Signature in the Schools and Holding Pattern

I just got back from Arlington Viriginia. I attended rehearsals for a Eve of Destruction, a play that I wrote for the education program at Signature Theatre (Signature in the Schools). It's the second year in a row that I have written a piece for the program, and it's really been amazing. Marcia Gardner, the education director, who is also directing the piece, gave me two sources to look at: Lugalbanda, the boy who got caught up in a War which is the oldest story ever written, and she also gave me an article about a librarian in Basra Iraq who, when the coalition forces invaded, took all the books from the library and hid them throughout the city in hopes they would not be destroyed. The great thing about Signature in the Schools is that the vast majority of the cast is made up of students from nearby Wakefield High School. This year we were lucky to have guest artist Ray Ficca join us in the cast. At first I thought I would write a piece about Iraqi students helping the librarian of Basra with her task. However, when we did auditions, seeing the Wakefield students audition, my brain exploded with a million ideas; I ended up writing the show with these particular students (Chris Stanton, Irene Casey, Graham Hooper, Alan Schiffer, Ben Truong, Maria Wilson, Kristin James, Jamil Garner, and Cassandra Jones, who also served as choreographer) in mind. The story became much more epic, covering two continents and 3000 years, than I had originally imagined. Watching rehearsals has been an incredibly satisfying experience.

While I was down in Virignia I also did a reading of my newest play, Holding Pattern, as a part of Signature's spectacular opening weekend of their gorgeous new theatre space. I had the cream of the crop of D.C actors (Nancy Robinette, Sherri Edelen, Jenna Sokolowski, Michael Grew, Andy Brownstein, Michael Kramer, Michael Glenn, and Kerrie Seymour.) I had done a reading back over Labor Day at the Kennedy Center as part of the Page to Stage series. The place was only partially finished at the time. I had done rewrites afterwards and thought that this current reading would be simply to hear the new material, but working with this spectacular cast pointed me toward even more rewrites.

Thanks to Eric and everyone at Siganture for continued opportunities and congrats on the amazing new theatre!