Match.Comedy

I just posted a new one-act comedy to my website, Match.Comedy.

SYNOPSIS: Trevor is about to pop the question to the love of his life, Audrey. Only things don't quite go as planned when his marriage proposal is interrupted by a parade of women sent to him by an online dating service. Among his potential matches are an emotional train wreck, domineering single mother, adulterous vixen, conservative churchgoer and elderly cat lover. As he weighs his romantic options, Audrey surprises him with a little proposal of her own...

A hilarious comedy for six strong females and one unlucky guy that gets caught in the crossfire.

Kindergarten High

I just posted a new one-act comedy to my website, Kindergarten High. It's a fun and challenging piece that encourages students to develop strong characterizations. I invite you to read the excerpt on my site and send me an email if you'd like to see the entire script!

SYNOPSIS: Dallas has always been the class intellectual. After years of slumming through public school, he’s thrilled to take part in a superior program taught by an ivy league scholar. However, everything becomes topsy-turvy when the new curriculum is nothing like he expected. Before he can graduate from high school, he must return to kindergarten. Instead of studying Plato, he’ll have to master Play Dough. For Duncan and some other smarty pants, the secret to success is just within reach. Will they learn the most important lesson of their lives from a book, or a simple game of tag?

Internet = amazing

I am just amazed at the power of the internet. It's been less than two weeks since I posted my latest one-acts on my website and I already have 5 productions of Laughing Stock lined up and 3 for Attention Detention. I am truly stunned.

Were it not for the internet, it's very possible I would be writing in a vacuum. I would have play upon play piled on my desk, just waiting for a production. But ever since I started my website (almost 10 years ago...egads!), teachers and students around the world have had access to my work.

Once a play has been produced several times, it sort of takes on a life of its own. It gets interpreted and re-interpreted, and crammed with so many great ideas, that it's almost impossible to remember which ones were mine and which ones came from the students. That's why I love high school theater! If I added every great idea students incorporated into my plays, they would all be six hours long. So instead, I consider what I have learned and put that into my next play.

However, getting that first production of a play can be very difficult. Before the internet, I imagine playwrights lugging manuscripts across the country and leaving them on doorsteps. Not my idea of a good time. Now I can workshop my scripts, polish them off, and then post them online for the whole world to see. Much easier than a road trip, I'd say.

I owe a lot of my success to a number of schools that have been very supportive and loyal to my work over the years. High schools in Rosetown and Carlyle, Saskatchewan have faithfully produced my plays over the past 4 years. Same goes for dozens of schools in the US. To all of these schools, I am deeply grateful.

"Lucky me, lucky me" is how I usually start a day of writing. Whenever I find myself plagued with writers' block, I think of the enormous number of kids that have inspired me over the years. Then I keep going, writing for that one student who will one day act in this play and discover a whole bunch self esteem they never knew they had. Just the thought of it gives me chills.

So thank you, internet. You have been amazing to me.

Laughing Stock

I just posted a new one-act comedy to my website, Laughing Stock. I am particularly proud of this play and invite you to read a bit of it at my website.

SYNOPSIS: Michael thinks his life is boring. He stands onstage, wondering why the audience has paid to hear about his tedious existence. With the help of a madcap playwright, his life story is suddenly populated with exaggerated stock characters of every sort. One by one, the humdrum people in his life are replaced by pirates and princes, gunslingers and psychics, clowns and rappers. There’s even a Greek chorus along for the ride. As his story unfolds, Michael begins to realize his life is only as dull as he allows it to be.

SDA Festival: Day 3 (Pt 2)

The reading of Table Talk went off without a hitch! The students from Lumsden High should be very proud of themselves. As much as they may have learned from me, I learned sooooo much from them as well. It was creatively stimulating to be in the room with so many young minds buzzing with ideas. I hope to have the opportunity to do this again next year because I truly had a blast and was honored to do it. Hmmm...maybe I should do this all the time. We'll see what happens!

And if you're following the festival drama, you probably want to know how it all turned out. 11 plays in 3 days is a lot to take in, but well worth it. Anyway, I should arrange to have coffee with the adjudicator because her favorites lined up with my own. Of course, at this level of competition there are no winners or losers; all the groups should be proud to have been a part of a great weekend of theater. Best Play was awarded to Romeo Revised by Wilkie High School and runner-up was given to Conflict by Lampman High School. Oddly enough, both were written by Wade Bradford! I told you his plays were awesome, didn't I? :-)

So congrats to everyone involved! I hope to be back again next year, and maybe have a play or two of my own in the running...

SDA Festival: Day 3

As I write this, I am waiting for rehearsal space in the theater. Since we changed an enormous amount of Table Talk yesterday, I did not want to overwhelm Danny with a ton of work. So I asked him to re-write the first few pages and told him that's what will be presented before the awards ceremony. Unfortunately, he had to be out of town today, but his classmates are so dedicated to making Danny proud that I know it will go off without a hitch. If only we could get on the stage...

Also, the final two shows of the festival were presented this afternoon. First up was Cagebirds by David Campton. To be honest, this has never been one of my favorite plays. However, that should never be held against the students in a competition setting. So it speaks volumes for the inventiveness of this production that I actually enjoyed myself. Very nicely conceived and executed.

The last play in competition was The Fourth by James Ostime. I quite enjoyed this breezy little comedy. The lead actress really held her weight and made it a success. I also enjoyed the creative set design it employed. They built an entire room out of milk crates and it looked really nice.

So who will win? That's tough to say. I definitely have my personal favorites, but the winner comes down the opinion of one person. Were I the judge, the winner would be a toss up between Flaky Lips, Romeo Revised, and Conflict. But everyone seems to be buzzing about A Thousand Cranes, so it's anyone's guess.

Oh good, it looks like we get the stage now!