Tonight and tomorrow come on down to San Jose for SJReal’s Mixtapes Volume One (Remix)! Here are the details:

Friday, September 20 | 10:30pm

Saturday, September 21 | 10:30pm

$Pay-What-You-Will

Doors Open 30 min. before showtime | San Jose Rep’s Lounge

No Advance Tickets | Cash Only

Mixtapes Volume 1 (Remix) by Megan Cohen, Rachel Bublitz, Jeremy Cole, Amber Sommerfeld and Peter Hsieh directed by Peter Hsieh

A remix of rockin’ short plays inspired by Janis Joplin songs presented in a mixtape format, featuring new works from Bay Area playwrights Megan Cohen, Rachel Bublitz, Jeremy Cole, Amber Sommerfeld and Peter Hsieh.

Featuring: James Allan Morgan Voellger Emily Brouwer Lee Robin Salazar Stephanie Whigham James J. Der, Jr.

Design by Peter Hsieh

You should be there. I went last week and loved the show, and I will be back again tonight! So if you like following me around, you should also come out. Not in a creepy way though, don’t follow me in a creepy way.

Since I finished playwrightbinge, I thought that I would check in and see how my submissions were going this year…. And see if I’m on track to make my goals….

SO, I have gotten 13 people do say yes to submissions I’ve sent in, I’ve had 37 people say now, and I’m still waiting to hear back from 86 folks… That brings my total up to 136 submissions this year!

Thinking about that makes me want a nap… A nap sounds so good right now.

Just started work on TWO brand new, very different plays. Different from one another, and different from anything I’ve ever written. I’m trying to stretch myself and do my MFA all the way!

First off, I have (I think it’ll be 30-45 minutes) a children’s play (yes a play for children!) called either Clever Catherine, or The Clever Queen. It’s adorable. And I’ve only had to stop myself from writing inappropriate things like a dozen times so far. Woo!

Number two is a HORROR play! You probably don’t know this, but I’m a super wimp when it comes to scary things… Scary movies, scary shows, scary stories, they get to me. So I’m trying to funnel that into one scary f*ing play (see what I mean about the inappropriate things?). It will probably be called Rosie, Bloody Rosie. It is about a female serial killer, and after I wrote the outline, I had nightmares. ½ way through a very rough draft, and I’m itching to get it done so I can push my limits even farther with draft 2! It’s going to be a long one-act (I’m hoping to land around 65-75 pages).

Excited? Good! So am I.

Okay folks, it all comes down to this… If you haven’t had a chance to see BABIES, The Ultimate Birth Control, tonight is your last chance! Tonight, 9pm at the Exit, or fantastic actors take the stage for the last time! You don’t want to miss this adorable/terrifying set of plays that will make you want to run off and buy all the condoms Costco keeps in stock. Seriously, it’s funny stuff.

And you don’t have to take my word for it, we have TWO more reviews! Lisa says:

“There are gems in this mix. Weave that precocious truth-telling “Baby” and his mama into a full-length play ASAP.”

And Patrick M Brennan says:

“I could relate to all of these plays. I laughed a lot. I cried a little. I enjoyed myself a lot. Definitely worth seeing! If you’ve ever had a baby, or wanted to have a baby, or were ever a baby, you’ll love this.”

If you want to see for yourself visit our SF Fringe page: http://www.theexit.org/reviews/babies/#comment-1706, if you’ve seen the show, tell us what you thought!

And finally, buy tickets! The night shows have been filling up. Don’t be sorry, buy your tickets in advance!

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/390070, or try your luck at the door!

30 plays submitted in 16 days! Oy, I should try this every month, just to get me to keep submitting! But, no… Sanity is important, and without breaks, I’m not sure I would stay sane. I found it interesting that this time I submitted a many plays for publishing opportunities, in the past I’ve mostly sent things in for productions or readings.

Anyway, here are my last submissions:

Plays 25 and 26 went to the Independent Actor’s Theatre, who are seeking short play (10-12 minutes) by women. I sent them Horny Like The Wolf, and Mother of the Year. And you can send in TWO to them. Deadline is September 30, 2013.

I sent My Body over to Smith & Kraus, because I remembered that it was also produced and eligible! If you don’t remember, they look for plays throughout the year for publication that have had productions. This was submission #27.

And for my final three submissions, I sent over Horny Like The Wolf, Nap Time, and Mother Of The Year to the Fine Arts Association who is taking submissions of 10-minute plays, and will take 3 plays from each playwright. The plays must not have been published. Deadline is October 1, 2013.

And just like that, I’m done! Relieved to be done, because I have a TON of writing going on, and it’s nice to focus on that for a bit. I might end up submitting more plays this month, but I’m not going to be posting them here. If truth be told, I wrote more than 31 plays last August. It’s a sickness, it really is.

Good luck with your playwrightbinge!

I spent ½ my day yesterday volunteering at SF Fringe’s hospitality suite, a place to sit back, enjoy some strawberry or cucumber flavored water, make a mask, munch on some fresh popped popcorn, or all three at the same time. The staff at The Exit has gone out of their way to make everyone involved in the Fringe festival feel welcome, and they have done a fabulous job. Yesterday, I enjoyed sandwiches at their SF Fringe party (everyone involved with the shows was invited for a delicious sandwich mixer), got to see a show for free (as a volunteer I can see any show at Fringe for free that isn’t sold out), AND I got to catch-up with friends both old and new, and meet new artists. I talked with the woman behind Nightingale, a show that everyone raves about, one that I’m trying to catch next Saturday, the actors from O Best Beloved, another show getting fantastic feedback, and many others. Meeting artists from near and far, learning more about those artists you already know, it’s all a part of living and creating in a community. As someone who hopes to create more in this community, it’s a no-brainer for me to get to know the folks in my community better.

I mean, I got to spend hours painting masks! Do you know how often I have the chance to do something like that? Never. The answer is never.

So, if you missed the boat volunteering this year at Fringe Festival, there’s always next year! I had a great time, and I can’t recommend it enough. Thank you Stuart Bousel, Christina Augello, and everyone else who works so hard making Fringe Festival awesome!

BABIES, The Ultimate Birth Control happens AGAIN! You do NOT want to miss this hilarious show. AND we have a new comment on our review page:

From sfkoolbrit:

““Terrifyingly Hilarious Plays about Parenting!” – This blurb really sums up this amazing, wonderful and yes, hilarious, set of short plays with brilliant performances by a wonderful cast, not to mention great writing and directing. This show is “not to be missed” so get your tickets today because tonight’s performance (9/14/13) was sold out.”

You don’t even have to take my word for it! Listen to sfkoolbrit! I’m pretty positive that this afternoon’s performance will sell out, BUT have no fear, because 25% of the tickets are sold at the door! The show is at 1pm, get there early, and get a seat!

After today we’ll have one more performance, Tuesday 9/17 at 9pm. Buy tickets in advance here: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/390070, or try your luck at the door!

Tonight you have TWO options to see my plays! In San Francisco tonight at 9pm you can see the hilarious BABIES, The Ultimate Birth Control at the Exit, and in San Jose, you can see Mixtapes Volume One starting around 10:30 (get there by 10:15 to make sure you get a seat!) at San Jose Rep. It’s hard choices, I know, picking between these two shows, but rest assured, you’ll have more chances to see both shows! There are two more performances for both shows! So if you pick one over the other tonight, you don’t have to fret.

For BABIES, we have the show tonight at 9pm, and also a show tomorrow (9/15) at 1pm, and Tuesday (9/17) at 9pm. Buy your tickets here: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/390070

And for Mixtapes Volume One, the show is also playing next Friday and Saturday night (starting at 10:30). For this show, you pay-what-you-can at the door.

Hope you can make it out!

For four performances only (the first one being TONIGHT) Mixtapes Volume One at SJReal. The show is at 10:30pm, and I will be there! There other shows are tomorrow (9/14), and next Friday and Saturday (9/20 and 9/21) and they are all at 10:30pm.

This is a show built off of translated songs. A very fun project thought up by Peter Hsieh. The other writers involved (other than Peter and myself) are, Amber Sommerfeld, Megan Cohen, and Jeremy Cole. It will be lots of fun! And there will be a Q & A after, so if you do make it, you can badger all the artists involved after!

Hope you make it out!

Sam Hurwitt, editor-in-chief of Theatre Bay Area magazine and theater critic for the Marin Independent Journal, brought up BABIES, The Ultimate Birth Control in an article he wrote for KQED Arts, Choose Your Own Adventure at the SF Fringe Fest!

Sam writes:

“Other shows really highlight the grab bag nature of the Fringe. All Terrain Theater’s Babies, the Ultimate Birth Control zooms through seven short vignettes by Tracy Held Potter and Rachel Bublitz about the trials and tribulations of parenting, performed by a versatile cast of four and directed by local actor Elena Wright. Highlights include Potter’s look at a working mom finding herself too thoroughly replaced by a too-competent nanny; Bublitz’s no-holds-barred negotiations between an opportunistic baby (played by a full-grown man) and his mom about nap time; and Potter’s attempt to turn an anti-feminist bedtime story into something more empowering.”

Read the whole article here: http://www.kqed.org/arts/performance/article.jsp?essid=125813

We’re coming up quickly on the next performance (Saturday 9/14 at 9pm), and remember there are only three left! Here’s the full list:

SATURDAY September 14 9:00 PM

SUNDAY September 15 1:00 PM

TUESDAY September 17 9:00 PM

And buy your tickets here: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/390070

I really REALLY don’t want you to miss this show! So be there or regret it the rest of your life (probably).