Monday, September 17, 2012
Five short stories about David Rakoff I’ve been reading Sarah Hepola since way back when I lived in Austin and she wrote for the Chronicle. Her writing is exquisite, and this piece fro…
SOURCE: direct address at 04:42PMTuesday, September 11, 2012
I Love You! I know Ethel Rohan because she’s read quite a few times at the Portuguese Artists Colony literary readings, several of which I’ve hosted. I’m a big fan of her s…
SOURCE: direct address at 02:15PMMonday, September 10, 2012
How I Learned to Write John Ostrander, writing on ComicMix: I learned from theater that everything is defined by action and that includes the dialogue. No one ever just talks — they co…
SOURCE: direct address at 07:27PMSunday, September 9, 2012
The darkly comic Christopher Durang is hanging onto hope An article about one of my favorite playwrights, as his latest play is about to get its world premiere: He is able to marshal absurdi…
SOURCE: direct address at 07:14PMFriday, September 7, 2012
Theater Talkback: Finding Inspiration in Improvisation David Yazbek, on seeing the extraordinary improv duo T.J. & Dave at the Barrow Street Theater: I seldom find explosive inspiration …
SOURCE: direct address at 05:16PM“My favorite literary genre is, in fact, the ‘literary novel’ (unfortunate term roughly translated as the Kiss of Death).” - Joyce Carol Oates
SOURCE: direct address at 05:07PMWednesday, September 5, 2012
Ale to the Chief: White House Beer Recipe The White House has released their recipe for White House Honey Brown Ale. Inspired by home brewers from across the country, last year President Oba…
SOURCE: direct address at 05:21PMTuesday, September 4, 2012
The Ultimate Guide to Writing Better Than You Normally Do Colin Nissan has an article on McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, with great advice for writers, such as: LEARN FROM THE MASTERS. …
SOURCE: direct address at 05:39PMPortuguese Artists Colony: Permanent Fatal Error I’m often (rightly) accused of posting info about upcoming events way too late in the game. Like, the day of. Or, in a good week, the d…
SOURCE: direct address at 02:22PMMonday, September 3, 2012
People Who Like Art Are Better Than People Who Don’t, Study Finds If you like art, you probably have an altruistic streak, according to a study by researchers at the University of Illinois…
SOURCE: direct address at 11:24PMGo Away Alexander Chee writes about his residencies at three different artists colonies: Fiction writers are often portrayed as fussy prima donnas, and I won’t say we aren’t, but to expl…
SOURCE: direct address at 02:31AMThursday, August 30, 2012
Louis CK, TJ & Dave, and the Power of Slow Comedy Louis C.K. practices a brand of ‘slow comedy’ on his show that is rarely seen on television or outside of the long-form improv scene…
SOURCE: direct address at 02:25AMMonday, August 27, 2012
PlayGround Announces Resident Playwrights I’m very excited that this has been announced: I’m one of the new PlayGround Resident Playwrights! PlayGround named today the nine up-an…
SOURCE: direct address at 02:36AMFriday, August 24, 2012
Hefeweizen Goes With Second Breakfast A “pre-noon glass of beer” during “second breakfast”? Clearly, I need to start exploring my German heritage. In the heat of a wa…
SOURCE: direct address at 02:12PMThursday, August 23, 2012
I’m really excited about this one. Site-specific theater! Oysters! Campfires! Booze! Pretty much everything you need for a great night out. It’s the return of PianoFight’s …
SOURCE: direct address at 06:45PMTuesday, August 21, 2012
The Broadway Scorecard: Two Decades of Drama Howard Sherman has an impressive study of plays produced on Broadway over the past 20 years: Let me begin with the list of playwrights who have h…
SOURCE: direct address at 06:25PMTuesday, August 14, 2012
Well if you’re so smart Travis Bedard asks some good questions on 2AMt, and then takes a stab at answering them by designing a full theater season based on the following principles: What d…
SOURCE: direct address at 07:33PMWednesday, August 8, 2012
He Hit Send: On the Awkward but Necessary Role of Technology in Fiction Allison K. Gibson has an article on The Millions about the problems with technology in modern fiction, inspired by a s…
SOURCE: direct address at 08:32PMWednesday, August 1, 2012
The Pint-Sized Festival is closed! If you went, you saw a powerhouse of a show and, if you went the same nights I went, you ate some delicious barbecued pork from the Hyde Away Blues BBQ pop…
SOURCE: direct address at 03:55PMMonday, July 23, 2012
How about this for a book trailer? My friend Owen Egerton — whose novel “The Book of Harold: The Illegitimate Son of God” is fantastic, by the way — has put together …
SOURCE: direct address at 08:01PMWhy Procrastination is Good for You Here’s a good tip for playwrights who owe someone a second draft. Simply point out that University of San Diego professor Frank Partnoy, writing in …
SOURCE: direct address at 06:43PMDramatists Guild statement regarding David Adjmi’s “3C” From Stephen Schwartz, President of the Guild: We of the Dramatists Guild of America wholeheartedly support playwright David Adj…
SOURCE: direct address at 02:41PMSunday, July 22, 2012
“The key to writing — at least, the kind of writing that I do, the kind of personal essays I write — is that the ‘I’ has to become ‘you.’” - A…
SOURCE: direct address at 02:38PMAs one of the West End’s biggest success stories, Mamma Mia! has made it to over 20 countries around the world, grossing more than £1 billion worldwide in ticket sales. It has been transl…
SOURCE: Cheap Theatre Tickets at 06:00AMMonday, July 16, 2012
My last post invited you to a reading I’m hosting. But suppose you’d like to see something I wrote without necessarily wanting to see me on the stage? Well, you have TWO opportun…
SOURCE: direct address at 05:21PMI’ll be hosting the next literary reading from Portuguese Artists Colony on Sunday. Come see readings from novelist Craig Clevenger (The Contortionist’s Handbook, Dermaphoria) an…
SOURCE: direct address at 04:59PM13P Theater Collective Set for Its Last Production Shortly after “Melancholy Play” ends its run, so will 13P, which plans to wrap up with an anthology of its plays, an online oral histor…
SOURCE: direct address at 04:47PMTuesday, July 3, 2012
As you probably read in our live Tweets and blog post, we had a blast at the Viva Forever official launch, and we want to share some of the fun with you! We’re giving away an exclusive…
SOURCE: Cheap Theatre Tickets at 04:24AMSaturday, June 30, 2012
More and more people in this country no longer make or do anything tangible; if your job wasn’t performed by a cat or a boa constrictor in a Richard Scarry book, I’m not sure I believe i…
SOURCE: direct address at 07:44PMThursday, June 28, 2012
Marissa in Theatreland On the SF Theater Pub blog, Marissa Skudlarek makes the case for all theaters having a café — and I heartily agree: It’s great when you can get a tasty, reaso…
SOURCE: direct address at 02:27PMThursday, June 21, 2012
New Dramatists Class of 2019 Announced Hooray for my old friend Clarence, and for Christina Anderson (who I met through the Magic this year)! And congrats to the others I haven’t met: …
SOURCE: direct address at 08:11PM 
