Playing Online!

During this challenging pandemic time, I’ve been fortunate to have worked with a number of theaters and production companies who have kept theater alive online and have produced TEN of my plays!  Some have filmed actors in a theater, and others have used Zoom technology, all allowing viewing from the safety of your home computer.  Several of my plays are parts of collections, while others are solo shows.  Most are still available online for your viewing pleasure.

SOLO SHOWS ON ZOOM

1. A SUPER REUNION. A feminist superhero and her retired, iconic superhero husband experience marital discord as she sets off to her class reunion.  Filmed live on the stage of the Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater (WHAT) with actors Diane Brunt and Brad Morse, directed by Bob Costa.  Recorded April 17, 2021; link coming soon.

2. Isn’t It Romantic.  What happens when a white mother and daughter seeking a wedding venue discover that a plantation’s history isn’t exactly mired in romance.  With Sallie Tighe, Cynthia Harrington and Racine Oxtoby.  Produced by the Nauset UU Fellowship on Zoom, January 10, 2021.  Approx. 15 minutes.  Link to view

3. MADE IN HEAVEN.  One of my favorite plays, about love, prejudice and the afterlife.  With Karen Santos and Linda Monchik, directed by Janet Moore.  Produced by the Sandwich Arts Alliance, October 23, 2020.  The play is followed by a discussion of white privilege and racial reckoning.  Approx. 1 hour.  Link to view: https://www.sandwichartsalliance.org/made-in-heaven-online-play.html

4. THE TOUR.  Two white sisters tour a plantation in hopes of recapturing a “Gone with the Wind” experience.  Instead, they’re invited to spend the day slaving in the cotton field.  With Jon Kemp and Mary Chris Kenney.  AND 5. FRAGRANT PHANTOM.  Tennessee Williams and Zelda Fitzgerald meet in the afterlife, where she gives the famous playwright  the true story of her marriage to F. Scott.  With Dennis Cunningham and Cynthia Harrington.  Produced by Eventide Theater Company’s Virtural Playhouse, October 11/12, 2020.  Link to view both plays

 GROUP SHOWS ON ZOOM

6. RISK ASSESSMENT. Part of a collection of 13 short plays about climate, my play imagines air travel post-Covid, when privileges are realigned.  With Bob McNeil and Amanda Bowman.  The collection, produced by the LAVA Center in Greenfield, MA, includes terrific work by playwrights from Massachusetts, Ireland and New Zealand.  Don’t miss the one featuring a group of young people determined to change things, “A Change in Climate” by Patricia Crosby.  Facing the Future: Climate Change Theater will be shown all day on Earth Day, April 22, only.

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/864521770760104

Website for more info and to register:  https://www.localaccess.org/facing-the-future

7. KINFOLK.  A Zoom meeting to meet new relatives has surprising consequences.  One of five plays written in less than 24 hours, my play featured Sallie Tighe, Sylvia Peck, and David Wallace.  Produced by the Provincetown Theater and Provincetown Playwrights’ Lab 24 Hour Plays, February 13/14, 2021.  Link to view: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWqDf7wSxdk

8. GRIST FOR THE MILL. Nine playwrights + nine plays + 3 days = 2021 Playwrights, ETC Winter Showcase!  My play about spies who have to go to marriage counseling was featured in Day 1 with actors Sallie Tighe, Mary Chris Kenney and Ken Chisholm.  Produced by Eventide Theatre Company, February 13, 14 & 15, 2021.  Link to view:

Day 1 - https://youtu.be/BBxhHi2ZBRQ

Day 2 - https://youtu.be/PlpCVd50eXg

Day 3 - https://youtu.be/SvY-2cmuB2Q

GROUP SHOWS FILMED LIVE IN THEATER

9. JULY, 2020. A monologue featuring Jane MacDonald as a woman who doesn’t realize how hard Covid is impacting her partner.  Part of Sailor Beware’s “My Covid Year,” produced at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater (WHAT) with direction by WHAT’s Artistic Director, Chris Ostrom.  First aired February 5, 2021.  Link to view: http://www.what.org/sailor-bewares-my-covid-year/

10. WHO CARES?  The challenge was to write a monologue for a character the day after the November, 2020 election.   The character could be a supporter of either candidate, and the writer decided the outcome.  Jane MacDonald plays Melania Trump in my play, “Who Cares?” and is directed by Chris Ostrom in the Sailor Beware production of S’Election 2020: The Morning After Monologues, which first aired on November 5, 2020.  Link to view: https://vimeo.com/474769418

 COMING SOON

11. TWENTY YEARS.  Almost Adults Production's ongoing LGBTQ+ Online Short Play Reading Series, upcoming Sunday in May.

12. FROM THE WELL. Winner of the 2019 Blue Institute's Short Play contest, FROM THE WELL, takes place in the dunes of the Provincelands.  Currently in production as a radio play and slated for viewing on June 5, for the virtual "Words on Water Festival."

 

When it rains, it pours!

 So excited to have not one, but TWO shows going online this weekend!  

The Winter Showcase, a product of Eventide Arts Playwrights, ETC and 

the Provincetown Theater's Playwrights' Lab 24 Hour Plays!

All of the plays are free, but if you're able to make a donation to the sponsoring theaters, it would be most appreciated.

 

 My play, "Grist for the Mill," will be shown with two other plays by terrific playwrights on Saturday, February 13 at 4 pm, followed by a live discussion.  Huge thanks to the very talented Sallie Tighe, Mary Chris Kenney and Ken Chisholm for bringing this new work to life.

On Sunday and Monday, six other new plays will be shown, also 4 pm.  As Playwright-in-Residence for Playwrights, ETC, I'll be joining all the playwrights in discussions each day.  Please join us!  

For more information, and to register, go to Winter Showcase 2021

 And, later on February 13 at 7 pm and again February 14 at 2 pm:

 

 

Plays were written in 24 hours, rehearsed over a few hours and then recorded.  

My play, "Kinfolk," was directed by David Drake, Artistic Director of the Provincetown Theater and director extraordinaire, featuring the fabulous Sallie Tighe, Sylvia Peck and David Wallace. 

Streaming on provincetowntheater.org

Sailor Beware presents:

My COVID Year
Twelve Months a Pandemic

Twelve original monologues on the personal effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in America in the year 2020.

Streaming at what.org starting February 5, 2021

JANUARY 2020
Written by Fermin Rojas, Performed by Freddy Biddle
 
FEBRUARY 2020
Written by Sam Platizky, Performed by Joe MacDougall*
 
MARCH 2020
Written by Glyn Dowden, Performed by Cindy Harrington
 
APRIL 2020
Written by Linda Fiorella, Performed by Jody O’Neil*
 
MAY 2020
Written by Nathan Butera, Performed by Mark Meehan
 
JUNE 2020
Written by Seth Reuben Jacobson, Performed by Joey Lachimia
 
JULY 2020
Written by Candace Perry, Performed by Jane Macdonald*
 
AUGUST 2020
Written by Joanne Callum Powers, Performed by Geoffrey Newton
 
SEPTEMBER 2020
Written by Steven Bruce Myerson, Performed by Janet Geist Moore
 
OCTOBER 2020
Written by Sylvia Peck, Performed by Lynda Sturner*
 
NOVEMBER 2020
Written by Dian Hamilton, Performed by John Shuman*
 
DECEMBER 2020
Written by Karen Scalia, Performed by Linda Monchik

* Appearing courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association

 

 

2020: The Year of Living Virtually

Huge THANKS to the organizations, theaters, directors and actors 

who joined with me to make some of my plays possible online in 2020!

 

Heartland Theater Company, Normal, Illinois for bringing back some of their favorite ten minute plays from over the years, including my short play, A SUPER REUNION, about a feminist superhero.  Watch online here: A SUPER REUNION

Jane MacDonald as Melania Trump

 

Sailor Beware, a wonderful Cape-based company presented S'ELECTION, a collection of monologues which imagined the day after the 2020 election.  Monologues were presented in partnership with Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater on the WHAT stage.  My monologue, "Who Cares," was beautifully delivered by Jane MacDonald playing Melania Trump.  Watch it here: WHO CARES

The Sandwich Arts Alliance had a terrific and challenging idea to present a play, via Zoom, dealing with racism.  The play was followed by a panel discussion that looked at issues of race and white privilege.  The play they presented was my short play, "Made in Heaven," about prejudice and the afterlife.  Directed by Janet Moore with Karen Santos and Linda Monchik.  Watch it here:  MADE IN HEAVEN

Eventide Arts recognized during the year that live theater wouldn't be possible, so they started Virtual Theater!  We kicked off the online productions with two of my short plays, "The Tour" and "Fragrant Phantom."  "The Tour" tells of two sisters, played wonderfully by Jon Kemp and Mary Chris Kenney, who discover that a tour of a plantation isn't what they expected.  In "Fragrant Phantom," Dennis Cunningham and Cynthia Harrington bring Tennessee Williams and Zelda Fitzgeral to life in the afterlife to debate the "gone good days."  Watch both plays here: THE TOUR & FRAGRANT PHANTOM

Racial Reckoning in the Time of Covid

 

"Made in Heaven" returns as a Zoom production!

The Sandwich Arts Alliance wanted to respond to the current racial reckoning with a play that might help raise questions and awareness around racism and white privilege.  Many thanks to everyone involved for taking on this project, which will include my play, "Made in Heaven," followed by a panel discussion of the issues with members of the community.  While “Made in Heaven” has been performed a number of times before, including in Dublin, this would be a first, performing it in Zoom live during COVID-19. The show was recorded, along with a conversation about race, on October 23.  You can still view it by going to:

https://www.sandwichartsalliance.org/made-in-heaven-online-play.html

 

Theaters closed? Let's Zoom!

In these challenging times of racial reckoning and the coronavirus pandemic, along with the upcoming election, we’re concerned and taking action.  But sometimes we all need a break, so I hope you’ll join me this Saturday, virtually, for an online production of two of my favorite short plays I’ve written, “The Tour” and “Fragrant Phantom,” for Eventide Theatre Company’s Virtual Playhouse launch.

In “The Tour,” Mary Chris Kenney and Jon Kemp play two sisters whose visit to a Southern plantation turns out to be full of surprises and lessons learned.  Reprising their stage roles as Zelda Fitzgerald and Tennessee Williams in “Fragrant Phantom,” Cynthia Harrington and Dennis Cunningham take on writing, feminism, the Jazz Age, and after-life.

Virtual Playhouse takes place live, on line, on Saturday, October 10, from 4:00 to 5:00 pm, with “The Tour” and “Fragrant Phantom.” A talkback with the creative team will take place following the virtual performances which will be aired on Eventide’s Facebook page, as well as recorded for future viewing.  A Facebook account is not required for viewing, just go to:

 https://www.eventidearts.org/rewatch-etc-virtual-playhouse-featuring-candace-perry/

Thanks to these fabulous actors for learning how to bring the stage to you safely!

 

Mary Chris Kenney in "The Tour"

Jon Kemp in "The Tour"

Dennis Cunningham in "Fragrant Phantom"

Cynthia Harrington in "Fragrant Phantom"