Playwright- one who "wroughts" words, themes, and other elements into a dramatic form.

In my work as a playwright I strive to illuminate the lives of the characters and their situations in order to deepen our connection with others and enliven our experience of ourselves in the hopes of enabling us to be more fully human and to use that humanity to build a more just, caring, and enlightened society.

I'm inspired by the work of many playwrights including: Sam Sheppard, Edward Albee, Martin McDonagh, Tony Kushner, Paula Vogel and Christopher Durang among others.

I ascribe to Lerner Motti's idea that a playwright can be "an activist in reflecting the problems in the world in order to incite change and transform the society."

I hope that in my plays I'm able to do this in an honest, humorous, and entertaining way.

News-Spring 2024

In the summer of 2023 I was invited to join Experts Theatre Company - Create Theatre in NYC which is run by Cate Cammarata. Since then the pace of my career has excelerated. On April 8th the premier of “Jersey Stories: Songs of Life, Love, and Loss.” will be live streamed from the brand new Streaming Musicals Studio on 38th St. in NYC. This is a co-production between Create Theatre and Annabelle Productions and will be under a Sag-Aftra contract. “Jersey Stories” is a series of six monologues revealing the struggles, joys, heartaches, and ruminations of six very different characters all of whom hail from Jersey. Working with the smart and talented Katrin Hilbe+ we’ve managed to put together a gifted cast and creative team which includes: Camille Mazurek, Kellye Rowland, Lash Dooley, Michael Gnat*, Alison Lustbader, and Alexandra Taylor. Jesica Garrou is our stage manager and graphic designer, and Andy Evan Cohen is the sound designer. To view it live go to: Streamingmusicals you tube and click on Create Theatre. It will be recorded and uploaded to that site so if you can’t see it when you can.

+member of SDC; * member of AEA

Pistachio Pier, a full length play about two young boys, each of whom is struggling to breakout of the isolation and despair they find themselves in, who meet unexpectedly on an abandoned pier over a sleepy canal, they must overcome their fear and distrust if they are to find relief from their pain through friendship. Pistachio Pier will be read twice in a performance space May 28th and 29th, and then live streamed at the Streaming Musicals Studios in NYC on May 30th. Katrin Hible+ will be directing. To view it live go to Streamingmusicals You Tube and click on Create Theatre at 5pm on May 30th.

+member of SDC

I have begun a collaboration with Colin Farish (Composer, Singer, Recording Artist), on a series he is developing for Netflik. I will be helping him put together the bible for the six seasons. He’s an amazing person with boundless creative energy and I’m thrilled to be able to work with him.

I have also begun a collaboration with Jamie Allen (Composer, performer, Recording Artist), on a musical centered around the Russian dissent, Alexsei Navalny. This as yet unnamed piece will be showcased in early November in NYC and is part of a Create Theatre event to put the first twenty minutes of a new musical in front of prospective producers. Jamie is a richly talented artist and I’m fortunate to be able to partner with him on this project.

Thicket of Lies continues to move up the discoverable list on Coverfly and The Dreamer and The Damselfly has received positive feedback from reviewers.

News from Fall 2023

It’s been too long since I’ve updated my site. Over the past fifteen months I’ve shifted my focus from plays to screenplays. “Finished”, (read in development), are Thicket of Lies and The Dreamer and The Damselfly. Thicket is the story of a young man who was brought into a cult by his mother and after years of living there is finally able to leave but not before the damage was done. The log line is: A cult survivor is determined to reclaim his life. When the body of a coworker is discovered it opens up old wounds, entangling him in a thicket of lies,  threatening to thwart his quest to find happiness, and forcing him to fight for his innocence. Thicket received strong praise and was put on a discoverable list available to producers and production companies.

The Dreamer and The Damselfly, an Animated Feature, is the story of two young insects, (an earthworm and a damselfly), who find each other and work together to stop the June Bug Beetles from destroying the food supply. Dreamer was also highly reviewed and I’m awaiting it’s placement in a recent screenplay competition.

Currently I’m working on a series of monologues exploring various characters all of whom hail from New Jersey. The plan it to put this up in a local space, hopefully the Marsh.

Of course I’m still working with San Francisco Dramatists. We meet weekly, have our scenes read by professional actors and critiqued by the group. Invaluable.

It has been a busy year as weekly meetings of San Francisco Dramatists have created an opportunity to have my work read by some great actors and critiqued by my fellow SFD playwrights, a very talented group. A full reading of The Passage, the second libretto commissioned by composer Peter Allen, was held in early February. Reading were Helen Noakes, Joe Wolf, Tanya Gallagher*, Mike Ward*, and Gina Harris. Stage was read by Miles Pawski. The notes from that reading are being used to further strengthen the piece.

Work continues on The Bunker, a somewhat surreal play that finds two young men hiding out in the wilderness of the far west while they await the signal to rejoin their compatriots and attack the enemy known as The Others. The year is 2025, civil war has broken out, and Ernest and Noel have been drawn into the movement to take back their country. Written in the style of Waiting for Godot the play had a reading in the fall of 2021 and is undergoing revisions.

The Promise, a short opera, for which I wrote the libretto and consulted on the lyrics, had a successful World Premiere at the Bruns Amphitheater on May 15, 2021.

I am in negotiations with Tim Heitman to stage a Festival of New Works in early 2023 at The Protrero Stage along with three other playwrights. In addition I am actively looking for space in Noe Valley, a neighborhood in San Francisco, to produce a Pop Up theatre.

Update from Spring 2021. Covid has given me time to create some new work and revise some other pieces. In the Spring of 2020 I received a commission to write a Libretto partnering with Peter Allen, composer and lyricist. Together we created The Promise, a short opera which we then entered into the West Edge Opera’s Snapshot Festival and was one of six works selected. West Edge is fully producing the works and the World Premier will be performed at the Bruns Amphitheatre on May 15, 2021. (For ticket info go to info@westedgeoperal.org)

Currently I am working on a second commission, also with Peter, on a new piece tentatively titled An Unexpected Passing. The hope/expectation is that this will be followed by a third piece which can then be performed with the first two making for a provocative and entertaining night at the Opera!

Pistachio Pier, a drama about two boy who meet unexpectedly, a meeting that changes their lives forever, had a full reading in the Fall with Jackson Davis (Brian) and Michael Sommers (Ray) and Alison Lustbader reading stage. What a great job they all did. I have submitted the play to the Theatre Resources Unlimited Summer 2021 reading series and the Producers Pitch event.

Reckoning, the original title, is undergoing a major rewrite and will have a full reading this Spring. Cast to be determined.

Nevermore, the comedy about an unemployed university professor who specializes in the work of Edgar Allen Poe, was pitched to a group of producers at TRU’S Pitch night and was selected by a producer in NY to review. Still waiting to hear.

San Francisco Dramatists, a group that I have helped create, has developed their own website as a way to promote the great work that the group is doing. We are considering a play festival in the Fall to showcase the talent in the group and the amazing work that is being created.

Lemons to Lemonaide! In Novemer 2021 I was scammed out of a considerable amount of money which I then poured my angst and anger into a full length drama. The play is currently titled The Unmooring. A full reading is planned for early Summer.

As Spring brings forth the beauty in the garden I’m busier then ever and looking forward to theatres opening up in the not too distant future. Yeah!!!

Pre Covid News

The table reading of Nevermore was held on January 6th in San Francisco. An amazing cast including: Edward Hightower (Edgar), Melissa Clason (Margaret), Aaron Wilton (Raven and The Raven), Juliet Tanner (Annabelle), John Flanagan (Edgar Allen Poe), and Alison Lustbader (Sarah and Stage) brought the work to life. Notes from the cast and the members of San Francisco Dramatists helped to provide ideas for the revisions. The new draft was sent off to Eric Webb in NY to resume the conversation about the play to strengthen it even further.

The first draft of a new play, working title “Nevermore”, a comedy, is nearing completion and will be going though the developmental process i.e., table reading, staged reading, and dramaturged by Eric Webb of Davenport Theatricals in NY. Readings of the various scenes and comments by my colleagues at San Francisco Dramatists have been very encouraging.

The workshopping of the full length version of AROUSAL was held in New York City March 4th-7th 2019 at Theatre Lab and The Mary Rogers Theatre at the Dramatist Guild offices on Broadway. The Creative team included Dennis Corsi, Director, and Laura Lundy, Creative Consultant. Cast: Christine Aziz (Albena), Keith Weiss (Clifford), David Edwards (Dmitry). Earlier this year the play was read by Ken Davenport who provided useful notes. The play is up on The New Play Exchange.

August 2018. The Brothers Khan, An American Story was well received by critics and the audience at the Broadway Bound Theatre Festival that was held in Manhattan at the The 14th Street Theatre. Comments included: “Dialogue was great, a well written piece;” “Great cast;” “Wonderful writing, very moving;” “Loved the surprise ending;” “Very well directed;” “Deep and powerful.” Joseph Verlezza, Theatre Reviews Limited, said “The play has good bones and solid structure;” An intelligent and thought provoking piece of theatre.” Rachel de Aragon of the Berkshire Fine Arts said “The Katrin’s Hilbe’s directing was sharp and taunt, the play engaging and powerful.”

The production had a stellar cast ( Rachel Halper, Malka Wallick, Max Beckman, and Almir Kurtic) and an exceptionally talented director, Katrin Hilbe. We had an opportunity to put one of the scenes in front of a live audience at the Dramatist Guild Conference in Manhattan and their reaction was everything one would hoped for. It gave me great hope that "We have a play here, we just might have a very good play here."  

The play is the story of two immigrant Muslim brothers, one of whom is driven to become Americanized and the other who drops out and eventually becomes radicalized and the ensuing conflict that arises between them. It is in some ways a retelling of the story of Cain (Dzhabrail) and Able ( Rustam). Rustam, the radicalized brother, comes to believe that in order to be welcomed into paradise he must find out if his brother has indeed become a traitor to Islam and if so he must act.

This was a fully realized production with an amazing crew which includes: Colleen Shea (Lighting & Scenic); Maggie Whitaker (Costumes); Andy Evan Cohen (Sound); Michael Hagins (Fight Choreographer); Laura Lundy (Dramaturge); Emily Hewitt (Photography); and Lisa Stafford* (Stage Manager).

*Appears courtesy of Actors Equity