Here's a fun tidbit: one of the first fragments of dialogue that popped into my head for this play was Sarita scolding Gina: "She hasn't done anything but be lonely." I didn't know at the time that Sarita was talking about the one and only Nan Kirschman (Fawn Wilderson-Legros). Nan is the play's true outsider, having no loyalties to any of the ( Read more... )

Irene (Kate Kunkel Bailey) is a bit of a cipher.  We know she owns a yarn store, but that's almost all of what we learn of her beyond her identity as Gina's mother and Troy's wife. I don't often like to do that, especially with female characters, but for Irene, the question of identity is a slowly evolving one, the answer to which she herself has ( Read more... )

Anyone who's met my father-in-law will instantly recognize Troy Davenport (G. Zachariah White). Jerry's a bit more pragmatic than Troy, but the general sense of a fun-loving goofy guy who doesn't always realize when he's pushed the joke too far will definitely be familiar.

I originally conceptualized the character as a love letter of sorts to my ( Read more... )

Actor, theater history buff, and all-around take-charge woman, Gina's girlfriend Sarita de la Cruz (Kathryn Fumie) offers a semi-outsider perspective on the Davenport family and their interactions. Enough people told me, in earlier drafts of this play, that Sarita came across as too abrasive and combative, that I toned her down, at least in the ( Read more... )

In anticipation of Gadfly Theatre Productions' IMMINENT OPENING of my play Girl Gumshoe & Detective Dad, I'm writing up some meditations on the characters, to introduce folks to them before the curtain goes up (only not really. There's no curtain. Sorry). I'll start with Gina Davenport (Lauren Diesch), because Gina is the glue that holds all the ( Read more... )

Well. Lookit me be so far behind in my journaling!

So! ( The Smackdown was epic fun. )

OMGWTFBBQ, y'all, I'm way behind on recapping Theatre Unbound's 24:00:00 Xtreme Theatre Smackdown! ( The horror! )

Ah, Hamline University, I just can't quitcha. This year's performances were at Hamline's Anne Simley Theater, which is a lovely space. The artists had name tags this year, which was supposed to be so the writers and directors could find each other, but mostly just made us look cool ( Read more... )

Last week, playwright and playwright wrangler Matthew Everett asked me to be a backup writer for Theatre Unbound's 24-Hour Play Project. He assured me that it had been a couple years since they'd needed the backups. ( So, of course... )

So, I wrote a play. Man, it's been too long since I did that. Then I had some people over, plied them with delicious food that leorathesane made, and had them read and critique the script.

And at first it was terrifying in the ways you'd expect - what if it's awful; what if I can't actually write anymore - and then it was terrifying in a completely different ( Read more... )