padilla, Alexis Scheer, Gracie Gardner, Kaite O’Reilly, Martin McDonagh and Adrienne Kennedy. I’m a big Ibsen gal, too. I feel really lucky to count Martyna Majok, David Henry Hwang, Lynn Nottage, Leslie Ayvazian, and Chuck Mee among my mentors.

Q: What kind of theater excites you?

A: As I mentioned, I’m a slut for structure. My favorite thing to experience in a theater is that moment when all the pieces come together, and something that was presented to us innocuously earlier is recontextualized by a new event or new information that spins the play on its axis (without knocking it fully out of its orbit—the integrity of the world must be maintained!) and sends it off in a new direction. New forms interest me too, but I’m very much hardwired to prefer the Classic Freytag Experience. Spatially, I covet intimacy and proximity—one of my favorite aspects of live theater is the way it allows you to watch a single person’s expression shift subtly from moment to moment without being forced to cut away, and I like to be close enough to witness it fully. (I’m also quite nearsighted, so.) Thematically, I’m fascinated by redemption and its limits. I love moments of realization, and watching them ripple out from character to audience. I adore a painful betrayal, a tragic downfall, and the violent desperation that arises from humiliation. I’m equally compelled by a character whose morality erodes right before our eyes as I am a character who is destroyed by her own rigid adherence to her principles. Above all, I’m excited by works that challenge us to empathize with someone who we might otherwise be repulsed by.

Q: What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out?

A: If you are still in school, make sure you are making the most of those resources—specifically, access to space and collaborators! When you graduate, you’ll have to pay for both (or at least buy people pizza when you host them in your living room), so take advantage of having enthusiastic classmates and empty classrooms/rehearsal rooms at your disposal. More generally, my biggest advice is to establish a writing practice for yourself. Make it a part of your routine, whether you’re writing for a certain amount of time each day (or each week) or trying to write a certain number of pages each day (or each week). Everyone has their own setup that works for them. I get my best results from writing for at least an hour every day, and then I have friends that like to let the work build up inside them for weeks and then pound out a new full-length play over the course of a weekend. I used to feel really insecure that I couldn’t do that, because it seemed sort of hardcore and glamorous, but I’m now very happy with the steady progress my own approach provides. Finally, familiarize yourself with the Dramatist’s Bill of Rights before you need to sign your first contract—it’s a lot harder for people to take advantage of you when you’re familiar with industry standards.

Q: Plugs, please:

A: My plays macbitches and cityscrape are available now at the Drama Book Shop or via Theatrical Rights Worldwide! I’m proud to be co-artistic director of Good Apples Collective, alongside my co-founder Nina Goodheart—you can find free resources for indie theatermakers on our website, and the best way to keep up with our work is to follow us over on Instagram at @goodapplescollective! Also, with Adam’s blessing (thank you, Adam!), I’m starting my own interview series called talks with theatermakers. Come check it out!

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My 2025 in Review

2025-12-23T09:25:00.000-05:00

Hi Friends! Happy Holidays! Here is my 2025 rundown.

Another year of being a full time playwright! It's been about 2 and a half years now. I feel like I'm still getting used to it. I think part of me thought there would be so much time in the day for writing and thinking and there's definitely more time than there was when I was working full time, but administrative tasks of playwriting don't go away and like I've said before, I have more of the home work now, including driving the kid places, getting him up every morning and parenting when he gets home every day. So my days are shorter than they were. But I'm not complaining. I'm very lucky.

This year I wrote the last 2/3 of a screenplay, the last 2/3 of a full length play as well as 3 one act plays and 3 full length plays. I was also paid to write an outline of a screenplay.

Also we are slowly working on a musical version of Kodachrome.

In production news, overall I had 3 more than last year (193 vs 190) It was 106 full lengths, 82 one acts, 5 nights of short plays. Compared to last year, a few more full length productions and fewer one act productions.

I had the same number of productions of full lengths at theaters as the past 2 years (23 theaters). 27 colleges did my plays. The rest of the productions were high schools, and the odd middle school or theater camp.

There were 23 productions of the full length version of Kodachrome and 30 productions of the one act version. Counting both versions, Kodachrome has now had over 200 productions.

Full lengths this year included 28 productions of Marian or the True Tale of Robin Hood, 25 of The Bookstore, 8 of The Christmas Tree Farm, 6 Clown Bar, 2 Clown Bar 2, 1 Clown Bar Christmas, 1 Hearts Like Fists, 2 Hearts Like Planets, 1 Night Children, 2 Bart and Arnie, 1 Adventures of Super Margaret, 1 Fat Cat Killers, 1 Incendiary, 1 Such Small Hands, 1 New Love, 1 Starry Night and 1 Elsewhere (in Turkish).

Four published plays this year. Hearts Like Planets, Bart and Arnie, The Girl Who Cannot Be Hurt. I'm excited for the Marian Musical to be released for licensing sometime in the new year!

Some posters from productions this year. This year saw NYC premiere of Fat Cat Killers, world premiere of Such Small Hands, fancy NOLA Project production of Clown Bar 2, New Love premiered in Belgrade.

I ran 7 races. (five 5ks, one 1 mile, and one 5 mile--the Manchester Road Race on Thanksgiving, the latter of which I last ran about 30 years ago.) I probably ran slower than last year.

We took our son to Disney World. Went camping in CT, hung out on the Cape. I was in Anaheim for the Chance Theater production for almost two weeks. Was at a silent writing retreat with stillwright in upstate New York for a week. Visited Lehigh University to see the Bookstore. Went to Little Pond for the Flux retreat. Worked on a play at the CT Theater Exchange. Was in and out of NYC quite a bit. Saw Kodachrome in Canton, CT. Went to NY Comicon.

This year I was again in a writing group for parents with Project Y, and took part in Flux's Core Work writing group.

I became a Creative Partner at Flux Theater Ensemble.

What else happened this year? We had to have a pipe replaced in our back yard and had to live at my parents house for a week so we could take showers.

Otherwise, things are good. Hope all is well with all of you.

Happy New Year!

Here are my previous years in review.

2024

2023
2022
2021

2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007

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I Interview Playwrights Part 1123: Chester Poon

2025-11-13T12:18:00.002-05:00

Chester Poon

Hometown: Springfield, MA

Current Town: Brooklyn

Q: Tell me about The Hardest Goodbye.

A: The Hardest Goodbye is my very first play. I've always wanted to write a play, but never knew how to start or what to write about, but I guess you could say I had a light bulb moment. It started as an idea I came up with one night while watching YouTube. I was watching these two ghosthunters doing random things in an abandoned hotel and they were doing a collab with these other two video game content creators. The whole thing looked absolutely ridiculous and it was obvious at least to me that a good portion of it was somewhat scripted in the way that reality shows are scripted. So I thought it would be hilarious if a play was written depicting this. I've also desperately wanted to see more ghosts and ghost stories in plays in general. Maybe it's what I'm exposed to in the theater, but it's rare for me to come across a ghost story come to life on the stage. I picked one ritual that the real-life Youtubers did and just started writing. It quickly evolved into what I think ghosts are really about and what captures our imagination. I have a hot-take. I don't believe in ghosts, so for me, ghosts are really just something that our senses can't quite identify or understand. That "not-knowing" is what sometimes fuels our fear of ghosts or the ghostly. But to me, ghosts are also intriguing in that they have a tendency to represent grief and loss in our imaginations. And that's the story I wanted to tell.

Q: What else are you working on now?

A: Well, writing this play got me going, so I'm writing another one. For a period of time, I got really into the concept of lucid dreaming. That's about all I'm willing to share at the moment.

Q: If you could change one thing about theater, what would it be?

A: More ghost plays! More plays about ghosts! More plays with jump scares!

Q: What kind of theater excites you?

A: I'm pretty basic. I like a good time. I wanna experience both the laughing and the crying/sad mask that's associated with theater.

Q: What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out?

A: I mean, I'm just starting out myself, so I don't really know anything, but if I could talk to a younger version of myself that hadn't started writing yet, I'd tell him to just start writing. What held me back for so long is that I thought I sucked at writing dialogue. And honestly, the earlier iterations of this play did kinda suck, but I kept working at it. So, don't be afraid that your play is going to suck. It probably will at first, but just keep at it. It'll get better. I also found that it helps to let go of the ego and allow yourself to be vulnerable in your writing.

Q: Plugs, please:

A: Plugs? Like, as in promo something? I have a public staged reading for this on Dec 2nd!

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Two More Weeks of Fat Cat Killers in nyc

2025-05-09T10:26:00.002-04:00

https://www.sparkplugproductions.com/

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My 2024 Year In Review

2024-12-22T15:41:00.004-05:00

Hi! Happy Holidays everyone! Here's my 2024 in review.

I made a living this year! A modest living-- So like imagine an overworked non profit level salary but take the overwork part away. It's not really the kind of money you want to make as a 47-year-old man with a preteen child at home but I was able to be only a playwright all year because my wife brought home the health insurance.

This year I wrote one one-act play, one full length play, one graphic novel adaptation, one feature film script, and am a third of the way through another feature and a third of the way through a new play. I worked on the book for the musical version of Marian too with composer and lyricist Masi Asare.

I ran four 5k races.

This year my book Letters To A Young Playwright came out from Applause (now Bloomsbury) My graphic novel adaptation of Clown Bar came out from Rare Earth. (Art by Carl Mefferd.) Clown Bar Christmas was published this year by Concord. The Christmas Tree Farm was published by Broadway Play Publishing Inc.

Hearts Like Planets will come out from DPS (Broadway Licensing) soon and Marian The True Tale of Robin Hood, THE MUSICAL will come out from Concord (Sam French).

In 2024, I had 101 full lengths productions, 87 one acts, 1 musical, 1 night of short plays (190 total) Last year was 79 full lengths and 59 one acts.

23 of the full lengths were at theaters, (same number as last year) 16 at colleges or universities, (down from 19). The other 62 were high schools with a few camps and middle schools thrown in. (Last year that number was 37.)

There were 27 full length productions of Kodachrome, (up from 19); 36 one act productions of Kodachrome (up from 14); 31 Marian (1 less than last year); 1 Touring production of Elsewhere in Türkiye, in Turkish.

4 productions of Clown Bar 2; 4 productions of Clown Bar; 5 productions of Hearts Like Fists; 18 productions of The Bookstore (six more than last year); 4 Night Children; 4 Christmas Tree Farm; 1 Sex Writer; 2 Bart and Arnie; 1 Marian Musical.

I had productions in Türkiye, Malaysia and Ethiopia and a whole lot in Canada.

Bart and Arnie premiered at Idiom Theater. And Poly Prep. Melancholics Anonymous will do in in Minneapolis in the new year.

The Sex Writer went up in NYC.

This year I was in a writing group for parents again with Project Y, and took part in Flux's Core Work writing group. Did a signing at the Drama Book Shop with Jackie Goldfinger.

Apart from being in NYC a lot, for Clown Bar 2 (Directed by Andrew Block) and The Sex Writer (Directed by Phil Cruise), I also went there for Comicon for the fist time.

Developed our musical at Penn State and at the International Thespian Festival in Bloomington IN. (both Directed by John Simpkins.) Visited New London MN to meet the first group to do all three Clown Bar plays. (Dir Matt Hegdahl) I was honored to again attend the Flux Retreat at Little Pond. I took trips for family to DE and VA.

Next year, there are 30 full length productions so far slated for 2025. There will be 2, possibly three productions at TCG theaters, one of which will be a not-yet-announced production of Clown Bar 2.

Such Small Hands opens in Feb at The Chance Theater in Anaheim CA.

Love to you and yours! Hope we all have a great 2025!

Here are my previous years in review.

2023
2022
2021

2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007

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Clown Bar Graphic Novel

2024-11-26T12:59:00.003-05:00

is now available

https://mixam.com/print-on-demand/674511f3f288c701316de9dc

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I Interview Playwrights Part 1122: Corey Allen

2024-10-21T09:58:00.004-04:00

Corey Allen

Hometown: San Diego, CA

Current Town: Austin, TX, and Brooklyn, NY

Q: Tell me about Methods in Madness and Polly, a dumbshow for smart people desperate to survive the fallout.

A: Methods in Madness is an interdisciplinary “salon” investigating the connection between mental health and creativity. It grew out of research I began two years ago into a growing mental health crisis plaguing the Black community. I was interested in interrogating the ways this largely silent struggle specifically impacts artists and chose to look at four 20th-century artists who publicly or privately battled with mental health. As a multidisciplinary artist who is also neurodivergent, I have often felt a certain fragmentation or compartmentalization in my work, so Methods became a container to integrate various facets of my creative practice into one violent confrontation.

It is an experiment, a meditation, and an autopsy of sorts. I use the word experiment because it’s an evolving examination of a constantly changing relationship across various artistic disciplines. It’s a work in flux, which has been radically supported by my creative home, FLUX Theatre Ensemble. Through a series of collaborations with a mix of artists, Methods is an art installation, an immersive audio experience with filmed and live performance components that invites audiences to enter the mind of an artist and consider the ways their own “madness” informs their art and vice versa.

Polly, a dumbshow for smart people desperate to survive the fallout is a unicorn of a play. Largely written during the “Great Reset” of 2020, it worked its way out of me as I watched the world unravel. In it, we follow the eponymous character through a series of disorienting confrontations as she navigates a brutally absurd upside-down world and fights to survive the fallout of her life.

Q: What else are you working on now?

A: I’m forever tinkering with something and love experimenting with new forms. Flux produced a sprawling immersive audio drama, Our Options Have Changed, which I wrote for. Methods in Madness contains a fair bit of poetry and scene fragments that I find interesting. There are a few short films gestating at the moment, and I am about to return to my vault… I have a Baldwin-inspired feature screenplay, Negrosis, I’m looking to produce, as well as a Sartre adaptation that was workshopped at The Cell in 2021.

Q: Tell me, if you will, a story from your childhood that explains who you are as a writer or as a person.

A: You know, funnily enough, I don’t have lots of precise memories from childhood. Much of it feels like a wet watercolor painting. I was an only child and a latchkey kid, so I mainly remember spending time on my own, much of it in front of the television, which I suppose does explain something about me… But the first story that comes to mind happened when I was about 13. I was visiting my aunt and cousins in this remote desert town in California. She was my favorite aunt, and I loved spending time with her and getting away from home. Well, my two cousins were a few years older than me and were tasked with watching me while their mom worked the nightshift. One evening, although we were supposed to stay at home, being teenagers, we had plans of our own. My cousins had friends who lived in a town twenty or so miles away, and they wanted to go hang out.

Now, Ridgecrest, where my aunt lived, was really out in the boonies, so there was very little around. I remember us piling into someone’s Ford Escort hatchback and riding with both windows down as we traveled about 45 minutes to an hour away. It was a blur of teenage shenanigans I don’t really recall—I was an NPC tagging along after all—but I do remember at some point, we realized we had to get back before my aunt got off work. That’s when we discovered the person who drove us there couldn’t drive us back. It was late at night, and because we weren’t supposed to have left the house, my cousins didn’t want to call their mom. And, being teenagers, none of us had much money (or cell phones), so my eldest cousin decided we could walk back or at least get close enough to afford a taxi.

I don’t know how many miles it was, but I remember walking along this two-lane highway in the middle of the night, with very few cars passing. One of my cousins was crying because she knew we were going to be in deep trouble. We eventually came to a gas station, called a taxi, and waited 30 or 45 minutes, but it never came, so we walked some more and eventually made it home—after my aunt. They got grounded.

Wow! I haven’t thought about that in a very long time. I suppose it explains my appreciation for an unplanned adventure. I love road trips—really, all trips—and long dark roads with hints of danger. These things find their way into my work, I think. I often feel like that backseat passenger, watching tales unfold.

Q: Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A: So many, and for various reasons. In no particular order: I adore Lorraine Hansberry. I love Beckett, Brecht, and Pinter. I appreciate William Inge and Tennessee Williams. I have tremendous respect for Adrienne Kennedy, August Wilson, and Tony Kushner.

Q: What kind of theater excites you?

A: Visceral, embodied, uncomfortable, messy, intimate, or epic storytelling is what I long to experience in the theater. I like being challenged and completely immersed.

Q: What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out?

A: I think too many playwrights are concerned with getting it right. The only way to discover your work is to identify the mysteries you’re most interested in solving and then allow them to guide your work. Chase what you can’t quite grasp—it’ll lead you somewhere you never expected. Yes, that pursuit may be long, and you may have to spend a lot of time in the wrong places, but those answers will eventually reveal themselves. If you follow them and write the things that only you can write in the way that only you can write them, you’ll do fine. And don’t worry about getting lost. That’s where the magic happens.

Q: Plugs, please:

A: Check out Our Options Have Changed and Sharing Power!

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The Sex Writer in NYC, Oct/Nov

2024-10-16T09:57:00.002-04:00

I have a new play opening in NYC Oct 30. Come if you can.

Jane's father, an "important" writer, has just died by suicide, and Jane goes home to her small town to deal with the aftermath. Jane is a professor and writer of spicy romance, and as she meets new possibilities and old loves, she narrates all her sexual longings as she struggles to deal with the grief from her father's death and the feeling that he deserted her a long time ago. Thin Duke/Sparkplug Productions present Adam Szymkowicz's world premiere.

https://www.tdf.org/shows/22111/the-sex-writer

https://www.onthestage.tickets/show/thin-duke-productions/66fad10d4abcb41e91ec77cf/

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Drama Book Shop Event and Book Release, Tues Oct 1 at 7:30

2024-09-27T11:21:00.001-04:00

Come if you can! Jackie Goldfinger and I will talk playwriting and about our books!

Reserve here!

and buy my book there or wherever else books are sold.

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I Interview Playwrights Part 1121: Kristen Doherty

2024-09-19T09:17:00.005-04:00

Kristen Doherty

Hometown:

I was born near the beach in Glenelg, South Australia. I still live in South Australia, but now in the Adelaide Hills with my husband, three daughters, two oodle dogs and two cats. We have been renovating a rambling old Tudor home for the past eight years, and I imagine we will never finish, but that's ok, because I love it, it makes me think of Shakespeare, so it's a very inspirational place to write.

Q: What are you working on now?

A: I am currently on long service leave after 21 years of Drama teaching. I am trying to use my time well to do lots of writing. I recently finished my newest play, ‘The Playhouse’, a time traveling romp around Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. It will have its premier at a school in New York in November. I am also working on a play that I actually started researching and co-writing as a screenplay about ten years ago, ‘Push’, a historical drama about the gangs of Sydney in the late 1800s. I am also attempting to finish some of my plays for young people including Ten Minute Hamlet and Thirty Minute Midsummer Night's Dream. I also have a vaudevillian murder mystery in the early stages of development.

Q: Tell me if you will a story from your childhood that explains who you are as a writer or as a person.

A: I was a die-hard theatre kid growing up. Like many of us I had dreams of one day becoming a well-respected actor. But I was also the slightly awkward, chubby, kid that talked too much and always got the crap roles; whereas the pretty, popular, academic girls always got the main. They didn’t want to make it their life like I did, and that stung. In my graduation play for my Drama degree I had three lines.

Hence, when I first became a drama teacher, (almost 25 years ago now. Eek!!) I wanted to give all of my students an opportunity to shine. But I too suffered, (and still do) the eternal quest to find a suitable play for my classes. I wanted good, meaty roles for all actors, with no stars, but I struggled to find plays that were true ensemble pieces. It seemed that every school still did the same plays that I did when I was in high school. So, I started writing my own....

I would love to tell that awkward kid that she would end up spend her life working in theatre. I think she'd like that.

Q: If you could change one thing about Theatre, what would it be?

A: I would like to see more value placed upon children's theatre and would like to see Drama taught in every primary (and high) school. I believe that theatre is magic for children. The benefits to their cognitive learning, their sense of importance, their self-esteem and their connection to community is immeasurable. Being a part of a company, whether that’s in a classroom or a theatre group, can be incredibly empowering; it gives young people a home, a sense of belonging, a purpose. I believe finding a love of theatre and the arts enriches lives.

Q: Who are your theatrical heroes,

A: My number one theatrical hero is William Shakespeare. I think I’m actually bordering on obsession with this one. I take a lot of inspiration from Shakespeare and his stories and currently have eight plays that are either inspired by Shakespeare and his works, or adaptations and parodies of it.

As an Australian writer I grew up with David Williamson, Michael Gow, Stephen Sewell, Ray Lawler and Louis Nowra. At uni I really got into absurd writers such as Samuel Beckett, Antonin Artaud and Harold Pinter. Right now, I am enjoying the work of contemporary Australian Playwrights, Finegan Krukemeyer, Melanie Tait and Andrew Bovell as well as the brilliant British comedy writer, Patrick Barlow. I also admire writers who specialise in Theatre for Young People such as Tracy Wells, Don Zolidis and Jason Pizzarello.

Q: What kind of Theatre excites you?

A: I really enjoy great storytelling - something that takes the audience on a journey. I like clever stories with strong emotional content; witty, engaging dialogue and well-rounded character arcs. I enjoy visually exciting theatrical design and an interesting or alternate space for theatre to be performed in.

As a writer, I get excited by the actual mechanics of storytelling, the process of writing. Coming up with ideas, researching, developing characters, storyline, dialogue, solving problems, working out puzzles, back-stories, twists, finding humour, drama, tragedy, and finally seeing the whole thing eventually unfold into a beautiful piece of theatre. I love seeing the audience's reactions as well as that of the actors who have just experienced the magic.

Q: What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out?

A: For this question I can only speak to my own experiences, that of someone who came into writing through teaching Drama. So, I think this answer will be slightly skewed towards the drama teacher or directors who work within the realm of Theatre for Young People.

As a playwright who specialises in Theatre for Young People, I find myself in a privileged position to also work as a drama teacher. I spend my days in a theatre, workshopping plays with my students. (If I’m not there, I’m home, in my office writing them). Sometimes these are my own plays, quite often they are works of other writers - Still, a rich exposure to work that inspires my writing.

Playwrights can be solitary figures who can spend years working on a piece without the opportunity to workshop regularly with actors to develop their plays. As Drama teachers, we can refine our craft every day. We work in classrooms and theatres where we can workshop and rehearse and be able to hear our words back, with actual humans to fill the acting roles. No matter how rudimentary our spaces and resources are; and how challenging our students can be, this is still exposure that independent playwrights rarely and sometimes never have. As writers we can be inspired by our students, their stories, their language and their views on the world which makes our writing more relevant and authentic for young people. And as Drama teachers we have the ability to give our students a voice to help them to tell their own stories; to experiment, to play, to create. We have such an insight into young people’s worlds; we see how they think, talk, move, relate to others, their struggles, their joys, their language, their humour, their heartbreak. We (try to) keep current with their ever-changing lingo, we understand what kids are going through, we speak to them, we understand them… Sometimes, anyway….All of which gives us authenticity in our writing.

I will also add that as a playwright you need to invest in yourself, timewise and financially. I have attempted to do this by working part time, setting myself up an office in my house, (away from noise and household business), purchasing a laptop with a bigger screen, I have invested in screenwriting software and joined playwriting unions. I spend time learning and finding inspiration by reading plays, watching theatre, travelling for research and conferences, watching webcasts about playwriting, doing short courses, connecting with other playwrights, examining other playwrights and their practices, as well as mastering formatting, and writing and writing and writing.

Some tips:

When writing theatre for young people listen to them, hear their words, their language, their terminology.

Make it relevant. Current. Or for different genres/settings/eras, make it interesting/juicy.

Write what you know, or what fascinates you.

Formatting is important - Research into how to properly structure a script.

Make your characters engaging, make the audience love or hate them.

Pour ideas into something - A notebook.

Create a beat sheet of moments. Character synopsises. Scene by scene breakdowns.

Make your dialogue real/witty/engaging.

Keep stage directions to a minimum. Don’t direct from the page, that’s not the writer’s job, that’s the director’s.

Just write. Don’t delete anything. Come back to it later. Free flow write and refine later. The best writing is in the editing.

Read out loud – it changes everything.

Be progressive, inclusive and innovative.

PLAY.

Look into the Hero’s Journey. REVISE, REVISE, REVISE – Writing is rewriting.

Read out loud. Edit. Cut. Cut. ‘Kill your darlings’. (Getting rid of an unnecessary storyline, character, or sentences - elements you may have worked hard to create but that must be removed for the sake of your overall story)

Workshop with actors. Revise again and again.

Be adaptable/flexible with character numbers and gender.

Attend playwriting conferences.

Send off for publication and look out for submission opportunities and competitions. (It does help to have had plays with a track record of them being performed by other schools/theatre companies when submitting them to publishers, however, competition submissions generally call for unproduced plays)

Get used to being rejected.

Build communities. Collaborate – Find someone to write with, read each other’s work, be a sounding board. Be each other’s cheerleaders!

Send your work out to the world :)

Q: Plugs please.

A: I endeavour to write fun, inclusive, engaging, but also challenging plays which span multiple genres; Comedy, Drama, Shakespearean Adaptation and Parody, Magical Realism, Naturalism, Melodrama, Historical, and Educational Theatre (with a good amount of angst that teenagers love so much)
There have been around 400 productions of my plays performed globally, mostly in Australia, America (I only have a few states that I haven’t ticked off yet) the UK, and Europe, but also in China and South Africa and places as remote as Costa Rica, Egypt, Uzbekistan, Albania and Uganda. The best part about writing for young people is that I have made wonderful friendships and connections with teachers and their students all over the world. I get sent beautiful pictures and videos of productions and get to see behind the scenes and do midnight Zooms with schools in far off places. I get to see beautiful emotional reaction videos when a troupe win their One Act Play competition or do a costume unveiling. I receive so many heartfelt messages from teachers, directors, students, and sometimes even parents, and I get to see hundreds of different interpretations of something that I created in my brain… It’s quite a thrill really…

www.kristendoherty.com.au

https://www.facebook.com/PlaysbyKristenDoherty/

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I Interview Playwrights Part 1120: Mathilde Dratwa

2024-08-29T10:00:00.001-04:00

Mathilde Dratwa

Hometown: Brussels, Belgium

Current Town: Brooklyn, NY

Q: Tell me about Dirty Laundry.

A: I found out the day my mom died that my dad had been having an affair for six years. So I wrote about it.

Q: What else are you working on now?

A: I'm adapting a New Yorker short story into a feature film with my writing partner, Gillian Robespierre. I'm also working on a couple projects about marriage. And also a play about my maternal grandmother, a Jewish woman who went into hiding in a convent during WWII. She was dressed as a nun. Unfortunately, she was pregnant, and started showing. But really that piece is about schizophrenia, and the strange and uneasy interplay between faith and mental illness.

Q: Tell me, if you will, a story from your childhood that explains who you are as a writer or as a person.

A: I'd draw random treasure maps — completely made up — and then try to follow them in the woods. My mom would drop random objects at the base of trees for me to find when I got to the "X". I thought I was magical. I think a lot about that — the ability to dream up something real. Really this is a story about my mother, and about love.

Q: If you could change one thing about theater, what would it be?

A: I'd like to see a way for time-sensitive plays — plays that address the current moment — to be produced. Something quick and maybe unpolished but responsive. I hate how long it takes for shows to come through the existing pipelines. It means plays that have an in-built shelf-life are often, unfortunately, DOA.

Q: Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A: Actors are my heroes. The best ones are selfless, and transformative. What they do is a gift.

Q: What kind of theater excites you?

A: I like stuff that's visceral, raw, and theatrical. Plays that can only be plays (as opposed to, say, TV shows).

Q: What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out?

A: Don't be precious. Write a play, then write another one. Then another. Nothing will happen until you have at least three of them.

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I Interview Playwrights Part 1119: Lour Yasin

2024-08-28T10:53:00.001-04:00

Lour Yasin

Hometown: Jerusalem, Palestine.

Current Town: New York City, NY.

Q: What are you working on now?

A: I’m currently involved in several exciting projects. One of them is Under The Sheet, a new musical I composed that blends Hip-Hop, Rap, Mariachi, and Aztec music with Broadway elements. It recently debuted at Green Room 42, The Dramatist Guild Foundation, and IRT Theatre.

I’m also thrilled about AREA D, a Palestinian Pop/Punk musical that I’m developing. AREA D emerged from a playful idea to shake up the musical theater scene and experiment with blending Middle Eastern music with Broadway and pop in innovative ways. The inspiration struck me during the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest hosted by Israel, where Palestinians were excluded from participating. This sparked the concept of imagining a Palestinian pop-punk band in a Eurovision-like competition, flipping the script on traditional narratives.

The plot of AREA D follows a Palestinian band as they navigate an absurd, whimsical competition filled with political satire and unexpected twists. It’s not about winning the competition but rather about the journey, the challenges they face, and how they challenge stereotypes through their music. AREA D explores themes of identity, belonging, and the power of music to break down ideological borders.

Additionally, I’m developing a new folk musical set to debut off-Broadway in early 2025. It’s a playful folk tale with a lot of magic, and while I can't reveal too much yet, I’m excited about how it’s shaping up.

Q: Tell me, if you will, a story from your childhood that explains who you are as a writer or as a person.

A: Growing up in Jerusalem, I was always surrounded by stories—both in the form of cultural folklore and the everyday experiences of my community. I remember sitting with my family, listening to tales that transported me to different times and places, making me realize the power of storytelling. My fascination with these narratives pushed me to start writing my own stories and, eventually, to explore how I could blend my cultural roots with contemporary art forms like theater and music. It’s this blend of the traditional and the modern that defines my work today.

Q: If you could change one thing about theater, what would it be?

A: I would make theater more accessible to diverse voices, both in terms of the stories being told and the people telling them. We need more platforms that support underrepresented artists and more opportunities for marginalized communities to see themselves represented on stage. It’s not just about inclusion; it’s about ensuring that the full spectrum of human experiences is reflected in our art.

Q: Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A: Lin-Manuel Miranda has been a huge inspiration for me, not just because of his groundbreaking work in musical theater but also because of his dedication to promoting diversity and representation. I also admire the work of artists like Suheir Hammad, whose poetry and performances deeply resonate with my own cultural experiences, and Sarah Kane for her raw, boundary-pushing plays.

Q: What kind of theater excites you?

A: I’m excited by theater that takes risks, challenges norms, and isn't afraid to push boundaries. I love works that blend genres, such as musicals that incorporate non-traditional music styles or plays that use multimedia elements to enhance storytelling. Theater that makes you think, question, and feel deeply—that’s what excites me the most.

Q: What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out?

A: Be fearless and authentic in your storytelling. Write about what matters to you, even if it feels risky or unconventional. Don’t wait for permission to tell your story—just start writing. And surround yourself with a supportive community that believes in your vision. Collaboration and feedback are invaluable, so seek out other creatives who inspire and challenge you.

Q: Plugs, please:

A: Exciting things are happening! Under The Sheet, a musical I composed that blends Hip-Hop, Rap, Mariachi, and Aztec music with Broadway elements, is having its world premiere at IRT Theatre this August. I'm also thrilled to announce that AREA D, my Palestinian Pop/Punk musical, will have a run at The Tank in September, followed by a run at Joe’s Pub/The Public Theater sometime in late October/ Early November.

Additionally, I’m developing a new folk musical set to debut off-Broadway in early 2025. It’s a playful folk tale with a lot of magic in it, and while I can’t reveal too much just yet, I’m excited about its premise.

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I Interview Playwrights Part 1118: Tracy Wells

2024-08-22T10:38:00.008-04:00

Tracy Wells

Hometown: Sterling Heights, MI (metro Detroit)

Current Town: Macomb Township, MI (also metro Detroit)

Q: What are you working on now?

A: I’m currently finishing up a western melodrama for schools with an optional dinner theatre component called Spaghetti Western: Or…Mission Im-Pasta-ble at the Hoot N Holler Hotel. It’s silly fun, and my first time playing around with the melodrama genre. I love the challenge of using the stock characters and storylines in a new and different way.

Q: Tell me, if you will, a story from your childhood that explains who you are as a writer or as a person.

A: I grew up seeing a lot of theatre…from local children’s productions to larger shows that toured through Detroit. It seeped in and became a part of me without me realizing. So when I was about 10, and the movie Dick Tracy came out, the first thing that occurred to me was, “this should be a play, and I’m going to write it!”(forgive a 10 year old for not understanding copyright law) So I pounded out a script, and together with my best friend Julie, my younger brother Jeff and his friend (also named Jeff), we staged my adaptation of the film in my parents’ basement, all 4 of us playing the various roles in the style of Shakespeare Abridged, while our parents watched and probably laughed themselves silly. It was amazing (and probably horrible) and I’m pretty sure my mom still has pictures of me as Breathless Mahoney. I didn’t write another play for many years, and when I did, it was another adaptation (this time legally and from the public domain.) But when I did write again I took with me that amazing feeling from when I was 10 years old and hearing my words being spoken by an actor for an audience, and that is a feeling I have since never tired of.

Q: If you could change one thing about theater, what would it be?

A: I love that more shows are being written by or about women, with interesting storylines and character arcs so that’s something I’d want to see continue. As someone who writes primarily for the high school/college market, I would love for that market to be recognized for what it is, which is an important pathway for future theatre practitioners and that providing students with good material at their level is not only worthwhile, but necessary.

Q: Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A: So many…in my youth acting on the high school stage I loved Shakespeare and Henrik Ibsen and Thornton Wilder and Marsha Norman. As a theatre goer I love what Heidi Schreck and David Lindsay-Abaire and Lynn Nottage and Kate Hamill are doing. And as a high school playwright, you have to admire Don Zolidis and his body of work and what he’s done to elevate this market.

Q: What kind of theater excites you?

A: For me, whether it’s in a large, professional theater, or a small high school cafetorium, I’m most excited by new ways to tell a familiar story in a way that highlights any challenges that a company or venue faces. For example, earlier this year I saw a production of Into the Woods at Encore Musical Theatre Company in Ann Arbor, MI. They have a very small stage with seating for around 100 on three sides of the stage and a tiny balcony. And yet they chose to tell this story as a band of traveling actors who came together to tell a tale, complete with a tiny airstream camping trailer that doubled as the bakery and on top of which Rapunzel climbed to let down her hair. And for the giantess…a nearby electric lift and megaphone made the actress larger than life. It was a spellbinding retelling of a story I knew well, told in a way I had never imagined. And so many directors are looking at stories in different ways. It’s very exciting and encouraging for the future of theatre.

Q: What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out?

A: Probably the same as many others have said…keep writing. The more I write, the more ideas I have, the more directions I discover in my stories, and the easier it becomes. For those interested in writing for the high school market, I would recommend pulling out those photos and yearbooks and remembering what it was like when you were up on that stage (as many of us were). What kind of shows did you wish you were performing? What kind of roles would you have liked to play, no matter the size of the role? And if you can, find your way to a high school stage and see the incredible work these kids and their teachers are doing, because I’m telling you, it’s truly remarkable and inspiring.

Q: Plugs, please:

A: I have several new plays about to be released, mostly for the middle/high school market, including a historical drama about WWII nurses called Angels of Bataan and a fairytale villain/Clue-style murder mystery mashup called Rotten Apples, both with Playscripts/Broadway Licensing; a fun retelling of Greek myths called Myth-Guided and an easy to stage vignette comedy called Hot Lunch with Stage Partners; and a comedic retelling of the classic Christmas tale, The Night Before Christmas and a fairytale courtroom comedy called Storybook Court: Full of Beans from Pioneer Drama. For anyone who isn’t familiar with my work, two of my most popular shows are One Stoplight Town and A Trip to the Moon, both of which are available through Dramatic Publishing. You can also check out all of my work at https://www.tracywellsplaywright.com

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Letters to a Young Playwright

2024-04-02T16:45:00.000-04:00

Hi Friends,

I wrote a book about playwriting that will be coming out in late August from Applause/Rowman. Here is their description--

preorder here

Letters to a Young Playwright

Practical and Impractical Advice on the Art of Playwriting

ADAM SZYMKOWICZ

Adam Szymkowicz is that rarest of things: a working playwright. At a time when the entire business model of American theatre seems on the verge of implosion—and most dramatists survive only through soul-sucking day jobs, the largesse of patrons or their own families, or writing for television—Szymkowicz has carved out a distinctive niche for himself without relying on big institutions or the brass ring of a Broadway production. Each year, his body of work—over 20 sharp, funny, pop-culture-inflected plays animated by an unabashed romanticism—is staged everywhere from major urban theatres to colleges and high schools.

In Letters to a Young Playwright, Szymkowicz dispenses hard-earned, unsentimental, and entertaining advice to early-career dramatists. Modeled on Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet, it covers topics like writer’s block, self-promotion, and the pluses and minuses of pivoting to Hollywood in insightful and digestible short essays. Perfect for beginning playwrights as well as mid-career writers looking to reinvigorate their craft and career, it contains endlessly useful advice and reflections from one of the most-produced living playwrights in America.

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Clown Bar 2 in NYC in April!

2024-03-26T14:42:00.000-04:00

Hi folks!

Clown Bar 2 (Don't worry if you didn't see the original) will go up at the Parkside Lounge as part of fringe starting April 14. Just a few performances but I hope we will be able to add some more. (This is the same venue where the original Clown Bar was done by Pipeline 11 years ago.)

https://www.tdf.org/shows/21540/clown-bar-2

Produced by SparkPlug Productions, Directed by Andrew Block, starring Sean Leigh Phillips, Rebekkah Ross Lee, Christopher Le Crenn, Christopher Lee, Kelley Rae O'Donnell, Chris Cornwell, Kim Bollard, Nadel Henville, Catie Marron, Jim Hawkins!

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My 2023 Year In Review

2023-12-25T15:07:00.001-05:00

Hi Friends!

I've been doing these summaries for a long time but also they start in 2007 when I was at Juilliard and exciting things were already happening. I don't have a year in review about 2000 when I was in Foxboro, MA working as an Asst Mgr at a Hollywood Video, writing plays and mailing them to people. I had just graduated from college and was living in a small apartment with my girlfriend at the time. I knew almost no theater people. I hadn't gotten into any of the grad schools I had applied to.

Twenty-three years later, my life and my playwriting life are a lot different now. I started writing a book this year about playwriting for playwrights starting out so I've been thinking about what it was like early on. What I knew. What I didn't know. I started writing plays in college and I didn't really know what I was doing. It took a long time to figure out how to write and even longer to build a career.

Last year I wrote in my year end summary about how it seemed impossible to make a living as a playwright. But then this year I had a lot of productions and I made a lot more money as a playwright. It no longer seems out of reach.

I quit my job at Juilliard this summer, after 8 years. My wife took on a full time job making slightly more than what I was making at Juilliard. And now that we have health insurance through her, I am a full time writer, making, as a writer almost what I made 8 years ago at my day job at Juilliard.

I'm making about half of that money from high school and college productions and the other half from (mostly) small theaters. The first time I had a production of one of my plays at a high school was 10 years ago. Today I have a lot more plays appropriate for high schools and some high school versions of plays that weren't initially appropriate. I'm really thrilled to have plays done at high school which was where I acquired my love of theater.

As a full time playwright now, I also took over a lot of child care and home duties so my day is a lot shorter than it used to be, because I operate on the school schedule. But I'm also not trying to do 2 full time jobs at the same time.

I wrote a lot this year--4 one act plays, 3 full length plays, one short film and a book about playwriting. Also working on a musical version of Marian. And I did a couple big revisions. I can't say for sure, but it may be my most productive year ever.

I was in a writing group for parents again with Project Y, and took part in Flux's Core Work writing group. Did a signing at the Drama Book Shop. Did a reading at Drunken Careening Writers. Made some short films about playwriting for PlayPenn. Did a podcast with Mershad Torabi at We Are Actors and a podcast with Erin Mallon at My Job Is To Play.

This year apart from being in NYC a lot, I was at the Chance Theater in Anaheim for a reading, went camping in CT, went to Cape Cod and Delaware, spent a week in upstate NY at Theater4ThePeople's At The Barn. Went to Flux Retreat at Little Pond. Had a reading in NYC with Project Y. Zoomed with a lot of students. Visited Paris by myself. Was a guest speaker in MO at Lanford Wilson Fest. Spent time in Hoboken rehearsing for a premiere.

Heather Cohn and I worked on my play God Splat with NYU students for four 4-hour sessions.

I also started running 5k races. Did the first one in August of 2022 and have now run 8. I am not fast but it's good to do things you're not great at. I'm trying to get faster. Sometimes I place in my age group if not many people are running. There is a thing in CT where people try to run one race in each of the 169 towns. Don't know if I'll ever accomplish that but even running one race feels like an accomplishment right after I've run it.

I had the most productions this year than ever before.

This year, I had 79 productions of full length plays and 59 productions of one acts. There were 2 productions of nights of short plays. Almost all the one act productions are high school productions. Of the 79 full length productions, 19 were at colleges/universities, 23 at theaters and 37 at high schools.

My two most produced plays by far were Kodachrome and Marian. Kodachrome one act was produced 14 times and the full length 19 times. My play Kodachrome will have its 100th production sometime next year. (In this count, I'm including productions of the one act version too.)

Marian (normal and teen versions) was produced 32 times in 2023. Speaking of Marian, a cancelled production in Ft Wayne, IN made national news when students decided to produce it themselves. They raised 80k to do the show for one night in a 1000 seat arena. It's possible I'm getting more productions of Marian because of this.

Another play done a bit--The Bookstore was produced 12 times this year.

First production of The Night Children happened this year-- they also took the play to Edinburgh.

The Christmas Tree Farm premiered this December at Mile Square in NJ where my friend Kevin R. Free is the AD. Was subsequently done at Actors Bridge Ensemble in Nashville (who have done 3 other plays of mine) and by a high school in CA.

photo by David White Studio

Clown Bar Christmas went up for the first time at Little Theater in MN.

Hearts Like Planets was done at a couple of schools. I saw the one at AADA that Alberto Bonilla directed.

Also of note, Nerve was done in Mexico in Spanish. Clown Bar was done in Türkiye again. Marian had an English production and a couple Canadian productions. Kodachrome was done in England and The Bookstore was done in Canada. Ubu maybe happened in Australia.

I have a lot of full length plays that had one or two productions this year.

Publications this year included my book of monologues, Small Explosions from Applause, 100 Things I Never Said To You/100 Love Letters I Never Sent from Concord, When Jack Met Jill and Heart of Snow from Stage Partners, and The Wooden Heart from Theatrical Rights Worldwide.

Next year, look for my book about playwriting from Applause and hopefully some more plays. So far, 27 productions of full lengths slated for 2024 and at least one production slated for 2025.

Love to you and yours. Here are my previous years in review.

2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007

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"My Job Is To Play," with Erin Mallon

2023-12-01T12:10:00.005-05:00

Did a podcast with Erin Mallon, My Job Is To Play

It was a lot of fun. Here's a clip. Link below to the full conversation.

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2244660/14066528

https://tinyurl.com/42xzy2nr

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Premiere of The Christmas Tree Farm

2023-11-21T09:42:00.000-05:00

Hi All,

If you're in NY or NJ, come see my play, The Christmas Tree Farm. Directed by Rachel Dart. Amazing very funny cast. It's less than 10 min bus ride from NYC.

https://milesquaretheatre.my.salesforce-sites.com/ticket/#/events/a0S6T00000tCfZDUA0

Nov 30-Dec 23. Nov 30 is Pay What You Can.

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I Interview Playwrights Part 1117: Paola Alexandra Soto

2023-09-11T09:23:00.002-04:00

Paola Alexandra Soto

Hometown:

I was born in and grew up in an impoverished community in Santo Domingo the capital of the Dominican Republic. Although at the time I did not realize how poverty stricken the community I lived in was because my family gave me all that I needed. Though I must admit that recently I have become preoccupied with how I was potty trained when the shack I lived in had no indoor plumbing and only had access to one dilapidated wooden outhouse that we shared with another dozen or so families. This was in the 80s and 90s when the internet existed.

Current Town:

When I was about seven years old my mother brought me to the US. When I arrived and saw the NYC skyline I thought this was a land of giants. We settled us down in Harlem, which is one of the best choices that she could have made. If for no other reason than within walking distance I had access to both a large Dominican population a few blocks north in Washington Heights. I was also within walking distance of 125th street and access to one of the most beautiful and historic neighborhoods in the city. Filled with people that looked just like me but spoke a different language, but once I learned English, as they say, “it was on, like Donkey Kong”.

Q: What are you working on now?

A: Right now I’m working on what I hope will be my first full length play, La Sosa Sisters, which was a semifinalist for the National Black Theatre Playwriting Fellowship. It is a play about two sisters who are mourning the death of their mother. In the process of burying they uncover the secrets that their mother had been keeping from them. The play is about how death changes a person and transforms relationships. I am currently in the middle of rewrites. Every time I think that I know where the play is going I am surprised by a new turn, a new development that leads down a completely different path. I find myself in this state of start/stop, with the whiplash effect of when one is learning to drive a car. The more I write the less I know. As much as I love playwriting I am in that stretch of time where I’m struggling as a playwright. After spending so much time and money it seems that all that I learned is that I have so much to figure out. The irony of this paradox is not lost on me.

It seems that for many the pandemic was inspirational and they were able to start and finish projects with ease. For me I found it to be incredibly harmful to my process. Playwriting is an isolating endeavor but COVID-19 really took it to another level. A very sad and depressing level.

I think that finally I’ve cracked the structure of the play and now have the difficult work of figuring out the new flow of the story. The play is about two sisters who have lost their mother to cancer and unearth the secrets that their mother hid while in the process of burying her.

Q: Tell me, if you will, a story from your childhood that explains who you are as a writer or as a person.

A: When I was a toddler, my mother left me in the Dominican Republic while she came to New York City in the hopes of finding employment. Before she left I remember we were in one of the rooms in my aunt’s two room concrete shack, it was a sunny day, with the sun’s rays bouncing off the aqua blue walls. My aunt was painting my nails to distract me as my mom left for the airport. One minute I was with my mother trying to paint her nails, and the next minute she was gone. I didn’t see her for another three years. The loss and pain I felt when I realized that she wasn’t coming back, the thought that I would never see her again, I broke down, I started crying and in a way, it’s like I never stopped. I think in a way that experience has defined both my way of being in this world and the work that I do. That’s why I’m fascinated with telling stories about the mother and daughter dynamic.

Q: If you could change one thing about theater, what would it be?

A: Theater is a healing process, or at least for me when it’s done well the experience can be cathartic. It’s a space that has great potential to help entire groups and communities heal. More and more theater is starting to feel like a commodity as its primary function rather than the artistic journey that it is. It feels more and more like a product instead of the communal process that it is. I think it’s time to decolonize theater. Time to center the artists, workers, and audience. To create a more holistic path it is essential and timely to engage with indigenous and BIPOC communities. Who better to address theater’s flaws, than those that have been overlooked and ignored for far too long.

Q: Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A: There’s so many people that I can list that I look up to and have loved their theatrical career Lynn Nottage, August Wilson, David Henry Hwang, Chuck Mee, Lorraine Hansbury, Carmen Rivera, Joe Papp, James Houghton, Paula Vogel, Katori Hall, Emilio Sosa, Danny Hoch, Kamilah Forbes, and Maria Irene Fornes. I know there’s so many that I’m forgetting.

Q: What kind of theater excites you?

A: For me the most exciting theater is when it’s a small intimate space and it’s really about the story that the characters are telling. Of course a reveal or theatrical revelation is always so much fun. I think one of the coolest things I’ve seen in a long time was the theatrical effects in Fat Ham. A great song and dance is pure joy and a great fight or physical sequence is truly exciting. One of my favorite part of watching a play is sitting in a dark room. There's a surprising moment where folks gasp, or laugh, or when we applaud after a particularly wonderful section that communal experience is the reason I go to see plays. Flex is a great example, there are moments where I’m not sure if I was watching a play or a basketball game.

Q: What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out?

A: I would say the same thing that my mentors and professors told me: go to see and read plays to really get an understanding of the work that is being done and the legacy that you’re inheriting as a theater maker. Go to the theater in your community or the one that you love and find a way to work there. This is also a great way to get to see plays. Make sure to take care of your physical and mental health.

Q: Plugs, please:

A: On September 15, 2023 I will have a reading of my play La Sosa Sisters at the NoMAA Studies located in the United Palace in Washington Heights. I am one of Oye Group’s Resident Artists for 2023-2024 where I will be developing two of my plays, Lucha Libre and D’Carnaval.

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The Library (short film) in Soho in Sept

2023-08-31T14:27:00.002-04:00

https://sohofilmfest.eventive.org/films/64dfd600bc0e9f002c9aec0d

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Two Upcoming Events (New York City)

2023-03-08T12:55:00.000-05:00

1.

I have a reading coming up March 18 in NYC. It's another big hearted ensemble play that's meant to be inclusive (although it is admittedly kind of Christmas centric.)

Please come if you can.

THE CHRISTMAS TREE FARM

by Adam Szymkowicz
directed by Kelly O'Donnell
starring Nandita Shenoy, Alisha Spielmann, Ryan Vincent Anderson, Matthew Trumbull, Natalie Kim, Emily Ma.

Saturday, March 18 at 5 pm
The Music Hall at Dramatists Guild Foundation
520 8th Ave. Suite 2401

RSVP: pcplaywrightsgroup@gmail.com

This reading is presented by the Parent-Caregiver Playwrights Group, a selective workshop for playwrights who are also parents or caregivers. The group is sponsored by Project Y Theatre and has received support from New Georges, the Juilliard School, and others. Group members include Liz Appel, Eleanor Burgess, Mathilde Dratwa, Enid Graham, Mary Elizabeth Hamilton, Ying Ying Li, Erin Mallon, Deepa Purohit, Deneen Reynolds-Knott, Lia Romeo, and Adam Szymkowicz.

An event at the Drama Book Shop celebrating my monologue book out from Applause. Tues March 21 at 7:30pm A bunch of lovely folks have agreed to read a few monologues at the event including Erin Mallon, Kevin R. Free, Justin Woo and more! RSVP here (You buy a book for your admission ticket)

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My 2022 in Review

2022-12-28T21:01:00.005-05:00

Hi everyone! Happy New Year or soon to be New Year! Here is the photo we take in front of my parents' tree every year.

This year marked the first time I was back in a room with actors again. I didn't realize I think how much I missed it until it was happening. We shot a short film at Juilliard at the beginning of the year. I got to work with a great group of 4th year actors and my friend director Michelle Bossy. Excited for you to see it eventually. Here is the trailer.

This year we went camping twice, visited VA and Cape Cod both twice. I was in Los Angeles for a week for meetings. I was in Vegas for a week for the premiere of Clown Bar 2, a commission from Majestic Rep that was supposed to go up 2 years ago. It was a lot of fun and I'm super proud of the production and of the play.

I was also in the Bay Area for a silent writing retreat with Erik Ehn for a week. During that week, I wrote about half of my output for the year. Those retreats really work for me. Every day was like half a month of normal writing time.

Writingwise in 2022, I wrote 30 short monologues for a book coming out next year. I wrote an hour long pilot, a 15 minute podcast pilot, three full length plays, most of a feature screenplay and one one-act play. I also did quite a bit of revising.

I was in a writing group for parents, a writing group with friends and took part in Flux's core work.

I did only 10 interviews this year. I'm kind of semi-retired now at the interview thing. I used to do 100 a year.

I counted how many books I read this year. 50. I didn't count how many plays I read for my job but it was probably more than 100.

Four plays of mine hit their 50th production this year: Clown Bar (2011), Hearts Like Fists (2012), Kodachrome (2018) and Marian (2017).

Marian had 20 productions this year and Kodachrome had 25, which were both records for me. The most I ever had of a full length in a single year was 14 of Kodachrome last year.

This year I had a record shattering 6 plays published with 4 more coming next year.

From Sam French/Concord,
One Act version of Kodachrome
Clown Bar 2
UPCOMING: 100 Things I Never Said To You/100 Love Letters I Never Sent

From Stage Partners,
Old Fashioned Cold Fusion
UPCOMING: When Jack Met Jill
Heart of Snow

From Broadway Play Publishing Inc,
Stockholm Syndrome

From Theatrical Rights Worldwide,
UPCOMING: The Wooden Heart

From playscripts,
The Bookstore
The Night Children

Next year, my monologue book comes out from Applause, Small Explosions, containing 90ish never before seen 1-2 minute monologues.

This year I had 67ish productions of full lengths. (20 more than my best year) Caveats— Some of them were probably one act versions of Kodachrome but I'm not sure how many. An overwhelming amount of these 67 productions were high schools and college productions with some notable exceptions. Only 12 were not done at schools. (This is, I think still a lot about the pandemic. Lots of small theaters are just now starting to do work again.) In terms of foreign productions, Kodachrome was done in England. Clown Bar was done in Turkey and at a university in Ireland. Marian was done in Wales, England, and Switzerland and also in Germany, in German at a 1000 seat outdoor venue.

Including productions of one-act plays, I had just over 100 productions this year. Now I don't know exactly what the money is I'll make for all that because it sometimes takes six months to get paid but probably it's somewhere around what I made this year which is still far from making a living at this. I would venture to say a modest living would be 2 to 3 times what I make now. (So I really want to have 200-300 productions. Or even more than that if so many of them continue to be school shows where, if they only do one or two performances, I often make under 100 dollars per production.)

I started writing plays in 1997, the summer after my sophomore year of college. And that was 25 years ago. I have written at least one play but often two or three every year for 25 years.

And I’m doing really well in a lot of ways, but I’m not making a living. Would I be making a living if we weren’t still in a pandemic? Probably not. Definitely not a consistent living. I really thought after doing this for this long I'd have more movement in that way but I can never quite make the math work. On the upside, this was still a good year for me in a lot of ways.

Love to you and yours. Here are my previous years in review.

2021

2020

2019

2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007

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I Interview Playwrights Part 1116: Julia B. Rosenblatt

2022-12-05T14:11:00.008-05:00

Photo Credit:Seina Shirakura Photography

Julia B. Rosenblatt

Hometown: Hartford, CT

Current Town: Back in Hartford!

Q: Tell me about Can't Make This Sh*t Up

A: About two months ago Tjasa Ferme introduced me to Transforma Theatre and The Science in Theater Festival. While I believe in science thoroughly, (which is actually something one has to make explicit these days), I am terrifyingly intimidated by the subject. My freeze response kicks in and I assume I am incapable of understanding any of it. So when Tjasa said she needed a play about an eco-toilet connected to a laboratory that uses excrement to produce biogas, my head started spinning.

Jaewon Cho's BeeVi toilet is nothing short of mind blowing. And yet it makes so much sense, I can only assume the reason we haven't heard more about it, is that it involves acknowledging what the great children's author, Taro Gomi, has been telling us for decades: everyone poops. As we get closer to the point irreversible climate change, it's clearly time we get over ourselves and insist on sustainable forms of energy, no matter what (or whom) it comes from. Can't Make This Sh*t Up, is loosely based on my home, a small urban commune once known as the Scarborough 11. The play imagines the year is 2030. After yet another devastating natural disaster has wiped out the city's plumbing and sewage system, we decide to build a Biological Anaerobic Digestion System in our backyard. Our NIMBY neighbors go nuts, and drag us before the zoning commission, bringing national attention to our family once again. It's a comedy.

Q: What else are you working on now?

A: Group! (lyrics by Eloise Govedare, music by Aleksandra Weil) is a musical that follows six women through intensive outpatient therapy for drug and alcohol addiction. The show has had two workshops and a brief run at Passage Theatre in New Jersey. We are now in the process of rewrites, and looking for the next development opportunity.

Q: Tell me, if you will, a story from your childhood that explains who you are as a writer or as a
person.

A: Like many other playwrights, I have been "devising theater" in my parents' basement since I was in elementary school. I spent hours creating and rehearsing epic plays and musicals with anyone who was willing (most often my younger sister). I am eternally grateful to my parents, older sisters, aunts and uncles for sitting through our "performances."

Q: If you could change one thing about theater, what would it be?

A: Purpose and access. Theater is essential to the human condition. It should not be something that is elite or reserved for specific times and places. Theater should be made and enjoyed by whomever chooses to do so.

Q: Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A: August Boal's Theater of the Oppressed changed my life. It set me on a path that I have rarely veered from in the last 30 years. As far as current playwrights, I fall in love with everything Lynn Nottage creates.

Q: What kind of theater excites you?

A: Real, complex stories that use humor to challenge the status quo and demand systemic change.

Q: What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out?

A: Oof, this is a hard one because every day I feel like I'm "just starting out." I guess I would say write with passion and seek feedback with humility. We should always be learning.

Q: Plugs, please:

A: Well of course coming up, Science in Theater Festival.
I am a co-founder and ensemble member of HartBeat Ensemble.
Check out the professionally immersive theater training program at Capital Community College!

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I Interview Playwrights Part 1115: TyLie Shider

2022-11-15T11:26:00.002-05:00

TyLie Shider

Hometown: Plainfield, New Jersey

Current Town: Minneapolis, Minnesota

Q: Tell me about The Gospel Woman.

A: The Gospel Woman is a traditional American family drama set in a 1970’s Baptist church. It’s a kind of tribute play that I built around a gospel record my mother recorded when she was a teenager. Lastly, it’s the 2nd installment in my “Mom & Pop plays,” which are a set of companion plays that I wrote based on the original music my parents recorded growing up. I wanted to concretize and honor their ambition, because their ambition led to my professional ambition. My father is a guitarist and singer, and my mother is a gospel singer. They are both songwriters. And I started writing creatively by watching them work and imitating them. The plays are set 5 years apart, and set against the backdrop of transformative moments in American history. The first installment, Certain Aspects of Conflict in the Negro Family, is set in the “long hot summer of 1967” when uprisings broke out across the country. And the second play, The Gospel Woman (NBT), is set in 1972, and it explores what happened to my hometown, Plainfield, NJ, after the riots. Both of the plays are family dramas that center two very different families in the same city. However, I call the plays “Rehearsal Dramas” because I grew up in recording studios and backstage at my parents’ concerts, and the rehearsal atmosphere is the soundtrack to my childhood.

Q: What else are you working on now?

A: The next play I am working on is called Whittier. It’s a contemporary docudrama I am developing at the Playwrights’ Center based on interviews I conducted during the 2020 uprisings in my neighborhood in Whittier, Minneapolis.

Q: Tell me, if you will, a story from your childhood that explains who you are as a writer or as a
person.

A: I was always interested in writing down the stories around me. My mother owned a hair salon when I was growing up, and she gave me an opportunity to create a “newsstand” in her salon where I would sell newsletters I had written on saturdays. The newsletters were basically comic strips which featured adaptations of her clients' conversations.

Q: If you could change one thing about theater, what would it be?

A: I’d like to see more revivals of American classics. I was very excited to see Alice Childress’ Trouble in Mind on Broadway!

Q: Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A: August Wilson is one of my literary heroes. Also I had an opportunity to study with in graduate school at Tisch, Anna Deavere Smith and her course really validated my investigative esthetic.

Q: What kind of theater excites you?

A: Quarantine deepened my appreciation for live theater. It’s become a privilege to congregate with people in the same room. Therefore, any opportunity to see live theater outside of the “metaverse” excites me.

Q: What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out?

A: I think writers should study the biography and careers of other writers.

Q: Plugs, please: My play Whittier is part of the Playwrights’ Centers’ public season next month.
Check it out in person or online.

A: In person: Monday, December 5, and Tuesday, December 6 at 7:00 p.m. Available online:
Thursday, December 15 – Wednesday, Dec 21, 2022

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