For an emerging playwright there’s nothing like getting your work published on Indie Theater Now, run by the amazing Martin Denton who single-handedly does so much for the New York Theatre scene – championing plays and playwrights alike.    But how about getting three of your plays published on Indie Theater Now in just one month?

Meet Natalie Menna, an award-winning playwright and actress who is celebrating the fact that three of her plays were just published and are now available for purchase.  All different in scope, length, and subject they still all have Natalie’s signature brand of insight and humor:

Natalie chatted with me about where her comedic voice comes from, how she handles each milestone of success, and puts to rest the question of ever meeting a poor vegan.

Natalie! February was a terrific month for you! You had 3 of your plays published on Indie Theater Now. Amazing! So, first of all, congratulations.
Natalie Menna: Thanks, Karen!

Secondly—what does it feel like to now have your work out there officially? Is there a feeling of “I’ve arrived”?
Natalie: If I ever feel that way, please tie my hands to the bedpost. And not in the good way. Seriously, if I feel that way ever they’ll be no need to write anymore. I write precisely BECAUSE I’ve never thought of myself as arriving, arrived, about to arrive, or on the way to arriving. Departing, maybe, on a sinking ship …

Of course, publication isn’t the only way to ‘arrive’ right? All three of your plays have gotten acclaim by winning awards. What goes through your head when you find out that something you’ve created is not only being celebrated with a nomination, but then championed with an actual award win?
Natalie: I do like awards! Momentarily, I feel like I’m not on that sinking ship. But then I’m right back on it. Hours. Sometime minutes later. And then I keep writing.

In Roberta, I-Pod, and Zen A.M. you’ve shown you have a knack for writing, if not comedy per-se, then extremely comedic characters. When you conceive of a concept for a play do you set out for it to be funny, or is that just a part of your personality that shines through?
Natalie: This is a tough question. Requires me to analyze myself, which I hate. I only like analyzing others. Let’s see — a lot of people say this, and I wholeheartedly agree — “There’s comedy in everything.” EVERYTHING! That’s the way I’ve survived my life so far. The way we all do. I don’t think I consciously set out to write a comedy. I can be writing about a serious topic, for example, my play Committed, which deals with the last two days of Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh‘s life before his murder. A regular laugh/riot, no? Believe it or not, audiences for the reading of that play were laughing steadily throughout. Humor is the ultimate coping tool, even under the worst of circumstances.

I’m also of the Larry David school of comedy – that anyone, anything, or any circumstance can be used for comedy. I think sometimes this clashes with the aesthetic of the current climate in theatre today, but I won’t let this affect my work. Comedy is life, and there’s comedy in everyone and everything on the planet.

I’ll be blunt: your main characters are very fun and interesting on the page, but they definitely come with a lot of issues! Frankly, I think if I was friends with Roberta, let’s say, I’d want to pull my hair out. And yet the play is fantastic. What’s the key to making a character likable on the stage even as you know that in person they’d be unlikable?
Natalie: Really? I feel like all of my friends, including myself, have BEEN Roberta (well maybe not to that degree!).  But sure, at one point or another … I think maybe it’s about heightening the reality — I seriously have never gotten this obsession with ‘likable’ characters — sort of like what David Mamet says about the ‘polemic’ play – BORING! (Despite disagreeing with him politically, I LOVE his writing).

I love creating characters who are deeply flawed, bad examples, crazy, self-involved, etc. That’s why it’s theatre! When I am in an audience and a play has a character who ‘represents’ goodness, morality, nobility, etc. I feel so bored I want to slash my wrists. (Okay –that’s a tad dramatic– I just want to go to the restroom and never return.) Bring on the crazy! That’s entertainment. That’s theatre!

And on that note, (and this may seem obvious but you’d be surprised) just because my character is saying something does not mean I agree with it. As an example, in my solo show i-POD, the character at one point says “No coincidence I’ve never met a poor vegan”.  A playwright approached me after the show and informed me that he was offended and knew many poor vegans. But of course! It’s this character’s view!

I think I may have digressed. Back to your question. I think people are responding to the uncensored truth. I try to create characters that are always speaking from their truth. Unpleasant or not. I try to avoid ‘flowery’ dialogue intended to make the character look like ‘a good person’. And I think people crave the truth. The truth of that particular character and their life.

You make a good point, Natalie.  Flawed characters are speaking from a place of their own truth – and letting the audience go along for the ride means bringing them on a specific journey.  Getting inside the head of someone who thinks a particular way is what innovative and audacious theatre is all about!

Now that you’ve got three published works and they can be accessed by other people, what would be your biggest dream for these shows?
Natalie: To have audience members say “That hit me. That made me laugh. That made me think differently“. That’s all. That’s nirvana.

Well, Natalie, based on what I’ve read, you’re well on your way to nirvana already!  Here’s to more truth, more flaws and more productions!

~~~

For information on how to purchase any (or all!) of these plays by Natalie Menna, simply click here for more information.

~~~

NATALIE MENNA is an award-winning playwright and actress living in downtown Brooklyn. A native New Yorker, she recently won Outstanding Overall Production of a Play and Best Actor for her full-length drama Committed at Planet Connections Theatre Festivity 2015. Committed, produced by Ego Actus, received six nominations, including Outstanding Production of a Staged Reading, Outstanding Playwright For A New Play in a Reading, Best Director, Best Actress, and Two Nominations for Best Actor.

She was nominated for Outstanding Writer for her full-length comedy Zen A.M. in Planet Connections Theatre Festivity 2014. Her solo show Roberta! was featured in United Solo Theatre Festival, Theatre Row, in November 2014. Select previous awards include The Nettie Award for Best Solo Show for her play I-pod in the Network One-Act Festival, and Best Actress for I-pod in The Midtown International Theatre Festival. Her play Hiroshi-Me, Me, Me was a finalist in both The Strawberry Festival and The Network One-Act Festival, with two nominations for Best Actress and Winner for Best Supporting Actress.

Her work has been developed with Casey Childs, Andrew Leynse and David Caudle at Primary Stages, and Nicky Silver at The Vineyard Theatre.

~~~

INDIE THEATRE NOW is an engine for discovering new American drama — one that enables teachers, students, actors, directors, producers, and artists of every stripe, as well as those not involved in the theater, to experience the brilliance of contemporary indie theater as close to first-hand as possible.

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“You know what my watchword is? The phrase I live by?” asks Kathleen LaRoche, the self-reliant doctor-mother character in Jonathan Wallace‘s new play, A Brief History of Thyme. “Only connect,” she says, quoting E.M. Forster. She is in high earnest when she shares this information with Madson, the central character, her daughter’s older, roommate-cum-lover. And in every sense Wallace’s play – comical, fantastical, anguished – is in high earnest about the same challenge – the possibility of establishing and maintaining intimate connection with another person in this world. What Kathleen – for all her hard-headed, scientific approach to the problems of mundane living – is blind to, however, is the enormous range in which people can effect connection. For her, someone must put a ring on another’s finger and beget a child to establish meaningful connection. Anything else is evasive, illusory, disqualified. Alas for her, Madson and her daughter, the titular Thyme, do not share this view. They shack up together in an open relationship, rarely have sex, and eschew children. It’s not even a relationship to Kathleen, and she accuses Madson of stealing her daughter’s life, of creating an alternative “perfect bubble world” which enables her to avoid real life. All human worlds are bubbles, is Madson’s sage rejoinder, and unfortunately for Kathleen, the playwright seems very much in agreement. For all her best intentions, Kathleen is the furthest removed from ever understanding the riddle of her daughter, someone, in a moment of poetical abandon, she named Thyme.

Wallace has permitted himself more than a little poetical abandon in the writing of his play. The names Madson and Thyme are relevant, but brace yourself for the other major stage presences here, Horny Man and Tiara, the imaginary friend figures of, respectively, Madson and Thyme. These conjured intimates present the hidden personalities of the two sensitive, head-dwelling, socially disaffected principals. They have all the dirt on their creators and, thankfully, quite a bit of mouthy humor to share. The introduction of these two characters, who occupy an imaginary realm, affords Wallace a broad and liberal space for investigation, and permits him to gracefully shoe-horn the “big themes” into this modestly-sized, delightful screwball comedy with bitter-sweet overtones. Finally it’s not just the possibility of human connection that is explored here, but the greater backdrop our personal dramas are played out against, and those oh-so-eternal posers it throws up, such as –  why? to what end? and, where-after?

“All mythology and all science originate in the disturbing noises issuing from behind the parental door” offers Horny Man. It’s an address entirely characteristic of Wallace’s style, at once grandiosely ambitious and comically pathetic. With Horny, we travel into Madson’s imagination, and are treated to an out-of-body experience beyond life, to the meta-narrative that is Life unfolding itself, describing itself as it does – the dreamtime, as characters refer to it here. In this “almost” space, Madson encounters the spirit of his dead mother, who answers his question as to whether there is an afterlife with – “There is a before life only.” It’s heady stuff, but carefully stripped of any self importance. In addressing the great questions, Wallace is just as inclined to have his wordy characters stumble against the ineffable. They experience linguistic brain freezes and can offer only physical gestures, comical in their failure to elucidate even as they shred concepts of time and place, unmooring us from notions of continuity and identity.  Everything here is loaded and the patter is usually fast, but give or take a few literary references, the playwright keeps it impressively simple.

He is nimbly aided in this by Tatiana Gomberg‘s subtle direction, and the full blooded performances she draws from the actors involved. Richard Brundage is watchful and nervy as Madson, a man wholly respectful of his inconveniently evolved conscience. He’s a lover, not a fighter, though in essence the two things are much closer than might be supposed. Against his unsparing tolerance, Tanis Parenteau‘s Thyme can’t help but show as prickly, brittle, and selfish, but she holds fast to her character’s integrity. Deborah Carlson is a formidable Kathleen, effortlessly commanding the stage in character, even as the playwright gently reduces her to a figure of pathos. Much fun is being had by Collin Smith as Horny, and Allison Hirschlag as Tiara, and it’s a joy when this attractive pair get into the action. ( Can you say “Imaginary Friend Smackdown”?) The cast is rounded out by Douglas Rossi – a performance that pulls a lot of weight in some short scenes – and Julie Berndt who, amidst the verbal brawling, introduces a somewhat classical note.

Wallace shows a wide vision and great assurance in his story telling, an ability to move between the outer and inner worlds. There  is much heart in this drama but, thankfully, there is as much head. He does not shy away from jagged truths – the opening and closing scenes are awash with distress. But a durable funny bone persists and a welcome, perhaps even stubborn, optimism. Which is a very good thing if you are writing comedy. Whether it does or doesn’t make us happier, we should be grateful. The Howling Moon Cab Co. are very much on board. In writing this comedy, Wallace has done a very good thing.

Related Posts:

• THM – Proud Sponsors Of Planet Connections Festivity 2012!
• Women’s History Month: Celebrating Women In The Arts – Spotlight On Alex Bond
• Women’s History Month: Celebrating Women In The Arts – Spotlight On Robin Rice Lichtig
• Women’s History Month: Celebrating Women In The Arts – Spotlight On Glory Kadigan
• Celebrating Life, Love, And Connections – Congratulating Carol Carpenter

In 2010 The Happiest Medium was thrilled to be able to be one of the media sponsors for the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity – “a place that shelters new and experienced artists who want to use their art to make a difference”.

We’re excited to be able to sponsor the festivity once again this year! Planet Connections runs from May 30 – June 24 at The Bleecker Street Theater located at45 Bleecker Street, New York, NY.

The Planet Connections Festivity is New York’s premiere eco-friendly/socially-conscious arts festival. Fostering a diverse cross-section of performances, the Festivity seeks to inspire artists and audiences both creatively and fundamentally, in a festive atmosphere. At the heart of the Festivity are like-minded individuals striving to create professional, meaningful theatre, film, music and art while supporting organizations, which give back to the community at large.  

In the month leading up to the festivity we’ll be bringing you our fun feature “5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go” – a chance for every one of the shows to give you a taste of what they have in store for you!  We’ll also be reviewing a selection of the offerings so check back daily to see what we thought!

Just follow this link to get to the Planet Connections site.  There you’ll be able to see all the great things that are being offered … the free staged readings, the full scale productions, the special events … and don’t forget to check out what’s going on in the Festivity Lounge where there will be free entertainment such as singers, comedians, readings and art exhibits benefiting local charities. You can also buy some refreshments!   And if you join on FOURSQUARE you may win a prize!

So come be a part of the great work that’s being done by the amazing team at Planet Connections!

We’ll see you there!

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• Ye Elizabeths: Living Vicariously Because … (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)
• A Brief History Of Thyme (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)
• Deuteranomaly: A One-Act in Two Parts – 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)
• Women’s History Month: Celebrating Women In The Arts – Spotlight On Alex Bond

These women of the arts hail from different disciplines, but they all have an indomitable spirit and a luminescent spark that makes them amazing human beings who are out there every day, doing amazing work.

Today we continue our series with Alex Bond – a woman I’ve had the pleasure to experience in many ways – as an actress, a singer and most fortunately, as a friend. When I sent Alex a few questions for this Q&A Ms. Bond – being the storyteller that she is – sent back a history that only she could write.  ”Dear Karen,” she began, “as always, you bring up a hot topic which elicits brutal honesty.  Here we go…”   Here we go, indeed —

The subject of “women” (and being one) is a tough one for me.  I have always been one, even though while growing up in the 1950’s my name was considered to be a man’s name.  My mother would sign me up for some activity and there would always be the question on enrollment day, “Alex Bond, is HE here?”  I would reluctantly raise my hand.

But let’s start at the beginning.  When I was 18 months old, my mother dropped me on my head (oh, THAT explains it) and I had my first Traumatic Brain Injury.  We won’t go into the physical or emotional ramifications (another treatise altogether), but suffice it to say that for six months after the skull fracture I would not allow my mother to hold me, change my diapers, or feed me.  Thus began my distrust of the female sector of the species  – of which I am a member.  Hmmmm.

I went to an all-girls’ school K- 12 where my mother taught.  I was the “Glee”- like non-athletic  (yes, field hockey was uber-important)  artsy-fartsy girl in my class with the geeky boy’s name.  K-12 girls can be real mean.  My distrust was re-enforced.  Senior year I had a second skull fracture — from a car accident this time — (that REALLY explains it all) and the insecurities from the first TBI returned.

I continued my education by going to an all-girls’ college for a year and a half.  Finally, I mustered the courage to tell my mother that I wanted to go to a co-ed school where I might have the opportunity to discover the other half of the species.   I had had my fill of females! Voila! I finally had friends, and they were male — the guys in the Radio/TV  department.  This began a long, abiding appreciation of “techies” — smart, quiet men, interested in solving puzzles.  (My dear husband Leon is a techie.)

In graduate school in theatre in Texas, I discovered gay men — the girlfriends I had never had!  In fact, I was told by “the boys” numerous times that I was really a gay man in a woman’s body.   My own mother even said to me on one occasion when we were discussing homosexuality,  “I am sure that if you had been born a boy you would have been gay.”  I took it as a compliment.  And in grad school I met gay women (Lesbians if you prefer), women who were no-bullshit, honest, and intelligent.   Both of these groups  were non-threatening (emotionally and sexually), and we were all “different”, so I began to enjoy friendships that have lasted now for years —  those remaining friends that AIDS did not steal.  And it is because of these men and women that I finally started taking baby steps toward making “straight” female friends – including making myself my friend.  It was “okay” for me to be a woman.  What a breakthrough!

I am 60 now and am delighted I am a female.  I have extraordinary friends – female and male,  straight and gay, old and young.  My friends have been carefully chosen.  (Please consider yourself one, Karen.) And I love them and support them as best as I can.  I can trust all my friends not to drop me on my head.

So, this exposé doesn’t really answer your questions.   But it does provide the background for what I will now confess.

I am an actress/writer/former dancer/former leather bar chanteuse.  I see life as a smorgasbord and I have been fortunate to have had many marvelous and varied dining experiences.  In my profession as an actress, I have on occasion experienced penis envy because there are, quite simply, more roles for men.   As a writer, I think I would be taken more seriously if I were a man.  As a former dancer, I wish I still could.  And as a former leather bar chanteuse, no one but THIS LADY could have been THAT WOMAN!

I have never experimented with the corporate world – I have no interest whatsoever.  I am content to have always been “in the Arts” and I am content to be a Woman in the Arts.  (I can say though that I would have made more money if I were a man – period, end of sentence.)  I am so fortunate to have a devoted male partner (my Leon) who shares the bounty of life with me and who loves me for the woman I have become because of my journey.

If reincarnation is what’s next, I make the request here and now to come back as a woman.  I also ask that I not be dropped on my head.  I’d like thicker hair, too.   (Ha, as though the hair thing will come through!)

What’s next in this life?  I have the privilege of doing a monologue from Doric Wilson’s  A Perfect Relationship for the 50th anniversary of his life as a playwright @ The West Bank Café on March 16th at 9:30pm.  It’s a fund raiser for TOSOS.

And I am reading (with the fabulous David Carson) selections from my book “LATE NIGHTS WITH THE BOYS: confessions of a leather bar chanteuse” for a one-night-only book reading as part of the 2011 Planet Connections Festivity.   This is the first time we will have 80 minutes, so if you listened to us before, come back, we will have more “Anna stories” for you. Please check out www.alexbond.org for more details.

~~~

Thank you so much, Alex, for sharing your story with us for Women’s History Month!   As always, your wit, intelligence and sparkle shine right through your work.  I’m honored to be your friend.  (And you correctly surmised – I will not bonk you on the head).

A little more about Alex:

ALEX BOND has appeared in MTWorks’ productions of Barrier Island by David Stallings and A Home Across the Ocean by Cody Daigle.  Off-Broadway Ms. Bond appeared in Luigi Creatore’s Flamingo Court as Clara, Marie, and Chi-Chi.

Regional theatre work:  DFW Fringe Festival at the Hub Theatre, Provincetown Theatre, New Harmony Theatre, Depot Theatre, Buffalo Studio Arena, Virginia Stage Company, Theatre Virginia, South Jersey Regional Theatre, Dallas Theatre Center, Theatre Three. Numerous national commercials.

Whenever and wherever possible Ms. Bond performs readings from her novel “LATE NIGHTS WITH THE BOYS: confessions of a leather bar chanteuse” with David L. Carson; their work has received the ‘Producer’s Pick Award’ from the 2007 Dallas/Ft. Worth Fringe Festival and the ‘Best Literary Staging’ from the 2008 San Francisco Fringe Festival, and Fruit of Distinction Awards in 2009 from The Fresh Fruit Festival/All Out Arts.

She and Mr. Carson fight intolerance with humor and truth one reading at a time.  Ms. Bond is delighted and honored to be part of MTWork’s and TOSOS’s acting companies.

Related Posts:

• Doric Wilson – Gone But Not Forgotten: Help Celebrate His Life
• Early Risers / Night Owls … Come With Me – Help Save UNDER St. Marks
• Women’s History Month: Celebrating Women In The Arts – Spotlight On Robin Rice Lichtig
• Women’s History Month: Celebrating Women In The Arts – Spotlight On Glory Kadigan
• Planet Connections Q&A: Good Lonely People

These women of the arts hail from different disciplines, but they all have an indomitable spirit and a luminescent spark that makes them amazing human beings who are out there every day, doing amazing work.

Today we continue our series with Robin Rice Lichtig.  Robin is no stranger to The Happiest Medium; I’ve had the opportunity to review her work as well as sit on a panel with her last December to discuss the role of women in Off-Off Broadway.  But when you’re as prolific a playwright as Ms. Lichtig a few months makes a world of difference so I’m pleased she’s joining us again to give us an update on her work, as well as share with us her experience of what it’s been like to be a woman in her business.  I’ll let Robin tell you in her own words:

Robin Rice Lichtig

Things are bursting at the seams these days. Playwrights have a rough row to hoe — rougher even if you’re a woman. I can offer as encouragement these facts: I was fortunate last year with world premieres of full length plays in New York and South Africa, a reading in Berlin, and a number of workshops and reading in New York.

So far, 2011 is jam packed with short play productions and my full-length PLAY NICE! opened last night at 59E59 Theatre in New York. (It runs through March 27) I would like to encourage women playwrights to get their short plays into festivals whenever they can. It was through a ten-minute play presented for only two nights at Abingdon Theatre in New York that the producer of PLAY NICE! found me. Ego Actus is also going to produce FRONTIER in the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity in New York in June. At a meeting of the Planet Connections personnel early last Sunday morning, it was exciting to see that about 99 per cent of the people running this large, eco-friendly event are women.

We all know that the percentage of plays written by women is abominably low. Add ageism to that and anyone without fierce drive and focus will quit in a heartbeat. It’s an uphill climb, but it’s not impossible. I suggest joining the International Centre for Woman Playwrights and get on their listserve — a very supportive group.

Last Monday the League of Professional Theatre Women had a benefit to raise money for the organization at New World Stages in New York. Not only the writers, but the producers, backstage workers and technical people were women. Over 200 people were in the audience at $50 a ticket. The atmosphere was charged. It was a fabulous evening celebrating successful women in theater. I was also part of a SWAN Day production in Ontario, Canada, last weekend. SWAN Days are taking place all over the country this month, giving shouts out to women in theater. Loads of encouraging new things happening.

Gotta run. Submissions to make, networking to do. Speaking of which, conferences are an excellent way of getting your name out there. Hope to see some of you at Humana the first weekend in April.

~~~

Thanks so much, Robin – we celebrate you today!

A little more about Ms.Lichtig:

• Robin Rice Lichtig – See www.dramamama.net for details on upcoming gigs, synopses, and other cool stuff.
• March 8-27: PLAY NICE! at 59E59 Theatre, NYC.
• March 20: MOM from LISTEN! THE RIVER. Cornelia Street Cafe, NYC.
• Spring: ALICE IN BLACK AND WHITE. Staten Island, NY.
• June: FRONTIER. Planet Connections Theatre Festivity. NYC.
• June 18: SECRETS ON A CHINESE BED. Marblehead Little Theatre, Marblehead, MA.
• In the works: SUKI LIVINGSTON OPENS LIKE A PARACHUTE.

Related Posts:

• Women’s History Month: Celebrating Women In The Arts – Spotlight On Alex Bond
• Women’s History Month: Celebrating Women In The Arts – Spotlight On Glory Kadigan
• Women Of Off-Off-Broadway: Spotlight On – Robin Rice Lichtig
• It’s A Triple Play For Natalie Menna!
• A Brief History Of Thyme (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)

March is Women’s History Month and The Happiest Medium would like to take the opportunity to highlight, showcase and celebrate just a fraction of the wonderful women we’ve had the great good fortune to cross paths with over the last year. These women of the arts hail from different disciplines, but they all have an indomitable spirit and a luminescent spark that makes them amazing human beings who are out there every day, doing amazing work.

We kick off our series today with Glory Kadigan – Executive Director/Artistic Curator of the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity.  Ms. Kadigan has served as the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity’s Executive Director for two seasons. Prior to founding Planet Connections, she worked as the Artistic Director and as the Managing Director of various other theater festivals. She has also worked extensively as a Special Events Coordiator, Box Office Manager, Stage Manager, Director, and Internship Coordinator.

The Happiest Medium was honored to be a sponsor of Planet Connections last year and we hope to continue that partnership for years to come!  I’ll let Glory tell you more . . .

Glory Kadigan

Talk to me about being a woman who does what you do.

I don’t want to glamorize it and say that it is always easy and perfect – it isn’t. But I do believe that more people like me should step up to leadership positions because not everyone in a capitlist society thinks about their community. I’m very passionate about my community. My ability to care about the world, and about other people, has sometimes been viewed by my competitors as a weakness – but really – it is a great strength and should be valued.

Are there days it makes a difference – good or bad?

Definitely. I know that me and my team always make a difference not only to the artists we support but to the causes they have elected to champion and to the enviroment over all which means we have global impact.

Are there barriers you fought against in the past that are now becoming easier?

I’m not affected as much by the challenges – but yes, there are still barriers. It is never easy to lead anything – but, I believe its important to use whatever strengths you were given, to help others – and Planet Connections – as well as directing plays – is how I do that.

The men that you work with and interact with – do they treat you as an equal?

Well I’m not really sure that any straight man I’ve EVER met has thought of me as his equal – one way or the other. When I meet this man, I’d like to go on a date with him.

For more information about Glory you can visit her website and also see what’s happening at the Planet Connections Festivities site.

A little more about Ms. Kadigan:

She is an alum of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab and of The Labyrinth Theater Company’s Master Class. Ms. Kadigan is an associate member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers and has been the recipient of the Meritorious Achievement Award in Direction from the Kennedy Center A.C.T.F.

Among her directing credits are: Always Family (The Kirk Theatre at Theatre Row), The Picture of Dorian Gray (Robert Moss Theatre), Two Rooms (Active Theatre Company at The Workshop Theatre), North of Providence (Altered Stages), Serenading Louie (Stella Adler Black Box) Anomal (ATA-Off Broadway), Avalon (Looking Glass Theatre), The Tempest, Measure For Measure, The Snow Queen, Special Delivery, Foursome (HERE), Evening with Family (The Brick), Golem Stories (Chashama), and the Maternal Instinct (Workshop Theatre).

Regional Credits Include: The Glass Menagerie, Pippin, Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Uncommon Women and Others, Brighton Beach Memoirs, The Lady of Larkspur Lotion, The Effects of Gamma Rays on Man in The Moon, Marigolds, and Ten Little Indians.

Besides directing, Ms. Kadigan is an actress and playwright. Her work as a playwright has been performed at The Public, The Looking Glass Theatre, The Players Club, and Playwrights Horizons. As an actress she has performed at The Bleecker Street Theater, TADA, and The Connelly.

Outside of theater, Ms. Kadigan has been an active supporter of her community. She works in a soup kitchen, leads a Girl Scout Troop in Harlem and has raised thousands of dollars for Breast Cancer research and other causes. Ms. Kadigan is also part of The New Orleans Initiative and has traveled to New Orleans to work with Katrina survivors.

Thank you so much, Glory, for sharing a little bit about yourself with us today, and for helping us kick off our celebration of Women in the Arts.

Related Posts:

• Women’s History Month: Celebrating Women In The Arts – Spotlight On Alex Bond
• Women’s History Month: Celebrating Women In The Arts – Spotlight On Robin Rice Lichtig
• It’s A Triple Play For Natalie Menna!
• The Empress of Sex (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)
• A Brief History Of Thyme (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)

Carol Carpenter

The Happiest Medium was honored to be a Media Partner of the 2010 Planet Connections Festivities. Not only did we, as a team, get to interview some of the most talented writers and directors than any festival (or festivity for that matter) has to offer, but we made some lasting connections.  One of them is Carol Carpenter – writer of the play Good Lonely People which was also directed by our wonderful staff contributor, Diánna Martin.  Carol was not only nominated for her work but also won!  We were thrilled to be able to celebrate this night with her – and I’m honored that she took some time to sit down and tell us what this time in her life has been like.  Surprisingly, it’s been an unexpected path . . .

Carol – Congratulations on winning your award for Outstanding Playwriting for a New Script at the Planet Connections Award Ceremony! I wasn’t able to review Good Lonely People for this site since the director (the fabulous Diánna Martin) is a contributor for us. But just between you and me, I was really moved by your play. At the heart of it, what is Good Lonely People about to you?

It’s about a mother who loves her gay daughter so deeply that she’s willing to take on anything that threatens her child — including her own family. It’s also about the inherent goodness of people and our ability to overcome our own limitations in order to love. It celebrates the tenacity and value of family. And, I think, it’s a fascinating insight into conservative Christian culture and the ability of evangelicals to evolve in ways that us lefty snobs often assume they aren’t capable of. As for the world of Good Lonely People, that was one of my favorite aspects of the play — its strong sense of place. As a gay child of Southern Baptists who were politically left-leaning, I really enjoyed recreating the complex and sometimes contradictory world of old Southern Democrats confronting Proposition 8 on the night of the Obama election.

You’ve mentioned that Good Lonely People is very autobiographical – talk a little bit about the process of weeding through your life and picking the moments that you think will play well on stage.

I was raised in a tiny conservative town on the Texas-New Mexico border. So when I came out of the closet, as you can imagine, it was terrifying for me. But somehow, my parents handled it with incredible grace and love. Not that it was easy, but they wanted to understand and to support me in whatever ways that they could. My mother got her hands on every relevant book that she could and became the PFLAG librarian at the local chapter. My aunt and uncle, however, just couldn’t understand how this could possibly be ok. And this conflict became an unspoken issue underlying everything between our families for years. I always felt a certain amount of guilt for this, which is crazy I know, but I did. And I also felt anger toward my aunt and uncle. Good Lonely People was me working through all of that — figuring out how to transcend guilt and anger and find a place of insight that would lead to forgiveness and even a certain respect for who they are and what they believe. So the climax of the play, when the mother faces off with the aunt and uncle, that’s me looking my worst nightmare in the eye. Isn’t that always what makes the best dramatic moment onstage — your worst nightmare?

It’s interesting to chart the evolution of how I got to the place where I could write this play. A few years ago, my aunt had a heart attack and then last year my father’s cancer became serious. I suddenly realized that they wouldn’t be here forever. And so I reached out to my cousin and said, “I’d really like to stop in and see your mom and dad when I drive through the area, but I’m always with my partner and I don’t want to make them uncomfortable. But they’re not going to be here forever and I’d really like to see them. Could you ask them if it would be ok for me to stop in, even if I have Nora with me?” It was the first time that this issue had ever been directly addressed like this. And the way in which I addressed it — with respect for their values — I think, opened the door to healing for everyone. It opened their hearts in ways that had been closed before because it left politics at the door. The success of that moment started me on a journey in which I realized that, on the one hand, while my fifteen years of in-your-face gay politics had certainly accomplished important things, I had also alienated people in my life who mattered – people who had raised me and sacrificed for me. That simple gesture of respect — which was so hard to get to — eventually grew into this play. I’m hoping Good Lonely People softens the audience around the complexities of gay and religious issues. What happens when we assume everyone is doing their very best with the cards they’ve been given?

A few weeks ago, my father passed away and it was just incredible to watch the community embrace my partner Nora out of respect for my Dad, who was a kind, gentle man. Here we were in a Baptist church in a tiny town on the Texas border. The community members were all seated in the church as our family entered and walked down the aisle. My brother entered with his wife, and then Nora and I followed them in. We were clearly together, as a couple. We sat next to my old aunt and uncle (that the play is based on) at the service. There was a slide show of my Dad’s life, and my and Nora’s pictures were right there on the big screen alongside my brothers’ and their wives. After the service was over, all the little old church ladies that I remember growing up with were coming up to me, clasping my hand, and saying “I want to meet Nora!” I think they were so proud of themselves to have risen to that occasion. And I was so proud to be the daughter of a father who always assumed they could rise to that occasion. That’s the kind of humanity that I wanted to instill in Good Lonely People.

You’d mentioned that MTWorks  Artistic Director and Resident Playwright, David Stallings, and MTWorks Executive Director and Resident Director, Cristina Alicea, did an amazing job of helping you turn Good Lonely People into what we wound up seeing. What was the biggest change that made this play really start to shine for you?

The Proposition 8 tie-in at the end. I missed that connection altogether – this started out as a play about the Obama election and this cast of unlikely characters who throw a party to celebrate his election. Sissy, the gay daughter, was always married in California to her partner, but I just completely missed how important that was to the conflict of the play.  And while the election itself was symbolic and weighty, the final Proposition 8 moment gave the ending a magic touch while deepening Sissy’s journey and rounding out her character in a way that was lacking before. David and Cristina are also ruthless cutters. If the pacing isn’t there, they bring out the red ink, the razor. I love that — at least when the dramaturgs are talented like they are and share my goal of telling a good story that moves and enlightens people. If you’ve seen an MTWorks show, then you know they always feature top-notch scripts. That’s not an accident.

Good Lonely People has a lot of things in it that might be taken different ways, depending on what audience is seeing it. Tell me about a scene that gets a completely different reaction depending on what audience it’s playing to.

I’ve had two different gay women in their early 20s who were really mad at Sissy for not putting up a fight with her aunt and uncle. They really saw her as weak and spineless. But older audience members really love that choice and relate to or appreciate Sissy’s very conscious decision to deflect for what she sees as the greater good of the moment. To some, Sissy is a sellout and to others she is insightful and wise.

(A bit of shameless self promotion -but for a worthy cause! ) I was proud to be wearing a White Knot for Marriage Equality ribbon when I presented an award at Planet Connections. Talk to me about how Good Lonely People works as a play to enlighten people about Proposition 8.

I think it brings the issue home for people in a very soft and intimate way. The audience begins to feel like they’re a part of this family and when they realize at the end that Sissy’s life will be affected by this decision, it’s like “Oh. Wow. That vote had real ramifications for real people.” I think that in the overly politicized atmosphere of Prop 8 it’s easy to think that it was all really just about politics. My partner Nora is what they call a “professional gay”. She spent almost four years at the ACLU fighting for LGBT rights at the state level. And for both of us, it was easy to distance ourselves from the human perspective, because Prop 8 was the latest war to be won. But Good Lonely People cut through all that cultural noise and showed how Prop 8 was about real people, and their families.

Final question – bonus round. You can tell The Happiest Medium readers anything you want. Something about the play, about where you’re going from here, give me a recipe, tell me a joke, recite your favorite lyrics. This is your chance to do what you want. The floor is yours!

I’ll riff off the “where you’re going from here” idea because that’s on my mind a lot right now. The week before my dad passed, a very dear friend died unexpectedly and in a tragic way. She was my first serious girlfriend and the only woman besides Nora that I ever lived with. So I’ve been really trudging through the fog of death – I’ve started calling this the Summer of Sadness — and it’s made me pensive in ways I haven’t been in a long time. Paradoxically, in the midst of this sadness, I got my first New York production and I won the Best Playwriting award at the festival. But all of my losses have extinguished my elation. It’s like death has stripped me of my Big Moment. I’ve wondered why all these things would happen simultaneously, all within a six week period? And the only thing I can come up with is that its provided a stark contrast between what is important and what isn’t at a crucial time in my life. Instead of leveraging my Big Moment professionally, I’m immersed in memory, in the past, and in the people that I love. It’s provided the gift of clarity — a kind of compass that points to True North. So where am I going from here? I’m going toward True North.

_______

Thank you, Carol, for sharing your story with us.  Congratulations on your well deserved win and be safe as you travel toward your North.

For more information about Carol you can check out her new site - which she warns is still under construction but will soon be the place where you can find all things Carol Carpenter related.  I took a sneek peek and it’s great. Enjoy!

Related Posts:

• Planet Connections Q&A: Good Lonely People
• Women’s History Month: Celebrating Women In The Arts – Spotlight On Carol Carpenter
• It’s A Triple Play For Natalie Menna!
• A Brief History Of Thyme (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)
• THM – Proud Sponsors Of Planet Connections Festivity 2012!

There are many rites of Food in the world, and the vibrancy of our young nation’s reverence toward the the appreciation of food and the veneration of all things nutritious and/or tasty is woven into the very fabric of our collective psyche. In SMALL BITES: A SMORGASBORD OF ONE-ACT COMEDIES (written and directed by J.C. Svec) homage is paid to the ideals brought forth from the hallowed preparation and consumption of the victuals which sustain us through nearly all of our most cherished traditions of American Culture. The fact they are all excellent comedies that really make you laugh – hard – is even better.

From one couple’s crusade for the continued existence of Peanut Butter and Grape Jelly Sandwiches (can I hear an Amen Brother for the P, B and J), to the importance of A (good) Catered Affair when trying to throw a heartfelt good-bye party for a well known Holy Man and 12 of his closest friends – this play covers all the courses.

In several sets of Decisions we see how a young man deals with one of the most important choices one can make when growing up and beginning to blossom into adulthood: Prime Rib or Chicken?

Sit right down and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of fateful trip. It started in a Chinese buffet along a mini-mall strip. Here is a story of instruction by a man who has had a lifetime love of buffets of all kinds but has finally found out, that no matter how good you are at getting the most out of these culinary adventures there comes a point when you’ve truly had All You Can Eat.

In Mamma Marie’s, We see what it means to be the CEO of the largest, oldest, Italian food franchise in the United States through the eyes of someone who comes in for an interview, but can’t get a word in edgewise.  This boss seems crazy, but you may be surprised as to why.

Lastly we see the origin of all American Food Celebration in The First Thanksgiving, as Miles Standish and his bright and thoughtful scribe prepare the invitation to the local Indian tribe for their giving of thanks and appreciation of a good harvest. The wry humor of this is that it becomes a public relations nightmare as we find out about widespread fear as well as a competing event in a neighboring colony.  How will it all turn out?

Throughout this Smorgasbord there are great many food-themed songs played before, after, and during the transition.  From Food Glorious Food to Spam, On Top of Spaghetti and other favorites or new songs to add to your mental mp3 listings.

The cast – Nicole Cicchella, Sarah Cuneo, Lauren Friezo, Rob Gelberg and Edward Rosini do an amazing job of showing their range of talent as the present a diversified platter of characters.

~~~

Related Posts:

• It’s A Triple Play For Natalie Menna!
• A Brief History Of Thyme (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)
• THM – Proud Sponsors Of Planet Connections Festivity 2012!
• Women’s History Month: Celebrating Women In The Arts – Spotlight On Alex Bond
• Women’s History Month: Celebrating Women In The Arts – Spotlight On Robin Rice Lichtig

It’s not every day that you get a marriage proposal, especially not after the 3rd date, but that’s exactly what’s happening to Vincent (John Fico) as the lights come up on Monica Bauer’s beautifully written one-man show, Made For Each Other (directed by John FitzGibbon).  Vincent, a 50ish man flips his cell phone shut and proceeds to give the audience hilarious snapshots of his life in zinging one liners, self deprecating anecdotes and breezy patter.  Between the laughs we can tell that Vincent is a man with a heart who’s hoping against hope that this isn’t all as crazy as it sounds.

From there we meet the other people who twine into Vincent’s life either directly or indirectly – all played by John Fico.  There’s Jerry, 40, the man who was on the other end of the phone who was eager to propose.  Jerry is the sweet, doting nurse who met Vincent in the nursing home where Vincent’s mother now resides, a victim of Alzheimer’s disease.  As Jerry rhapsodized to his therapist over this new man in his life we see Vincent through his eyes, and it’s a lovely picture – because we see Jerry as well.  Suddenly, the idea of proposing after the third date doesn’t seem so outlandish after all.

Grandpa Damiano – Jerry’s grandfather – also makes an appearance.  Although this man is technically dead we’re presented with his spirit, the one that watches over his grandson Jerry and spurs him forward, guiding him with whispers of what he should do.  The elder Damiano is a complex man . . . mired in the old-world ways we get a hazy snippet of how he wasn’t always welcomed in his family until much later in life when his constant stream of cigarettes finally caught up with him and his chronic emphysema forced him to move into his daughter’s home . . . and his grandson Jerry’s room.  It was in that room that an old Italian man with strict ideas about the world soften his heart to a boy who – anyone could see – was “a little different”.  To Grandpa Damiano, all that mattered was that this kid loved him, accepted him, and made his final years happy.

The last character we’re introduced to is Vincent’s mother who is, more and more, becoming a prisoner of her mind as her  Alzheimer’s progresses.  She has already (according to Jerry) gone over to what he and the other nurses refer to as the “OP” . . . the “Other Place” (although they don’t say this in front of the relatives of the patients).  The woman we meet, however, is vibrant, lively, and enthusiastic about life, if a little eccentric.  It’s only in-between the moments that she becomes scattered, losing her train of thought, word-associating in order to get her point across, and flitting around the stage as if she were in the French Riviera.  To see her go from marvelous to muddled in the span of five minutes is perturbing and terribly, terribly sad.  It is here where Bauer’s script is at it’s most powerful and where her talent for play-writing, not just witty repartee really comes through – to be able to make an audience hold their sides from laughter one moment and then struggle to hold back tears the next is no small feat.

Made for Each Other starts off as one story and slowly becomes another.  It also starts off solidly in the genre of comedy . . . almost a stand up act . . . and brings the lights down on a heartfelt drama.  Bauer has written four characters who are not just solid, but appealing – every time the light dims on one of them you’re sorry to see them go . . . but then you are delighted to see the next character unfolding before you.

Under John FitzGibbon’s direction,  Fico plays this story as if he were four distinct people, and at no point do you ever wonder who you’re looking at.  He has a gift of  using changes in his body language remarkably well – not just relying on vocal calisthenics or props to cue the audience.   Fico’s use of stance, tics, gestures and even habits give each character a uniqueness and to watch Fico transform from one to the other is a joy.

Made For Each Other is a  gift all around – to an actor, and to an audience.  Get to the final performance of this show this weekend if you can.  I guarantee that you’ll leave the theatre feeling like this show was Made For You.

~~~

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• Open Mic Night And Post-Irene PARTY!
• Last Looks At The Happiest Medium In 3-D – Pull Your Glasses Out
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Planet Connections Theatre Festivity is New York City’s premiere eco-friendly theatre festival, connecting artists and audiences with diverse dynamic charitable organizations. The Planet Connections experience entertains, enlightens and informs.

The Happiest Medium (proud sponsors of The Planet Connections Festival) is finally wrapping up our Planet Connections Q&A!  We hope you enjoyed reading all the interesting answers.

Our last post casts the spotlight on two shows which we reviewed here and one show which sounds like a blast (no pun intended) but which we were not able to cover.  Read on to see how Aliza Shane (Playwright/Director) & Laura Hirschberg (Assistant Director/Stage Manager) of ARE YOU THERE ZEUS? IT’S ME, ELECTRA. answered our five questions. Then, keep reading to see what Ashley Jacobson, writer of his beauty had to say. And finally, stick around to see what BJ: A Musical Romp has in store for its audiences . . .

Are You There Zeus?  It’s Me, Electra.

answers by Aliza Shane & Laura Hirschberg

Here’s Antonio’s question -

If you would have to single out a quality between dialogue, plot or character, which one is the strongest in your play/piece, and why?

The dialogue of this show is KEY. It bridges the gap between the classical and the contemporary sensibility of the piece. The play has its own vernacular, which includes Greek references, 1990’s slang, and teenage angst. Each character has his or her own particular way of speaking, whether it’s Clytemnestra the evil Queen, played by a man whose voice ranges from Marilyn Monroe, to Joan Crawford to Harvey Fierstein (depending on her mood) or the Greek Chorus, who swing between classical Greek intonations and their own girly, smarmy, “know-it-all high school clique” vibe.

Here’s Karen’s question -

What has been the most surprising or unexpected thing that’s happened during this play? Did that wind up taking the play in a new direction?

This is a new mounting of this production, and the surprising changes this time around have been with how we’ve cast the women. With an all-female chorus and a man playing Clytemnestra (as a real woman, not just a guy in drag) there are many intriguing layers to the discussion of femininity and “girl power” already present in the text.

Here’s Anne’s question -

What do you think is the central theme and reason this play was conceived?

Really, the play was conceived primarily for fun. It’s a youthful, energetic, self-effacing take on a genre that usually takes itself too seriously- Greek tragedy. A lot of the elements-rage, vengeance, power, angst, responsibility-all feed into the play’s central theme: adolescence, under the ultimate strain.

Here’s Stephen’s Question -

Why should the audience (we) go to your play? What will the audience learn about the “human condition” by going to your play?

You should see our show because it demonstrates the awesome power of early 90’s grunge music and Judy Blume books, which allow us to connect to emotions and experiences buried deep inside all of us, that teenage angst and frustration so many of us had. Suddenly the Electra story could totally be our story. When it really comes down to it, the “human condition” is the same across the board, and even Electra was a teenager once.

Here’s Sarah’s Question -

What is your favorite line from the play?

This is a tough call- it’s a show FULL of great one liners…

Some faves:

Orestes: “Pylades, my sweet companion- how many times do I have to say this? Matricide is an art! And like most art, it must be done with a skilled, practiced hand.”

—————————————————————–

Chorus: “We know ALL! We’re a freaking Greek chorus, in case you haven’t noticed!!”

—————————————————————–

Chorus to Electra: “Dramatic much?”

Electra to Chorus: “Shut up! It’s my damn story and I’ll be as dramatic as I want to be!”

—————————————————————–

Clytemnestra to her husband, King Aeigsthus: “You can’t possibly be this stupid!”

Aegisthus to his Queenly wife: “I think that I am!”

—————————————————————–

Here’s Diánna’s Question -

What about this play do you feel most drawn to personally, and because of that, what message do you hope the audience walks away with?

I’m drawn to the sense of humor. The comedy doesn’t diminish the tragedy of the characters’ circumstances, but it does lighten the load that a story full of fate and duty can lay on its audience. I hope the audience walks away inspired by Electra and her companions. They’re angst ridden, hormonal, silly, and passionate- like many of us can be- and if they get it together (more or less), maybe we can too.

* * *

his beauty

answers by Ashley Jacobson

Here’s Antonio’s question -

If you would have to single out a quality between dialogue, plot or character, which one is the strongest in your play/piece, and why?

This is definitely a character driven piece. Even in rehearsals, when the actors were struggling with the lines – if they could connect to the deeply disturbing people they were playing, the show still went the exact way as planned. The four personalities presented on stage are by far the most interesting things to watch develop and destroy and create and manipulate and etc. ect.

Here’s Karen’s question -

What has been the most surprising or unexpected thing that’s happened during this play? Did that wind up taking the play in a new direction?

The set/light design was something that became a very spontaneous and unexpected element of the show. The set is very detailed and constructed unlike any other in the festival. (In that we literally build the thing from scratch each time the show plays, and use our own florescent lighting). It happened that way because of our visionary, albeit whimsical, set designer. and the aesthetic has added an unforseen allegorical, 1970′s porn element. It’s so visually interesting and layerd. It’s actually going to be featured at an art gallery in Williamsburg after the run at PCTF.

Here’s Anne’s question -

What do you think is the central theme and reason this play was conceived?

physical objectification and fragmentation. this play was conceived as a response, maybe an angry one, to feeling helpless or reduced because of one’s appearance or desirability. feeling trapped by wanting to be wanted, but also resenting, even hating that same desire. the anger of feeling possessed, while simultaneously being turned on by possessiveness.

Here’s Stephen’s Question -

Why should the audience (we) go to your play? What will the audience learn about the “human condition” by going to your play?

if anything, it’s one of the most honest things you’ll see. it says all the dirty mean things you’ve either wanted to say or have had hurled at you in your life. it’s the ugly part of the sex, and we all know what that looks like. it’s redemptive and vindictive, and it punches you in the face. I think it fits that kerouac quote, something like “give them exactly what they want, and they will be secretly terrified”

Here’s Sarah’s Question -

What is your favorite line from the play?

We’ve all been quoting some of our favorites as of late. Mine right now, after tonight’s performance is “I drive him crazy too.” In context, it explains a lot about what the whole show is leading up to. “I haven’t swallowed in 20 minutes” is always a crowd pleaser.

Here’s Diánna’s Question -

What about this play do you feel most drawn to personally, and because of that, what message do you hope the audience walks away with?

As the playwright, I’m drawn to the entire thing personally. It feels like Nadine (the director) has reached down into my guts and spewed my intestine across the stage for the whole world to see. And I’m ok with it, and I guess, in love with it. I want the audience to walk away feeling guilty or angry or redeemed. I want them to acknowledge the persons they’ve just seen on stage, whether they are a pete, or a jaclyn, a carl or cecily, or a combination of all of the characters. I want people to leave the theatre turned on – like the feeling after you’ve just had the best hate-you-but-i’m-not-going-to-walk-away-first sex.

* * *

BJ: A MUSICAL ROMP

answers by Peter Dagger

Here’s Antonio’s question -

If you would have to single out a quality between dialogue, plot or character, which one is the strongest in your play/piece, and why?

As the writer, all three came from the same place, and I couldn’t say that one is stronger than the other. I will say that for the most part, the process starting by me writing song lyrics, and then the plot, characters and dialogue grew out of that.

Here’s Karen’s question -

What has been the most surprising or unexpected thing that’s happened during this play? Did that wind up taking the play in a new direction?

During the very first workshop of “BJ” at Syracuse University, the actors were singing a song called “First Week” (no longer in the show), and the bed they were standing on collapsed on stage. Nobody was hurt, the show went on, and it was fun to watch the actors creatively maneuver around the broken bed for the rest of the show!

Here’s Anne’s question -

What do you think is the central theme and reason this play was conceived?

I wanted write a show about college. Everybody goes to college with certain expectations and fears, and then comes out the other end magically grown up. The show is very loosely based on my freshman year experience, and the people I met.

Here’s Stephen’s Question -

Why should the audience (we) go to your play? What will the audience learn about the “human condition” by going to your play?

BJ” is similar to a Judd Apatow movie, in that it is a continual bombardment of jokes and entertainment, but beneath that there are real characters going on real journeys and learning lessons.

Here’s Sarah’s Question -

What is your favorite line from the play?

“A blow job is just something that you do, when you are with someone who understands you.”

Here’s Diánna’s Question -

What about this play do you feel most drawn to personally, and because of that, what message do you hope the audience walks away with?

I love ‘coming of age’ stories (no pun intended). Blow jobs aside, it is a play about facing your fears in order to grow up.

Related Posts:

• The Electra Complexion: Are You There, Zeus? It’s Me, Electra. (Planet Connections 2010)
• What Happens When “His Beauty” Goes Off On Her Own (Planet Connections 2010)
• The Dirty Blondes Talk About SEX
• It’s A Triple Play For Natalie Menna!
• A Brief History Of Thyme (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)