The future is children, yes? Whether we like it or not, they are younger and will likely be sticking around after us. That’s one of the reasons why I like what Gritty City Repertory Youth Theatre has got going on. Their mission from their website:

“Mission: Gritty City Repertory Youth Theatre provides Oakland youth with access to performing arts programs that nurture, stimulate & transform. We create unique spaces where young adults feel inspired to risk and explore, developing leadership, confidence, and empathy for their human family through the production of powerful theatre.”

As a kid I remember first getting into a theatre and trying out acting for the first time… It was like I could be at ease with myself suddenly… I knew after that that the theatre and I were going to spend some serious time together. But even for kids who don’t want to make the life long commitment, I think it’s important. Being involved with theatre offers a lot; you learn how to think quick on your feet (especially when your fellow actors can’t remember their lines), you learn how to come together with your peers and create, and you feel pride over that which you create. I feel like even the dreadful shows I was in in high school helped mold me into the person I am now. We need more theatre lovers, and so I say start ‘em young! No better way than hooking them as young ones (it’s like drugs but in a much healthier way).

That brings me all the way back to Gritty City Repertory Youth Theatre. That’s just what they’re doing… Hooking kids into performing arts and letting them shine. This is a local company over in Oakland, and right now they have Shakespeare’s The Tempest playing now until May 19th.

Here are all the details:

THE TEMPEST by William Shakespeare

Directed by Lindsay Krumbein and Colleen Egan.

May 9th-12th, and 16th-18th

Vagabond Ballroom, 830 Isabella Street, Oakland, CA.

Here’s a bit more about the show from their website:

“This production of Shakespeare’s classic will awaken your imagination. Our Tempest is set in the 1930’s. Prospero, the Duchess of Milan, losses her dukedom in a gangster take-over, and is cast out to sea. She lands safely on a defunct, rusted out Coney Island with her tiny daughter Miranda, and takes over as ringmaster, developing her magical powers, and plotting her revenge. Year’s later, adventure and intrigue abound on the island, where a caged monster dwells, a ship-wracked prince falls in love, and villainous siblings plot dastardly deeds! Join us at the Vagabond Ballroom this spring – we guarantee a Tempest like none you’ve ever seen before!”

Click here to buy your tickets!

Isn’t that how it always is? Finish a post, then think of more you wish you’d put in there? Well today that’s the case for me! I thought of some more things you should know about this year’s San Francisco Olympians Festival, and more reasons why you should give:

1. You are helping fund 36 brand-spanking-new plays!
2. Lots of women playwrights! Of the 30 playwrights, 17 of them are ladies.
3. It’s also a fine arts festival! Brand new works will be created by local fine artists, making that art community here in the bay area bigger and stronger!
4. You’re also supporting local directors and actors! It’s not just a festival for playwrights, we get everyone involved! And come November we’ll have actors perform the plays as staged readings at The Exit in downtown San Francisco.
5. Tickets are low so everyone can afford to see the shows! Tickets are only $10!

Click here for the indiegogo campaign page.

And if you need more reasons… Here is this year’s power-house line up:

November 6: Greeks Bearing Gifts

AJAX MAJOR by Charles Lewis III

AJAX MINOR- Barbara Jwanouskos

NESTOR- Robert Estes

DIOMEDES- Joel Street

TEUCER- Marissa Skudlarek

PATROCLUS- Daniel Hirsch

THERSITES- Daniel Hirsch

NEOPTOLEMUS- Barbara Jwanouskos

November 7: The Brothers (Part One)

MENELAUS- Annette Roman

AGAMEMNON- Anthony Miller

November 8: The Brains

ODYSSEUS- Megan Cohen

November 9: The Brawn

ACHILLES by Rachel Bublitz

November 13: Trojan Women

HECUBA- Patsy Fergusson

LAODIKE- Marissa Skudlarek

ANDROMACHE- Sarah McKereghan

POLYXENA- Peter Hsieh

CRUESA- Tonya Narvaez

CHRYSEIS- Carol Lashof

BRISEIS- Carol Lashof

OENONE- Ashley Cowan

November 14: The Brothers (Part Two)

PARIS- Kirk Shimano

HECTOR- Bridgette Portman

November 15: The Seer

CASSANDRA- Claire Rice

November 16: The Survivor

AENEAS- Colin Johnson

November 20: The Tools

GOLDEN APPLES I- Helen Noakes

THE SHIELD- Meg O’Connor

THE HELMET- Meg O’Connor

THE SPEAR- Neil Higgins

THE SWORD- Tracy Potter

THE SHIPS- Tracy Potter

THE BOW- Sunil Patel

GOLDEN APPLES II- Allison Page

November 21: The Battlefield

THE WALLS- Madeline Puccioni

THE PLAINS- Jeremy Cole

November 22: The Problem

HELEN- Sam Hurwitt

November 23: The Solution

THE HORSE- Stuart Bousel

In case you missed it, go here to give! And thank you again!

San Francisco Olympians Festival has kicked off it’s fundraising campaign! We need your support to keep this fabulous commissioned theatre and fine arts festival alive and running. Check out the indiegogo campaign here!

There aren’t a lot of festivals out there that commission work, and that’s only one of the reasons why the San Francisco Olympians Festival is so special. As a writer you come across so many opportunities that have a topic or theme but ask for finished pieces, and typically don’t give you enough time to complete something new for it. You’re left with either lucking out and happen to already have something that fits, or changing something that you’ve already written to fit their guidelines. With this festival you write a proposal and then have a year to finish your piece. And at the end of the whole process you have a reading of this new work. San Francisco Olympians Festival brings artist together to create and gives them a home to do that in. It’s a rare thing, and should be supported! And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, to learn all about the festival and all of the opportunities it creates watch the video on indiegogo!

Want to know more about what I’m doing for this year’s festival? Check out the page about Achilles!

Please don’t wait, and give today! Thank you so much!

Last Saturday I flaked on my new shout out feature because of a wedding, and tomorrow I’ll be livin’ up my awesome kid-free weekend down in Arizona so I thought I’d both make up for last week and get ahead for this week.

In my first Saturday shout out I talked about the incredibly talented Tracy Held Potter. For this week since I have two I thought it would do well to talk about Megan Cohen and Stuart Bousel… The two work on so many projects together and are both so incredibly awesome they’ve become a super friend couple in my mind. Anyway, let’s get to it…

Megan Cohen

I first got to know Megan not by meeting her, but seeing one of her plays. Last year I was blown away first by her piece, Three Little Dumplings Go Bananas in BOA 2012 then by BEEEEEAAR! in the Pint Sized III. Three Little Dumplings Go Bananas was hilarious. I enjoyed it so much I looked Megan up when I came home from the show and started internet stalking her (it was pretty light, mostly just on twitter and facebook). THEN just a few short months later I was again blown away by the hilarity of her words in BEEEEEAAR! which was expertly acted out by Allison Page. This cemented my playwright crush completely. Nearly a year later lines from BEEEEEAAR! will pop into my head and I STILL LAUGH, because it was that funny.

Since then I’ve seen more, and actually met the fabulous Megan Cohen, and even though she could be a complete playwright diva and ignore the pions around her she is eager to make connections with other artists, and always down to talk about craft, theatre, and much much more.

If you’re not yet convinced take these facts into mind:

• In 2012 Megan was the most produced female playwright in the bay area with over 20 readings and productions.
• Megan (along with Stuart Bousel) started Saturday Write Fever, a event created to bring the theatre art community together in an amazing impromptu kind of way.
• For this year’s SF Olympians Festival Megan is taking the story of Odysseus and transforming into a one woman show! From the SF Olympians Festival website:

“Megan Cohen’s Totally Epic Odyssey will be an epic poem in the Homeric tradition, performed by the author in lively modern language. The Olympians Festival presentation features a 90-minute “highlight reel” of passages from the 12-hour tale, including sex, a shipwreck, violence, raucous parties, gigantic monsters, and the awesome goddess Athena swooping through the sky. This first public preview is a major step in the development of Cohen’s full adaptation of Homer’s complete poem, a work that will eventually manifest in a variety of mediums including both theatrical performance and online transmedia elements, its larger-than-life story sprawling uncontained across stages and screens. For process updates and bonus content, visit Megancohen.com and/or follow the Twitter hashtag #TotallyEpicAdaptation.”

Okay you should be convinced by now. Megan is amazing. Be like me and follow her around like a lost puppy… You won’t be disappointed. And if you want to know more about Megan, visit her on twitter and check out the production page of her website.

Stuart Bousel

Stuart Bousel is the puppet master of the indie theatre scene her in the Bay Area… At least that’s how it looks from the outside. He writes, directs, produces, and is the busiest person I have ever met… And I have two kids. Last year he estimated that he watched over 100 shows and reading all over the city and beyond. He founded the SF Olympians Festival, is one of the founders of SF Theatre Pub, and founded No Nude Men Productions. And that’s just the beginning, I feel like in every nook and cranny of the theatre scene here, people know of and respect Stuart.

Last year I wrote to Stuart before I had met him, and asked him to read my full length play The Fantasy Club… Bold, I know… Anyway, he didn’t ignore me. He didn’t blow me off… He wrote me back (surprisingly fast) telling me that he was way too busy but then he went on to give me amazing advice about how I should get my work done. Words that I really took to heart and I feel have really helped me. He told me to start seeing shows, and readings and get involved with as many different theatre outlets as I could. He also told me not to shy away from self production because sometimes you just have to put your own money on the line. I think it’s important for fresh playwrights to go in with their eyes wide open, and I very much appreciate Stuart’s frankness.

Oh and did I mention he also writes? Yep, he does it all.

If you’re looking to see Stuart in action, be sure to see Prelude To A Kiss by Craig Lucas at Custom Made Theatre Co. (he’s directing). Or come to the next SF Theatre Pub night, Pub From Another World. Or the next Saturday Write Fever coming in a few Saturdays! Or see his play this August Age of Beauty. Or any of the other dozens of projects/shows/festivals that he has coming up.

In short… Megan = awesome. Stuart = awesome.

See you guys on Monday Bay Area, I’m off to have fun in the hot hot sun of Arizona.

Gender parity is a hot topic right now. It’s been everywhere, and I can’t help but think about it quite a lot… Being a female playwright and all… I mean here I am, writing plays and I have the most of the world telling me that theatre is dead and that I have no hope in making a career out of it, and then on top of all of that the chances are even lower because I’m a woman. Well I say phooey on that.

This is my personal solution to making things more equal…. I will continue to write plays and I will constantly work on writing the best plays I can. Additionally, I will continue to write mostly female characters. I don’t do this because I don’t like men, or because I think there aren’t talented men to work with… I do this in part because I am a former actor and I remember how frustrating it was to get a script and be disappointed by the 1 or 2 female parts contrasted by 4+ parts for men. Additionally, I do it because there are a ton of incredibly talented women here in the bay area. I’ve gone to a number of auditions, and they’ve all had a lot of fantastic women and only a hand full of men. I want my work to be done, and I try to make it as easy to do as possible. Including more women always seems to help. Let me tell you writing Golden Cleats my full length about Achilles taking place on a football field was not easily made into a play that had more female characters than male, but it’s important to me and so I did it.

I think that’s how this problem is going to get solved. We all need to step back and think about what we can personally do. Obviously artistic directors and literary managers will have more pull than a lowly playwright like me, but we all can do our part to better represent the communities which we hope to entertain and teach.

Today is the day to sign up for the 31 Plays in 31 Days project! Last year Tracy Held Potter and myself invited playwrights from around the world to write 31 plays during the month of August and over 400 writers signed up for the challenge! This year is round two and time for you to find out what all the fuss is about. Here’s what you’ve got to do:

1. Register for the challenge on 31plays31days.com.
2. Like 31 Plays 31 Days on facebook!
3. Follow us on twitter; @31plays31days!
4. Tell your friends! Post on facebook, tweet on twitter, let the world know!

Want to be even more involved? Check out these great ways to help:

• Send in writing prompts.
• Become a guest blogger.
• And be on the look out, we’ll be announcing more ways to get involved in the weeks to come!

Tomorrow is May, where did April go? I haven’t quite figured that out, but I do know that May has a ton of shows/events going on, and you should know about them!

DIVAfest May 9th – June 2nd

DIVAfest is theatre festival celebrating woman. This year’s festival features two new plays, as well as exciting other events. All shows are happening at the EXIT Theatre.

Here’s the line-up:

You’re Going To Bleed May 9th – June 1st

by Melissa Fall, directed by Claire Rice

Tickets $15, $20, and $25

The Helen Project May 10th, 11th, 24th, and 25th

By Megan Cohen and Amy Clare Tasker, directed by Amy Claire Tasker

Tickets $10

Rebel Without A Bra: A Burlesque Cabaret May 11th – June 1st

Tickets $15, $20, and $25

Book in Progress Reading from author Erika Atkinson June 1st

Tickets $10

Closing Champagne Brunch June 2nd

Tickets $25

Best of PlayGround 17 May 9th – 26th

PlayGround each year challenges playwrights in it’s writers pool to write ten minute plays in short periods of time. Throughout the year, the writers are given a topic and only a few days to complete a script. The top scripts are given staged readings during Monday Night Playground. From those scripts, they select 6 to be given a full production and that is what the Best of PlayGround is! This year they’ve put together an excellent show, it’s not to be missed!

This year’s selected plays/playwrights are:

Symmetrical Smack-Down by William Bivins, directed by Jim Kleinmann

Value Over Replacement by Ruben Grijalva, directed by Katja Rivera

The Spherical Loneliness of Beverly Onion by Katie May, directed by Rebecca Ennals

Simple and Elegant by Evelyn Jean Pine, directed by Tracy Ward

Significant People by Amy Sass, directed by Steven Anthony Jones

My Better Half by Jonathan Spector, directed by Michael French

The festival is taking place at Thick House in San Francisco.

Tickets and packages range from $20 – $75. Buy tickets here.

Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl at Douglas Morrison Theatre May 16 – June 9

Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice is back, and this time it’s in the east bay. You don’t always get the opportunity to compare so closely what two separate companies will do with the same text, and here’s the perfect chance! Custom Made Theatre Co.’s production just closed, and if you made it out to see it, get your tickets now for DMT’s show and see how different the same set of words can be!

Directed by Susan E. Evans. Tickets range from $21 – $29 . Buy tickets here.

Prelude To A Kiss by Craig Lucas at Custom Made Theatre Co. May 17 – June 16

Show directed by Stuart Bousel. Lots of fantastic local talent are bringing this play to life including the always charming and hilarious Allison Page.

Tickets range from $15 – $30. Buy tickets here.

Saturday Write Fever III: Spring Fever! May 18th, 8:30pm

This is an amazing event, and you should go. For more details about what goes down see my previous blog post all about it.

Pub From Another World May 20th, 8pm

Be there to see Audrey’s first play read aloud with 7 other plays for San Francisco Theatre Pub’s May staged reading showcase. Donation accepted at the door.

My two short plays We’re All Going To Die, and Nap Time will be produced by Love Creek Production for their May showcase!

The dates for both showcases are May 20th, 21st, and 22nd and all performances will be at The Producers Club.

We’re All Going To Die is being directed by Jackie Shiffer and will be at 7pm.

Nap Time is being directed by Taylor Phillips and will be at 8:30pm.

If you make it out, let me know how you like it! One of these days I have to make it out to New York!

The Fantasy Club will be going up in San Francisco at The Alcove Theater this August, and I’m over-the-moon-happy to announce specific dates! So people, mark your calendars!

Here are the confirmed dates:

Friday, Aug 2 @ 8pm

Saturday, Aug 3 @ 8pm

Sunday, Aug 4 @ 5pm

Friday, Aug 9 @ 8pm

Saturday, Aug 10 @ 8pm

Sunday, Aug 11 @ 5pm

The Fantasy Club happens to be my first play. It’s had many a drafts, and I learned a tremendous amount working on it. I can’t wait to see it coming to life on stage, and I do hope you can join us! Cast and other details will be announced soon, for now, save the date!

Here’s a bit more about the play:

Who says men own the monopoly on sex fantasies? Pull the sheets off of one stay-at-home mom’s dirty little secret in The Fantasy Club. Frances is beginning to discover that she is more than just a wife and mother. She’s writing poetry again, poetry inspired by her sexual fantasies. Soon she comes face to face with the object of these fantasies and is given the opportunity to make them a reality. Will Frances risk her family for her fantasy?

I tried to put it down, but that was impossible… So now after tinkering for weeks my full length play about Achilles Golden Cleats (I shortened the name) has a new draft! I LOVE it. Trying to put a living room read together for this coming June, it’d be nice to have one more revision before the staged reading on November 9th (which you all should have in your calendar by now, seriously, write it in).

Now I’ll be moving on to finishing a new draft of Terrible People a 30 minute, 4 woman play. Playwright’s Center of San Francisco will feature Terrible People in their Spring Reading Series which starts May 6th. The staged reading of Terrible People will be July 1st, and Lisa Drostova will be directing it!

Also, dates for the summer production of The Fantasy Club will be coming soon!