News

[for more information on plays-in-progress, contact me.]

Teaching a new workshop, July 20th and July 27th — FINISH THE DAMN THING!

Course Description for FINISH THE DAMN THING:

We all have that project — the half a script, the opening ten pages of the novel, the idea that lives in our Notes app and nowhere else. The thing we just wish we could finish, but for some reason… we can’t. So we tell ourselves stories about it. Stories about how the idea is flawed, about how we don’t know what comes next, about our time, our abilities, and our identities as artists. So how can we break through all the noise, judges, and blockers in order to create? After all, we really don’t know what we have until we get to the end. So, how do we finish the damn thing? 

This course will be made up of two parts (attendance to both is optional; students have the choice to attend one or both depending on their needs and availability). In part one, we will focus on generating material to help you get to the end of your projects. Through a series of writing prompts you will learn how to tell if an idea holds water, how to use the basics of structure to get from A to Z, and how to generate materials as a jumping-off point for what comes next. Part two is centered around curating an artistic process to facilitate finishing, which will include setting individual schedules and deadlines, determining a personal reward system, and letting go of limiting beliefs. 

Students should come prepared with an idea or project that they’d like to finish. While part one of this course is predominantly geared toward script writers, writers and artists of other mediums are more than welcome; and part two will speak to the artistic process more holistically.

Artists will leave these sessions with new material, a better sense of their own artistic practice/process, and the tools to finish the damn thing.

Class meetings will be held over Zoom. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about pricing or accessibility. 

The Page Turners awarded a Gold Prize in Portland Stage Company’s Clauder Competition, April 2023

Portland, Maine, here we come! The Page Turners has been awarded a Gold Prize as a part of Portland Stage Company’s Clauder Competition. You can read all about the prize and the play in American Theatre Magazine.

As a part of the prize, I will be heading to Portland for a week-long workshop of the play. The workshop will culminate in a developmental reading on April 21st at 7pm as a part of The Little Festival of the Unexpected. The reading will be directed by Lily Riopelle. Audrey Erickson will assistant direct and dramaturg. The cast includes Katharine Chin, Ryan Nicholas Cooper, Tori Ernst (AEA), Laura King Otazo (AEA), Casey Turner, and Isabelle Van Vleet (AEA).

Upcoming: Big Black Sunhats selected for Great Plains Theatre Commons New Play Conference, May 2023

I’ll be headed to Omaha, NE in May 2023 to workshop Big Black Sunhats! More information on the conference can be found here.

Cannot wait to bring this world to life again after a very fruitful workshop with Clubbed Thumb in December 2022. Stay tuned for updates!

Teaching a three-week playwriting seminar with Catapult, November 2022

When we write plays, we create worlds. And creating a world is no small feat. In text alone, the theatrical world comprises the setting, time, characters, conflict, plot, tone, story, and structure. Off the page, the world grows, deepens, and takes on new light (quite literally). So how can we create a play that both stands up on the page and provides fertile soil for directors, actors, and designers? What does it take to create a world?

In this three-week seminar, we will create rich and theatrical worlds from the blank page. Through a series of idea generation exercises, writers will begin this class by exploring concepts for a new play. From there, we will dive into the building-blocks of dramatic storytelling—story, character, dialogue, conflict, etc.—to populate and fill our worlds, using excerpts from Elinor Fuch’s Visit to a Small Planet and scenes from playwrights including Caryl Churchill, Maria Irene Fornes, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, and Suzan-Lori Parks as a guide. We will dig into the many structures that theatrical storytelling can take and look at examples for how content and form can inform each other.

Writers will leave this class with a concept for a new play and the tools to generate scenes on their own. This course is for novice and experienced playwrights alike, anyone itching to start a new play.

If you’re interested in registering, click here.

The Page Turners named a semi-finalist for New Dramatists’ Princess Grace Award 2022

If you’re interested in reading the latest draft of The Page Turners, contact me here.

Big Black Sunhats is going to The O’Neill National Playwrights Conference!

Beyond thrilled to announce that my play, Big Black Sunhats, has been accepted to The 2022 O’Neill National Playwrights Conference. Public performances will take play on July 1st and July 2nd, and will be directed by Jenna Worsham.

Click here for more information about the play (and to purchase tickets)!

Reading with Clubbed Thumb, June 14 2022

My year with Clubbed Thumb’s Early Career Writers’ Group will culminate in a public reading of my play, LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO, on June 14th at 3pm (The Wild Project). It will be directed by Sarah Hughes. The play follows three women on the pit crew of an all-male Formula 1 team, as they speed their way around the track of their season.

Reserve free tickets here!

29-Hour Workshop with Gingold Theatrical Group, May 2022

I’m thrilled to continue working on my play, Howl From Up High, with Gingold Theatrical Group. The 29-hour workshop will be directed by Lily Riopelle and will take place from May 11-19, with a public reading to take place on May 19 (time TBD). Stay tuned for more information!

Started a newsletter on Substack, December 2021

Ibid. is writing on writing on writing. Each edition dives into artists’ thoughts on craft, in an effort to demystify the creative process. Subscribe for free!

Member of Clubbed Thumb’s Emerging Writers Group, September 2021

Beyond excited to be working alongside seven phenomenal artists. Check out more, here. And stay tuned for updates on my play as it develops.

Member of The COOP’s Clusterf**k, vol. 2, September 2021

I am thrilled to have been accepted into the second class of The COOP’s Clusterf**k!

Over the course of the next nine weeks, I’ll be developing a new play, A murder of crows has gathered around the streetlamp [working title]. The play centers around five women (from four generations) in an isolated boarding school community, in a corner of a kind of Connecticut, on the day when something has seemingly blacked out the sun.

Inside Siberia, The Bechdel Group’s New Play Development Series, upcoming October 2021

The sled dogs are back! This time, receiving some love in the Bechdel Group’s Fall Workshop Series. Catch Lucy, Doon, Logan, Iva, Hope, Coal, and Hup on October 25th at 6:30pm. For more information on how to watch, check out the Bechdel Group’s website.

The Page Turners, finalist for The O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, June 2021

Absolutely thrilled to announce that my play, The Page Turners, was named a finalist for The O’Neill National Playwrights Conference! From over 1200 scripts received, The Page Turners was one of 56 finalists for the 2021 conference. You can read a sample of The Page Turners on New Play Exchange, here. Or, you can contact me to read the full script.

Thank you to The O’Neill for the tremendous honor!

“Dave and Julia are stuck in a tree” starring Danny DeVito and Lucy DeVito kicked off Playing on Air’s spring season, May 2021

Listen to “I think it’s worth pointing out that I’ve been very serious throughout this entire discussion Or, Dave and Julia are stuck in a tree” on Spotify or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Awarded the 2020 James Stevenson Prize for comedic short radio plays, this play kicked off Playing on Air’s spring season.

Directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel

Starring Danny DeVito & Lucy DeVito

Pony Up named Finalist for the 2021 Judith Royer Excellence in Playwriting Award (ATHE), March 2021

If you’re interested in reading Pony Up, you can contact me, here.

Developmental Reading of Howl From Up High with Gingold Theatrical Group, February 2021

I had the great privilege of further developing my play, Howl From Up High, with Gingold Theatrical Group during a 29-hour workshop at the end of January/beginning of February.

The workshop was produced by Gingold’s Artistic Director, David Staller, and Gingold’s Associate Director, Ilana Becker. It was (beautifully, expertly) directed by Lily Riopelle.

The cast included: Clea Alsip, Christian Conn, Ryan Nicholas Cooper, Andrea Negrete, Emma Ramos, and Kuhoo Verma, with stage management and stage directions read by Hanako Rodriguez.

To read more about the play’s synopsis, click here. For more information, feel free to contact me.

The Happy Hour, December 2020 & January 2021

As Root Beer Occasion Theatre Company’s artist-in-residence, I will be hosting four masterclasses on Sunday afternoons (12/27, 1/3, 1/10, & 1/27) at 4pm (EST). Classes are pay-what-you-can and all donations will go toward Root Beer Occasion’s operating costs and into future productions of my work this spring. For a detailed description of each class and to register, click here. Don’t consider yourself a writer? No stress. All are welcome as we find a little happy in this hour.

Casting announcement for Playing on Air holiday benefit, December 2020

Playing on Air has announced that my comedic radio play, I think it’s worth pointing out that I’ve been very serious throughout this entire discussion or, Dave and Julia are stuck in a tree, will be recorded as a part of their winter benefit on December 8th @ 8pm EST. And I am very excited to announce that this father-daughter play will be performed by actual father and daughter, Danny DeVito & Lucy DeVito. Until November 30, tickets to the benefit are pay-as-you-can. You can purchase tickets to the event here.

Inside Siberia cast and viewing announcement, November 2020

Thrilled to announce three opportunities to watch my play-in-progress, Inside Siberia. I have been incredibly lucky to develop this play with Root Beer Occasion Theatre Co. and a group of generous and creative collaborators. The reading will be streamed on Friday, November 20th @ 8pm as well as Saturday, November 21st @ 2pm & 7pm.

The cast: Katharine Chin, Kira Player, Tori Ernst, Mary Rose Go, Kat Dunn Watson, Ryan Nicholas Cooper, and Jinho Woo.

For more information on the cast, how to watch, and the play itself, click here.

“In The House She Was Given” published in Hello Winter short story collection

Hello Out There Productions provided the prompt, "hello winter," to nine writers, with the task of creating a new short story to be put into a collection entitled, Hello Winter. I was very pleased to be approached for this project and am proud to announce that the collection is now available for purchase.

The following is a short excerpt from my short story, “In The House She Was Given.” To read more, contact me.

All summer, the house leaked. Meg awoke to puddles at the foot of her bed but not a single crack in the ceiling above it, so Meg decided to call a professional.

The first plumber said the house was haunted. The second plumber had put his hand on her shoulder and offered to stay, to wait and see. The third plumber asked her if her little damsel in distress stunts worked on her boyfriend, asked if she had a boyfriend, with a wink. Meg called the first plumber back. They lit some sage over a handful of crystals, and Meg slept with him in the bathtub just to spite plumbers two and three. After plumber number one finished, he turned to Meg and thanked her. Said he’d always wanted to have sex in a bathroom.

Plumber number one lacked imagination.

Pony Up awarded Parity Commission honorable mention, October 2020

Parity Productions announced their 2020 Parity Commission winners and honorable mentions, and I am proud to announce that Pony Up was awarded amongst the seven honorable mentions. You can read more about Pony Up, here, and see photos from its production at The New School, here. Thank you to Parity Productions for this honor!

Finalist for the Clubbed Thumb Biennial Commission, October 2020

Beyond thrilled to announce that my play-in-progress, Big Black Sunhats, was selected as one of two finalists for the Clubbed Thumb Biennial Commission. This award comes with the opportunity to workshop the play with Clubbed Thumb. About Big Black Sunhats:

Forty years ago, Penelope, Bobbi, and Evelyn last waved goodbye to their husbands (Owen, Percy, and Hugo), as the men embarked on a perilous journey.

It’s forty years later, and the women, now all nearly 70 years old, receive a phone call. It turns out, their husbands aren’t dead after all. The men are coming home. They come bearing tales, talismans, and a dangerous proposition.

Oh, and they haven’t aged a day since they left.

For updates on the play and other upcoming events, sign up for my mailing list. And thank you to Clubbed Thumb for this wonderful opportunity!

Artist in Residence, Root Beer Occasion Theatre Co., 2020-2021

As the Artist in Residence for Root Beer Occasion Theatre Company, I will be developing three plays over the course of the year. It is an honor and a thrill to be working with this up and coming company, whose mission is fresh and deliberate: make honest and accessible art.

Our first collaboration will be a workshop reading (to be filmed and then available to stream) of my play-in-progress, Inside Siberia, a piece about a group of female sled dogs trying to make the mythical Siberian sled-dog team during a time of civil unrest. In this play, I’m asking questions about how we treat our female athletes and what it means to represent something greater than yourself. Stay tuned for casting and streaming announcements!

To stay up-to-date on Inside Siberia and my other upcoming projects with Root Beer Occasion, check out their website, here.

Selected as the winner of Playing on Air’s James Stevenson Prize - September 2020

My play, I think it’s worth pointing out that I’ve been very serious throughout this entire discussion Or, Dave and Julia are stuck in a tree, has been selected out of nearly 1,000 plays (holy smokes!) as the WINNER of the 2020 James Stevenson Prize for comedic radio plays. A huge thank you to Playing on Air and the judges — Lynn Nottage, Rebecca Taichman, and David Henry Hwang — for this huge honor.

About the play: Dave and Julia are father and daughter. And they’re hanging out. This is a play that both makes a banana-phone joke and asks whether jokes have an expiration date. How do we connect when we no longer find the same things funny? How do we know that we’re on the same team if we aren’t laughing together? We’ll figure it out, just don’t look down.

Stay tuned for more information regarding the cast and how to listen. In the meantime, you can read more about the prize, here.

Upcoming: Root Beer Occasion Theatre Co.’s The Living Room Stories - September 2020

Excited to announce that my new short play, “Woman, Octopus, Comedian” will be presented as a part of Root Beer Occasion Theatre Co.’s The Living Room Stories. Rather than a Zoom reading, Root Beer Occasion has created a safe environment for playwrights and actors to create art… in an actual living room. The live performances will be filmed and then broadcast for audiences to tune in. This means that for the first time in a long time, we’ll get to see folks performing in the same space. We’ll see their legs! (In my play’s case… all eight. Since she’s an octopus.)

The Living Room Stories will be aired on:

Saturday, September 19 @ 7pm EST; Sunday, September 20 @ 2pm EST; Friday, September 25 @ 8pm EST; Saturday, September 26 @ 7pm EST; and Sunday, September 27 @ 2pm EST.

Check out Root Beer Occasion’s website for more information on the festival, the playwrights, and how to watch.

Upcoming: The Bechdel Group’s New Play Development Reading Series - Shortlist Sunday, January 2021

An excerpt of my play-in-progress, “The Page Turners,” will receive a reading in January 2021 as a part of The Bechdel Group’s Shortlist Sunday (an afternoon of 10-min excerpts from plays that made it to the final round of selection for their New Play Development Reading Series).

Stay tuned for more information!

Red Bull Theater Short New Play Festival 2020, July 20th

“Evermore Unrest” had its premiere on July 20th, 2020 at the Red Bull Short New Play Festival. The brilliant cast: Ali Ahn and Frankie J. Alvarez. Directed by Vivienne Benesch. You can check out the the review of the festival in the New York Times!

Some things I learned: Writing for Zoom? Not ideal, but perhaps my first satisfying play-telephone-conversation; if you give a professional a prop, they’re gonna work that prop (even virtually); when theater is accessible to all, so many more will access it (How can we carry this with us? To whom are we sending the invitations?); a well-curated background is a terrible thing to waste; love letters are universal.

The more creative we have to get (because it is a need, capricious yet steadfast), the more creative we get. May we carry these flat squares with us in our back pockets when the curtains rise and we realize that we are together—vulnerable, open, budding, alive—once again.

Selected for the Red Bull Theater Short New Play Festival 2020

Beyond thrilled to announce that I was selected for the Red Bull Theater Short New Play Festival! Tune in July 20, 2020 to catch my ten-minute play, Evermore Unrest, directed by Vivienne Benesch, as it’s presented virtually alongside commissioned work by Jeremy O. Harris and Theresa Rebeck as well as selected playwrights: Ben Beckley, Avery Deutsch, Leah Maddrie, Jessica Moss, and Matthew Park.

Evermore Unrest: On her honeymoon and confined to her hotel room, Penny writes to her ex-boyfriend, William, with questions about love, choice, health, and safety during times of unrest. What follows is a relationship story told through the notes and letters that Penny and William used to leave for one another.

Check out more information about the festival, here.

Shortlisted for The Alpine Fellowship Theatre Prize 2020

My play-in-progress, Something Inside Me Wants to Make You into a Hat, or Nessie and Jack, was shortlisted (top 10 plays) for The Alpine Fellowship Theatre Prize 2020. This year’s theme: forgiveness and retribution.

In Something Inside Me Wants to Make You into a Hat, or Nessie and Jack, the longstanding, generational rivalry between the farmers and the tricksters (foxes, wolves) gets disrupted when Nessie, daughter to Red, goes looking for her missing father only to meet the Fox’s son, Jack, out in the woods. This somewhat-absurdist fable-play asks whether there’s any way to put an end to inherited trauma and family rivalries without sacrificing loyalty and love, without losing those traditions that make up a culture or an identity. Can forgiveness exist without betrayal? And what does it take for longstanding hatred to be forgiven?

Want to read more? Reach out, here.

Presented Like Something Stubborn on a Vine, June 2020

The Nuyorican Poets Cafe hosted an evening of my work, entitled Like Something Stubborn on a Vine. Check out a recording, here.

“Through a series of select monologues from her work, Playwright Mallory Jane Weiss explores worlds on the brink of ending and the stories of those seemingly trapped inside of them. What do you do when you're Earth's only moon and you've been heartbroken by a sailor? What do you say when your best friend has run away to a world about to end? What happens when time moves strangely, when the coast is a myth, when it's all flooding?  

Over the course of eleven monologues, a story forms. One of creation, of circuitousness, of impatience, of change. Come to celebrate that glimpse of the horizon, just ahead, brimming with light. This showcase will include performances by Adrian Collins, Ryan Nicholas Cooper, Tori Ernst, and Kat Dunn Watson. They'll portray selkies, dolls, artists, and mad hatters.”

Developing Howl From Up High with Gingold Theatrical Group, December 2019

This week coincided nicely with the arrival of my snazzy new blue blue-light glasses. (No, that’s not a typo. My frames are blue and that feels important to note.) I was fortunate enough to work through hundreds of pages with a killer crew of collaborators. Present and curious and giving. And also just the right kind of crazy for a play that includes the lines, “How many trombones do you have in your uterus?” “Oh, the average amount.” (You’ll be able to see their beautiful faces below. Not pictured: director extraordinaire Stephen Brown-Fried and Gingold Theatrical Group’s artistic director, David Staller… both of whom made this possible and productive.) But first…

Some things I learned:

It doesn’t have to be perfect (or even good)… but it’s very useful when it exists (an ongoing lesson). Men turning into jackals is funny; I’m not the only one who thinks so. The ending will always change the beginning, so try to get there, you know, asap. Blue light glasses work (maybe it’s a placebo. don’t care.). Art is exhausting, and anyone who says it isn’t must not be an artist. But that’s not a bad thing. Hydrate, folks. It’s possible to foam-roll and reorganize the structure of a play simultaneously (something about blood-flow). This last one I knew, but I’ll say it again and again… being in a room with creators is inspiring and motivating and a damn good time.

Fresh Ground Pepper, July 2019

Over the course of one heat-wave of a week in July, I began work on a new play about global flattening. And also two best friends who met at boarding school. Thus continuing a trend: female friendship saves the world. More importantly, I spent the week surrounded by a group of artists that inspired the Hell (can I swear on my own blog? Sorry, Barb. [Barb’s my mother, for those of you just tuning in. {I’m a big fan of parentheses}])… as I was saying, inspired the Hell out of me. As an “emerging playwright” there isn’t always a lot of ‘yes’. But I have to imagine that even when there are the ‘yeses’, it’s still rare to get one that feels this good.

Some things I learned:

I’m total crap at camp games. Garlic bread burns quickly and will set off the smoke alarm. You can laugh and cry within a single beat, when the art is that damn good. Delighted feedback, yes please. Tree-trimming. It doesn’t have to look anything like you thought it should/would. Every process is different: some need time, some need wine, some need both. There’s a difference between working and pushing; work doesn’t have to look like work.

Princess Grace Finalist 2019!

I learned that Pony Up was a Princess Grace Finalist (top 15 plays)

… which was such amazing fantastic incredible news that I proceeded to order myself one dozen whoopie pies from Wicked Whoopies in Maine (note: I do not live in Maine). It’s important to celebrate our accomplishments.

(I’m not sponsored by Wicked Whoopies. But I’m not not trying to be, you know?)