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. ❤️
