Sarah rules

Theatreworks usually has interesting guests for their Prologue Lecture series, but next month's offering promises to be a blockbuster. They're going to host Sarah Ruhl, the Pulitzer- and Tony-nominated playwright of In the Next Room, or the Vibrator Play, Eurydice, The Clean House and Dead Man's Cell Phone.

Unfortunately, they scheduled it for Monday, October 8, the same night as our next Drama Lab meeting (don't they check these things?). Sarah Ruhl is a must-see for our writers, and probably a large chunk of our actors, so I'm postponing Drama Lab until Monday, October 15.

I think it would be fun to go to the Sarah Ruhl talk as a group. The problem is that she's going to draw a TON of people. Kevin Landis of Theatreworks has already heard from one high school drama teacher in Denver who's planning to bring her entire class of students. He promised that everyone who wants to see Ruhl will see her, but I'm not sure how he plans to do that.

To be on the safe side then, we'll probably need to get there early. If you're interested in joining me, let me know. We'll figure something out.

For more info on the talk, visit the Theatreworks web site.

Happy birthday to us!

We had a small but cozy meeting last night, with nine attendees including one newbie (our newest writer, Katherine Gee Perrone). We started with a fun 10-minute play by Tim Phillips titled Esau and Jacob. Next up was part 3 1/2 of my full-length farce, Kill the Critic! We finished with part 1 of an intriguing family dramedy by Katherine very tentatively titled The Mormon Mom Play.

Jim Jackson also popped in to remind everyone of the playwriting contest for their upcoming FourPlay show. The theme will be announced at 7pm on Friday. Stop by the MAT or check their website at that time to find out what it is. Writers will have 44 hours to complete their play. If you think you want to participate, call 465-6321 before Friday to let him know you'll be writing.

Also I made one last pitch for my staged reading of The Butler Did It! this Saturday. Visit thebutlerdidit.eventbrite.com to reserve your free (yes, free!) tix. And thanks to everyone who brought costumes. You guys are going to look great!

Our next meeting is Monday, October 8. If you haven't paid your dues (dirt cheap at $25), you'll need to do so by Oct 31. Thanks!

And yes, as of September 12, the Drama Lab is one year old. We celebrated in our usual way, with cookies instead of cake. Here's to many more years--and cookies!

The butler did what?

The Drama Lab is a truly wonderful thing, giving actors an opportunity to practice their craft and writers the opportunity to hear their short works brought to life.

The one thing that's been a challenge for us is longer pieces. I've brought a couple of full-length plays to the Drama Lab, breaking them up over several meetings, and while I've gotten some excellent feedback this way, it doesn't give me a grasp of any pacing or continuity issues. It's also hard to tell how well the actions will work.

Which is why I'm pleased to announce that I will be producing a staged reading of my play The Butler Did It! on Saturday, September 15. We did readings of it from January to March this year, and now we're going to really put the pedal to the metal by adding a set, props and costumes.

The play is a comedy/mystery about a butler who gets falsely accused of murder and must prove his innocence while tied to a chair. The cast includes many of our regular actors:


JENKINS -- Craig Engle

SARAH JANE -- Linda Roeming

COLONEL NIGEL COVINGTON -- Dan Robbins

LADY MIRANDA COVINGTON -- Barbara Mosser

GRAM -- Karann Goetsch

KAT COVINGTON -- Nancy Holaday

TREVOR BARSTOW -- Roy Kieffer

FATHER TIMOTHY -- Buck Buchanan

EDWINA CORRY -- Mary Sprunger-Froese

There will actually be two readings next Saturday, one at 3pm and one at 7pm. The location is the Little Theatre at the University School of Colorado Springs, 2713 W. Cucharras. Nancy is the drama teacher there and she was extremely generous in offering us the use of her space.

Tickets are free, but must be reserved ahead of time. To get yours, click on the button below:

<a href="http://www.eventbrite.com/event/4117896740?ref=ebtn" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.eventbrite.com/custombutton?eid=4117896740" alt="Eventbrite - Staged reading of THE BUTLER DID IT!" /></a>