A technical hiccup in my website kept me from blogging all last week, but luckily I have fantastic live-in tech support so I’m back! And there has been SO much I’ve wanted to tell you!

Last Monday (February 3rd), I made my Quiet Lightning debut, reading my short play Rewind. What a night! I was delighted to join the line-up of writers, and I really loved hearing the work from other writers!

If you’re sad about missing the show, you should be! But not too sad, you can read the show here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/205568323/sparkle-blink-49

And watch the show here: http://litseen.com/?p=15673

Neat, huh?

I think so. And if you like what you see, and want to get involved, DO IT! They’re lovely people to work with, and if you’re a playwright who doesn’t want to get on the stage you’re free to bring actors to read your work for you. Find out about their submission details here: http://quietlightning.org/submission-details/

The next deadline is February 12th, so get on it!

ALSO, last weekend I was lucky enough to see Megan Cohen in the Neo Futurists‘ show TOO MUCH LIGHT MAKES THE BABY GO BLIND at Boxcar. I cannot recommend this show enough. There are a lot of shows out there, and some of them are touching… Some of them are funny…. This show is both. Hilarious, absurd, and yet incredibly honest and personal. If you are in San Francisco, you have no excuses about missing this show. It runs 50 weeks a year, so get off your butt and make it out. Trust me, you’ll thank me later.

Here are the details:

TOO MUCH LIGHT MAKES THE BABY GO BLIND

(30 plays in 60 minutes)

Every Friday & Saturday @ 9pm

$15 + fees online

$10 + $1 times the roll of a 6-sided die at the door ($11 – $16)

Boxcar Playhouse

505 Natoma St

San Francisco

I also have to make a quick recommendation for This House Will Not Stand. It’s a new play at Berkeley Rep by local playwright Marcus Gardley. I saw it last week and I love, love, loved it.

Lots else to tell, but you’ll have to check back in later in the week! I have MFA, and teaching adventures to share, not to mention writing about prime numbers this weekend for PlayGround’s math night challenge. Come back! It’ll be fun.

PS

Like the tiger? And if you’re on facebook, wondering what in the world I’m talking about, click through to my newly designed website. It’s mighty.

In other exciting news, I will be reading my short play Rewind this Monday night! Quiet Lightning (they are also taking submissions now for their next event in March, so get on that: http://quietlightning.org/submission-details/, deadline February 12th) has monthly reading events and publishes what is read in sparkle + blink (which is given out to the first 100 guests at the readings!). Come and check it out, here are more details:

Quiet Lightning 54 // sparkle + blink 49

curated by Josey Lee and Spencer Kaidi

Monday, Feb 3 50 Mason Social House 50 Mason b/w Turk + Eddy

Readings by:

Jason File

Leigh Lucas

Tomas Moniz

Tara Rose

Julia Jackson

Kristina Ten

Jeff Von Ward

Sarah Carpenter

Penina Eilberg-Schwartz

Siamak Vossoughi

Sarah Bethe Nelson

Peter Bullen

Rachel Bublitz

sparkle + blink cover art by Steven J. Seidenberg

First 100 people get a copy with admission!

$7-10 no one turned away for lack of funds

Dinner $3-5

Doors at 6, readings at 7:30

RSVP on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/706947769336488/

21+

Got it? See you there!

My computer broke! I was without it for a week, and that is my only excuse for not posting. I tried to keep busy, and let’s see how I did….

Well for the month of January I submitted thirty three times! What? Yep, I’m a little ahead of the game, not as much as I’d like, but what are you gonna do… I am not sure that February will be quite as productive, with working, grad school, taking care of my kiddos, and ya know, being a person… Probably won’t be much of a person next month, but that is to be expected some times.

But here we go! It’s the year of 365 submissions, and I have only 332 to go!

Extremely excited to announce that The Custom Made Theatre Co. is commissioning a new full length play from me! This new play will join their monthly reading series during this coming summer.

The play will tell the story of an orphan named Daphne who is the subject of ridicule by other children and punishment by an uncaring caregivers. During one of her many tours through solitary confinement in the orphanage closet, Daphne’s imagination brings the god Athena to her with a mission: find Pegasus. Armed with hope of a mission and belief in magic, Daphne sets out to find her noble winged steed, and in the process, comes face to face with the difficult truth surrounding the deaths of her parents.

There’s going to be magic, dreams, and maybe even a circus in this play. My fingers are itching to start writing it!

Stay tuned so you can get all the details for the reading!

My one-minute play Peeper is in the current Vine Leaves Journal! If you’re interested in reading, go here: http://www.vineleavesliteraryjournal.com/issue-09-jan-2014.html.

Peeper is on page 41, so be sure to click the link and give it a read. Also, if you’re interested in submitting, check out their submission procedure here: http://www.vineleavesliteraryjournal.com/guidelines.html, the next deadline is February 28th. Good luck!

All Terrain Theater’s solo showcase Women In Solodarity is gearing up for it’s third year! If you’d like to be involved, we’re currently accepting submissions, here is everything you need to know:

All Terrain Theater is producing its third annual Women in Solodarity showcase and we’re soliciting scripts from female writers related to the theme of Modern Lovers: Women and Technology.

This showcase was formed in 2012 to counterbalance the overwhelming over-representation of men’s stories in theater and other media and to create opportunities for female artists to present and perform their stories. The showcase features solo performance pieces (plays with multiple characters all performed by the same actor), monologues, and solo storytelling. The production is performed at a private residence in Berkeley, CA in association with the International Home Theater Festival.

We invite writers to submit an original script related to the theme of Modern Lovers: Women and Technology with a performance time of approximately 5 to 20 minutes (generally between 1-8 pages, depending on formatting; please read your script aloud and time it before submitting). Prior performance or publication of the submitted piece(s) is okay. Writers should be based in the San Francisco Bay Area and must be available for at least one performance, and preferably for at least one rehearsal in April or May. Writers who have had work previously produced through this series are asked to refrain from submitting this year.

Please submit your script as a PDF document to submissions@allterraintheater.org by Saturday, February 15, 2014.

Please indicate if you are also an actor who wishes to perform the submitted piece.

Submitted scripts will be reviewed by our director and producer to fill approximately three of the remaining slots in our production. Writers will be notified of whether their script was selected by the end of February for production in May 2014. Rehearsals begin in April and we intend to host at least five public performances. Selected writers receive a share of ticket sales.

All Terrain Theater is an independent theater company dedicated to producing original, entertaining, and accessible work that gives artists a chance to explore and develop their craft. We are committed to representing women as artists as well as characters in our stories and we strive to create an environment that embraces a wide variety of audiences by telling as many of their stories as possible.

Our first Women in Solodarity showcase was themed “It’s a Woman’s World” and featured powerful and masterfully performed pieces addressing topics ranging from pregnancy to aging, surviving cancer, and growing up black in the South. Last year’s uber-popular “Cat Ladies” showcase sold out five performances and two extensions and featured seven funny and poignant pieces about cats, women’s relationships with cats, and women and their inner feline.

It’s my first day teaching juniors and seniors at Redwood High School in Larkspur, and I thought it’d be fun to give you a play by play of my day. Here we go:

1:16am, wake up. Is it 6 yet? No, go back to sleep.

3:37am, wake up. Is it 6 yet? No, go back to sleep.

6:00am, alarm goes off. Hit snooze button too many times.

6:27am, wake up. Panic. I was supposed to be out of bed 27 minutes ago. Lesson: 6am is early. Get ready.

6:59am, leave for work!

7:32am, park on campus. Locate theater, freak out on the inside.

8:10am, first class! First of 4 classes actually. Learn quickly after arriving that I have four classes with 10 students in each class. First class is sleepy, but then, so am I. First class also has the unfortunate placement of being my first class. Things weren’t quite as focused as I would have liked. We talk about theater as a medium, play structure, and brain storm about topics for their play. At this point I am amazed that this many kids are in one drama program…. And these are just the juniors and seniors.

8:51am, bell rings, first class leaves. Waiting for next class. Oh my GOD, they come in fast and crazy. So much energy. SO much energy. Still amazed at the quantity of students in this theater program. Second class goes slightly better than the first class, still getting my bearings.

9:13am, I need more writing exercises.

9:30am, give second group time to write up ideas for their play. Things are moving more smooth, this group seems more focused. I’m thinking that’s because I feel more focused.

10:34am, I doodle while my third class writes.

10:52am, excited that by this third class I am much less terrible. We don’t sit around once and wonder what to do next. Score.

10:55am, third class leaves, tell me, “Thank you!” and, “Have a nice day!” It’s pretty great.

10:57am, fourth and final class enter, and this time I’m ready! Kids are joking about pandas, I jump in and joke about pandas. One of them says, “She’s funny. I like her.” That’s right a teenager likes me.

11:20am, best class of the day. Wish I could have a before school class so that I was better with my earlier classes. Hoping keep my momentum of today building so that tomorrow first class gets a more focused and comfortable teacher.

11:28am, more doodles while they write.

11:50am, they leave! I’m done! Good times.

Very excited to be the guest blogger today for the San Francisco Theatre Pub Blog today! If you’re looking for ways to promote your work, you should give it a read:

http://sftheaterpub.wordpress.com/2014/01/13/theater-around-the-bay-10-ways-for-a-playwright-to-self-promote/

If you haven’t heard, I’m teaching high school students how to write plays for a six week workshop! Tomorrow is my first day, and my body is starting to go from excited to nervous and wondering why in the world it’s brain signed up for such a thing, but that’s part of the fun, right? Right?

When I do get very nervous, I remind myself that this is the first job (that pays me money) I’ve had that’s writing related. And, get this, it pays me more than I have to pay for childcare… Living the dream, I am.

But in all serious and honesty, I am very excited for this opportunity. Tomorrow I might be singing a different tune, but you’ll have to check back in and read my post about my first day teaching, tomorrow!

The plays have been selected! Join PlayGround this Monday at Berkeley Rep (Jan. 13th at 8pm) for CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’!

The line-up is….

Where 101 Becomes The 101 by Ruben Grijalva, directed by Evren Odcikin

A Star is Born by Melissa Keith, directed by Tracy Ward

Nixon, the app by Jonathan Luskin, directed by Rebecca Ennals

Stranger in a Strange Land by Karen Macklin, directed by Margo Hall

I Have Found It! By Josh Senyak, directed by Gabriel Grilli

Last Stop in Gringolandia by Zoe Young, directed by Delia MacDougall

Congratulations to everyone selected! I can’t wait to see this evening of readings, will you be there Monday night to watch with me? You should. Get your tickets here: http://playground-sf.org/boxoffice/#.

See you Monday!