December 2023
I spent the first two weeks of December in Dubai with The Theatre of Others and a company of 14 brilliant artists. We were there to perform my play, Bright Light Burning, at COP28, the annual UN climate conference.
In that time, we performed in a variety of venues (indoors and outdoors, buttoned-up and relaxed). We performed for policymakers, activists, students, and casual passersby.
It was wonderful to experience COP and the audiences we encountered, but also to live in community with a traveling company of likeminded creatives.
Steven to the Universe: More of this, please!
September 2023
I’ve spent the past two weeks Zooming into rehearsals for Bright Light Burning, a play I’ve written for The Theatre of Others to perform at COP28, the annual UN climate conference which this year will be held in Dubai.
While I do get to join the company in Dubai this December, I was not able to attend this rehearsal period, which was in Singapore. Color me thankful for video conferencing techology, which allowed me to be “in the room.”
We’ll have more to share in December, including recordings of the production.
Watch this space!
April 2023
This month The Theatre of Others held the first meeting of “Work with Others,” a free communal playwriting event that will take place on Zoom the first weekend of every month.
These three-hour sessions begin with two hours of communal writing and end with an hour of open discussion about the art and practice of playwriting. Participants are free to ask questions of myself (the moderator) or of the group as a whole.
This is a great way to meet playwrights all over the world who may be wrestling with similar (or instructive) artistic quagmires (or triumphs). For more info, shoot me an email at steven@theatreofothers.com.
November 2022
For the past eight weeks (and for four more weeks to come), I’ve been leading this wonderful group of playwrights through the Playwriting and Adaptation course I teach via The Theatre of Others.
So far, we’ve explored and adapted works by Sophocles, Seneca, Boucicault, Sarah Kane, and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. Next week, these folks pitch ideas for their final projects.
It has consistently been the highlight of my week to watch these folks bring it time and again. I can’t wait to see what they bring next!
For more information on courses available through The Theatre of Others, visit theatreofothers.com/training.
October 2022
Theatre for a New Audience sent me off in style with a celebration on my last day of full-time employment as Theatre Manager.
I spent nine years working at TFANA. For context, that’s 35 productions. It’s time to leave and focus on my own writing, but I’m very proud of the many, many audiences we welcomed over the years, and I’ll miss these folks mightily.
April 2022
Since January, I’ve been working as a dramaturg with Budi Miller, Adam Marple, and Jack Burmeister on “Kool Aid & Wine: he doesn’t realize that He was in here the whole time,” Budi’s autoethnographic play written and performed as part of his PhD at Victoria College of the Arts.
Though I was remote the whole time, so much love was in this virtual room! Thank you, Budi, for the journey.
January 2022
“Kent After Lear,” a poem I wrote last year as part of a poetry activation entitled “The Will of the City,” has now been published by Var(2x) alongside other poems from the project.
Visit var2x.blogspot.com for a feast of words and ideas.
October 2021