I love the message from Playwrights Arena: ‘L.A. Playwrights will be heard again soon.’ Of course, the question is: When? And maybe more interestingly, how? The fact of the matter is that theatre artists haven’t stopped working. Playwrights are still out there, plugging away, hitting deadlines that only barely seem…
Playwrights are noted for their unique voices on the page, but singing? Well, that’s another matter entirely. So when artistic director Jon Lawrence Rivera asked a few of those of us who had been produced at Playwrights Arena in LA to sing a song on Zoom, the response was….uh….gulp….uh….really, are…
Here we all are, in quarantine, dealing with a global crisis that is full of anxiety and tragedy. But I’m a teacher, too, not just a writer, and it’s important to keep our students on track for earning their degrees, finishing their projects, and investigating what theatre will be after…
Better late than never to report that The Last Nights of Scheherazade was part of WinterFest this year, presented by Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA at Atwater Village Theatre. Directed by Laura Stribling, the staged reading of my new play was brought to life by the heartfelt performances of Laura Flanagan as…
To start off the new decade, my collaborator, composer Guang Yang, and I were so very fortunate to have I N V I S I B L E, our short opera, included in the Eurydice Found Festival, presented by LA Opera, on January 16, 2020. The opera was one of…
Nothing thrills me more than to see my plays getting out into the world–on their own. When someone discovers one of these works thoroughly on their own and gets passionate about it and then takes it to production, that is a thrill. It is also truly rewarding to find out…
Meet the playwrights of the Climate Change Theatre Action “LA – At the Intersection,” which will be performed Saturday November 9 at 2 pm at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles in partnership with Visions and Voices. The consequences of climate change in Los Angeles (and most urban areas)…
When Carol Mack called me and asked me if I wanted to join her and be a part of a documentary play project about women human rights workers who risked their lives to make better conditions for other women, I jumped at the chance. So did Ruth Margraff, Susan Yankowitz,…
So. The contracts are signed. And we can announce that we won the Music That Matters/Fight for the Right commission from Pittsburgh Festival Opera for our full-length opera, The Night Flight of Minerva’s Owl. Music by Guang Yang. Libretto by Paula Cizmar. The Owl takes wing soon.
The Fountain Theatre storms kicks off 2019 with FemFest – Plays By and About Women, and it’s a thrill to be included. First in the month-long series of events are readings of Lauren Gunderson’s NATURAL SHOCKS, with three different casts from three different theatres from all over town: Echo Theatre,…