There are a lot of shows coming up that I’m incredibly excited about. I’ll be out of town starting on June 11th, so I’ll be missing most of these, but you shouldn’t!

Marriage Equality Plays

Marriage Equality Plays is an evening of short, original plays benefiting the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER).

Produced by Tom Bruett

Monday, June 11, 2012 8pm

TICKETS $50- Limited number of VIP Reserved Seating $25- General Admission http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/239039

BATS Improv’s Bayfront Theater B350 Fort Mason Center San Francisco, CA 94133

Featuring new short plays by William Bivins, Michelle Carter, Garret Jon Groenveld, Lauren Gunderson, Peter Sinn Nachtrieb and Lauren Yee.

Directed by Tom Bruett, Paul Cello, and Jessica Heidt.

The Playwright Center of San Francisco Reading Series

The Playwright’s Center of San Francisco has the rest of their Spring Reading Series in June.

June 4th

Staged reading of The Fantasy Club by Rachel Bublitz Directed by Tracy Held Potter

Who says men own the monopoly on sex fantasies? Pull the sheets off of one stay-at-home-mom’s dirty little secret with The Fantasy Club. You’ll never look at housewives the same again.

June 11th

Staged reading of Friar Lazaro, or the King of Terrors by Bridgette Dutta Portman Directed by Joy Brooke Fairfield

Set in a Spanish mission in 19th-century California, Friar Lazaro tells the story of a young padre whose religious doubts lead him to madness and murder. Lazaro, tormented by the possibility that that nothing lies beyond death, begins to murder ill Indians in order to witness their dying visions. Unsatisfied, he turns on the other inhabitants of the mission, including the Indian woman he once loved. Can anyone stop “the King of Terrors” before it is too late?

June 18th

Staged reading of Arches, Balance and Light by Mary J Spletter Directed by Lucinda Z. Alipio

Julia Morgan is one of California’s most remarkable architects, designing more than 700 buildings including Hearst Castle. In her first play, Arches, Balance and Light, Mary Spletter combines historical fact with her own fantasy explanation of how this elusive and private individual designed her own success—-one brick at a time.

June 25th

Developmental reading of Les Fantômes by Chris Holbrook

Will, a struggling writer in his early 40s, moves to Paris in the wake of a messy separation from his wife. Yet the more he tries to move on with his life, the more the specter of his ex-wife and his failed marriage haunts him. To help him, Guillaume, his best friend, sets him up on a blind date—a seemingly innocent evening that leads to an explosive confrontation with his own past and present.

Emotional Creature

Emotional Creature by Eve Ensler at Berkeley Repertory Theatre JUNE 14–JULY 15, 2012

Berkeley Rep is proud to present the world premiere of a powerful new play from Tony Award-winner Eve Ensler. Staged by Obie Award-winning director Jo Bonney and performed by a talented ensemble of young women, Emotional Creature is made up of original monologues—and irresistible songs—about and for girls. Placing their stories squarely center stage, it gives full expression to their secret voices and innermost thoughts, highlighting the diversity and commonality of the issues they face. Emotional Creature is a call, a reckoning, an education, an act of empowerment for girls, and an illumination for parents and for us all. And it’s receiving its world premiere here at Berkeley Rep.

Crevice

Crevice by Lauren Yee at Impact Theatre, directed by Desdemona Chiang MAY 3–JUNE 9

Liz and Rob, siblings in their late 20s, are stuck. Liz, an overachiever, was recently jilted; Rob, technically an actor, has little motivation; both are back at home, more or less glued to the couch. Kathleen, their mother, has recently taken up with her real estate agent, who’s helping her sell her the family home. And while the earth moves under Kathleen’s bed, another geological event is happening in the living room: a huge crevice opens up beneath the couch. First Rob is sucked in, then Liz. In the crevice world, a cracked-mirror replica of our own, anyone can seemingly have anything they want. But is that really a good idea? As in her 2008 smash hit Ching Chong Chinaman, Lauren Yee takes the audience on hilarious and unexpected twists and turns with a healthy dose of magical realism.

SO…

To sum things up, get out there! See exciting new theatre! Trust me, it’s better than doing nothing. I used to do nothing all the time, it’s overrated.

Annette Lust, who runs The Fringe of Marin reviewed Sheherezade XII! This is what she had to say about “Her Special Day”:

“Her Special Day by Rachel Bublitz depicts the preparation for a wedding during which the mention of the Mayan prediction of the end of the world seems as if it will ruin the bride’s special day but rather takes on a comic turn through the reactions of the bride’s mother who at one point suggests they flee to Mexico and then concludes that they only have a couple of weeks left anyway.” -Annette Lust

This is closing weekend for Sheherezade XII. There are performances tonight, Friday and Saturday. Last I checked, Friday and Saturday were incredibly close to selling out. So, unless you have already purchased your tickets tonight might be your last chance to see the show! Buy your tickets here. I am thrilled to have been a part of this show, and I hope you make it out to see it before it’s over!

Here I go. My reading is coming up, and I have some issues that I need to address. If I don’t surface within a day or so, please send out a search party!

Seriously though, I’m actually pretty excited about cracking open “The Fantasy Club” and ironing out some kinks. I worked on it straight from last August until December, and I’ve let it sit since then. I think that there are times when time can help, at least it helps me. I also got some incredible insightful notes from my awesome director Tracy Held Potter, as I mentioned earlier, and I think I’ve figured out how to address the problems she spotted.

I’m getting super excited about the reading, less than two weeks now! RSVP for the June 4th (7:30pm) staged reading of “The Fantasy Club” here.

Okay… One, two, three, GO!

So, as of today my submission tally for 2012 is 58. Considering we’re almost half way through the year and I haven’t reached the half way mark on my goal of 150 I’m realizing that I need to force myself to submit more. If I don’t submit my work it won’t get done. There might be a day that I can just let all of my adoring fans come to me and demand scripts, but until that day I’ve got to write cover letters and get all the paperwork and order and send scripts out. Today I’m submitting to three theatres, I’m especially excited about The North Park Playwright Festival. I’m from San Diego, and it would be awesome to have a play in a festival my family could go and see without buying plane tickets.

Have you heard of playwrightbinge? I mention it because they do biannual submission binges, where you submit a play a day for the month of March and September. So far I haven’t had enough work to submit every single day, but I’m thinking that after 31 plays in 31 Days, I’ll be able to participate 100% this September! That’ll boost my numbers for sure! If you’re a playwright, you should check out the group. They send out a lot of submission opportunities.

Alright, that’s all for today. I’m going back to editing and submitting. Enjoy your Tuesday!

Last week I wrote 5 plays in just 5 days, this week? Re-writing! Very exciting stuff I know. Actually, I kinda love rewriting so I’m excited. First on my plate is the short I wrote with all gender neutral characters for this opportunity I came across a few weeks ago. I’m also hoping to work on several other short plays so that I can send them out soon. And finally, I would love to get to work on “The Fantasy Club” before the weekend. I got some notes from my thoughtful director, Tracy Held Potter, and I would like to get to them before we start rehearsals for the reading!

There are only two more weeks until the staged reading on June 4th! I hope you can come, and I hope that you bring friends. It’s a comedy, so I need as many butts in chairs as I can so the laughter keeps flowing. Did you know that when people are in a larger audience they feel more comfortable laughing? True story. Click here to RSVP for the reading at the Off Market Theater in San Francisco. Be there!

Okay, enough blogging, on to editing.

Yes! Just finished my last script for my warm up. I think it has potential, but the ending (to me the hardest part) needs some TLC. I hope to make an announcement in the next couple of weeks about 31 plays in 31 days. The month is set for August, so get ready! I’ll be looking for some crazy playwrights who want to join me on my quest!

Alright, now it’s time to enjoy the beautiful weather. Hope your weekend ends well!

Now that the dates and venue have been ironed out I can announce that my short play “Abomination” will join the line up for Play Cafe’s yearly staged reading! We’ll be in the Live Oak Theatre here in Berkeley, and the reading date is set for September 23rd. Stay tuned for more details.

Today I learned that this 5 day warm up to 31 plays in 31 days was brilliant. I also learned how hard this undertaking is going to be. I’m excited for the challenge, and now I see how hard it’s going to be. Today I wrote a pretty bad 7 minute play about new parents fussing over a new baby. It’s nice I suppose, but it doesn’t set my pants on fire or anything. But I did it, and that I think is the important part. I thought about structure and what the characters wanted from one another, and even though the subject didn’t excite me going through the motions and I think that writing this little play will help me get better at the craft of writing. It helps me get better at the grind. It is a lovely day and I didn’t really want to sit inside and type. But, here I am learning how to grind it out if I feel like it or not.

Yesterday I met up with a playwright buddy of mine and we threw around some ideas about how we can make 31 plays in 31 days bigger and better. Hopefully I’ll have some exciting news in the next few weeks. So stay tuned!

For the record, I have really loved two of the plays I wrote this week, and one I’m looking forward to developing into something I love. Tomorrow is the last day of my warm up, let’s see how it goes… I’m hoping to finish strong.

New play done! I had intended it to be a ten minute, but it’s at 21 pages right now. Much more of a one act as it turns out. It needs a lot of love and care though. I tried playing with time and I really have no idea if it worked or not. My play is called “Best Friends Forever” and it follows the friendship of two girl friends. One of my dearest friends from childhood is a drug addict and there’s probably very little left in her of the girl I loved. I have her address, and for almost a year I’ve been trying to write her a letter. I just don’t know what to say to her. I don’t know if writing her will help her at all, or if it would just help me feel better.

Last night, on my drive into the city I was blasting Adele’s album “21” and singing badly and loudly. As the songs got slower and sadder, I couldn’t help but think about my friend. She was so damn smart. It frustrates me to no end. I eventually had to turn off the music because I had started sobbing uncontrollably. But i tried to hold on to some of that emotion and tried to put it into a play today. In my experience with my writing, plays that are too close to reality aren’t as successful as ones that I give more space. Again, this is just me, but I really wanted to share this story. I think it’s a bit of a wag my finger at drugs play, but maybe I’ll give it some lovin’ and bring it up to snuff. Maybe if it gets good enough I’ll send it to her. At least then she’ll know that I still think she’s more than just another addict.

That’s right folks! Tonight you can pay what you can for Sheherezade XII! Make your way down to Stage Werx tonight at 8pm! Here’s the address:

Stage Werx 446 Valencia Street @ 16th Street in San Francisco

If you make it out let me know what you think of the show and of my piece “Her Special Day.”