Summer!

So this is how I act when I'm in a place I love with people I love talking about a thing I love. This is me at the Great Plains Theatre Conference in Omaha, NE. It was my 5th year attending. I went the first time in 2010 when my play got accepted. This year I directed a PlayLab reading, performed in a mainstage reading and organized the 3rd annual Fringe night.

The Fringe night is a rough and tumble night of short performances by participating artists who have been at GPTC before. I had two pieces excerpted that night. Mia Morris performed Me in "Adore Me." I hadn't seen it with an audience, and since one of the audience members becomes a character in the piece, I had no idea how it would go. It was awesome. And of course Mia had them in the palm of her hand.

Then Kim Gambino, Brian Zealand and Scott Working performed a piece from "dark is a different beast." The scene involved them making out like crazy for most of it, and we staged it in the middle of a ring of desks that is set up control-station style and, I hear, is where board meetings are held. Well board meetings would be a whole lot more interesting if you got to see these two try to rip each others' clothes off. Kim and Mia have both performed in my work before and working with them again this year solidified my immense love of their talent.

In addition to that, many other pieces were presented by Connie Congdon, Eugenie Chan, Dean Poyner, Levy Smith and Mark Bruckner and Witching Hour. And I facilitated one-minute manifestos! Which were amazing! (I learned/stole this from Lucy Ellison and the Forest Fringe group, where volunteers have a strictly timed minute to speak about whatever they feel like.) Josh Wilder sang the state song!

Anyway, it was an amazing week of work and friends and conversation. Now I'm back in the Bay forcing myself not to complain about the foggy weather.

Luckily, I'm already spending time in Sebastapol working with Ochlos Theatre Lab for our summer project. We had one residency to start the process. We begin rehearsals in July with a really exciting cast of Sebastapolians and Bay Area-ites. The show will be presented the last two weekends in August.

I'm also meeting with the producing collective of playwrights--6NewPlays to plan our first outing.

AND...at the end of July I'll be hiking the Wonderland Trail--90 miles around the base of Mt. Rainier. So I guess I better start getting in shape.

Fog or no, this summer shall prove to be HOT!