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Dec 25, 2023

My 2023 Year In Review

Hi Friends!




I've been doing these summaries for a long time but also they start in 2007 when I was at Juilliard and exciting things were already happening.  I don't have a year in review about 2000 when I was in Foxboro, MA working as an Asst Mgr at a Hollywood Video, writing plays and mailing them to people.  I had just graduated from college and was living in a small apartment with my girlfriend at the time.  I knew almost no theater people.  I hadn't gotten into any of the grad schools I had applied to.

Twenty-three years later, my life and my playwriting life are a lot different now.  I started writing a book this year about playwriting for playwrights starting out so I've been thinking about what it was like early on.  What I knew.  What I didn't know.  I started writing plays in college and I didn't really know what I was doing.  It took a long time to figure out how to write and even longer to build a career.

Last year I wrote in my year end summary about how it seemed impossible to make a living as a playwright.  But then this year I had a lot of productions and I made a lot more money as a playwright.  It no longer seems out of reach.  

 I quit my job at Juilliard this summer, after 8 years.  My wife took on a full time job making slightly more than what I was making at Juilliard.  And now that we have health insurance through her, I am a full time writer, making, as a writer almost what I made 8 years ago at my day job at Juilliard.   

I'm making about half of that money from high school  and college productions and the other half from (mostly) small theaters.  The first time I had a production of one of my plays at a high school was 10 years ago.  Today I have a lot more plays appropriate for high schools and some high school versions of plays that weren't initially appropriate.  I'm really thrilled to have plays done at high school which was where I acquired my love of theater.

As a full time playwright now, I also took over a lot of child care and home duties so my day is a lot shorter than it used to be, because I operate on the school schedule.  But I'm also not trying to do 2 full time jobs at the same time.

I wrote a lot this year--4 one act plays, 3 full length plays, one short film and a book about playwriting.  Also working on a musical version of Marian.  And I did a couple big revisions.  I can't say for sure, but it may be my most productive year ever.

I was in a writing group for parents again with Project Y, and took part in Flux's Core Work writing group. Did a signing at the Drama Book Shop. Did a reading at Drunken Careening Writers. Made some short films about playwriting for PlayPenn. Did a podcast with Mershad Torabi at We Are Actors and a podcast with Erin Mallon at My Job Is To Play.

This year apart from being in NYC a lot, I was at the Chance Theater in Anaheim for a reading, went camping in CT, went to Cape Cod and Delaware, spent a week in upstate NY at Theater4ThePeople's At The Barn. Went to Flux Retreat at Little Pond. Had a reading in NYC with Project Y.  Zoomed with a lot of students. Visited Paris by myself. Was a guest speaker in MO at Lanford Wilson Fest. Spent time in Hoboken rehearsing for a premiere.

Heather Cohn and I worked on my play God Splat with NYU students for four 4-hour sessions.

I also started running 5k races. Did the first one in August of 2022 and have now run 8. I am not fast but it's good to do things you're not great at.  I'm trying to get faster.  Sometimes I place in my age group if not many people are running. There is a thing in CT where people try to run one race in each of the 169 towns. Don't know if I'll ever accomplish that but even running one race feels like an accomplishment right after I've run it.

I  had the most productions this year than ever before.  

This year, I had 79 productions of full length plays and 59 productions of one acts.  There were 2 productions of nights of short plays.  Almost all the one act productions are high school productions.  Of the 79 full length productions, 19 were at colleges/universities, 23 at theaters and 37 at high schools.

My two most produced plays by far were Kodachrome and Marian.  Kodachrome one act was produced 14 times and the full length 19 times.  My play Kodachrome will have its 100th production sometime next year.  (In this count, I'm including productions of the one act version too.)  

Marian (normal and teen versions) was produced 32 times in 2023.  Speaking of Marian, a cancelled production in Ft Wayne, IN made national news when students decided to produce it themselves.  They raised 80k to do the show for one night in a 1000 seat arena.  It's possible I'm getting more productions of Marian because of this.

Another play done a bit--The Bookstore was produced 12 times this year.

First production of The Night Children happened this year-- they also took the play to Edinburgh.

The Christmas Tree Farm premiered this December at Mile Square in NJ where my friend Kevin R. Free is the AD.  Was subsequently done at Actors Bridge Ensemble in Nashville (who have done 3 other plays of mine) and by a high school in CA.



photo by David White Studio

Clown Bar Christmas went up for the first time at Little Theater in MN.



Hearts Like Planets was done at a couple of schools.  I saw the one at AADA that Alberto Bonilla directed.








Also of note, Nerve was done in Mexico in Spanish. Clown Bar was done in Türkiye again. Marian had an English production and a couple Canadian productions. Kodachrome was done in England and The Bookstore was done in Canada. Ubu maybe happened in Australia.

I have a lot of full length plays that had one or two productions this year.

Publications this year included my book of monologues, Small Explosions from Applause, 100 Things I Never Said To You/100 Love Letters I Never Sent from Concord, When Jack Met Jill and Heart of Snow from Stage Partners, and The Wooden Heart from Theatrical Rights Worldwide.




Next year, look for my book about playwriting from Applause and hopefully some more plays.  So far, 27 productions of full lengths slated for 2024 and at least one production slated for 2025.

Love to you and yours.  Here are my previous years in review.

2020 

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Dec 1, 2023

"My Job Is To Play," with Erin Mallon

Did a podcast with Erin Mallon, My Job Is To Play

It was a lot of fun.  Here's a clip. Link below to the full conversation.







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Nov 21, 2023

Premiere of The Christmas Tree Farm

Hi All,

If you're in NY or NJ, come see my play, The Christmas Tree Farm.  Directed by Rachel Dart.  Amazing very funny cast.  It's less than 10 min bus ride from NYC.



Nov 30-Dec 23.  Nov 30 is Pay What You Can.




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Sep 11, 2023

I Interview Playwrights Part 1117: Paola Alexandra Soto




Paola Alexandra Soto


Hometown:

I was born in and grew up in an impoverished community in Santo Domingo the capital of the Dominican Republic. Although at the time I did not realize how poverty stricken the community I lived in was because my family gave me all that I needed. Though I must admit that recently I have become preoccupied with how I was potty trained when the shack I lived in had no indoor plumbing and only had access to one dilapidated wooden outhouse that we shared with another dozen or so families. This was in the 80s and 90s when the internet existed.


Current Town:

When I was about seven years old my mother brought me to the US. When I arrived and saw the NYC skyline I thought this was a land of giants. We settled us down in Harlem, which is one of the best choices that she could have made. If for no other reason than within walking distance I had access to both a large Dominican population a few blocks north in Washington Heights. I was also within walking distance of 125th street and access to one of the most beautiful and historic neighborhoods in the city. Filled with people that looked just like me but spoke a different language, but once I learned English, as they say, “it was on, like Donkey Kong”.


Q:  What are you working on now?

A:  Right now I’m working on what I hope will be my first full length play, La Sosa Sisters, which was a semifinalist for the National Black Theatre Playwriting Fellowship. It is a play about two sisters who are mourning the death of their mother. In the process of burying they uncover the secrets that their mother had been keeping from them. The play is about how death changes a person and transforms relationships. I am currently in the middle of rewrites. Every time I think that I know where the play is going I am surprised by a new turn, a new development that leads down a completely different path. I find myself in this state of start/stop, with the whiplash effect of when one is learning to drive a car. The more I write the less I know. As much as I love playwriting I am in that stretch of time where I’m struggling as a playwright. After spending so much time and money it seems that all that I learned is that I have so much to figure out. The irony of this paradox is not lost on me.

It seems that for many the pandemic was inspirational and they were able to start and finish projects with ease. For me I found it to be incredibly harmful to my process. Playwriting is an isolating endeavor but COVID-19 really took it to another level. A very sad and depressing level.

I think that finally I’ve cracked the structure of the play and now have the difficult work of figuring out the new flow of the story. The play is about two sisters who have lost their mother to cancer and unearth the secrets that their mother hid while in the process of burying her.

Q:  Tell me, if you will, a story from your childhood that explains who you are as a writer or as a person.

A:  When I was a toddler, my mother left me in the Dominican Republic while she came to New York City in the hopes of finding employment. Before she left I remember we were in one of the rooms in my aunt’s two room concrete shack, it was a sunny day, with the sun’s rays bouncing off the aqua blue walls. My aunt was painting my nails to distract me as my mom left for the airport. One minute I was with my mother trying to paint her nails, and the next minute she was gone. I didn’t see her for another three years. The loss and pain I felt when I realized that she wasn’t coming back, the thought that I would never see her again, I broke down, I started crying and in a way, it’s like I never stopped. I think in a way that experience has defined both my way of being in this world and the work that I do. That’s why I’m fascinated with telling stories about the mother and daughter dynamic.

Q:  If you could change one thing about theater, what would it be?

A:  Theater is a healing process, or at least for me when it’s done well the experience can be cathartic. It’s a space that has great potential to help entire groups and communities heal. More and more theater is starting to feel like a commodity as its primary function rather than the artistic journey that it is. It feels more and more like a product instead of the communal process that it is. I think it’s time to decolonize theater. Time to center the artists, workers, and audience. To create a more holistic path it is essential and timely to engage with indigenous and BIPOC communities. Who better to address theater’s flaws, than those that have been overlooked and ignored for far too long.

Q:  Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A:  There’s so many people that I can list that I look up to and have loved their theatrical career Lynn Nottage, August Wilson, David Henry Hwang, Chuck Mee, Lorraine Hansbury, Carmen Rivera, Joe Papp, James Houghton, Paula Vogel, Katori Hall, Emilio Sosa, Danny Hoch, Kamilah Forbes, and Maria Irene Fornes. I know there’s so many that I’m forgetting.


Q:  What kind of theater excites you?

A:  For me the most exciting theater is when it’s a small intimate space and it’s really about the story that the characters are telling. Of course a reveal or theatrical revelation is always so much fun. I think one of the coolest things I’ve seen in a long time was the theatrical effects in Fat Ham. A great song and dance is pure joy and a great fight or physical sequence is truly exciting. One of my favorite part of watching a play is sitting in a dark room. There's a surprising moment where folks gasp, or laugh, or when we applaud after a particularly wonderful section that communal experience is the reason I go to see plays. Flex is a great example, there are moments where I’m not sure if I was watching a play or a basketball game.

Q:  What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out?

A:  I would say the same thing that my mentors and professors told me: go to see and read plays to really get an understanding of the work that is being done and the legacy that you’re inheriting as a theater maker. Go to the theater in your community or the one that you love and find a way to work there. This is also a great way to get to see plays. Make sure to take care of your physical and mental health.

Q:  Plugs, please:

A:  On September 15, 2023 I will have a reading of my play La Sosa Sisters at the NoMAA Studies located in the United Palace in Washington Heights. I am one of Oye Group’s Resident Artists for 2023-2024 where I will be developing two of my plays, Lucha Libre and D’Carnaval.



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Aug 31, 2023

The Library (short film) in Soho in Sept




https://sohofilmfest.eventive.org/films/64dfd600bc0e9f002c9aec0d


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Mar 8, 2023

Two Upcoming Events (New York City)

1.

I have a reading coming up March 18 in NYC. It's another big hearted ensemble play that's meant to be inclusive (although it is admittedly kind of Christmas centric.)

Please come if you can.
 
THE CHRISTMAS TREE FARM

by Adam Szymkowicz
directed by Kelly O'Donnell
starring Nandita Shenoy, Alisha Spielmann, Ryan Vincent Anderson, Matthew Trumbull, Natalie Kim, Emily Ma.

Saturday, March 18 at 5 pm
The Music Hall at Dramatists Guild Foundation
520 8th Ave. Suite 2401

RSVP: pcplaywrightsgroup@gmail.com

This reading is presented by the Parent-Caregiver Playwrights Group, a selective workshop for playwrights who are also parents or caregivers. The group is sponsored by Project Y Theatre and has received support from New Georges, the Juilliard School, and others. Group members include Liz Appel, Eleanor Burgess, Mathilde Dratwa, Enid Graham, Mary Elizabeth Hamilton, Ying Ying Li, Erin Mallon, Deepa Purohit, Deneen Reynolds-Knott, Lia Romeo, and Adam Szymkowicz.


2.

An event at the Drama Book Shop celebrating my monologue book out from Applause.  Tues March 21 at 7:30pm  A bunch of lovely folks have agreed to read a few monologues at the event including Erin Mallon, Kevin R. Free, Justin Woo and more!  RSVP here  (You buy a book for your admission ticket)



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