So the first play I wrote was Headstrong (“Romance, Sex, Murder, Middle English”). I wasn't planning to write a play. Actually I had...

COVID-19 and social distancing requirements have closed most theatres. Tragically, some will stay closed permanently. Some theatres will...

There are millions of words teeming around in my nether-wherevers, all jockeying for position to get onto the next page. They don't...

...You will fail. You will fail a thousand times. Some of these failures will be astonishingly acute. You'll watch your colleagues...

Having had to negotiate reading 50+ submissions at a time (on more than a few occasions), I favor asking for 10-page samples. This is not...

So—theoretically—if somebody whacked my beloved old man then proceeded to wed and bed my mom I'd resolutely be set on the path to...

In my endless quest for places to send my scintillating scribblings, I routinely come across opportunities for play development. Most of...

Casting Call BEN: Male, 35-40, large-boned, seems dangerous but really a pussycat. Dark blond hair. ALVY: cast appropriately. The above...

We all have different ideas about playwriting and development, and that's great. I've fielded more than a few questions about the...

We like to proclaim proudly that “the best plays are the ones that move the audience, challenge the intellect, and serve as a catalyst...

A colleague recently posted a New York Times article about trigger warnings with the comment “Nothing ruins a magic trick more than...

It's a truth. Look at any great play and see what the bad decision was. Someone fucked up hugely. Someone got badly burned. Someone got...

There's an ongoing discussion (started around Euripides' time, I think) about how far playwrights should go to protect the intent, the...

With I heard these words on my answering machine* I knew I was pipik-deep in serious shit. For those of you unacquainted with the legend...

We've all had issues with obstacles--those pesky road blocks that all protagonists have to navigate successfully in order to achieve...

The call came in the early afternoon. That very morning I had seen three—count 'em—three rejection slips. This was the fifth year of my...

In Part I of this post I promised to address why I encourage everyone at the table to speak their minds freely and openly. Here’s why. I...

We’re having the first workshop rehearsal for my new play, The Viking Suicides. Two of the cast members have been through this process...

It's called Writer's Block, that agonizing period fraught with insecurity when the creative river dries up. Writer's Block: when you need...

Seems like a simple concept, and yet many playwrights continue to keep themselves away from the rest of the profession. I've heard them...