Fantastic First Reading of My New Play!

I’m so excited. And grateful. This is a major gratitude post. I count a LOT of insanely talented and kind actors and directors as my friends. That’s something to be grateful for right there. But a couple of weeks ago, a dozen or so of those very busy friends took time out of their performance and work schedules to take part in a Zoom reading of the new blank verse comedy I wrote this April as part of the Dramatists Guild’s End of Play Challenge.

Everybody jumped in and gave their all to this crazy new piece. Now, you might well ask: what possessed me to write a 12-character blank verse riff on a famous Shakespeare play? I’ll tell you: this is a queered version of the classic play, and I wrote it for a couple of reasons: 1) I never quite “believed” the heterosexual romantic pairings at the end of the original play and wanted to set that “straight” (as it were), and 2) I wanted to create a challenging, exciting, loving, funny, joyful, poetic, pro-LGBTQ+ play with really great roles for myself and some of the fabulous actor friends I know.

And you know what? I did. Even in this first version, hearing it aloud with a wonderful cast proved to me the play works like gangbusters. One of my director friends, a Shakespeare expert, told me afterward what I’ve already accomplished is “astounding”–and coming from him, that’s amazing praise. My actor and director friends also gave me fantastic comments afterwards, and I am already hard at work on revisions. I don’t know yet who will produce this ambitious play, but I know the world needs it now more than ever. Stay tuned!

And once again: my heartfelt thanks to all who took part in this first reading. You have helped me more than I can say and I am deeply grateful. ❤️

Published by Andrew Sellon

I am a professional actor living in New York. This web site will provide you with an overview of my career, as well as with the details of what I'm up to currently.

Leave a comment