Last Saturday I flaked on my new shout out feature because of a wedding, and tomorrow I'll be livin’ up my awesome kid-free weekend down in Arizona so I thought I'd both make up for last week and get ahead for this week.
In my first Saturday shout out I talked about the incredibly talented Tracy Held Potter. For this week since I have two I thought it would do well to talk about Megan Cohen and Stuart Bousel… The two work on so many projects together and are both so incredibly awesome they've become a super friend couple in my mind. Anyway, let's get to it…
###Megan Cohen
I first got to know Megan not by meeting her, but seeing one of her plays. Last year I was blown away first by her piece, Three Little Dumplings Go Bananas in BOA 2012 then by BEEEEEAAR! in the Pint Sized III. Three Little Dumplings Go Bananas was hilarious. I enjoyed it so much I looked Megan up when I came home from the show and started internet stalking her (it was pretty light, mostly just on twitter and facebook). THEN just a few short months later I was again blown away by the hilarity of her words in BEEEEEAAR! which was expertly acted out by Allison Page. This cemented my playwright crush completely. Nearly a year later lines from BEEEEEAAR! will pop into my head and I STILL LAUGH, because it was that funny.
Since then I've seen more, and actually met the fabulous Megan Cohen, and even though she could be a complete playwright diva and ignore the pions around her she is eager to make connections with other artists, and always down to talk about craft, theatre, and much much more.
If you're not yet convinced take these facts into mind:
- In 2012 Megan was the most produced female playwright in the bay area with over 20 readings and productions.
- Megan (along with Stuart Bousel) started Saturday Write Fever, a event created to bring the theatre art community together in an amazing impromptu kind of way.
- For this year's SF Olympians Festival Megan is taking the story of Odysseus and transforming into a one woman show! From the SF Olympians Festival website:
“Megan Cohen’s Totally Epic Odyssey will be an epic poem in the Homeric tradition, performed by the author in lively modern language. The Olympians Festival presentation features a 90-minute “highlight reel” of passages from the 12-hour tale, including sex, a shipwreck, violence, raucous parties, gigantic monsters, and the awesome goddess Athena swooping through the sky. This first public preview is a major step in the development of Cohen’s full adaptation of Homer’s complete poem, a work that will eventually manifest in a variety of mediums including both theatrical performance and online transmedia elements, its larger-than-life story sprawling uncontained across stages and screens. For process updates and bonus content, visit Megancohen.com and/or follow the Twitter hashtag #TotallyEpicAdaptation.”
Okay you should be convinced by now. Megan is amazing. Be like me and follow her around like a lost puppy… You won't be disappointed. And if you want to know more about Megan, visit her on twitter and check out the production page of her website.
###Stuart Bousel
Stuart Bousel is the puppet master of the indie theatre scene her in the Bay Area… At least that's how it looks from the outside. He writes, directs, produces, and is the busiest person I have ever met… And I have two kids. Last year he estimated that he watched over 100 shows and reading all over the city and beyond. He founded the SF Olympians Festival, is one of the founders of SF Theatre Pub, and founded No Nude Men Productions. And that's just the beginning, I feel like in every nook and cranny of the theatre scene here, people know of and respect Stuart.
Last year I wrote to Stuart before I had met him, and asked him to read my full length play The Fantasy Club… Bold, I know… Anyway, he didn't ignore me. He didn't blow me off… He wrote me back (surprisingly fast) telling me that he was way too busy but then he went on to give me amazing advice about how I should get my work done. Words that I really took to heart and I feel have really helped me. He told me to start seeing shows, and readings and get involved with as many different theatre outlets as I could. He also told me not to shy away from self production because sometimes you just have to put your own money on the line. I think it's important for fresh playwrights to go in with their eyes wide open, and I very much appreciate Stuart's frankness.
Oh and did I mention he also writes? Yep, he does it all.
If you're looking to see Stuart in action, be sure to see Prelude To A Kiss by Craig Lucas at Custom Made Theatre Co. (he's directing). Or come to the next SF Theatre Pub night, Pub From Another World. Or the next Saturday Write Fever coming in a few Saturdays! Or see his play this August Age of Beauty. Or any of the other dozens of projects/shows/festivals that he has coming up.
In short… Megan = awesome. Stuart = awesome.
See you guys on Monday Bay Area, I'm off to have fun in the hot hot sun of Arizona.