Earlier this year I spent some time on my play Blue and cut several pages from the most recent draft.  Once the new draft was complete, I submitted the play to the Woodward/Newman Drama Award at the Bloomington Playwrights Project, an organization that fosters new playwrights. 

Results for the Woodward/Newman Drama Award were announced recently and here are the winner and finalists:

Winner of the 11/12 Woodward/Newman Drama Award:
Three Views of the Same Object by Henry Murray

11/12 Woodward/Newman Drama Finalists:
Provenance by Daniel J. Weber
In Kings and Fools by Kevin Daly
Three Views of the Same Object by Henry Murray
October 1962 by D.W. Gregory
Carried by the Current by Nicola Pearson
The Wind Farmer by Dan O’Neil
Mud Lotus by Chris White
in a word by Lauren Yee
Life is Mostly Straws by Richard Manley
Comes a Faery by James McLindon

As you can see, my play Blue was not chosen among the list, but I am glad for an organization like this because it motivates me to look at my work again and refine a play like Blue, which I thought was already a pretty good piece.  After the re-write, the play became leaner and meaner.  It’s currently competing in the Herman Voaden Playwriting Competition at Queen’s University in Kingston.  I entered an earlier draft of Blue in this competition years ago and did not place.

The re-write of my screenplay Twig is now complete and I have cut major elements (including the last 7 pages of the script) and enhanced the story arcs of the supporting characters.   I will be tweaking the script again once I get some notes back from a couple readers.  Twig will then be set out to the world to be judged.

I recently held auditions for an upcoming Christmas production and will  make final casting choices by month’s end.  Writing on this production begins early July.  On July 6, I will be entering the 24-Hour Playwriting Contest through the Toronto Fringe Festival.  Last year I entered this competition for the first time and thoroughly enjoyed it.  The challenge:  write a play in 24 hours based on 4 elements the Fringe Festival provides.  I’ve been working on a new script for the Kairos Prizes in Screenwriting and  hope to have a rough draft complete before the Fringe. 

I like what Ray Bradbury says about writing; maybe it’s why I write:
“You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.”
– Ray Bradbury