2008
December 2008
Six Short Stories Published:
CHRYSLER was published in Lullwater Review (Vol. XVIII No. II, Fall 2008). In this story, a man is torn between his infatuation with the Chrysler Building and his rocky relationship with his girlfriend--not to mention his indecision about whether to become a writer after all.
DUMMY COPY was published in Argestes (Collen Tree Press, Fall-Winter 2008). In this story, a graphic designer and her editor have a much bigger problem than their disagreement over the function of dummy copy. This story was inspired by Claudia Carlson, fellow member of the River Writers Group of Manhattan, who has had to deal with similarly intrusive editors in her work as a graphic designer.
LINCOLN TOWERS was published in The Chariton Review (Volume 31; Issue 1: Spring 2008). LINCOLN TOWERS is about a resident of this city-within-a-city housing complex on the Upper West Side of Manhattan whose life is beginning to feel surreal.
SNAP was published in Wisconsin Review (Volume 43; Issue 1: Fall 2008). In this story, a 42-year-old woman skips work to sit on a bench in Central Park and reflect on her checkered romantic history after being dumped by her latest boyfriend.
METASTORY was published in Soundings East (Volume 30/Number 1: Spring/Summer 2008). In this story, a writer argues with himself as he tries to compose a short story about writing a short story. (Think of this as what the show [Title of Show] might be if it were a short story.)
THE CROSS COUNTY was published in Buffalo Carp: Quad Cities Arts’ Journal (Volume 5, published March 14, 2008). In this story, a new neighbor causes friction between 5-year-old Bobby Farrand’s parents, but he's too distracted by all the new technological marvels around him in 1955 to understand what's happening.
June 2008
COUPLE OF THE CENTURY Presented at the Cherry Lane Theatre
COUPLE OF THE CENTURY, a full-length play, played to a sold-out house at the Downtown Urban Theater Festival at the Cherry Lane Theatre in Greenwich Village. This festival was one of the cultural events established after 911 to help attract people back to Lower Manhattan. The plays presented in the festival reflected the diverse urban populations that make up the mosaic that is New York City. (My one-act play, THE DAKOTA, won a Best Short Play Award at DUTF in June 2005.) COUPLE OF THE CENTURY, is an expanded version of my one-act play, THE SESSION (finalist at the Strawberry One-Act Festival Winter 2005). In this expanded, full-length version, the scenes progress backwards to show us the events leading up to the therapy session that opens the play.
May 2008
Reading at Cornelia Street Cafe
I read my short story, WALLPAPER, at the Cornelia Street Cafe on Cornelia Street in Greenwich Village on Monday, May 12, 2008. (This is the same story I read at the Mercantile Library in May 2006 and at my class reunion at Yale in May 2007.) The reading was part of a monthly variety event called Serial Underground, which Time Out NY refers to as “the subversive nightclub series” and which features the latest in experimental music.
Synopsis: Peter Payne--Sports Illustrated insert card writer by day, aspiring fiction writer by night--puts his rejection letters to good practical use.
April 2008
Reading of THE GERMAN LESSON Presented at the Dramatists Guild.
A reading of my new play, THE GERMAN LESSON, was presented at the Dramatists Guild in New York April 18, 2008 as part of their Friday Night Footlights series. The reading was directed by Wendy Peace and included the following cast:
Trevor Hudson (age 48)………………………...……….…..NIC TYLER*
Jerry Hobart (50)/Ira Klopnick (’30s)..…………….…..GREG HORTON*
Chuck Blazer (19)/Louie Allemano (’40s)………..…AARON HEISLER
Margaret Allen (’50s)/Dr. Vivian Sedler (74)……...ELOWYN CASTLE*
Sarah Schwalbe (’40s)/German instructor……….ROXANN KRAEMER*
Beth Hudson (’40s)…………………………….…...DONNA NIEMANN
Stage directions read by ASHTON CROSBY*
*Member of Actors Equity Association
Synopsis: Trevor is a PR man with a special talent for putting the best face on things whose life is spinning out of control, but whose German lesson is part of a plan to free him from his past.
March 2008
THE GERMAN LESSON Named Runner-up
THE GERMAN LESSON, a play in two acts, was named among the runner-ups for the 2008 Robert J. Pickering Award for Playwrighting Excellence. (The winner was Keeping Faith by Mark Scharf.) This award was established in 1984 and is given annually by the Coldwater Community Theatre in Coldwater, Michigan.
January 2008
THE SESSION published
The January 2007 issue of the literary journal, The Distillery, was published January 2008 (go figure) and includes my one-act play, THE SESSION. This play was a finalist at the Strawberry One-Act Festival Winter 2005 in Manhattan. This short (18-minute) play was the basis for my full-length play, COUPLE OF THE CENTURY, a Comedy in Two Acts (semifinalist in the Open Book’s 8th National Readers Theatre Playwriting Competition).
Synopsis: A man finally tells his therapist what’s really on his mind.