Posting from Hawaii, so aloha! Last month I was super productive, and I submitted more last month than I have in any other month! Woo! My total was 55! That’s right, I submitted 55 plays! I hope I can keep it up, I have 255 more plays to submit this year. I know not a whole lot will be getting done this week, on the island, I’ll have to pick up the pace when I get home.
I have some fun stuff I’ll be announcing when I’m back next week, so stay tuned!
That is right folks, get out your calendars, and mark them up: Much Ado About Mathletes has performance dates!
Much Ado About Mathletes directed by Kathleen Lee will be preformed May 13th (Tuesday) at 8pm, May 15th (Thursday) at 8pm, and May 17th (Saturday) at 2pm!
Got that? Three options for you! So write it down, text it to yourself, set all sorts of alerts and reminders on your phone, because this is not something that you want to miss!
Here are all the details:
Directed by Kathleen Lee
Mathletes: An all-girls mathletes team (that ponders in iambic pentameter) is shaken to it’s core when it’s asked to do the unthinkable… Let a boy join their team.
With Shannon Sullivan, Jackie Orozco, Gina Terrell, Bella Connick, Ghena Euodia, Joceyln McMahon, Ethan Smoller, and Andrew Morris.
Will be preformed with SFSU’s Spring Fringe Festival in Program One, the full line up is:
All performances at the Little Theater at San Francisco State University.
May 13 at 8pm, May 15 at 8pm, and May 17 at 2pm.
There is also a Program Two! Here are the plays in Program Two:
Program Two will be preformed on May 14 at 8pm, May 16 at 8pm, and May 17 at 5pm.
A Facebook event is in the works, so get ready to RSVP!
I got some great news yesterday, my ten-minute play about bodily rights, My Body, is being read THIS Saturday in Washington DC! It joins the line-up for the SWAN Day Reading Marathon with Nu Sass Productions!
All the fun starts at 11:30, this Saturday, March 29th, and it’s happening at the National Museum of Women in the Arts! Oh yeah, and it’s FREE! Emily Todd, C0-Founder of Nu Sass, is directing, and Danny Rovin, Alexia Poe, and Emily Todd, will be the actors. Should be a great event!
If you’re in the neighborhood, be sure and stop by!
If you’ve gotten the chance to watch the San Francisco Neo-Futurists over at Boxcar Playhouse (or in New York or Chicago) you know what a great show it is. If you haven’t, what the hell are you waiting for? Really? Anyway, if you’ve seen it and loved it, or have at least heard how much everyone else loves it, and have been toying with the idea of getting involved, NOW IS YOUR CHANCE!
Auditions are coming up at the end of this month! You have the chance to join the crew and bring your own brand of hilarious honesty to the show.
“AUDITION FOR THE NEO-FUTURISTS
The San Francisco Neo-Futurists are looking for talented writers/directors/performers/performance artists/movers, shakers, and makers to join us for our ongoing run of Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind in San Francisco! As an ensemble member in our company, you will write, direct, and perform in Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, our ongoing, ever-changing attempt to perform 30 plays in 60 minutes.
Audition slots are by appointment only and will be held 3/30 2p – 5p & 3/31 6p-8p. Auditioners are highly encouraged to attend Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind at the Boxcar Playhouse Fridays and Saturdays @ 9pm.”
For all the deatils, go here:
http://www.sfneofuturists.com/audition/
I know what you’re thinking… You’d love to audition, but you’re intimidated. Trust me, I feel you. I would be intimidated too. But have no fear! They’ve got you covered:
“Neo-Futurist Crash Course
led by John Pierson & Adam Smith
3/23 12pm – 4pm | FREE
location: TBD
Want to dip your toe into the pool of Neo-Futurism & writing short form plays? In this introductory crash course, we’ll take you through the rules and principles for creating and performing Neo-Futurist work. Expect to write a little, talk a little, and move a little.”
To sign up and get more info head here: http://www.sfneofuturists.com/workshops/
Great! Now you know about auditions AND you know about the workshop! Now you have no excuses. Get on it folks. GET ON IT!
Today is Audrey’s sixth birthday! I could think of nothing better than sharing the first play she ever wrote! She wrote this play last year, right before her fifth birthday. Last year with San Francisco Theater Pub’s PUB FROM ANOTHER WORLD, Audrey Scare People Play came to life! You can watch the video of that here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L28OHv7_Ec&hd=1.
Her video is right after the intro, it starts at the 4:10 mark.
Enjoy!
By Audrey Kessinger
Characters:
Scare People, F, very tall, wears a mask, growls, 18 years old. She goes to scare people school. She is an octopus monster with wings.
Audrey, F, 11 years old. Wears monkey pajamas.
Synopsis:
Audrey tries to get Scare People out of her house.
SCARE PEOPLE is in a kitchen. AUDREY enters.
SCARE PEOPLE
GET OUTTA MY HOUSE!
AUDREY
GET AWAY FROM ME RIGHT NOW!
SCARE PEOPLE
I AM GOING TO GO STEAL SOME BUTTER FROM YOU!
AUDREY
Put that butter back right now!
SCARE PEOPLE
I will not, no.
AUDREY
Scare People, don’t think about doing anything else! Don’t think about it!
SCARE PEOPLE
I AM GOING TO GO INTO THE REFRIGERATOR, BECAUSE THE SUN IS RISING!
SCARE PEOPLE goes into the refrigerated, and closes the door. AUDREY opens the refrigerator door, SCARE PEOPLE opens it, this happens several more times.
AUDREY
Go outside! You’re in big trouble, and we’re gonna put you outside and we’re never gonna open the door.
AUDREY shakes with fear. AUDREY gets a pen from a drawer. SCARE PEOPLE opens the door to the refrigerator and sneaks out. AUDREY stabs SCARE PEOPLE with a pen. SCARE PEOPLE puts a band aid on the cut.
SCARE PEOPLE
You lose, I’m gonna stay at your house!
AUDREY stabs SCARE PEOPLE with the pen again. SCARE PEOPLE puts on another band aid.
AUDREY
GET OUT OF MY HOUSE OR I’LL STAB YOU IN THE FACE!
SCARE PEOPLE tries to scratch AUDREY with his claws, but is not successful. AUDREY stabs him again with the pen. SCARE PEOPLE flies up to the ceiling. AUDREY gets a broom out and sweeps SCARE PEOPLE into the trash. SCARE PEOPLE gets out of the trash.
SCARE PEOPLE
YOU’LL HAVE TO DO BETTER THAN THAT!
AUDREY throws shoes at SCARE PEOPLE.
AUDREY
I’LL TRICK YOU, SCARE PEOPLE!
AUDREY gets a stick of butter out of the refrigerator, opens the door and throws the butter out. SCARE PEOPLE doesn’t go out to get the butter. SCARE PEOPLE gets back into the refrigerator and closes the door.
AUDREY (CONTINUED)
Then I won’t go into the refrigerator. I’m going to sleep.
AUDREY exits to go to sleep. End of play.
LOTS of great shows happening/coming up here in the Bay Area, and YOU should be aware of them!
Tomorrow! Saturday March 8th at 8:30 at the Exit Theatre. This is ALWAYS a good time, one of my all-time favorite theater events in the Bay Area! I can’t make it Saturday (seeing another show), so be sure to be there with knives for me!
“San Francisco Theater Pub and the Exit Theatre are proud to present a tenth round of Saturday Write Fever, this time on Saturday, March 8th, 2014, with Saturday Write Fever XI: OMG THEY HAVE KNIVES!!!
Every second Saturday of the month, we invite writers, actors, directors, theater creators and theater audiences alike to a free evening of quick script-making and flash-fried performance! March 8th isn’t exactly the Ides of March… but it’s never too early to get paranoid, right? Writers will be teamed up and tasked with creating DUOLOGUES OF MURDER, with prompts inspired by assassins and their targets. With material generated for both sides of the… um… relationship… the work will then be paired with actors who bring the words to life… and untimely death.
Join us in the Exit Cafe (156 Eddy Street) for an 8:30 pm mixer followed by a 9:00 pm writing sprint where writers have 30 minutes (more or less) to generate original monologues based around that night’s pre-generated prompts. We cast actors from the crowd (no experience necessary), then at 9:30 pm, they perform the work on stage in the café for an on-the-spot, one-night-only instant festival! Come join in the communal creativity, either as writer, performer, or audience!
Hosted by local writers Stuart Bousel and Megan Cohen, admission to this event is free, with the Café staying open and staffed so you can purchase drinks and snacks all night long! No need for reservations, though get there early to get your name on the writer list as we will cap it at 24. Of course, if we get 24 writers, that means we’ll also need 24 actors…”
Running now until March 29th at the Exit Theatre. I caught the show last weekend, and I laughed the whole time. Don’t miss it!
“MOMMY QUEEREST begins with young teenaged Kat having her earth shattered when she realizes that she and her mother are both lesbian. Too bad her mom hasn’t figured it out yet despite the fact she’s been living with her partner since Kat was six years old! After a spectacularly failed attempt to share this epiphany with her mom, Kat lurches through her own teenage sexploration with guys and girls, trying to figure out how she fits in with her family, community and self. After a decade of attempting to educate this wayward parent about what it means to be lesbian, she discovers there is still a thing or two she can learn from her mom.
Kat Evasco tackles conflict with humorous insight, while illustrating the experience of being a Filipina lesbian, gay Christian, survivor of sexual abuse and young American just trying to get some. Written by Kat Evasco and John Caldon, performed by Kat Evasco, and directed by John Caldon, MOMMY QUEEREST chronicles the coming out process of a lesbian daughter and a closeted lesbian mother, illustrating how the reclaiming of their sexuality challenges and strengthens their relationship.”
Running March 14 – April 13. I have never seen a production of Top Girls, so I am especially excited to see what Custom Made does.
“Directed by Laura Lundy-Paine Starring: Monica Cappuccini, Cary Cronholm Rose, Cat Luedtke, Megan Putnam, Katie Robbins, Carina Lastimosa Salazar and Mimu Tsujimura
Marlene has just been made president of Top Girls Employment Agency in London, beating out her more established male colleague and taking the agency by storm. She has achieved her dream to become successful and the top executive, but what now?
A sumptuous dinner, of course, with wine, gourmet food, and five of the most famous and scandalously adventurous women in history: Adventurer Isabella Bird, Courtesan Lady Nijo, Dull Gret from Brueghel’s masterpiece, Pope Joan, and Patient Griselda from The Canterbury Tales. Shocking and hilarious, these six women take the restaurant by storm with stories of battles and high jinks, masquerading as men, passionate love-making, and beating their oppressors bloody.
Churchill’s gift for rapid-fire exchanges, overlapping dialogue and fearless thrust of her subject matter are as breath-taking now as they when “Top Girls” was presented in the 80’s as a scathing attaching on the individualist nature of Margaret Thatcher’s England. Sadly, not much has changed since then, and not only the 1% should ask: at what price success?”
The show plays May 1-24, and I’m telling you about it this early because IT WILL SELL OUT BEFORE IT OPENS! Yep, it’s the hot ticket come May, so get your calendar in order and purchase your ticket today! But tickets here: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/577015
More about the show:
“Part biography, part rock concert, part experimental theater, RAT GIRL is based on Hersh’s memoir of the same name. It tells the story of how, in one year, she went from a gifted college student to an icon of art rock music when her band, Throwing Muses, was signed onto the British label 4AD Records. Along the way, Hersh discovered that she was bi-polar after a suicide attempt landed her in a mental hospital, and that she was pregnant with her first child. As much a story about one woman’s struggle to live with her own particular demons as it is about the rise of a gifted and unique artist, the play is a surreal and often comical exploration of how we make peace with who we are.
The show will feature covers of songs from the self-titled Throwing Muses album, which was recorded at the time RAT GIRL takes place and went on to become a cornerstone of the American alternative music movement.
RAT GIRL is part of this year’s DIVAfest, which began in 2002 as a response to the lack of opportunities for female playwrights in the larger theater industry and over the years has produced over 60 new plays by women. In 2011 DIVAfest evolved from being an annual EXIT Theatre festival into an independent, year-long producing organization dedicated to broadening its impact and diversity. Each Spring culminates in an annual festival showcasing playwrights, actors, directors, designers, musicians, dancers, poets, visual artists, craftswomen, burlesque performers, and forums, all with a focus on female perspective and experiences. Throughout the year DIVAfest supports new and developing work with co-productions, bi-monthly work-shopping opportunities at DIVAs Tell All, and DIVA or Die Burlesque, a monthly revue. At its core, DIVAfest remains a celebration of female power and creativity, encouraging female artists, allies, and audiences to broaden their horizons and exceed boundaries.
Featuring Christina Augello, Nathan Brown, Eli Diamond, Allison Fenner, Tim Green, Heather Kellogg, Sam Jackson, Shay Wisniewski. Directed by Claire Rice. Musical Direction by James Grady. Sound Design by Christine McClintock, Set Design by Joshua Saulpaw, Lighting Design by Beth Cockrell, Projections by Colin Johnson.”
Running May 14-18! More specific dates/times tba!
My hilarious one-act play about an all-girls mathletes team is being produced at SFSU, and you should mark your calendars!
I’ll be announcing info about my director and cast soon!
Program 1:
Program 2:
So those are my picks, and but there are a lot of shows I missed, so be sure to see things I didn’t mention. Seeing theater is good for the heart, soul, and body, it’s a medical fact.
Enjoy!
This funny thing keeps happening to me, I’ll be in the middle of a week and just slammed with work, and I’ll think to myself, “Don’t worry about it, next week things will calm down.” And the thing is, they’re not. I’ve been telling myself that for over a month now, and the stuff keeps on coming. Taking on two commissions at once I think might be fueling that… Also I can’t even look at Under The Gods’ Golden Cleats without losing half a day or more. And submitting like a mad-woman certainly doesn’t help… And, you know, grad school and kids, and all that… But I’m here to say that even though I’m obscenely busy, I’m having a good time. I’m also here to say that I won’t be posting every weekday, like normal. I need to step back a bit from blogging so that I don’t rip my hair out in frustration.
I won’t be gone completely, so don’t fret. In fact, check back tomorrow! I have a blog all thought out and everything, recommending shows that are playing now, or will be opening soon. So check back for my theater picks, and don’t worry if I’m not posting… I’m writing and submitting, writing and submitting, all the time.
Last night was a blast! It was great to hear an ending that I felt really great about. AND, even better, after getting notes and hearing things for myself, I know what I’ll be attacking for the next draft! This script is such a fun and engaging world to jump into, and with each reading, and after each new draft it starts to feel more and more alive. It’s close guys, it’s getting very very close!
So keep your eyes pealed! You will hear and see more from me and Under The Gods’ Golden Cleats soon.
Tonight! Tonight is the night! Under The Gods’ Golden Cleats will be read at Tides Theatre tonight at 7pm. If you can get there closer to 6:45, that would be great because we’ll be starting right at 7pm.
I have wine! Chips! Salsa! Cookies! And chocolate covered cherries! So not only will you get to hear the newest draft of my epic football meets the Trojan War play, but you’ll get to drink and snack with us too? That’s fun, right?
Best part, is that it is totally FREE! And I have a killer cast. And a killer director. And the script is pretty great too. So, nothing to lose!
Get the details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/265759466916913/?notif_t=plan_user_joined
SEE YOU TONIGHT!
There are 365 days in a year, and that is how many times I plan on submitting plays this year. Crazy? Maybe a little, but I’m in it to win it. Today is the last day of the month, and so I’m catching you up on my number of submissions to date. And that number is………
53? What a lot of plays! Unfortunately, I will admit that I’ve fallen a bit behind (I should be up to 59), but March is all my month, and I’m going go after it with a vengeance.
Only 312 submissions left to go!