from Andrew Sullivan

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2007/12/this-is-a-banan.html

"We live in a country where the government can detain indefinitely,
torture in secret, and then secretly destroy the tapes of torture
sessions to protect its own staff"

h/t daisey

http://www.mikedaisey.com/

from daisey

http://www.mikedaisey.com/2007/12/katrina-911-and-disaster-capitalism.sht

". . .disasters -- unnatural ones like military coups (Pinochet's
Chile) and war (Iraq) as well as natural ones (the Asian tsunami and
Hurricane Katrina) -- allow governments and multinationals to take
advantage of citizen shock and swiftly impose corporate-friendly
policies. The result: a wealthier elite and more-beleaguered middle
and lower classes."

good morning

I finally saw Sicko last night and it depressed the hell out of me. How is it possible that we've let the very rich take over this much? (Not all the very rich. Bill Gates is doing good with his money.) But Jesus, the gun lobbyists make sure anyone can get ahold of automatic weapons, while the insurance companies are literally killing people to save money. And the worst part of it is that Hillary is on their payroll!! After the Jungle came out there was a public outcry and the FDA was created to make food companies accountable. How is it that the HMOs are not accountable to anyone? Why hasn't there been a major outcry? I am one of the last people to see this film. Why has this problem not been solved? Watching the way people live in other countries makes me want to move to France or Canada or England or someplace with socalized medicine. France is like a dream. I could be making more money, working less, getting vacations... Life is good elsewhere. Not that I want to leave New York, but how long can I keep going? I'm saddled with 600 a month in college debt. I am in my day job because of that debt and because I need the insurance and I feel trapped and am often miserable and always exhausted. And I still have hives, unfortunately. And I'm freaking glad I have insurance right about now. But I want more time to write and less time in public transportation and in an overcrowded office at my cubicle doing tasks that daily seem more and more pointless.

one more plug for Local Story

3 great reviews, only 7 performances left and also in LA right now, ending soon.

Gang-Rape Cover-Up by U.S., Halliburton/KBR

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=3977702&page=1

h/t Isaac

http://parabasis.typepad.com/

nice Obama article

I have to say, with the exception of his health care plan, he's
looking more and more attractive.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/10/opinion/10cohen.html?em&ex=1197522000&en=1245b0f7b143f0d7&ei=5087%0A

Al Gore's Nobel speech

http://blog.algore.com/2007/12/nobel_prize_acceptance_speech.html

wga strike

http://www.televisionunplugged.blogspot.com/

Going after the producers through the advertisers.

What you can do

Stop Bush's war on the poor. Isaac tells us how to help.

http://parabasis.typepad.com/blog/2007/12/five-things-you.html

what's going on

So I broke out in hives this time last week, dosed myself with benadryl, went to the doctor who dosed me with something stronger. So I've been unable to write or drink alcohol or do anything fun all week. On top of that I had to have blood drawn, which as many of you know sometimes causes me to vomit or faint. (not this time, happily but it wasn't fun) Yesterday the doctor called me with a report from my blood test on what I'm allergic to. Basically everything. I am "highly allergic" to clams, corn, soybeans, wheat, peanuts, walnuts, and scallops. I am also allergic to shrimp, codfish, eggwhites and have a slight allergy to milk. On top of the allergies I already have to chicken and turkey which if ingested makes it hard for me to breathe, I'm not looking forward to a life of flourless brownies and never being able to buy sandwiches at a store or eat bread at a restaurant. never mind that I can't have a freaking peanut butter and jelly sandwich anymore. Or cornbread. But I have an allergist appointment on Monday and hopefully they will tell me with better accuracy what I can and can't eat. And hopefully I'll be able to write this weekend. In other news, it looks as though Food For Fish will be performed at a college in Michigan and a college in North Dakota this spring. And Deflowering Waldo will be done in Wisconsin around the same time.

nytheater steps up

http://www.indietheater.org/blog/archives/169

Support off-off theater

I’m taking Matt Freeman’s lead. Along with the worthy places he mentions that you may want to support this holiday season, please consider giving a small (or large) donation to an exciting new company I’ve been getting to know recently, Flux Theatre Ensemble. They did a reading of mine last weekend and I was overwhelmed by their generosity and talent. I have also been taking part in their Sunday workshops which are always a blast. Their new season is exciting and ambitious, with a fantastic play by Gus Schulenburg called Other Bodies which I'm extremely impressed with. Also my favorite Shakespeare play, Midsummer and a trilogy of Johnna Adams plays in rep. Both Gus and Johnna are the real deal. And I hear good things about Shakespeare. You can read more about them here and here. Give to them here. Oh, and please feel free to leave notes on your favorite charities in the comments section.

more on the exploitation of New Orleans here

http://www.justiceforneworleans.org/index.php?module=article&view=99&page_num=2

read this

Public housing in Katrina demolished to make way for the developers

http://parabasis.typepad.com/blog/2007/12/rebuilding-just.html

Flux play reading this past weekend

I'm still home sick with hives. But you can read about my weekend and
play here in a charming post by Gus.

http://fluxtheatreensemble.blogspot.com/2007/12/our-inaugural-foodsoul-pretty-theft.html

They're a great group and it was a fantastic event.

Thinking About Writing About Thinking About New Plays

You may have already seen this essay by Jeffrey Jones about providing
context for plays. If you haven't, it's worth the look.

http://jeffreymjones.blogspot.com/2007/10/thinking-about-writing-about-thinking.html

h/t Histriomastix

http://histriomastix.typepad.com/weblog/

I saw Local Story last night

It's pretty freaking great. Now, it's true that I'm biased. I have friends in the cast and I'm marrying the playwright. But part of the reason I fell in love with her was this amazing poetic play. Please go see it here or in LA. I know the show here is great and I can vouch for at least two of the actors in the LA show and they are tops. I also recommend Rag and Bone if you have not yet seen it.

Floyd tries to compete with Master of the Universe, Freeman

http://floydbritch.blogspot.com/

Help some kids

I just donated to this. It's a great way to keep theater alive and help some poor kids. Bush may not give them health care but we can give them theater, by Jove.

http://parabasis.typepad.com/blog/2007/11/tis-the-season.html Update: The project was funded. Good job, folks.

Matthew Freeman continues to astound

How to name your play

http://matthewfreeman.blogspot.com/2007/11/naming-of-plays.html

08

See which candidate you most agree with here h/t Chris Durang

Local Story in NYC

http://www.villagevoice.com/nycguide/ev118859,8.html

Local Story in LA

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=7518622&blogID=331361445

things to do

I'm on page 55 of a new play. It's about this time usually when I get a little sick of what I'm writing. I start to think maybe it's not as great as I think it will be. It's too similar from my last play or it's not deep enough or funny enough, etc. And I know I will keep writing and by the end be happy to have written it. And then I will think that it's a great work of art and also not very good. And both of these things will be true for me at the same time. And then there will be the depression that comes right after the play is finished and I will scramble to figure out what to write next. A new screenplay, a pilot? go back to the novel? Write that clown murder mystery play? Or the winter play? Or the pirate play? The two people in Paris? The amnesia guy? The second act of Bee Eater? Maybe turn Herbie into a musical? And then there are all the revisions I need to do. And I was going to slow down. Slow down, Adam. Slow down.

need stocking stuffers?

How about my plays? get em here

Jaime on the same topic

http://fishunderwater.blogspot.com/2007/11/for-fans-of-straight-drama-replacements.html

Isaac's letter the the editor of the Times

http://parabasis.typepad.com/blog/2007/11/charles-isherwo.html

Why write about theater in the theater section? I go to the Times
theater section to read about the grocery store. Don't you?

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/21/theater/21surv.html

what the left hand does while the right hand sleeps

Check out this Parabasis Hal Brooks interview. I especially liked this section, which I think is the best articulation of this particular playwright dilemma I’ve seen. The main challenge of working with the writer in the room is finding a way to run the room, while knowing that the guy/gal who wrote the play might have the answers - but that you might be the best person for a variety of reasons to answer the questions. I think actors sometimes want to get the answer from the playwright - because he's/she's there. But often times a playwright, having written their work, tapping into their unconscious might not have the actable answer...or they might. It depends. I love it when a writer doesn't know the answer. It makes the whole room freer, I think.. I am often afraid to open my mouth in the room for this reason. I don’t want to say the thing that is true but not useful. And I don’t want to say the thing that is not true and not useful because sometimes I’m not sure what made me write a line 3 years ago. This uncertainty is sometimes what makes people (not Hal) think they can help us write our plays. Because it’s not always easy to translate the subconscious into something everyone can understand. And when you can’t explain something, people sometimes thinks that means that they can do it better. Or that you need help. I think it’s actually a separate skill to try and be able to talk about what you’ve written while keeping safe the things you can’t say and yet keeping your confidence or appearing to keep your confidence while you deal with a question that you’re not sure if you should answer or are unable to answer. Meanwhile, you have to figure out in the rewriting process what things your subconscious put there that have to stay and which of them have to go. Because a lot of this is instinct, other people are often not helpful with this. What they can do is see the play with their eyes and tell you what they see. Which is helpful because you can never see the play with their eyes. It helps if these people are smart and know things about plays. And it helps if your subconscious doesn’t want to kill you. You see how I ruined a perfectly good essaylet with that? That was my fucking subconscious mind getting involved. And you know what? That probably shouldn’t make it to the next draft.

Matthew Freeman is a genius

And so are his rules for the writing of plays

http://matthewfreeman.blogspot.com/2007/11/rules-for-writing-of-plays.html