What do the men see?

I was going to blog about Gatz, but it has so much buzz that you don't need me to tell you that this is one of those theatrical events that in 20 years everyone will be claiming they saw. So instead: you should also check out Zoetrope at Prelude. I have no idea how the collaborators – Alec Duffy (whose production of Murder in the Cathedral opened five seconds ago), Sylvan Oswald (who seems to be winning every award available to playwrights this year, bless her little heart), and Mimi Lien (The Zero Hour and a million other designs) – found the time to create a song cycle of an invented town, but here's a song from it.

faked geography

Now playing and soon touring: The Builders Association's Jet Lag, based on two barely believable true stories of travel obsession. The Obie-winning production is directed by Marianne Weems (head of the CMU graduate directing program) and the new cast includes Nick Bonnar (CMU '10).

as Gertrude Stein was fond of saying

Let us think of three different kinds of things that are exciting
and that make or do not make one nervous.

mike TAYLOR
richard TOTH
catherine WAGNER

The Twenty-Five Cent Opera of San Francisco theater | performance | entertainments
Eighth Installment

Sunday | September 26 | 7 PM | $7 suggested donation
Barbès | 376 9th Street | Brooklyn

The Twenty-Five Cent Opera is brought to you by THE PLAYWRITING FIRM
of SHULMAN DELANEY GASSMAN KOSMAS & COPP.

(All the above is the text of a promo email ---Sailor Dog)

I go through a lot of Swiffer pads when I’m writing a lot.

Golamco on mini-Babybels, the hopeless inadequacy of earbuds, and why he would make a good astronaut.

In which I propose a moratorium.

Followers of this blog know that I consider Adam Szymkowicz's blog essential reading. However, reading an interview with a different playwright every single day, answering generally the same questions, makes we wonder about the question "What kind of theatre excites you?" It seems many of the interviewees (smart writers, all of them!) feel their answer must include some variation on "I get bored by plays that are just TV dramas or sitcoms put on stage."

Is it time for a moratorium on this particular complaint? Better: let it be allowed, but only if the speaker is willing to name names. Who are these evil playwrights shrinking our stages into TV screens? Let us out them and destroy them!

First candidate for September title of the month

Lost Boy Found in Whole Foods, by CMU Dramatic Writing alumna Tammy Ryan, is getting some nice press. If you can get to Union, New Jersey, see it.

The play followed a typically winding road to production: it received a Seed Award from The Sprout Fund in support of its development at Bricolage’s In The Raw series, and was further developed at The New Harmony Project, Premiere Stages Playwriting Festival, Playwrights Theater of New Jersey, The Lark, and was a featured play at the National Network of New Plays 2009 National Showcase.

murder in the cathedral in the cathedral

Many remain skeptical as to whether Murder in the Cathedral is actually a great play, but if anyone can convert the doubters it's probably Alec Duffy, whose site-specific production begins Thursday. And look, he snagged the URL murderinthecathedral.com.

Self-selection at work on Governors Island

Winter Miller

The Sundance Institute is offering free (really? yes, apparently) playwriting classes with four distinguished dramatists including Winter Miller (no stranger to 13P) and Cori Thomas (no stranger to Pittsburgh). I expect a self-selecting group of playwrights who actually enjoy interacting with other human beings, because you have to actually make a phone call to get the information.

we're here to make you think about death and get sad and stuff

I'm so glad I heeded Golamco's tweet and saw Scott Pilgrim vs. the World on the big screen. While it seems constantly in danger of being stolen by every single actor in it, you probably remember Kieran Culkin as the hero's roommate. I don't know if he'll ever be enticed back to Off-Broadway after this, but not long ago he won an Obie for his role in Gina Gionfriddo's fascinating play After Ashley. Here's an article I wrote at the time for The Brooklyn Rail.

(Mr. Culkin and I, as it happens, were both handed Obie awards by Stockard Channing on the same evening. Macaulay was there too. Wearing lipstick.)