Adam Szymkowicz

Sep 27, 2019

Plays Of Mine

PRODUCTIONS

Clown Bar 2
Production #1 of CB2

Majestic Rep

Las Vegas, NV

Opens May 20, 2020

Marian or The True Tale of Robin Hood

Production #21 of Marian

Spirit Gum Theatre Company

Winston Salem, NC

Opens October 11, 2019.

Production #22 of Marian
Blue Ridge Community College
Flat Rock, NC
Opens November 13, 2019.

Production #23 of Marian

The Breck School

Golden Valley, MN

Opens March 5, 2020

Production #24 of Marian
Cambridge Street Upper School
Cambridge, MA
Opens March 19, 2020

Production #25 of Marian
Michigan State Univeristy
East Lansing, MI
Opens April 10, 2020

Clown Bar

Production #37 of Clown Bar
Theatre Downtown
Birmingham, AL
Opens September 19, 2019.

Production #38 of Clown Bar
Elon University
Elon, NC
Opens October 3, 2019.

Production #39 of Clown Bar

University of Wisconsin,

Stevens Point, WI.

Opens November 8, 2019.

Production #40 of Clown Bar
Fresno State University
Fresno, CA.
Opens November 15, 2019.

Hearts Like Fists

Production #43 of HLF

Cyrano's Theatre Company

Anchorage, AK

Opens Sept 19, 2019.

Production #44 of HLF
Lee High School
Springfield, VA
Opens November 11, 2019.

Production #45 of HLF

Christopher Newport University

Newport News, VA.

Opens November 15, 2019.

Production #46 of HLF
Texas A and M University
Corpus, Christi, TX
Opens December 5, 2019.

Production #47 of HLF
Restless Artists Theater
Sparks, NV
Opens December 6, 2019

Kodachrome

Production #11 of Kodachrome
Orange High School
Hillsborough, NC.
Opens November 1, 2019.

Production #12 of Kodachrome
Monett High School
Monett, MO
Opens November 11, 2019

Production #13 of Kodachrome
Berkley High School
Berkley, MI
Opens November 15, 2019.

Production #14 of Kodachrome
Fair Lawn High School
Fair Lawn, NJ
Opens November 19, 2019.

Production #15 of Kodachrome
Labette County High School
Altamont, KS
Opens April 16, 2020.

Pretty Theft

Production #15 of Pretty Theft
Mohawk Valley Community College
Utica, NY
Opens October 24, 2019.

The Adventures of Super Margaret

Production #9 of Super Margaret
Driscoll Middle School
San Antonio, TX
Opens November 20, 2019.

Production #10 of Super Margaret
Clarksville Middle School
Clarksville, IN
Opens December 20, 2019.

Rare Birds
Production #8 of Rare Birds
Mesquite High School
Mesquite, TX.
Opens November 14, 2019.

7 Ways To Say I Love You

a night of short plays

Production #34 of 7 Ways
Gladwin Area Friends of the Theater
Gladwin, MI
Opens October 10, 2019.

Production #35 of 7 Ways
Fountain Central Jr-Sr High
Veedersburg, IN
Opens November 22, 2019

Production #36 of 7 Ways
Mercer University
Macon, GA
Opens February 13, 2020.

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I Interview Playwrights Part 1061: Ron West

Ron West

Hometown: Middlefield, Ohio

Current Town: Santa Monica, CA.

Q: Tell me about Neil Simon's Musical Fools.

A: A number of years ago, my songwriting partner's wife directed Fools at the high school where she teaches. Phil wrote on his program, "Better as a musical," and let that incubate for a few years before he told me about it. As luck would have it, we ended up having the same attorney as Neil Simon and we got permission to adapt the play. Mr. Simon did most of the heavy lifting because we adhered to the script closely. I regret to say we never spoke to or heard from him. When Phil's wife Amanda was working at another high school, she produced Neil Simon's Musical Fools and Mrs. Simon (AKA Elaine Joyce) came to see it and gave it the stamp of approval, essentially.

Q: What else are you working on now?

A: A musical adaptation of Richard III in yet another collaboration with composer Phil Swann.

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

A: I would throw more paying work my way.

Q: Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A: My theatrical heroes are my band and choir conductors who taught me about managing big groups of people. Also, my parents, who didn't tell me, "This is insane; don't do this," even though it was insane and I shouldn't have done it.

Q: What kind of theater excites you?

A: The one where I show up expecting nothing and go away thinking, "I've got to steal as much of that as possible."

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

A: Don't type a lot of stuff in parentheses that tells the actors how to say the lines.

Q: Plugs, please:

A: You mean like, "See Neil Simon's Musical Fools, the funniest thing on 30 legs."

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Sep 26, 2019

I Interview Playwrights Part 1060: Stephanie Alison Walker

Stephanie Alison Walker

Hometown: Barrington, IL (suburb of Chicago)

Current Town: L.A. has been home for a total of 14 years (with 10 months spent on a remote island in the PNW and a year and a half in Chicago.) I constantly feel torn between L.A. and Chicago because both cities have my heart. P.S. I love winter. I love snow. I love bundling for the cold… but of course that’s so easy to say because I no longer have to live in it. I suppose I’ve romanticized it. That said, I did spend four weeks in the Chicago winter last year for family and the opening of The Abuelas. And I loved every second of it.

Q: Tell me about The Abuelas.

A: Here’s the synopsis:

Gabriela is an Argentine cellist living in Chicago with her American husband and adjusting to life as a new mom. A surprise visit from two strangers exposes a devastating secret in this visceral look at the repercussions of Argentina’s so-called “Dirty War.” The Abuelas explores the heart’s capacity for forgiveness — even in the face of the harshest betrayal.

We are heading into tech for the West Coast premiere opening on October 11th at Antaeus Theatre Company in Glendale, CA. The world premiere was in February in Chicago with Teatro Vista at Victory Gardens. I wrote it in 2016 on the heels of my play The Madres - which is about three generations of women during the so-called “Dirty War” in Argentina. The Abuelas is the companion play and is set in Chicago 37 years after The Madres ends. It’s a companion play, but both plays stand on their own.

I came to the subject for many reasons. I have Argentine family and I was actually in Argentina in 1980 during the Dictatorship (I was five then.) The images of the soldiers with their big guns in the airport imprinted on me. It was much later, when I was living and working in Buenos Aires that I began to learn about what actually happened in Argentina during that period. I had a friend who was doing a documentary on Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo-- the mothers whose children disappeared during the dictatorship. It was because of their bravery and activism that the world really learned about what was happening during the dictatorship. They went every Thursday and marched in a circle in front of the Casa Rosada, demanding to know what happened to their children and grandchildren. They continued to march after the dictatorship and still march today.

Las Abuelas became focused on finding and restoring the identities of their lost grandchildren. They estimate that 500 babies were stolen. Las Abuelas worked with scientists to establish a DNA database in order to identify their missing grandchildren. The science was groundbreaking. It’s really extraordinary what they have done. So far, they’ve located 130 of their missing grandchildren. But that means there are still 270 who are missing.

My play is about a woman who discovers everything she knew about her life and her identity to be a lie. It explores how one can move forward after betrayal. It asks what can be forgiven and how do we move forward? There is a lot of history, politics and heartbreak at the foundation of my play, but the story is specific and personal to these characters. My goal is to draw the audience in with these characters and take them on a nuanced and deep journey that challenges and also, though dark, still maintains at least a promise of hope.

Q: What else are you working on now?

A: My play Friends With Guns about liberals and guns just opened its third production in Minneapolis. There will be another production of that in Chicago (soon to be announced) in 2020. I have a new play called The Ordeal of Water that I’m submitting to all the development opportunities that’s inspired by the first women to work as longshoremen at the Port of Los Angeles and I am researching my next play that has me very excited, but that I’m not ready to talk about just yet. I have a one-week workshop of my play The Sister House with Inkwell Theater Company in L.A. in December. I’m also adapting Friends With Guns and writing a television pilot - trying to actually make some money.

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

A: I think I need a magic wand. There are two things. One: lower ticket prices to make it more accessible to everyone. I think in an ideal world, no more than $15 for any ticket. And two: pay everyone who makes theater a living wage.

Q: Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A: Paula Vogel, Quiara Alegria Hudes, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Charlayne Woodard, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Caryl Churchill and oh how I could go on. And then there are the heroes who make theatre and are enormously dedicated to playwrights and new work. There are so many out there, here are five people who gave/give all of themselves to the creation of new work every day and who were or have been personally instrumental in my life: Russ Tutterow, Ann Filmer, Nan Barnett, Jordana Fraider, Samara Harris.

Q: What kind of theater excites you?

A: I get excited when I see something I’ve never seen before… especially if it grabs me emotionally. Especially when it’s a truth so vulnerable and dangerous, like an exposed nerve. I get really excited when I feel like the entire audience is breathing as one. I felt all of this both times I saw Indecent by Paula Vogel, for example.

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

A: Don’t be precious about your work. Don’t try to write a perfect play, instead, write a truthful play. Be bold. Rejection is required. A lot of it. So get cozy with it. Connect with other playwrights and join the New Play Exchange. Keep learning. Find your community. If you can’t find one. Create one. Oh- and don’t wait for someone else to produce your work. There’s so much to be learned in producing it yourself, especially if you surround yourself with intuitive and talented people with a lot of energy. One of the best things I ever did for my writing was attend the Kennedy Center’s Summer Playwriting Intensive led by Gary Garrison. If you can do that, I can’t recommend it enough!

Q: Plugs, please:

A: Los Angeles: please come see THE ABUELAS, Oct. 3- Nov. 25 http://antaeus.org/shows/the-abuelas/

Minneapolis/St. Paul: please see FRIENDS WITH GUNS now running through October 5th https://www.uprisingtheatreco.com/september-2019/

My plays on NPX: https://newplayexchange.org/users/281/stephanie-alison-walker

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Littof

To learn more about the work of the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, please visit their website: https://abuelas.org.ar

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Aug 26, 2019

I Interview Playwrights Part 1059: Shyam Bhatt

Shyam Bhatt

Hometown: London, England

Current Town: Los Angeles, California

Q: What are you working on now?

A: Rehearsing Treya's Last Dance for a run at the Hudson Guild starting 18th September - woot! Filming a new YouTube Character Sketch Series. Refining my second play Wisdom Teeth for production in 2020. Learning some history and stuff about my new home-town.

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

A: Hmmm. That's a nice question. A real nice question.

Writer: Spoiler-alert! It's not a mushy and romantic story.

From the earliest age, I read like reading was going out of fashion. It was a way to go into different worlds - I could totally lose myself. I loved all my writing assignments and would disappear into the stories my pen would scritch out. Collateral damage? I started lying like a mo******er! Because, simply put, at some point I temporarily lost the ability to tell the difference between reality and fantasy! It was fixed - through a lot of stern (furious) talking-to's from my parents. I know what's real now, thanks. Weirdly, my acting side helped to temper the slightly introverted writer inside me. Now the two sides balance each other out and I feel like I can get the both of both worlds - the extravagance and the intellectualism.

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

A: Oh man - I'd move the money away from the huge, well-known shows and towards the lesser known stuff and promote new, quality writing from non-West End / Broadway writers. There is beautiful work at the mid to lower levels of theatre in London, New York and LA, but it doesn't get seen because the money goes towards pushing the huge shows. I'd tackle that.

Q: Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A: I don't think I have any heroes as such - it's such a huge ensemble effort to put a play on that everyone involved becomes a hero! A couple of plays that made a big impression on me were George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, and Jennifer Haley's The Nether.

Q: What kind of theater excites you?

A: Work that is beautifully written, beautifully acted and beautifully produced, addressing themes that are applicable to our lives now. This could be Shakespeare re-directed to appeal to a school audience, or new work specifically written for the same purpose. I just love the feeling that live performance gives the audience - of all of us being party to a magical, unrepeatable moment. And I love that a night spent at the theatre is always an event, a special moment to be shared with special people.

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

A: I don't think I have any particularly amazing advice! I guess what I find to be useful for me is to force myself to write, even on days when it feels like terrible gears are grinding together. The more words you get out, the more shit you clear so you can get to the good stuff. Read a lot. Watch plays so you know what sort of stuff you want to be writing, and look and listen to people - you'll be recreating them on stage. Best to know what they really sound like :)

Q: Plugs, please--

A: A small plug

Treya's Last Dance is on for 6 Wednesdays at the Hudson Guild Theatre in Los Angeles. Tickets are available here: https://www.onstage411.com/newsite/show/play_info.asp?show_id=5029 but are selling fast!

https://www.instagram.com/treyaslastdanceplay/

https://www.facebook.com/treyaslastdanceplay

http://www.shyambhatt.com/reviews?fbclid=IwAR0JCW-dOlnk0WQQzJc4GzspsYmMgvEfH8njg5iytpqbsVV8Koz3V6oEIiI

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Aug 24, 2019

I Interview Playwrights Part 1058: Cailin Harrison

Photo credit: Courtesy of Cailin Harrison

Cailin Harrison

Hometown: Chicago, nothing like it and a great place to save a few pennies after getting my undergraduate degree in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Illinois (roasting summers, bitter cold winters and fantastic parties), but NYC is where my professional life really began in television. London holds a special place in my heart for all the inspiring plays I saw living there while working in film and tv. Ironically, this experience led me to be a playwright. But I have never been able to do anything in a straight line, ask my better half about that issue.

Current Town: Los Angeles, I love LA! It's not just the weather but the fantastic creative community that is here and of course, being able to walk to the beach. Dolphins, pelicans, stoners...what's not to like.

Q: What are you working on now?

A: That's a loaded question. I have a dramatic comedy, Last Swallows, going up about a multi-cultural dysfunctional family in New England that so far as resonated with everyone who as read the play. I have a fantastic cast and Kiff Scholl is an amazing director. This play goes up in September in the heart of West Hollywood. On the heels of that play, I have a mystical drama that takes place in Iceland during a storm in WW2 called, Defenders. This play was my writing sample to get into the graduate film program at USC which I survived with a diploma in hand at the end of it. For this play, I will be working for the second time with the wonderful Reena Dutt, who directed and won me awards at the Hollywood Fringe for my two hander Waitless which went on to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and got some great reviews.

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

A: As I have mentioned before nothing happens in a straight line in my life. I became fascinated as a toddler by Henry VII and his wives and started practicing Elizabethan English. Oddly enough, although I was terrified by him, I ended up marrying an Englishman, still not sure how that happened. Anyway, writing and school in general was particularly challenging because I am dyslexic. I often felt like I was crazy but was talked off the ledge with family support and a great therapist. It does take a village and I could not have gotten to where I am today without one.

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

A: I would like Equity to get its act together in terms of what theater does off Broadway. If they could just understand the struggle small theater and producers have while trying to provide outlets for actors, I think we'd all be in a better space.

Q: Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A: I got the opportunity to work with Ted Lange, who has done so much beyond his character Issac, in the Love Boat, especially for theater in the African American Community and Los Angeles theater. He writes what he wants, gets it on stage and is confident about every minute he spends doing it.

Q: What kind of theater excites you?

A: I view theater as an enclosed urban safari. You never know exactly what you are going to get at any given show. That includes the shows with my name on it which, at least up to this point, have not called for an ambulance to cart me away.

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

A: It's not just about the show, it is about the process and that takes dedication. In any aspect of the arts where writing is involved it is really, really, really hard to get people to read your work let alone come together and read it live. If you can find a community and reward them in some even small way for helping you in development (pizza and beer) you will reap the rewards hopefully down the road. Only you can decide when a show is ready to try to find a backer. Or if you can back it yourself, do it and try to create a buzz for reviews to give your show a life beyond your creative nest that it is flying out of on to the stage.

Q: Plugs Please

www.Onstage411.com/swallows

http://www.pandeliascanaryyellowcompany.com

https://www.facebook.com/PandeliasCYC

https://www.facebook.com/theatreplanners

https://www.instagram.com/theatreplanners

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Aug 19, 2019

I Interview Playwrights Part 1057: Brenda Withers

Brenda Withers

Hometown: Merrick, NY

Current Town: Wellfleet, MA

Q: What are you working on now?

A: I'm in the middle of a play about eugenics, IVF, and shelter dogs.

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

A: I remember in fourth grade making (what I thought was) a huge mistake by telling my Mom about a girl at school who had no friends. At lunch, while everyone else was doing something sporty or braiding hair, she would walk in slow circles around the perimeter of the field, totally alone, until the bell rang to call us back inside.

My mother made it made clear immediately, unequivocally, that I was to spend lunch with that girl from then on-- I could either convince the other kids to invite her into a larger group activity or walk that perimeter with her myself, but either way I was not to leave her on her own. This made me very nervous, as hanging with outcasts requires a certain insouciance my 10-year-old self had not yet mastered, but I knew my mom was right.

I wish I could say the outcome of this story involved the girl and I becoming champion field-walkers or even just actual friends, but really it was just a lot of me keeping her company next to a chain link fence. I do think having a companion made her feel better, which made me feel better. That was a big, tangible lesson for me-- that our collective well-being is impacted by the welfare of individuals, that we owe it to our community (and ourselves) to look out for each other, even when it seems hard or futile or unfair. I know my parents taught me this lesson in a thousand more significant ways, so I'm not sure why this instance sticks out. But it definitely encapsulates my current worldview-- most of my plays are about the ramifications of upping (or abdicating) personal responsibility.

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

A: Fix the money! Ticket prices need a radical drop, big donors need to stop wielding influence over artistic directors, and artists might want to get on board with theater as vocation instead of cutthroat career. If you're not in this for love, it usually shows, and not in a good way.

Who are or were your theatrical heroes? Ken Branagh, Caryl Churchill, Martha Graham, Tom Stoppard, Ariane Mnouchkine, Joe Papp, Ivo van Hove, Eugene Ionesco. And all artists toiling in obscurity who maintain a sense of humor and service.

Q: What kind of theater excites you?

A: Theater that has layers, good jokes, danger, and poetry. Plays that are actually new (in structure, content, style), not just recently written.

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

A: Do a crossword puzzle at the start of a writing session. Or read a poem. Aim really, really high, then take the shot.

Q: Plugs, please:

A: I have a few projects happening this Fall: my play Jordan is premiering at Northern Stage in Vermont, my very loose riff on Jarry's Ubu Roi is going up at the Modern Theatre in Boston, and the adaptation Jason O'Connell and I did of Cyrano is traveling to Two River in NJ. I must also mention our little-theater-that-could, the Harbor Stage Company, which I've been running with a stellar team of misfits for eight years on Cape Cod. I take everyone who visits for a swim.

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Adam Szymkowicz

Featured Post

1100 Playwright Interviews

Sep 27, 2019

Plays Of Mine

I Interview Playwrights Part 1061: Ron West

Sep 26, 2019

I Interview Playwrights Part 1060: Stephanie Alison Walker

Aug 26, 2019

I Interview Playwrights Part 1059: Shyam Bhatt

Aug 24, 2019

I Interview Playwrights Part 1058: Cailin Harrison

Aug 19, 2019

I Interview Playwrights Part 1057: Brenda Withers

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