South Dakota State University Department of Theatre and Dance produced “The Escape Thingy” in February and the crowds loved it! Directed by Artistic Director W. James Wood, the production featured an all-student cast (Israel Caldron, Blake Fabre, Jacob Stevens, Alex Gales, and Peyten Wiese) and design team. I was delighted to be in attendance to see the wonderful collaboration. Thanks, Brookings, for welcoming me!

Although it was not selected for the award/fellowship, I’m very proud to have written one of the few plays selected as Semi-Finalists for the 2023-2024 Princess Grace Award in Playwriting/Fellowship at New Dramatists. With the subjective nature of the selection process of these organizations, it means a lot to me to have the play get to this level of competition, and every acknowledgment is appreciated and taken as great encouragement!

I continue to develop (and hopefully improve) this play which was originally written as part of the Playwrights Union “February New Play Challenge,” was selected for Antaeus Theatre’s Lab Results Reading Series, and which will be workshopped at Gulfshore Playhouse’s New Works Festival in September 2023.

Synopsis for “Circle Forward": Seventeen years after the loss of her young husband from cancer, Mia meets a teenager, Ethan, who believes he is the reincarnation of her late husband. When Ethan and his mom Lexi come to Mia's house for lunch, Mia must face her doubts, her past, and the whole truth.

A big thank you to the Princess Grace Foundation and New Dramatists for this recognition. Onwards!!

I am over the moon excited to have my play Circle Forward selected for the Gulfshore Playhouse New Works Festival this September. I’ve had the pleasure of working with this extraordinary LORT-D theater before, when they produced the world premiere of my play Miss Keller Has No Second Book in 2018.

With the talented folks they are assembling (including director Jeffrey Binder), I can’t wait to bring my play to the table. The week’s workshop will conclude with a reading that is open to the public on Saturday Sept 16, followed by a Q&A with the audience.

Synopsis of Circle Forward: Seventeen years after the loss of her young husband from cancer, Mia meets a teenager, Ethan, who believes he is the reincarnation of her late husband. When Ethan and his mom Lexi come to Mia's house for lunch, Mia must face her doubts, her past, and the whole truth.

More info about the festival here in the BroadwayWorld press release. For Gulfshore Playhouse tickets, click here.

Please join me for the first reading of my new musical “The Sunny Survival Caravan!” on Sunday May 21 at 2:00 p.m. at Atwater Village Theatre 3269 Casitas Ave, in Los Angeles. Tickets are FREE but you’re encouraged to R.S.V.P. through THIS LINK. The reading is part of the “First Peek” Reading Series by the L.A.-based Playwrights Union.

SYNOPSIS of “The Sunny Survival Caravan!”:
Fifteen years after the collapse of civilization, a misfit traveling band of musicians perform their relentlessly cheerful nostalgia show as they travel from settlement to settlement, throughout a decimated not-so-united states, sometime in the post-apocalyptic, climate-ravaged, accordion-filled future.

Darla, Gabriela, Razz, Chester, and Banger have managed to tour what's left of the former United States for over a year – no small feat in these difficult times. Their optimistic message and varied song stylings are wildly popular, and they’ve even rigged up an old stationary bicycle to an old battery to have some amplification and lighting, thanks to some strings of old patio and Christmas lights. When the newest and youngest member of the band, Evvie, joins them, she challenges their determination to perform only the most upbeat odes to nostalgia.

By the show’s hopeful end, we see that the healing power of music can lift us up by gathering us all together, even during the darkest times.

Cast to be announced soon. Please come out and support new theater!

I’m so proud that a monologue from one of my new plays was selected to be a part of the Smith & Kraus 2022 Anthology of Best Women’s Stage Monologues. The selection is from my new play “Circle Forward” which was presented at the Antaeus Theatre “Lab Results” New Play Reading Series last April. Available for sale at bookstores or Amazon here.

So thrilled to be included in the inaugural Festival of New Plays at South Dakota State University! My play “The Escape Thingy” will have two reading performances: Sept 22 and 23.

The festival “celebrates the work of emerging playwrights while offering opportunities for students and the audience to engage in the development of new works.” I’m honored to be included alongside playwrights Caridad Svich, Amy Tofte, and Kristen Benjamin.

In “The Escape Thingy,” two very different couples meet in an "Escape Room" game night, each needing very different types of escape. The clock is literally ticking as they attempt to solve the puzzles, decide what reality to believe, and weigh the risks of unlocking the door to the dangerous world outside.

Can’t wait to visit Brookings and work with the director and cast there! For more info, click here.

So proud that my play “Call Time” is a Semifinalist in the 2022 Lanford Wilson New American Play Festival. The festival honors new American plays that provide dynamic performance opportunities for college-aged actors.

In “Call Time,” a group of misfit drama kids break into their abandoned high school auditorium in search of one last night of connection, hope, rhymes, and Fritos. This 90-minute, 7-character play was originally written as part of the Playwrights Union New Play Challenge in 2019, and was a Semifinalist in the 2019 Ashland New Play Festival. It’s available to read for members of New Play Exchange.