Last month I had the pleasure of having a public staged reading of my new full-length play, Burning Up the Dictionary, performed with Vagabond Theatre Group.  This took place at Trident Booksellers & Cafe as part of their "There Will Be Words" reading series.  

Before I say much more I do have to point out that I was very amused to have a play that's largely about language appear in a series called "There Will Be Words." 

Readings are a step in the development of a new play.  I once discussed this process with a computer programmer friend and we realized that we had something significant in common: neither playwrights nor programers really know what they've done until they get to see it running.  The staged reading is a sort of a test run of a play wherein the writer can figure out what changes they intend to make as the work evolves.

This was the first time I've heard the play in its entirety in front of an audience.  I did have the privilege of a table reading of an earlier full draft at the Lark Play Development Center this past November (which I blogged about here) and I got to hear a chunk of it at a Small Theatre Alliance reading back in September (which I also blogged about) after earlier development through Playwrights' Commons' Summer Playground.  All three were really useful experiences, and the script has come a long way because of them, but this last piece was a larger step as it was an opportunity for me to evaluate the current (more advanced) draft under more public conditions and figure out what to do with it next.

This past Monday I took part in a  Small Theatre Alliance of Boston Open Mic Night at the Charlestown Working Theater.   I brought in a section of a new full length play I'm working on called Burning Up the Dictionary, which I'm billing as "a story of language, love, lust and loss."  I'll be having a round table of the entire thing at the Lark Play Development Center in New York City next month, so this was a great opportunity to test-drive a section of it in front of an audience and see how things play in front of an audience as I work on it in preparation for the Lark.  I've been developing it through the Playwrights' Commons/Company One Playwrights' Playground this past summer (which was quite a blessing), but this was the first time I'd heard it in front of an audience as opposed to workshop participants.

This entry will be a long one.  But the events are well worth recording.

About ten days ago I returned to Boston from one of my best creative and collaborative experiences in a long time.  I am a person who really enjoys what I do, so these are strong words.

What I am talking about here is the Playwrights' Commons Freedom Arts Retreat.  This was organized by our Fearless Leader, Cruise Director, and Theatre Facilitator Extraordinaire, Ilana Brownstein.  The participants besides myself were Philip Berman,  Amanda Coffin, Allie Herryman, Colleen Hughes, Emily Kaye Lazzaro, Tyler Monroe, Corianna Moffatt, Nina Morrison, and Jason Weber.  I knew very few of the other participants going in, and no one very well.  If I may be gushy for a moment, it would be very easy to go through all of these names individually and sing their praises as artists and collaborators.  Instead I will praise the synergy created by bringing everyone together and tasking us with creating new work collaboratively.