A natural gas flare in North Dakota. A rainbow appears to arc over it. An image of hope, or of despair?

A new play and new collaborators

A natural gas flare in North Dakota. A rainbow appears to arc over it. An image of hope, or of despair?

As it’s most imminent, I’ll start with an upcoming online workshop with Phamaly Theatre. Last year, I started writing The Hard Price at The Orchard Project as their inaugural Reg E. Cathey Writer-in-Residence. Set in North Dakota oil country and spanning the United States’ two wars in Iraq, the play follows the effects of those 2 conflicts on 2 generations of the Erekson Family, using the story of The Oresteia as a jumping off point. (What? Me adapt a classic Greek play? How unexpected…)

In September 2019, I got to hear a very rough draft read at The Lark. (Lords, remember when we could just hop on the bus, get off in New York, walk a few blocks and be welcomed by the loveliest and most talented people? #fuck2020). I’ve been working on the play since then and recently completed a more polished draft that I get to work on for a few days with Phamaly Theater and a few of their core artists. If you don’t know Phamaly, it’s a great time to get acquainted. They’re a Denver-based company that serves as an artistic home for artists with disabilities. Remember how awesome Ali Stroker was when you saw her perform as Ado Annie in Oklahoma/on the Tonys? Cool, now imagine the entire cast is that same kind of awesome. The Artistic Director at Phamaly is the incomparable Regan Linton, and I’m really thrilled to have been invited to collaborate with her and her peeps.

I also get to work with the phenomenal Jessica Kubzansky who, as both a freelance director and as artistic director of Boston Court Theatre in Pasadena, has brought the most exciting plays/productions to the LA Basin.

As if all that wasn’t good enough, this project will be a lovely, cross-generational, UCSD get together as I (class of ’06) get to work with the aforementioned Regan Linton (class of ’13), AND MacGregor Arney (class of ’16).

So, really, what’s not to love?

The workshop will be closed to the public but I’m very excited about this play, so write to your Congressional representatives BECAUSE WE NEED ELECTION SECURITY NOW. And then, hopefully, in some post-45….er, post-Covid-19 world, this play will quickly appear on our stages.

I wrote a #newplay in 24 Hours

Tune in TONIGHT (Tuesday, March 24) at 6pm to see my play “The Time Machine,” starring Ryan Haddad.

Excited to share that I was asked to write for the latest round of The 24 Hour Plays: Viral Monologues. I got to write for the inimitable Ryan J. Haddad, and I’m so excited to see him work his magic!

Tune in TONIGHT (Tuesday, March 24)  on their website and/or on their Instagram channel @24hourplays. They’ll start posting monologues at 6pm EDT, with a new one being posted every 15 minutes.

And check this out: my name is mentioned on Playbill.com in the same press release as Hamilton star Daveed Diggs.

 

Looking Ahead (and a little bit behind)

In 2018, I finally got around to writing On Every Link a Heart Does Dangle; or, Owed—my Oedipus adaptation that completely pushes Oedipus offstage, giving the story to the women of Thebes. Thanks to the Playwrights Center and the Lark, I wrote about 150 pages over the course of just 3 weeks.

And then I got to workshop that play TWICE at the Kennedy Center. The first time via the National New Play Network‘s MFA Playwrights Workshop—of which I’m an alumni—and the second time courtesy of the amazing Gregg Henry, artistic director of the KC’s American College Theater Festival.

Most exciting of all is that I’ll be workshopping Every Link at the Lark this spring via their BareBones program. This includes public performances, so be sure to stay turned for details as we put together our team.

Coming up on January 31, I’ll be participating in the Project on Tyranny. Along with Franky D. Gonzalez, C.A. Johnson, Rajiv Joseph, Mona Mansour, Liza Jessie Peterson, and moderator, Lloyd Suh, we’ll be discussing the ways in which art and activism come to intersect in these challenging times.

Cheers, y’all.

New short plays in 2018

Current-MoodArt.jpgHi friends, 2018 is off to an exciting start with 2 new short plays in production.

First up, “This Land Is MY Land” premieres at the 52nd St. Street Project as part of Current Mood: The Relatable Plays. This is one of the Project’s 2-on-2 shows where 2 kids act in a play written for them by an adult and directed by an adult. My play features two of my favorite kids at the Project, one of whom is Emmanuel, my Smart Partner. It’s a political satire set in 2049 at a moment when the country’s public lands are about to be privatized and two regular joes are fighting to make sure they get their constitutionally-guaranteed acre—but maybe they can overcome their differences by overthrowing the corrupt government instead?

And then—a grand start to life here in Minneapolis—my first collaboration with a local company here. The first play of Pillsbury House + Theater’s 2018 season is The Great Divide II: Plays on the Politics of Truth. The show consists of 5 plays by 5 playwrights local to Minneapolis and they’re 5 of my favorite people that I’ve met since moving here: Christina Ham, Jessica Huang, Stacey Rose, and Andrew Rosendorf. The show will be directed by Noël Raymond and features a cast of the Twin Cities’ best: Tracey Maloney, Audrey Park,  Mikell Sapp, & Ricardo Vazquez.

“…fussing and flapping in priestly black like a murder of crows”

crows-fin-smOn a cold November night back in 1994, I was walking through Standish Park in Galesburg, Illinois. It’s an old park with tall trees, and the sound that came spilling down from the treetops was unlike anything I’d ever heard. An enormous flock of crows had alighted there and for the first time ever I understood why a large group like this was called a “murder.” They stayed there for much of the winter, their myriad voices crying out as I walked below them. And then one day they were just gone.

10 years later I was walking through the woods in Rhode Island, and another murder found me. This time they were moving en masse through the trees and I walked among them for a time, following them to a bluff looking out over Olney Pond. This time I could pick out individual voices from among the greater din, and when they flew on without me, I was left knowing how to create the play that I’d been turning over in my head.

Peloponnesus was born shortly thereafter. It’s a Greek tragedy set in contemporary Southern Illinois, and the play incorporates a chorus. A chorus that resembles a murder of crows.

Three years ago, Peloponnesus had a reading at Knox College and it introduced me to director and co-founder of the Cutout Theatre Company, Avery Wigglesworth. She told me she was a big fan of the play and could she contact me when she moved to New York. One year ago she declared her interest in producing Peloponnesus, and 2 days ago she and her company started rehearsals on its world premiere.

This play has been with me a long time. It’s had a number of readings through the years. It’s gotten me onto a number of professional radars. But no one has had the audacity to actually take it on and give it life. Until this upstart of a theater company said, “Let’s do this.”

I am so excited about the work we’re doing.

You can join us in April for 5 performances. And you can get your tickets here.

Hope to see you in Brooklyn next month.

DoubleBarrelShotgunPlop

Tim J. 2016 – Part 1

PolarBear_06First up in the first quarter of my 2016 is a new 10-minute play written for the 52nd St. Project’s next show: The Nick of Time – The Punctual Plays. My play is called “Polar Bear Service & Repair,” a buddy, roadtrip comedy starring Adam & Justin,  two of my favorite kids who are members of the Project, and directed by Sean Kenealy.

All the performances are free! Make your reservations HERE.

Here are the details:12522922_10153390162958391_8943222875416525167_n

The Nick of Time – The Punctual Plays

2016 Two-on-Two Shows

At the eleventh hour, and right on time! Six adults each write a short musical for a pair of Project kids, and then another adult directs each show.

The Kid Performers: Adam Alkindi, Justin Bannister, Sabrina Caldona, Joseph Cruz, Allyssia Feliciano, Bryan Lopez, Kayla Matos, Wilhemina Ohene Kari Kari, Kayla Ortiz, Christin Tetteh, Bamba Thiam, & Lambert Whitney

The Adult Directors: Tina Chilip. Arielle Goldman, Sean Kenealy, Colette Robert, Sathya Sridharan, & Kerry Whigham.

The Adult Writers: Lucas Kavner, Tim J. Lord, Beto O’Byrne, Lynne Rosen, Melisa Tien, & Cate Yu.

Composer/Music Director: Patrick Barnes.

Performances:
Friday, January 29 @ 7:30
Saturday, January 30 @ 7:30
Sunday, January 31 @ 3:00

Five Angels Theater
789 Tenth Avenue, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10019
b/t 52nd & 53rd Streets

The World Is Watching

bigbrother

“Yeah, well…I’m watching your ugly mug right back.” Artwork (c) Mark Dallmeier

 

 

WordPress gave me my stats for the year.

I had 11 views that originated in Russia and the most searched-for terms in 2013? “we declare you a terrorist.”

Clearly, FSB knows I’m out here.

I also had 4 views that originated in Pakistan, 4 views from India, and another 4 from Saudi Arabia. And 2013 featured me writing a 10 minute play with CIA agent characters set in Pakistan.

So I guess that ISI, JIC, and GID know I’m out here too.

And then there was Better Homes & Homelands at the Drama League’s DirectorFest, helmed by the exquisite Nicole A. Watson, who–most exciting of all–did me the honor this year of saying, “Yes, she would.”

Which reminds me, we should add NSA and the “Subdivision Committee” to this list because they’re watching everybody.

With stats like those, I guess that 2013 was a pretty successful year and I’m way more popular than I thought.

So Happy New Year to one and all and here’s to more peaceful, political dissent and theatrical dialogue in 2014.