Trying to complete a year? A year in what? What am I talking about? All good questions… It has come to my attention that I have been fortunate enough to have my plays read or produced in every month since this past September! I am more than a little proud about that, but now I realize that if I’m able to fill in a few months, I’ll go an entire year with my work being read or produced in every month! With my newest staged reading of Terrible People with the Playwrights’ Center of San Francisco have to only fill in May, June, and September. Now, this goal in a lot of ways in completely silly… My plays getting selected or not has little to do with anything I do. And even with me submitting like a mad woman I could still fall short…. But a girl can dream, can’t she? And isn’t that why I’m fool enough to write plays in the first place? And with the next playwrightbinge (playwrights challenge themselves to submit a play a day for the months of March and September) around the corner, dream I will!

So keep your fingers crossed for me as the year moves on! And be sure and check out my Productions tab to see all of my upcoming events.

Keep on dreaming, keep on submitting!

PS

I’m not always this optimistic, you just caught me in one of those moods.

Terrible People has been selected for Playwrights’ Center of San Francisco’s Spring Reading Series. Yay! I’m especially excited to crack it open again and tinker with it. This was the exciting news that I got yesterday, if you’re wondering. So if you’re into ladies that kill people, be sure to check it out! Not sure when it’ll be, could be in May, June, or July… I’ll be sure to post about it, so don’t worry.

I also got an awesome email this morning that I’m still glowing over. It’s a fine day to be a playwright.

Happy Valentine’s Day folks!

A fellow playwright friend of mine was asking about opportunities with upcoming deadlines and as I started to compile the list for her I though, why not make a post about it? And since I couldn’t think of why I shouldn’t… I did!

San Francisco Theater Pub presents, The Pub from Another World!, deadline is MARCH 1st!

Guidelines:

1. Local, Bay Area playwrights only. Exceptions may be made if you are from an alternate universe.

2. Plays must be no more than 15 minutes long. We would prefer plays in the 10- to 15-minute range, but shorter pieces will be considered.

3. Plays will be performed in a bar, but they do not have to be set in a bar. Although practical concerns make simple settings easier to stage, we encourage writers to transform the space into a starship bridge, a Balrog-guarded bridge, or an evil killer bridge through dialogue or stage directions, which may be read.

4. We are looking for all types of plays: comedy, drama, romance, experimental, etc. The only requirement is that they include significant elements of sci-fi/fantasy/horror.

5. Plays should be submitted electronically as a DOC or PDF with the playwright’s name and contact information to theaterpub@atmostheatre.com with the subject “First Name, Last Name – The Pub from Another World Submission.”

MIRRORS: Monologues From Women’s Lives, deadline MARCH 31st!

This competition is open to women 16 years or older who submit between February 1 and March 31, 2013. Playwrights may submit only one monologue. Monologues must be unpublished and unproduced. Type your monologue on standard paper with 1-inch margins double-spaced in 12-point type. Number each page of the monologue.

Please avoid gratuitous profanity. We are unable to accept electronic submissions. Scripts will not be returned. We are unable to provide critiques for submissions.

Please send the following to the address below:

1. 3 copies of your one to three page monologue with no identifying information on the title page. On the character page of your monologue, indicate the speaker’s age and the person(s) to whom she is speaking.

2. 1 one unbound title page with all contact information

3. Your signed Permission Form (see tab above)

4. A 60-word bio

MIRRORS: Monologues From Women’s Lives

Box 115

527 Third Avenue

New York, NY 10016

Questions? Please email us: mirrormonologues@gmail.com.

Lucky Penny Productions, An 8 x 10 Holiday: A Festival of 10 Minute Plays, deadline is APRIL 30th!

FEE WAIVER OPTION: Special note on submission fee: Lucky Penny Productions and Napa Valley Playhouse empathize with writers who object to submission fees for events of this type. Our intent in requesting the submission fee is to fund the productions of these new works and support our theater. However, if you are opposed to submission fees on principle or cannot afford the fee, please include a note to that effect with your submission and it will be accepted with a fee waiver.

Scripts are now being accepted for “An 8 x 10 Holiday: A Festival of 10 Minute Plays” to be presented in December 2013 by Lucky Penny Productions and Napa Valley Playhouse. Both plays and musicals will be considered. All scripts must be new unproduced works and must have some connection in theme, character, plot, setting or other element to the end of the year or holidays. Minimalism in technical demands and staging is essential. Four characters or less, please. The author whose play is voted the “People’s Choice” will receive a $100 honorarium.

For full submission guidelines, visit their website; luckypenny.com. Snail mail only.

Piney Fork Press Theater, deadline is MAY 1st!

Submissions are now being accepted for the First Piney Fork Press Theater One Act Play Festival, to take place in June 2013 in New York City.

Seeking 10 minute plays (no more than 10 pp), preferably with no more than 5 characters. Also seeking monologues (no more than 4pp). Basic set requirements.

No more than 3 submissions per playwright. No profanity, as this is a family friendly festival! No submission fee. Please include name, address, telephone number and email address.

Email:

submissions@pineyforkpress.com

Snail mail:

Piney Fork Press Theater Festival

22-73 43rd Street – JC

Astoria NY 11105

MADLAB, deadline is JUNE 1st!

GENERAL INFORMATION

To maximize your chance of selection, please read all the guidelines carefully before submitting.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Though we are up for anything, ideally, scripts should be long one-acts (70-90 minutes) or two-act plays (100-120 minutes). If you have something else longer, please feel free to send it on.

You may submit multiple scripts.

Script submissions WILL NOT be returned to the applicant; MadLab will destroy all evidence of your creative instincts upon a funeral pyre at an undisclosed location in order to protect both the innocent and the guilty. Ashes will NOT be returned to you unless you purchase a commemorative urn from MadLab at the bargain basement price of $999.95.

Due to our environmentally conscious president, you must email your script to us. If emailing is absolutely impossible for you, please call us at 614.221.5418 so we can make alternate arrangements.

Please send your script attached as a Microsoft Word document or PDF format. Scripts should be emailed to andy@madlab.net. Please put “MADLAB 2014 SEASON” in the subject line. If “MADLAB 2014 SEASON” is not in your subject line, your submission may not be received. All submissions will receive a reply email to ensure that your submission was received. Please put “MADLAB 2014 SEASON” in the subject line.

Audition Announcement!

Seeking female actors to perform solo pieces and monologues in All Terrain Theater’s second annual Women in Solodarity showcase. All Terrain Theater is committed to promoting new works by local playwrights featuring strong and interesting female characters. This year’s showcase theme is “Cat Ladies,” showcasing the original work of Maura Halloran, Rachel Bublitz, Carol Lashof, Patricia Milton, Theresa Donahoe, Tracy Held Potter, and more.

We’re looking for women of all ethnicities and ages (over 18) who can perform monologues as well as solo performances featuring multiple characters played by the same actor (non-equity). Actors will be asked to perform off-book for solo performances ranging from 5 to 15 minutes each.

This show is produced in association with the International Home Theater Festival and will be performed at a private residence in Central Berkeley. Please note: our performance venue has cats.

Performance dates are:

Friday, April 5th at 8pm

Saturday, April 6th at 2pm and 8pm

Friday, April 12th at 8pm

Saturday, April 13th at 8pm

Actors and crew will split revenues from ticket sales and will receive a small travel stipend.

Please email your resume and headshot to rnbublitz@gmail.com, as well as a preferred time for your audition. Auditions are Saturday, February 16th from 11am to 1pm at 3286 Adeline St #4, Berkeley, CA 94703-2485. I will email out sides from the solo pieces and monologues on Friday afternoon for you to prepare. Please email questions to the address above.

Free theatre? That’s too good to be true! Oh, but it is…. Magic Theatre is holding readings this month at The Costume Shop. Best part is that they are free and open to the public! Other best part? My friend Alysha Oravetz’s full length play Bird in House will be read on Friday February 22nd at 8pm. I’ve read it, and it is twisted, dark, and not to be missed. Here are the other events included in Magic @ The Costume Shop:

Readings:

Friday, February 22nd:

5:00pm – Waafrika by Nick Mwaluko

8:00pm – Bird in House by Alysha Oravetz

Saturday, February 23rd:

7:00pm – Exit Wounds by Tim Bauer

Monday, February 25th:

7:00pm – Game On by Tony Taccone and Dan Hoyle

Tuesday, February 26th:

7:00pm – Outside Lands by Octavio Solis

9:30pm – A Night for Poets

Wednesday, February 27th:

7:00pm – Cow Play by Matthew George

Thursday, February 28th:

7:00pm – Hookman by Lauren Yee

9:30pm – Multidimensional Musical Experience Featuring Carlos Aguirre

Friday, March 1st:

7:00pm – And I and Silence by Naomi Wallace

9:30pm – Drag Diva Extravaganza

Saturday, March 2nd:

7:00pm – Outside Lands by Octavio Solis

9:30pm – Comedians, Clowns and Improv

Sunday, March 3rd:

6:00pm – I and You by Lauren Gunderson

Did you see that on March 1st there is a Drag Diva Extravaganza at 9:30? How can you miss that? You can’t…. That’s the point. See you there!!

My Friday night was hilarious. I was feeling better than I had all week, and my brilliant theatre mate, Tracy Held Potter, asked if I wanted to join her to see Hot Mess: Now It’s Getting Awkward at the New Conservatory Theatre Center. I did indeed. I’d missed their past shows, and I was eager to finally see this relatively new sketch comedy group (they’re a year old). Let me say officially, I never want to miss one of their shows again! They made me laugh so hard it hurt and I loved it. It was one of those shows that you wish you had all of your friends with you because you know how much they’d like the show too. It’s too good to not share.

My favorite sketch was “The Pack” written by Alani Foxall. It has a group of women sexually harassing a couple of construction workers, and it was every bit as good as the set up sounds. So! Go see Hot Mess! It runs this weekend and next in San Francisco. Here’s a bit more about it from their website……

It’s been a whole year since we gave birth to San Francisco’s biggest sketch comedy train wreck, and we are thrilled that NCTC invited us back for two hot weekends of shows…especially after the mess we made the last time.

So put on your pants, and don’t make eye contact, because it’s about to get awkward!

Featuring our hot messy pool of actors, writers, and directors…Giovanna Arieta, Spencer Bainbridge, Kirsten Broadbear, Megan Cohen, Annie Diehl, Alani Foxall, Jesus Fuentes, Joe Jordan, Sang S. Kim, Renee LeVesque, Dave Levine, Pearl Maril, James Martin, Colin McCarthy, Sarah Moser, Tonya Narvaez, Shaun Plander, Kaeli Quick, Sara Staley, Evan Wagoner-Lynch.

Now I’m off, got to clean the house before I take off to see two (yes two!) shows today. I’m seeing Se Llama Cristina from Magic Theatre at 2:30! It’s a free show over here in the East Bay at Laney College Theater Arts. Sounds rad, right? Here’s the schedule for the other free shows they are offering this year. Then tonight I’m finally getting to see Why Torture is Wrong, and the People who Love Them at Custom Made Theatre Company! Today is a very good day.

PS the links don’t work if you’re reading this on facebook, you have to click through to my website.

Here are some awesome submission opportunities. Now go on, and get your work out there!

1. Left Coast Theatre Co., deadline 4/1/2013

Attention all Playwrights! Left Coast Theatre Company wants your comedic brilliance for our 2013 Fall show:

TWISTED FAIRY TALES

The title says it all. Stories inspired by The Brothers Grimm, Aesop’s Fables, Mother Goose Tales, Hans Christian Anderson, Disney, etc. are welcome. Original fairy tale-esque submissions are also welcome. The more twisted, the better. We’re looking for entries that push boundaries beyond the obvious. Think beyond the “Prince Charming is secretly in love with The Knight in Shining Armor” or “wicked step-sisters played by drag queens” narratives. Think outside the tale!

When is the deadline? All submissions are due by April 01, 2013

Where do I submit? Please submit to: submissions@lctc-sf.org

If you have any questions, please send them to: submissions@lctc-sf.org

*Plays should be between 10-15 minutes in length.

2. Edward Albee Foundation, deadline 3/1/2013

The Foundation maintains the William Flanagan Memorial Creative Persons Center (better known as “The Barn”) in Montauk, on Long Island in New York, as a residence for writers and visual artists of all media.

The Center is open from mid-May through mid-October, and can accommodate comfortably up to five persons at a time. Residencies are for 4 or 6 week periods of time. The standards for admission are, simply, talent and need.

Located approximately two miles from the center of Montauk and the Atlantic Ocean, “The Barn” rests in a secluded knoll which offers privacy and a peaceful atmosphere. The Foundation expects all those accepted for residence to work seriously and to conduct themselves in such a manner as to aid fellow residents in their endeavors. Writers are offered a room; visual artists are offered a room and studio space. Residents are responsible for their food, travel, and other expenses. The environment is simple and communal. Residents are expected to do their share in maintaining the condition of “The Barn” as well as its peaceful environment.

The Foundation is pleased to accept applications AFTER JANUARY 1, 2013 for the 2013 Summer Season; applications must be post-marked no later than March 1st, 2013 and must arrive—through the mail—no later than March 8th.

All applications must be sent to:

The Edward F, Albee Foundation 14 Harrison St., New York, NY 10013

Via REGULAR USPS MAIL ONLY. Any materials arriving by hand, requiring additional postage, signature (e.g. FedEx, UPS, Express Mail, etc.), or any form of personalized receipt will not be accepted (this includes certified mail).

FELLOWSHIPS WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON OR AROUND APRIL 15TH

Download the application here.

3. Listen To Your Mother, deadline 2/24/2013

We are seeking Bay Area writers to read their original essays on any aspect of motherhood. People of all ages, backgrounds and experience levels are encouraged to audition. LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER is a community-oriented celebration of the beauty, the heartbreak, the trials and triumphs that are motherhood. We encourage diverse perspectives on the subject of mothers and mothering. You don’t need to be a mother to audition, or even a woman! You don’t need to be a writer either, just someone with an original story to tell that comes from your heart.

We are looking for humorous, poignant, painful, joyful or soulful original pieces on mothers and mothering which take three to five minutes to read aloud (please check this before the audition). Previously published work accepted as long as the author retains full rights or has express permission to read the work for this event.

Commitment for cast members includes two group read-throughs in April, a pre-performance run-through at Kanbar Hall and one 7:00 p.m. performance on May 12th.

Mothering in the Bay Area is as diverse as our touted micro-climates. We know there are hundreds of stories here just waiting for a microphone. We can’t wait to celebrate motherhood with you and we are anxiously awaiting your emails. Please spread the word from Novato to Gilroy to Walnut Creek!!

If you have any questions that were not answered here, please don’t hesitate to email ltymsanfrancisco@gmail.com.

Email in your 3-5 minute essay by 2/24/2013, auditions are in March.

*If you’re not in the Bay Area, visit the Listen To Your Mother website to find the submission guidelines for the show near you!

4. Wily West Productions, no deadline listed

GENERAL GUIDELINES for PLAYS:

*Playwrights must live in the San Francisco Bay Area.

We love seeing short scripts from you. We often have a need to present 6-8 plays that are about 6-15 pages in length and this definitely gives you better odds of seeing your work produced by us.

Full-length scripts must be no more than 85 pages long.

Plays can be about any subject matter or in any style or genre you like.

Plays that have received a production of any kind (Equity or non-Equity), musicals, children’s shows, and any unsolicited longer than 85 pages are not accepted.

Each manuscript must be typed and be in standard script format.

Title page must include name, address and phone number. Please include an e-mail address if possible.

Please submit all scripts to:

submissions@wilywestproductions.com

5. You Heard It Hear First Podcast, no deadline listed

Are you a writer? PLEASE email us!

youhearditherefirstpodcast@gmail.com

Whether it’s a play, scene, one act, sketch, poem, song, blog post, or chapter from your latest novel, we want to read and produce it!

Remember back in December when my short play Oy Oy Oy, Merry Christmas! was produced over in New York by the lovely folks over at Unity Stage Company? Well it happened, and now I have the pictures to prove it! Check it out!!

*If you’re reading this on facebook, you’ll need to click through to my website to see the images.

*Photos courtesy QueensBuzz.com. Actors photographed are: Michael DeNola and Crystal Backoff.

Oy vey! I have been as sick as a dog, and since I was just better from the flu, I don’t know if I trust this year…. But there’s a lot of awesome theatre going on this month, so there’s hope. If you’re looking to see some fun shows, check out my list…

Custom Made Theatre Co. extended Why Torture Is Wrong, and The People Who Love Them by Christopher Durang directed by Claire Rice. Running now until February 17th at Gough Street Playhouse.

“Why Torture Is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them tells the story of a young woman in crisis: Is her new husband, whom she married when drunk, a terrorist? Or just crazy? Or both? Is her father’s hobby of butterfly collecting really a cover for his involvement in a shadow government? Does her mother go to the theater frequently to seek mental escape, or is she just insane? Add in a minister who directs porno, and a ladylike operative whose underwear just won’t stay up, and this black comedy will make us laugh all the way to the waterboarding room.”

San Francisco Theater Pub brings us The Heart Plays on Monday February 18th at Cafe Royale. Show is at 8pm. And seriously, if you haven’t made it out to see SF Theater Pub’s shows yet they never disappoint. It’s a group of artists making theatre because they love it, and it shows.

“Eight creative teams of actors and directors interpret, re-interpret, and totally mis-interpret seminal postmodern playwright Heiner Müller’s 10-line play, HEART PLAY. There will be music, there will be dancing, there will be fake guts, and there will be many, many brick hearts. By the end of the night, you’ll know the text so well, you can perform it yourself!”

Wily West Productions‘ The Showdown.

8 Playwrights. 4 Topics. 6 Days. Cowboys. Outlaws.

Come experience a new play competition right before your eyes as eight outstanding local playwrights try to win your vote for best play.

We give two playwrights a phrase or topic to write about, 6 days to write a short play or monologue, and then come together to hear the work performed by an ensemble of actors. But that’s not all. This is a competition. The playwrights have been divided into Team Cowboy and Team Outlaw and it will be your choice to decide which playwright wrote the better piece: the Cowboy or the Outlaw? We will combine the votes of the audience together and by end of the night we will have a winning team!

The fun starts this Thursday, February 7th! Awesome local playwrights include: Patricia Milton, Kirk Shimano, Charles Lewis III, Bridgette Dutta Portman, Susan Jackson, Marissa Skudlarek, Ignacio Zulueta, and Jaene Leonard.

New Conservatory Theatre Center presents: Hot Mess: Now It’s Getting Awkward. Runs February 7th – 16th.

It’s been a whole year since we gave birth to San Francisco’s biggest sketch comedy train wreck, and we are thrilled that NCTC invited us back for two hot weekends of shows…especially after the mess we made the last time.

Inferno Theatre presents My Recollect Time by local playwright Jamie Greenblatt.

Opens 2/22 at 9pm, runs until March 3rd.

South Berkeley Community Church 1802 Fairview Street, at Ellis Berkeley, CA 94703

Jamie Greenblatt’s play tells the inspiring story of the historical figure Mary Fields, a former slave, and the transformations she undergoes as she struggles to live a free and authentic life after Emancipation. Her life journey takes her from Tennessee to Montana via the Mississippi as a riverman (she passed as a man) and includes her close friendship with the charismatic Ursuline nun, Mother Amadeus.

DIVAfest has DIVA or Die Burlesque on February 16th at The Exit Cafe.

Come strip away your inhibitions in this intimate little theater. Get your tickets in advance, as they sell out quickly! I mean it!

Now you have the info, go out and get your theatre on. Oh, and just to be on the safe side, take some vitamin C, you don’t want to get sick…. Trust me.

Here are the photos as promised! The pictures are from Rob Reeves, who I highly recommend if you’re looking for some awesome looking pictures. If you’re interested, email him.

*If you’re viewing this on my facebook page you need to click through to my blog to see the photos!

*All the actors are identified from right to left!

Tavis Kammet, Abigail Edber, and Beth Chastain rehearsing Baby Pie.

Elgin Jackson, and Tavis Kammet rehearsing Baby Pie

Allison Page.

Tavis Kammet.

Jan Carty Marsh, Elgin Jackson, Tavis Kammet, Abigail Edber, Beth Chastain, and Allison Page, rehearsing Terrible People.

Jan Carty Marsh, Elgin Jackson, Tavis Kammet, and Abigail Edber rehearsing Terrible People

Jan Carty Marsh, Elgin Jackson, Tavis Kammet, Abigail Edber, Allison Page, and Beth Chastain rehearsing Terrible People. Tracy Held Potter and I are in the audience.

Abigail Edber, Beth Chastain, and Allison Page, rehearsing Terrible People.

Jan Carty Marsh, and Elgin Jackson rehearsing Horny Like The Wolf.

Abigail Edber and Beth Chastain rehearsing Baby Pie.

Beth Chastain, looking incredibly fierce playing the serial killing Grandma Doris from Terrible People.

Elgin Jackson, Tavis Kammet, Abigail Edber, Allison Page, and Beth Chastain.