I’ve been blessed in my daily walks with inspiration and a repair of my spirit. This quote from Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring, really speaks to me. “Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature…the assurance …
I’ll be a guest on KALW’s Open Air radio show, along with a generous excerpt of my audio play BYSTANDERS, Thursday, February 18, at 1 pm Pacific. BYSTANDERS was directed by Gary Graves, and features Maria Marquis and Hannah and Kimberly Ridgeway as Zayne. In it, two women grapple with grief and guilt in the aftermath of a mass shooting. …
In case you weren’t aware, I have been hosting a podcast over the course of the pandemic on behalf of Central Works Theater. The concept behind it is to read a script, and then hear from the playwright. We choose from among the many world premiere plays that Central Works has produced. You can listen to my interviews with Nicole …
a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke(1875 – 1926) English version by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy Want the change. Be inspired by the flamewhere everything shines as it disappears.The artist, when sketching, loves nothing so muchas the curve of the body as it turns away. What locks itself in sameness has congealed.Is it safer to be gray and numb?What turns …
I’m working on a comedy (hooray! finally) with the working title The Engine of Our Destruction. I became fascinated by the psychological condition scrupulosity, and the main character suffers from this fascinating variant of OCD. Scrupulosity is akin to OCD but for ethical and moral matters. People with scrupulosity fixate on moral actions and experience extreme stress and anxiety if …
Elizabeth Bishop’s heartfelt villanelle, One Art, eloquently speaks to our current moment. Bishop’s epitaph, which she wrote herself, is this: “All the untidy activity continues,awful but cheerful.” ONE ARTby Elizabeth Bishop The art of losing isn’t hard to master;so many things seem filled with the intentto be lost that their loss is no disaster. Lose something every day. Accept the …
U.S. theatre is struggling right now, much more so than in other countries where government support for the arts is strong. Jeremy O. Harris, writer of Slave Play, has written a heartfelt, convincing plea for WPA-style relief for the theater industry. He starts with an anecdote about telling an NYC cabbie that he’s a playwright by trade. “When I told …
An excerpt from Praise Song for the Day by Elizabeth Alexander, which was read at Barack Obama’s inauguration. Praise Song for the Day (excerpt) Some live by love thy neighbor as thyself, others by first do no harm or take no more than you need. What if the mightiest word is love? Love beyond marital, filial, national,love that casts a …
When people say, “we have made it through worse before” — Clint Smith all I hear is the wind slapping against the gravestonesof those who did not make it, those who did notsurvive to see the confetti fall from the sky, those who did not live to watch the parade roll down the street.I have grown accustomed to a lifetime …
… I love poet Lucille Clifton. Here’s her gorgeous short poem, “blessing the boats.” may the tidethat is entering even nowthe lip of our understandingcarry you outbeyond the face of fearmay you kissthe wind then turn from itcertain that it willlove your back may youopen your eyes to waterwater waving foreverand may you in your innocencesail through this …