Author, Theatre Artist, and Educator
Happy New Year, writers! This post comes to you from the snowy grounds of Ragdale, where I have the good fortune to be one of twelve artists-in-residence for the month of January. I had grand plans to write a blog post a week while I was here, but the first two weeks of my stay... Continue Reading →
I recently had an amazing time visiting Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens with my Philadelphia Young Playwrights Ed Staff, where we were inspired by the work and process of creator Isaiah Zagar. On our guided tour (which I highly recommend), we learned that when Zagar creates his mural mosaics, he pulls tiles out of his bucket at... Continue Reading →
If you’ve ever had a writing teacher, you’ve most likely heard the phrase “kill your darlings” when it comes to revision. In respect to this, one of my theatre professors gave the following advice to my class years ago, “I always tell playwrights to turn to their favorite part of their play, and cut it.... Continue Reading →
On the Making Learning Connected hangout tonight, the conversation about hacking games, as well as Kim Douillard’s story about an amazing Monopoly remix, reminded me of one of the oldest improv games I know. I’m sure it goes by many different names, but I learned it as The Status Game. Thanks to the structure provided... Continue Reading →
Thanks to the great fun and greater conversation going on at Making Learning Connected, this week I’ve had memes on the brain. Ever since I made my first-ever memes to compliment my last post, I’ve been convinced there’s a writing game in there somewhere. Well, I’m excited to say that I’ve come up with not... Continue Reading →
As I mentioned in my last post, I had the absolute pleasure and honor of directing a play by an amazing young playwright for the How I Learned to Write Festival, a program created by Philadelphia Young Playwrights. During the weeklong process, I can only hope this talented young writer learned as much from me... Continue Reading →
The other night, thanks to the magic of the internet, I inadvertently stumbled on this article about incredible homes. My first thought was, “Squee!” because I would happily live in any of these places, but my second (and likely far more useful) thought was that any of these homes would be a fabulous start for... Continue Reading →
During my days as Artistic Director of a theatre company focused on new work and emerging artists, we used to host an annual Lock-In: five teams comprised of a playwright, director, and two actors each creating, rehearsing and performing a play in 24 hours. Every year, the first challenge given to the teams was a... Continue Reading →
It’s not like I don’t get any writing done at home. After all, I’m sitting here at home as I write this right now! But when I’m home, I’m surrounded by things that all have the potential to pull my focus away. It might be the pets, it might be a dirty kitchen, it might... Continue Reading →
Mae Early 