Back in Gear

The past couple of weeks have been busy and eventful with work and family events.

On the home front, my kids celebrated their birthdays, which are two days apart. It was pandemonium around here with parties and me running around trying to find a jeans jacket for my daughter (who is into clothes) and a speaker for my son (who is into music). Here’s a photo of me amid the chaos.

On a calmer note, I’ve been working outside on my porch a lot lately. See iPhone photo from my chair as I write this. The weather’s been great, but it’s more than that. I used to write in my basement office and cut myself off from everyone for days at a time. After twenty years of that, I’ve changed my stripes. I like to watch my neighbors wander by as I write. Pretty much everyone around here knows what I do, and they wave if they catch my eye. I find I can concentrate just fine, and when I leave the world of my plays for a moment, I get to see friends walking their dogs or jogging along, lost in their iPods. I find this both comforting and inspiring. And sometimes I look closer and think: “Now what would she do if she were locked in a room with a crazy Italian tenor who thinks his wife is cheating on him …?”

I’ve started writing a monthly column for Samuel French’s new online magazine “[Breaking Character]”. I plan to write about comedy in general and stage comedy in particular. My first article, “The Essentials of Comedy,” was published in mid-May, and just a few days ago, TDF Stages posted it on their site as well (see URL). I love having the opportunity of sharing my thoughts on a subject so dear to my heart, and I’m grateful to Samuel French and TDF Stages for their confidence. The next installment will appear in mid June, so stay tuned.

As you may have seen in a recent News post, Robinson High School’s world premiere production of Midsummer/ Jersey was nominated for 10 Cappies Awards, including Best Play, so congratulations to all my friends at Robinson for this amazing accomplishment. The Best Play nomination means that the actors get to perform a scene from the play at the awards ceremony, which will be held at the Kennedy Center on June 10th. I plan to be there to present one of the awards. I’ve also read that West Field High School’s production of Crazy For You was nominated for 17 Cappies, and I’ll be there with fingers crossed, cheering both schools on to victory.

The rain just stopped, so it’s back to the porch …