Some thoughts on being bad at sharing news. (And also some news.)

I’m not great at the news sharing thing. And by not great, I mean I haven’t added a news post here for three years. Which is . . . NOT. GREAT. I realize the last 13 months deserve a big ol’ pass for all the reasons we all know. (If you’re looking for some support on this topic, you should check out the terrific NY Times article about “languishing” because it’ll probably make you feel either (a) better or (b) at least part of a comforting crowd.) But still, I should be better about it. And I promise I’ll try. I mean, actually promise to actually try. (Which is different from promising to actually do it, but see above re: the last 13 months.) ANYWAY. It’s Thursday, the sun is shining, and I’m thinking about the next 13 months, so why not? I know finding things to look forward to beyond, say, dinner tonight, has been a challenge for all of us, but there are some things coming into my world in the next year, and I have a News page on my website, so . . . here are several things that are coming!*

  1. In June, Will Van Dyke and I will be releasing an EP of songs we wrote in the last year with his new band, appropriately called The Will Van Dyke Band! The EP is called The Mayor, and it’s 7 songs that we are extremely fond of and proud to share. (We wrote more, and it’s extremely possible they’ll be coming your way later in the year, but DON’T RUSH THE NEWS.)

  2. Also in June, I’ll be heading to Southeast Missouri State University to take part in their first-ever Lanford Wilson New American Play Festival! Out of over 700 submissions, they have chosen my play Civics and Humanities for Non-Majors as one of 5 finalists for the Lanford Wilson New American Play Award, and I’ll be there for a week working on the play and meeting other playwrights and I’m really looking forward to it.

  3. In December, I’ll be heading back to Salt Lake City to start rehearsal (yes, actual REHEARAL) for the world premiere of my play The Messenger at Pioneer Theatre Company. This is the play I was working on last March when everything in the world went sideways. I was at Pioneer with my long-time collaborator Wes Grantom working on this play about a mysterious disease that is beginning in a community just as a mysterious disease was beginning in OUR community and it was a cuh-razy ride. Now we’re going to do that play for real, and I’m very excited about it. I’m pretty sure more news will be appearing on that front as the months roll by.

There we go. That’s some actual news that I actually shared. I’ll update this feed with some more regularity moving forward (he said, with the very best of intentions). Thanks for stopping by. And remember two things: (a) wearing a mask is the smallest thing we can do to take care of others and taking care of others is so much better than not and (b) support theatre and theatre artists in any way you can - it’s been a brutally hard year for this industry, and anything you can do to help would make a huge difference. Talk to you soon.

*By the way, I know it goes without saying, but “things that are coming up” are, if we’ve learned anything in the last year, always subject to sudden and often surprising change.

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