Usually I lay out my goals closer to the beginning of the year, but so far 2020 has been kicking my butt. Last month I spent a week in South Dakota, acting as one of the guest artists for Kennedy Center's American College Theatre Conference for Region 5, and when I got home came down with the flu! And, lucky me, as the flu was leaving an infection moved in. It was so awful that I'm still not back to feeling like myself again. But I've got a LOT to get to this year and to help me actually get it done I'm going to lay it all out publicly (social pressure and all that)……
So many REWRITES!
I've got a looooong list going of plays that need work, and will be tinkering all year long. Right now my list includes:
- BURST, full length - which is in development right now for MACH 33, Caltech and Pasadena Playhouse's festival of new science drive plays (coming up in April!)
- FUNNY, LIKE AN ABORTION, full length - which I just heard in front of an audience for the first time last month at KCACTF AND got a ton of new exciting things to work in after working with the students on the Collaborative Theatre Challenge
- THE SUMMER I HOWLED, full length - premiering this October
- RED DAYS, full length
- THE NIGHT WITCHES, full length version - premiering this March
And also on this list (if I can find a theater who wants to jump in and help me)….. MOMMY DANCES WITH THE DEVIL, full length.
Eyes on publishing.
With so many of my plays with multiple productions, I'm setting my sights on getting more things published. For a long time I concentrated completely on development and production, but now that I have more work picking up steam I'm looking to offload all that contract wheeling and dealing work to experts. And also, if I'm being totally honest, holding printed versions of my work is one of the best feelings ever.
New plays!
And of course new plays! I have a thirty minute-ish play for middle school performers about pirates outlined that's on my list, with at least one (maybe two?) full-lengths simmering that will probably be for an older audience. But I don't exactly know what they are yet, so we'll see!
Searching for something to adapt.
I'd like to try my hand at a full-length adaptation as well! This will most likely be for TYA performers/audience, and might even be for a new commission. So if you need me, I'll also be nose deep in books written before the public domain cutoff.
Finally…. Writing a young adult novel????
This one is the hardest to list, because I'm the most scared to admit it. BUT I'm jumping off the deep end and adapting my play CHEERLEADERS VS. ALIENS into a novel! Will it crash and burn? Probably! Stay tuned!
Rewrites, publishing, and adaptations - oh my! That's a looong list to get to for one year. Check back in to see how I do. Hoping to feel back to myself by next week so I can dive in and start to get it done.