TAGS NEW PLAY PROJECT WRAPS

Another show struck. Another stage waiting for its next event. I am thrilled to have worked with the Ohio University Theater Association of Graduate Students (TAGS) on mounting a script-in-hand workshop of my latest play, FRACKTURE. The show, which took place (twice in one night) over the weekend, during the inaugural Athens Nuit Blanche festival, was everything I'd hoped it would be.

Huge thanks go out to my director, Thomas Daniels, who spent the last four weeks putting together a great show for not much more than applause (actually, I think that was his payment --- and I might have bought him some wings at Leghorn's). Thank you to my cast: Patrick Wagstaff, Josh Leeson, Emily Auwaerter, and Rachel Weekley; it was a pleasure working with each of you --- the characters grew enormously in your care. More thanks to the wonderful design team and crew: Deanna Smith (scenic), Carolyn Voss (lights), Delta Childers-Smith (costumes), Aaron Contrares (production manager), Rain Biddleman (assistant production manager), and all the TAGS members and officers who were there to support!

I won't gush much more, only to say that this experience has taught me quite a bit about my working process and confirmed for me how much I adore actors and collaboration. The immense table work and weeks of scene work helped craft this play to a much better place. It also helped that I had generous actors who didn't kick me out of the theater every day when I would bring new pages, entirely new scenes, or cuts, or line switches, and what-have-you, right up until tech (the terrifying beauty of script-in-hand... last minute changes). In the end, this crazy-fun experiment was absolutely worth it. I cannot thank TAGS and these wonderful artists enough for believing in FRACKTURE and giving me some room to play.

Here are some photos from the night, courtesy of Deanna Smith; taken in our performance venue, Union Arts in Athens, Ohio.