We’re only a few hours away from tonight’s Monday Night PlayGround at Berkeley Rep! The theme for the plays is: NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT, an evening of Gershwin inspired short musicals. And let me tell you, the line-up looks fantastic:

Lady Blah Blah by Melissa Keith, directed by Ken Sonkin

Someone by Genne Murphy, directed by Gabriel Grilli

Ritzy Bathroom (Scene Change) by Jon Wai-keung Lowe, directed by Nancy Carlin

Over-Sharers by Sang Kim, directed by Tracy Ward

The Night Before by Colin Johnson, directed by Molly Noble

A Real Humdinger by Karen Hartline, directed by Jim Kleinmann

The show starts at 8pm at the Berkeley Rep TONIGHT! For tickets go here: http://playground-sf.org/boxoffice/ or buy at the door.

The time has come! THE RED HOUSE MONSTER, a play that I’ve been developing for the past year will be put in front of an audience for the FIRST TIME! Will you be in that influential audience? Well that’s for you to decide. My play is spooky and dark, a play about a small town and the monsters and heroes that inhabit it.

GERYON or THE RED HOUSE MONSTER will join a brand new one-act by Veronica Tijoe, MINOTAUR or THE STRING’S THE THING, that’s right you get TWO plays for the price of one! And don’t forget about our wonderful casts!

In THE RED HOUSE MONSTER, directed by Ariel Craft you’ll see: Megan Briggs (Stage Directions), Jan Gilbert (Mother Gold/Geryon), Maria Leigh (Hannah Gold), Eden Neuendorf (Cora Gold), and Ron Talbot (Sheriff).

In THE STRONG’S THE THING, directed by Veronica Tijoe, you’ll see: Kelvyn Mitchell (Stage Directions), Sunee Kiernan (Aster), and Gabrielle Poccia (D).

It’s a Monster Death Battle, so at the end of the night you the audience will vote for their favorite play, and we’ll be forced to slaughter the losing monster, big choices tonight people, big choices.

Tickets are $10, at the door, and it’s CASH ONLY! House opens at 7:30, show’s at 8pm at the Exit in SF.

Did I mention I’m bringing pie? AND this pie might be raffled off at the end of the night, so really, can you miss this night? I don’t think so.

For more information visit the facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1496921477233715/

And see YOU tonight!

Lou Fancher from SF Weekly wrote about PlayGround’s Planet Earth New Play Festival yesterday! You should read it! You should ALSO come out for the next Monday Night PlayGround happening THIS Monday, 11/17 at Berkeley Rep! The topic is: NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT. They’ll be announcing the 6 plays Friday so pay attention!

While we wait though, here are some highlights from the article:

“Perhaps the most delectable aspect of the PlayGround ethos — other than raw expression on intensely relevant subjects — is its affirmation of Bay Area artists. This isn’t amateur hour; it’s amazing. Even if one or two of the six scripts is sour (or more often, blasts off with promise, then fizzles), audiences are still treated to a display that is 100 percent talent. It’s not just the actors’ beauty, rage, physical comedy, deft vocalization, subtle delivery, clever prop-handling, or striking use of language that leaves an impression. Behind the action are solid writing chops.”

And…

“Saving a life was out of reach in RREADING BABAR IN 2070 by Rachel Bublitz. Elephants were already extinct, the parents of a young girl revealed, breaking their daughter’s heart and sending stuffed animals flying. “You let the elephants die!” the girl raged at her parents, convincingly.”

It’s always exciting to read about something I’ve written by someone I have never met. Here’s the whole article: Environmental Studies: PlayGround’s Inventive Playwriting Series Opens with a Question That Plagues Us All: Are We Totally Screwed?, get on it!

OH! And you’re on facebook, click through to my site, links don’t work here.

Had a stress nightmare last night where I was not only late for my SF Olympians reading, but I had to bring my 4 year old son because no one could watch him, which can really mean only one thing, the second week of the San Francisco Olympians Festival V: The Monster Ball is HERE! Rejoice in the streets! Dance a little jig! Have panic-riddled dreams – your choice!

Week two is made up entirely of monster battles! Each night features plays based off two different monsters, and YOU, the audience decides which monster wins and which monster we slaughter off stage. Get ready folks, it’s going to be a ferocious week of new plays!

Week Two: Celebrity Monster Deathmatch!

Wednesday, November 12: Deadly Dragons

TYPHON or THE BOOK OF TYPHON by Colin Johnson, directed by Colin Johnson

When a bizarre, withered text falls into the possession of one Malcolm Bodwin, it exposes him to the world’s oldest, most unspeakable evil.

HYDRA by Tonya Narvaez, directed by Tonya Narvaez

A family’s monsters come back to terrorize them. How far will they go to hide their past?

Thursday, November 13: Evil Eyes

ARGUS by Peter Hsieh, directed by Rory Strahan-Mauk

After an embarrassing “Swan incident” scandal, Hera summons super surveillance drone Argus to spy on her husband Zeus. Trouble ensues when Hera discovers that Zeus had picked up a girl he met at a night club and turned her into a heifer in order to keep her hidden. Featuring sex, violence, blackmail, scandal, indestructible private jets, Ryan Gosling Mods, and Lars Von Trier’s entire filmography.

POLYPHEMUS by Vince Faso, directed by Rory Strahan-Mauk

Polyphemus, the hulking, savage, man-eating Cyclops, was outsmarted, blinded, and humiliated by the crafty Odysseus. Years later, when fate brings them together again, will there be room for forgiveness, or just dessert?

Friday, November 14: Three Heads Too Many

CERBERUS or HELLHOUND by Allison Page, directed by Allison Page

Six attractive 18 year olds fueled by teenage lust go camping in the woods and stumble across The River Styx, causing a three headed monster to pursue them with bloody fervor. It’s The Breakfast Club meets Cabin In The Woods meets a giant three-headed hellhound. Button up that letterman jacket – it’s going to be a bumpy night.

CHIMERA by Annie Paladino, directed by Addie Ulrey

A patchwork play for a patchwork monster, CHIMERA smashes together three stories–from the past, a dreamy version of the present, and an imagined future–of women who are not at ease in their own skin. Literary heroines, a woman whose body is literally coming apart at the seams, and a robotic superhero toy in need of a replacement head are spliced together to form the ugly, baffling monster that is this play.

Saturday, November 15: Lone Hunters

GERYON or THE RED HOUSE MONSTER by Rachel Bublitz, directed by Ariel Craft

The largest house on the island sits high upon a hill, chains wrap around the doors and windows. No one can remember if these barricades were intended to keep the villagers out, or to keep the inhabitants within.

MINOTAUR by Veronica Tjioe, directed by Veronica Tjioe

A play for anyone who has ever felt lost and a profound sense of “in-betweeness” and would please like to know which way is out, thankyouverymuch. It is also good for lovers of cheap wine, close friends, and the merits of a nice ball of string.

Great line-up, right?

Not sure if you caught it but Saturday will be the reading of THE RED HOUSE MONSTER! I hope to neither be late, or bring my rowdy son. But you should come! Unless you’re four, then I think it would be best to stay at home, but bravo for reading!

Just like last week, aLL the shows are at 8pm, and at the Exit Theatre located in downtown San Francisco (Google Map of the Exit).

And tickets for all shows are $10 at the door, CASH ONLY!

See you there! I’m so excited!

I got some good news today! My ten-minute play THE HAPPINESS GAP, originally written for PlayGround’s Math Night, has been selected for Stonington Player’s Tables and Chairs VII! Where are the Stonington Players you ask? Well they’re over in Stonington Connecticut.

Performances for Tables and Chairs VII are Nov. 14, 15, 16 & 21, 22! If you’re in the area you should check it out and report back to me!

The moment you’ve been waiting for is finally here! Tonight the San Francisco Olympians Festival V: The Monster Ball will present the first plays of the festival! And they continue all week! These are all the plays happening this week:

Wednesday November 5: Nymphs! Nymphs! Nymphs! – WHICH IS TONIGHT!

ASTERIAE or KING SISYPHUS by Bridgette Dutta Portman, directed by Valerie Fachman

When you’re trying to cheat death, it helps to have an immortal star-nymph as a wife. Or does it? A play in verse about the trickster Sisyphus and his wife, the Pleiad Merope.

DRYADS or THE DRYAD OF SUBURBIA by Marissa Skudlarek, directed by Valerie Fachman

In a suburban neighborhood blighted by both conformity and drought, Tom and Heidi’s daughter is convinced that she’s a tree spirit. Is this an innocent childhood game or a harmful delusion?

LAMPADES or LAMP RITUAL by Sam Bertken, Scott Baker

What is your greatest fear? Darkness? Madness? Losing a loved one? The reading of Lamp Ritual profiles an experiential piece that seeks to conquer your darkest nightmares.

NAIADS by Jennifer Roberts, directed by Valerie Fachman

When the CEO of Archon Energy, the world’s most powerful utility company, tries to greenwash away responsibility for dumping toxins into a dying river, a Naiad tries to inspire her to reconsider, but who will pay the ultimate price?

NEPHELE by Siyu Song, directed by Scott Baker

Watch Zeus take to the latest trend in online dating as he Catfishes an unsuspecting human – what happens at 6:34 of this play will ASTOUND you.

NEREIDS or THE WEAVERS by Sam Hurwitt, directed by Scott Baker

Odysseus is gone again, and Penelope isn’t waiting around anymore. Looking up all her husband’s old girlfriends, she finds the sea nymph Calypso spoiling for a fight.

OCEANIDS or THE DAUGHTERS OF OCEAN by Carol Lashof, directed by Valerie Fachman

In the war to restore Paganism, Prometheus has been taken captive by the ruling Christian Theocratic party. His wife, the sea nymph Hesione, is desperate to rescue him, but to reach his side she must cross a terrifying human city crowded with air-breathers, highways, and big box stores.

OREADS or POWER FORWARD by Leah Halper, directed by Scott Baker

Chelone, a mountain nymph and protector of tortoises, is the only immortal to stand up to Zeus on the matter of his coerced marriage to Hera–but her defiance may be contagious in this Silicon Valley re-conception of the myth that explained why tortoises have shells.

Thursday November 6: Half-Men

CENTAURS or THE HORSE’S ASS by Megan Cohen, directed by Ellery Schaar

A postmodern vaudeville comedy for two hilarious women, who spend a fleet forty minutes taking turns being the butt of the joke. Writer Megan Cohen (SF’s most-produced female playwright, Theatre Bay Area “Keep An Eye On” Emerging Artist Honoree, Neo-Futurist) saddles up history’s greatest half-human half-equine metaphor for a ride through power dynamics, carrots, and sticks.

SATYRS or SATYR NIGHT FEVER by Annette Roman and Bryant Turnage, directed by Greg Young

Since when did “horny as a goat” become a bad thing? A satyr who’s lost his mojo hires a modern-day pick-up artist as a dating coach in this bawdy romantic comedy exploring dating taboos past and present, real and mythic.

Friday November 7: Winged Wonder

PEGASUS or PEGASUS: THE MOVIE (THE PLAY) by Kirk Shimano, directed by Sam Tillis

The story of the myth-makers of today, as a ragtag visual effect company scrambles to create an all-digital creature without destroying themselves in the process.

Saturday November 8: The Lord of The Beasts

PAN or PANDEMONIUM by Stuart Bousel, directed by Stuart Bousel

In a first for the festival, Stuart Bousel adapts six stories by E.M. Forster into a sprawling epic about a group of travelers whose lives are forever changed by a shared afternoon in the hills of Italy.

ALL shows are at the Exit Theatre located in downtown San Francisco (Google Map of the Exit).

Tickets for all shows are $10 at the door, CASH ONLY!

And all shows start at 8pm!

The San Francisco Olympians Festival kicked off last Saturday, November 1st, with their annual Opening Night Party and it continues Wednesday, November 5th, the first night of readings for the festival is being presented (NYMPHS, NYMPHS, NYMPHS!), and in the middle of all this excitement the writers for next year have been announced! If you’re like me and have been waiting on your computer hitting refresh again and again, the wait is finally over! Here is the full list:

Week One: THE DIVINE AQUATIC (11/4-11/7)

Wednesday, November 4: The Trumpeter

TRITON – John Lennon Harrison

Thursday, November 5: A Bevy of Beauties

THETIS – Neil Higgins

INO – Christian Simonsen

PSAMATHE – Kathryn Kruse

DORIS – Sabina Piersol

BRIZO – Carson Beker

GALENE – Sunil Patel

CYMOPLEIA – Bridgette Dutta Portman

EURYBIA – Madeline Puccioni

Friday, November 6: Old Men of the Sea

NEREUS AND PROTEUS – Colin Johnson

Saturday, November 7: The Ruling Couple

POSEIDON – Charles Lewis III

AMPHITRITE – Genne Murphy

Week Two: ARGONAUTICA (11/11-11/14)

Wednesday, November 11: The Crew

ATALANTA – Steven Westdahl

ORPHEUS – Megan Cohen

TELAMON – Laylah Murdan De Assereto

ADMETUS – Jennifer Roberts

CASTOR/POLLUX – Alandra Hileman

CALAIS/ZETES – Seanan Palmero

PELEUS/LAERTES – Ashley Cowan

HERACLES/HYLAS – Alan Olejniczak

Thursday, November 12: The Captain

JASON – Allison Page

Friday, November 13: The Girl

MEDEA- Sam Hurwitt

Saturday, November 14: The Ship

ARGO- Jeremy Cole

Week Three: FATHOMLESS BLUE (11/18-11/21)

Wednesday, November 18: Masters of the Surf

DELPHIN 1 – Anthony Miller

DELPHIN 2 – Kathy Gilbert

Thursday, November 19: Island Rulers

AEOLUS – Kirk Shimano

CIRCE- Rachel Bublitz

Friday, November 20: Sea Titans

OCEANUS – Daniel Hirsch and Siyu Song

TETHYS – Marissa Skudlarek

Saturday, November 21: The Bottomless Deep

PONTOS – Meghan O’Connor Trowbridge

I am overjoyed to be coming back for my third straight year writing for this festival, and REALLY excited to be writing for Circe. Congratulations to all the writers!

And if you’re looking at this feeling blue that you have to wait a whole year for this fest, you don’t have to! San Francisco Festival V: Monster Ball is happening now! Every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night between now and November 22nd, you can watch a reading of a brand new show at the Exit Theatre! See you at the shows!

In other fun news, my one-act Much Ado About Mathletes is being produced next Wednesday and Thursday at Redwood Day School in Oakland! I wrote the play with high school and middle school in mind, so I’m very excited to see it in it’s intended habitat.

And hey, if you’re a high school or middle school teacher looking for material, send me an email (Rnbublitz@gmail.com)! I’d love for more students to do this play.

For now, enjoy your weekend, enjoy Halloween, and keep working those math drills, you never know when they’ll come in handy.

One of the things that makes the San Francisco Olympians Festival so dear to my heart is the partnership they strike each year with such a wide variety or artists. The posters for this year’s Monster Ball have just been released and there is such a beautiful variety, as there is every year. I am very proud to share the poster inspired by GERYON, the monster that inspired my play The Red House Monster.

Here it is:

*The image of GERYON was created of Rogernald “Rusty” Jackson.

Also, if you’re on FB, images don’t show up, to see the poster click through to my website, or go to The Red House Monster album.

Jump on over the the SF Olympians Fest website to see what other art has been created this year, just click on the link for any of the monsters!

Another option for checking out the art, and having all the information for the festival at your finger tips is the gorgeous app created by Kirk Shimano! With the app you can get play descriptions, the festival’s schedule, casts, art work, and bios of the writers!

Download it here:

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/san-francisco-olympians-v/id921340279?ls=1&mt=8

Or here:

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sfolympians.olympiansv

And get ready! Tomorrow is the opening night party (more info here: https://www.facebook.com/events/875449705812391/) and Wednesday November 5th is the first night of plays (NYMPHS, NYMPS, NYMPS! for details visit: https://www.facebook.com/events/319921231512458/)

SO GET READY FOR SF OLYMPIANS V: MONSTERS BALL! The monsters are coming, and there’s no where to run.

Thrilled to announce that I will be writing for the San Francisco One-Minute Play Festival this year! Produced by Playwrights Foundation and Dominic D’Andrea’s The One-Minute Play Festival, we will be writing the plays over the next two weeks, and you can come and see them December 15th and 16th at The Brava Theater Center!

After seeing the festival for the past two years, it will be an honor to be a part this year, and even more exciting, look at the fantastic writers who are also on the bill:

Blake C. Aarons, Trevor Allen, Jake Arky, Tim Bauer, Elizabeth Benedict, Jon Bernson, Erin Bregman, Rachel Bublitz, Gamal Chasten, Christopher Chen, Victoria Chong Der, Anthony Clarvoe, Megan Cohen, Roberta D’Alois, Bennett Fisher, Brit Frazier, Elizabeth Gjelten, Michaela Goldhaber, Prince Gomolvilas, Garret Jon Groenveld, Daniel Heath, Robert Johnson, Barbara Jwanouskos, Lynne Kaufman, Carol Lashoff, Jeffrey Lo, Aaron Loeb, John Lowe, Jonathan Luskin, Alison Luterman, Madeline Mahrer, Braden Marks, Patricia Milton, Nick Mwaluko, Peter Nachtrieb, Naomi Newman, John O’Keefe, Marisela Treviño Orta, Evy Pine, Tracy Potter, Andrew Saito, Steven Salzman, Josh Senyak, Dara Silverman, Jonathan Spector, E. Hunter Spreen, Paul Stojsavljevic-Flores, Marissa Skudlarek, Michael Gene Sullivan, Aimee Suzara, Michael Gene Sullivan, Tom Swift, Arisa White, Nathan Yungerberg, and Ignacio Zulueta

Tickets go on sale November 7th.

Here’s some more ticket information:

General Admission: $18 online/advance, $25 at the door

VIP Admission: $36, includes reserved best-of-house seating and complimentary drinks.

Visit the Brava Theater website or the Brava Box Office to purchase, 415-641-7657.

Walk-up sales available after November 7th at the Brava Theater Box Office, M-F 12pm-6pm.

So mark those calendars! You won’t want to miss this fast and furious show!